GAINESVILLE, Fla. _ It was routine dinner between friends, one tailbacks Nick Chubb and Sony Michel had shared hundreds of times since they were freshmen at Georgia.
Then Chubb suddenly changed direction _ one of his many athletic gifts _ and turned a casual conversation into a life-changing decision about his football future.
Turns out Michel was right there with Chubb step for step, like always.
The NFL could wait another year.
"The way it happened was just so weird," Michel recalled this past July at SEC Media Days. "We were sitting at the dinner table and he was just like, 'I think I'm going to come back.' And I was like, 'Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing.'
"It was just one of those situations where we were on the same page again."
The two seniors now look to co-author a storybook ending to their careers, including the tandem's first win against rival Florida.
Third-ranked Georgia (7-0, 4-0 SEC) enters Saturday's matchup a two-touchdown favorite and will look to ride the wave behind the SEC's second-ranked run game.
Meanwhile, the struggling Gators (3-3, 3-2) will look to stop the Chubb-Michel express and force first-year freshman Jake Fromm to beat them with his arm.
"I feel like if we get their run game slowed down _ that's their main strength," UF sophomore linebacker David Reese said. "If they beat us through the air, so be it. We've got to live and die by it, but we've got to try to stop that run.
"That's the emphasis."
Last season, the Bulldogs' one-two punch was waylaid by former linebacker Jarrad Davis and the Gators' defense, totaling just 22 rushing yards on 12 carries.
Chubb and Michel enter Saturday healthier than a season ago and average 175 rushing yards and have 12 touchdowns against six Football Bowl Subdivision foes. Toss in freshman D'Andre Swift, who averages 8.5 yards on 42 carries, and the Gators will have their hands full.
But Chubb and Michel set the tone for the Bulldogs _ and not just coach Kirby Smart's offense.
"They just do a good job of complementing each other," UF coach Jim McElwain said. "I see the unselfish nature in which those guys are playing. I think that speaks a lot about where their team is right now."
Chubb, a Georgia product, and Michel, who hails from South Florida, had every reason to go separate directions.
Each arrived in Athens during the summer of 2014 as prized recruits at a school with a lineage of tailbacks that includes Heisman winner, Hall of Famer Terrell Davis and future NFL Rookie of the Year Todd Gurley, who was in his final season when Chubb and Michel joined the team.
Chubb and Michel always had been his team's featured back, but would discover over the years how much the Bulldogs needed them _ and how much they needed each other.
"I'm glad I'm here," Chubb said. "I'm happy to meet him and glad we are close now. But when I came in, it never crossed my mind I'd be this close with anybody."
A knee injury to Gurley gave Chubb the first crack, and he responded with 12 consecutive 100-yard games until a devastating knee injury his sophomore season against Tennessee. Michel pitched in as a third-down back, catching 26 passes in 2014. But once Chubb went down, Michel became the lead runner and posted four 100-yard games.
Last season, the duo combined for 2,165 yards from scrimmage while the Bulldogs struggled to an 8-5 finish during Smart's first year.
Feeling like each had unfinished business, the two longtime roommates decided to return rather than leave for the NFL.
"It made it a lot easier for us," Chubb said.
And tougher on SEC defenses.
For four years, Georgia's two tailbacks put agendas aside, got on the same page and turned a potentially complicated relationship into a textbook example of teamwork.
Michel hopes it is part of their legacy.
"I think by us doing what we do, guys will look at that and understand well maybe that's the way we want to do it, that's the Georgia way," he said. "You got to be for the team and not for yourself."
