“Let’s go.”

Those two words are what came into fullback Shaun Chapas’ mind as he caught a pass on a fullback screen on Georgia’s first possession in its 26-14 win over Tennessee on Saturday.

Chapas took the pass from quarterback Matthew Stafford, who faked right before coming back to the fullback from St. Augustine, Fla. on the left side of the field, who then trucked downfield for 37 yards.

“The first play we ran was a screen and I got out of there, and I got the ball in and realized I had a convoy of linemen in front of me,” Chapas said. “I was just like, ‘Let’s go,’ and started running.”

With his blockers in front, Chapas said he couldn’t remember the last time he had to run that fast.

“I couldn’t even tell you, high school? I don’t know,” he said.

Chapas failed to score on that play, getting tackled at the 1-yard-line. His teammate and fellow fullback Brannan Southerland had his number called as he finished Chapas’ job.

“In that package, I’m the fullback and he’s the other back, so I really do wish he could have had that touchdown because he really deserved it,” Southerland said.

With Southerland’s return from a foot injury at the starting fullback spot, Chapas – who started the first five games at that position – didn’t see his playing time affected much. Chapas ended the game with three receptions for 64 yards.

“It felt good to get a couple of runs and get a couple of catches,” Chapas said. “The offensive line did a great job on creating some holes for me, and I got the ball and Matthew made the right reads so I was able to get some yards there too.”

Though Chapas and Southerland made some big offensive plays, their blocking didn’t go unnoticed. After Southerland dropped a pass on the third play of the game, he made a block that sprung running back Knowshon Moreno for a 10-yard gain on a toss sweep.

“It’s just guys making plays,” Moreno said. “Both [Chapas] and Southerland really blocked well all day, and at the same time, when the ball was thrown to them they made big plays.”

In addition to Southerland’s fullback duties, the senior from Atlanta lined up at tight end to help a depleted position due to injury.

“Southerland played some tight end this game, a lot of people probably didn’t expect that,” Stafford said.

“He got his hands on the ball a couple of times and made some big plays for us.”

Southerland said that his foot started to get sore in the second half. When the soreness set in, Southerland’s plays lessened and Chapas received more of the load.

“On that last drive my foot was getting sore and tired and Chapas took that drive, it was long,” Southerland said. “I wanted to say it was at least eight or nine minutes and he was in just about every play.”

With Southerland and Chapas playing versatile roles Saturday, head coach Mark Richt praised their performance, saying many teams at the next level might give them both a hard look.

“I think they are both NFLers really,” Richt said. “The teams that use fullbacks are going to be interested in these kids.”