ATHENS, Ga. — Coming into the ASU football team’s contest at No. 21 Georgia, senior safety Jarrell Holman had zero takeaways in his college career.

Saturday night against the Bulldogs, he had three in the second half.

Holman recovered the UGA fumble that led to the Sun Devils’ first and only offensive touchdown drive in the third quarter, took an interception 47 yards to the house on the Bulldogs’ next possession that gave ASU its first lead of the game, and picked off another pass from UGA senior quarterback Joe Cox late in the fourth quarter that could have set up the Sun Devils’ game-winning drive had a field-goal try from freshman kicker Bobby Wenzig gone through the uprights.

“Our mentality is never quit,” Holman said. “We need 11 guys to the ball every play, and everybody’s buying into that. All of our coaches put in a great game plan every week. We just try to buy into what they’re giving us, and we try to go out there and execute to the best of our ability.”

But Holman said part of the reason he was able come up with three big defensive plays in the second half was because of mistakes he had made earlier in the game.

Holman missed a tackle on UGA sophomore wide receiver A.J. Green’s 56-yard touchdown catch and also had pass interference called on him while covering Green at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

“At [defensive back], you talk about [having] a short memory,” Holman said. “I missed a tackle on one of the touchdowns — that was a big play.

I always tell myself my next play is going to be my best play. I forget the last play. If it’s bad, I’ve got to get better, and if it’s a good play, [I still have to think] my next play is always my best play.”

Holman, who is seeing the first significant action of his college career after transferring from Phoenix College, said his second interception was a direct result of him previously getting beat by Green.

“They completed two corner routes on me with A.J. Green in the slot,” he said. “I knew they thought I was going to play outside heavy, and I knew they were going to come to the post. He completed [that throw] two times, [and] you’re not going to go back three times.”

ASU freshman linebacker Vontaze Burfict continued his stellar start to his college career Saturday night by leading the Sun Devils with 11 tackles, including one and a half tackles for loss.

Burfict was right in the middle of the two biggest defensive stops for ASU in the second half.

When UGA drove down to the ASU one-yard line late in the third quarter and was looking to take the lead, Burfict and senior safety Ryan McFoy brought UGA sophomore running back Caleb King down for a loss of three yards on second down when he tried to bounce a run to the outside and get in the end zone.

That play forced the Bulldogs to go for the pass on third down, which was caught by Green but ruled out of bounds. UGA then had to settle for the game-tying 21-yard field goal from freshman kicker Blair Walsh.

“At the time, it was me, Vontaze and Nixon [in the game], and I was like, ‘Man, we’ve got some soldiers in the game. We’re going to stop them,’” ASU sophomore linebacker Brandon Magee said. “That was the highlight of the game, I think.”

Burfict was also in on the play where ASU stopped the Bulldogs on fourth-and-one in the fourth quarter when he literally leapt over the UGA offensive line into the backfield and helped drag UGA junior fullback Fred Munzenmaier down for no gain from his backside.

On the previous play, Burfict had collided with an official when he looked to be showing blitz, but the penalty flag that was thrown was waived off.

Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu.