Kirby Smart dishes out loads of praise for DB Dan Jackson

There are a lot of players that deserve a lot of praise after Georgia football's eight overtime win over Georgia Tech on Friday night. Carson Beck played solid and had his third game in a row without a turnover and Kirby Smart deserves a lot of credit for keeping the team motivated after their terrible start.

But it was defensive back Dan Jackson who was the MVP of the game. Jackson had two of the biggest plays all night, with the biggest coming late in the fourth quarter when he forced a fumble from Georgia Tech QB Haynes King. Jackson also had a sack in the sixth overtime as well to keep Georgia alive in this game.

Smart discussed Jackson's game during his postgame press conference, but he also took the time to share how special Jackson's story is.

"Man, to think that guy (Jackson) came to Georgia on his own, without us even recruiting him, and to make the plays he's made,” Smart shared via 247sports.com. “That hit fumble will be one for the ages because he wasn't just hitting a normal dude. That guy's a competitor. A lot of respect for Dan. He didn't even have to come back this year. He debated whether he was going to play football again this year. I think about where we'd be without him, just a lot of respect for him and his leadership.”

”He is what college football is all about, guys. He's not asking for more money. He's not trying to go somewhere else. The guy just loves Georgia."

Doing it for the love of the game

Does anyone represent Georgia football better than Jackson? Jackson was not recruited by Georgia out of high school. In fact, he walked on to the team, which shows just how much he already loved Georgia football back then.

Jackson then slowly worked his way up the depth chart to the point where he is now a major contributor on a very good Georgia defense. To take this improbable moment from Jackson a step further, he wasn't even sure he was going to play football again this season.

But in the day and age where players are just looking to make as much money as possible, Jackson did the exact opposite and chose to return to Georgia for one final season. And that is a decision that all Georgia fans should be very thankful for.

There really is no one more deserving of this moment than Jackson. He embodies everything that it means to be a Bulldog to perfection, and thankfully he now has his moment that will be remembered forever after helping will Georgia to victory when it looked like it would be impossible to do so.