A little less than a year ago, Tah’j Butler was sitting at home in New Orleans.
Ole Miss and Georgia were preparing for a College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Sugar Bowl, a matchup that promised plenty of excitement.
Georgia was, well, Georgia. Ole Miss was the scrappy underdog trying to prove it could keep winning after its head coach left for LSU.
Butler considered attending the game until he looked at ticket prices.
“I was like, ‘Nah, it’s too expensive,’” Butler said Tuesday.
So, like plenty of fans, Butler watched from home as Ole Miss knocked off the Bulldogs 39-34. He came away impressed.
“I was watching, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I want to play in this environment,’ because it’s at home,” he said.
Ten months later, Butler is getting that opportunity when No. 2 Georgia visits Oxford on Saturday night.
And he won’t just be along for the ride.
Since transferring from Georgia Tech in January, Butler has established himself as an important piece of the Rebels’ linebacker rotation.
Through eight games, Butler has recorded 46 tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks. He’s second on the team in total tackles, trailing only Keaton Thomas.
His best performance came in Saturday’s 45-15 win over Auburn, when he finished with seven tackles and two sacks.
Butler took on a larger role with Luke Ferrelli limited by an ankle injury, but Ole Miss coach Pete Golding made it clear that Butler’s contributions weren’t simply the result of another player’s injury.
“We kind of talked about it in the offseason and even in camp, that I saw those three guys as starters,” Golding said of Butler, Ferrelli and Thomas. “Regardless of which one was in the game, we trusted that they could do the job and play at a high level.”
Golding said Butler is getting better every week as he becomes more comfortable in the defensive system. He specifically praised Butler’s football IQ and his ability to finish tackles.
Those qualities will be especially important Saturday.
Ole Miss has struggled to stop the run in its two losses to Florida and Texas. Georgia presents another difficult challenge for a defense that has shown significant improvement but hasn’t always been consistent.
“We’ve just got to be consistent with what the coaches are telling us to do,” Butler said. “Just being physical at the point of attack, getting downhill, making plays when we’ve got to make them. Just doing our job.”
Of course, Butler already has some experience making plays against Georgia. He intercepted a pass against the Bulldogs last November while playing for Georgia Tech.
Now he’ll get another opportunity against a familiar opponent, only this time wearing an Ole Miss uniform.
And unlike that Sugar Bowl game in New Orleans, he won’t have to worry about the price of admission.
