Georgia facing former UGA DL transfer, who is now on Texas

The Georgia Bulldogs will be playing against former Georgia defensive lineman Bill Norton on Saturday. Norton played at Georgia from 2019-2022.

He compiled 12 tackles over four seasons at Georgia before transferring to the Arizona Wildcats for the 2023 college football season. With Arizona, Norton posted a career-best 31 tackles, three pass deflections and two forced fumbles.

After the 2023 season, Norton transferred to the Texas Longhorns. The 6-foot-6, 335-pound defensive lineman has recorded four tackles for the Longhorns this season including two in their most recent game against the Oklahoma Sooners.

Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart spoke about Norton’s time in Athens.

“What a great kid man, this guy worked his tail off here and worked really hard,” said Smart. “One of his key roles was with special teams, he played on our field goal protection unit and was the best at doing it.”

Norton’s contributions on special teams may no show up in the box score, but there’s no doubt that it is an important role.

“He was a backup defensive tackle and played some snaps,” continued Smart. “That was his role then and I want to say maybe in the Ohio State game or one of the games we lost somebody, and he had to go in, take over and play a role at that and he did it with great pride. He was always positive and enjoyed practice and was fun to be around, funny guy.”

Norton is unlikely to play heavy snaps against Georgia. He is part of Texas’ defensive line rotation, but does not have any sacks this season. The Longhorns have the No. 1 scoring defense in the country at 6.3 points per game.

“Now he’s been I guess two places, and he’s playing for them and he’s doing a really good job,” said Smart. “He subs in and rolls in it’s one of their backup DTs.”

Norton, who wears No. 15, will play against his former team as No. 1 Texas hosts No. 4 Georgia.