Tramel Walthour is getting another shot at the College Football Playoff – after the first one ended with a national championship for the former Liberty County High School standout.
Walthour, a senior defensive end, is a likely starter for the University of Georgia Bulldogs, who face Ohio State in Saturday’s Peach Bowl. The Bulldogs, ranked No. 1 in the nation, are 13-0 and coming off the program’s first national championship since the 1980 campaign.
In 13 games this season, Walthour has registered 19 tackles, including one sack. He tied his career-high of three stops in a game twice this year, against Mississippi State and against Missouri.
In an interview earlier this season with John Frierson of georgiadogs.com, the 6-foot-3, 280-pound Walthour, who has started the last 11 games, discussed his time at Georgia.
“I feel like mentally I’ve improved the most, just knowing the ins and outs of our defense, like what we want to achieve,” he said. “The task that I need to do, just knowing my job, I feel like I’ve grown in that area.”
Walthour went to Hutchinson Community College for a year before embarking on his career at Georgia. In 2019, he was named the scout team defensive MVP. Walthour acknowledged the transition from high school to college football was big physically but an even bigger jump mentally.
“I feel like it’s a piece of all of it, but for me, the biggest one was mental — just getting used to all the meetings, the practices, the hours, and the practice intensity,” he said. “All of that stuff had a big part in the transition.”
Walthour also played basketball at Liberty County and described himself as a “decent” player to georgiadogs.com.
“I feel like I’ve got a little jumper and I can get down in the paint a little bit and play some defense,” he said. “I’d say I’m pretty decent.”
Playing basketball also has helped with his football techniques, Walthour acknowledged.
“I use basketball as my conditioning,” he said. “It helps with footwork, hand-eye (coordination) and all that. It can contribute to your success on the football field.”
Walthour played a little bit of offensive line in high school, when the Panthers were short on the numbers at that position, he said. His home, however, is on the defensive line.
“I feel like I’m better going forward than I am backward,” he said. “I like working with my hands more, being able to knock somebody back off the line (of scrimmage). You need both of those traits for the O-line and D-line, but D-line is more ... I feel like I’d be more of a holder on the O-line. You can use your hands more on the D-line and get off blocks and stuff.”