What the I remember most about Quentin Moses, former DE of the Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs lost another great on Sunday. Quentin Moses passed away in a house fire in Monroe, Georgia.
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Moses was a four-year letterman for the Georgia Bulldogs from 2003-2006. He spent his first two years backing up David Pollack. But after Pollack left in 2004, Moses took the spotlight with 20.5 tackles for a loss and 11.5 sacks.
His performances on defense was a big reason why the Georgia Bulldogs won the SEC Championship in 2005. He did not have a great year in 2016, but he still led a defensive line that was one of the best in the SEC against the run. That defense kept that season from being any worse than it could have been.
The five writers for Dawn of the Dawg all got to watch Moses while he was at Georgia and remember his time in Athens fondly. Each of share our favorite memories of Quentin Moses playing for the Georgia Bulldogs.
Moses’s fumble recoveries against Boise State
The 2005 season had just kicked off and the Georgia Bulldogs were playing the Boise State Broncos for the first time ever. I, like most fans, was excited for the start of the season after being disappointed in 2004. The Bulldog Nation expected to compete for another championship.
But Boise State was coming off three straight one-loss seasons and top-16 finishes in the SP and Coaches Poll. But of course knowing what we know now about Boise State, they were never a slouch regardless of conference affiliation.
So clearly we were excited but concerned to open the season against such a competent opponent. But the Bulldogs dominated, led 24-0 at halftime and eventually won the game 48-13, thanks in large part to Quentin Moses.
Georgia’s defense caused six turnovers, four interceptions and two fumbles. Moses recovered both fumbles.
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His first recovery came when the entire defensive line got into the backfield causing quarterback Jared Zabransky to take off downfield. Moses and the rest of the defensive line looked to be far in the backfield to make a play, but they immediately took off in the other direction towards Zabransky.
A defensive back hit Zabransky and Moses recovered the fumble 14 yards passed the line of scrimmage. But Moses sprinted 21 yards to get to the ball. Georgia led 14-0 at that point, But Boise State was driving.
Had a Boise State player recovered that fumble, they would have had the ball at the Georgia 19-yard line. The entire complexion of the game could have been different. Georgia’s previous drive ended with a fumble and now the Broncos were driving downfield. Moses’s recovery ended all of Boise State’s momentum and Georgia kept the blowout going.
His last fumble recovery came with only 49 seconds remaining in the first half on a snap that went over Zabransky’s head. Moses gave D.J. Shockley the ball at the Broncos 19-yard line. Skockley hit Danny Ware the very next play for a touchdown to give Georgia a 24-0 halftime lead.
Both plays really show what made Moses such a great football player for Georgia and the perfect guy to replace Pollack. He was a hustler. He didn’t have to sprint back to the play, the defense had already swarmed around the quarterback and was about to stop him.
But he did, and players who hustle get rewarded for that hustle. Moses’s reward was a fumble recovery that flipped the momentum back in Georgia’s favor.