Orange Bowl is a homecoming game in South Florida for Georgia football RB James Cook

A 17-year old James Cook was in the stands in Hard Rock Stadium for the Orange Bowl five years ago as a spectator with a vested interest.

His brother Dalvin was playing his final college game for Florida State before embarking on an NFL career.

The opponent: Michigan.

Now James Cook will be in the same situation for Georgia only this time the stakes are even higher because this is a semifinal game of the College Football Playoff. The winner moves on for a shot at the national title.

“Going to Miami is great, just playing in front of my hometown and where I grew up,” James Cook said.

Cook was raised nearby the stadium in the Miami Gardens area and will have a chance to make his homecoming game memorable even if it doesn’t quite reach the performance that Dalvin put on.

Dalvin Cook was named Orange Bowl MVP after rushing for 145 yards and a touchdown and having 62 receiving yards on three catches in a 33-32 Seminoles victory in Wolverines coach Jim Harabugh’s second season.

“To be in this game it was a childhood dream growing up seeing previous guys playing in the Orange Bowl before me, it was always a childhood dream to be up here on this podium with these guys and this coach,” Dalvin Cook said after the 2016 game in the postgame press conference with then coach Jimbo Fisher.

More: Can Georgia football win the national championship with Stetson Bennett as quarterback?

James Cook leads all Georgia running backs with a 6.1 yard per carry average and has 7 rushing touchdowns — matching his career total entering the season — and has 3 receiving touchdowns, one more than he had in his first three seasons combined.

“On swing passes, in between the tackles, you name it, against Tennessee he flexed out wide and made that play (a 23-yard touchdown catch),” tight end John Fitzpatrick said. “Whatever he’s asked to do, he does it to the best of his ability and does a great job.”

The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Cook led the team in rushing in five games — all after September and has posted 629 yards on 101 carries, second behind Zamir White.

“He’s a great player, leads this team, he’s explosive, he knows what to do,” quarterback Stetson Bennett said. “He has a knack for finding space.”

Georgia is coming off its lowest rushing output of the season — 109 yards on only 30 attempts — in the 41-24 SEC championship game loss to Alabama. The 3.63 yards per carry was the first time Georgia was held under 4 yards per carry since 3.9 against Clemson in the opener.

“Definitely it’s something we’re looking to get back to,” offensive tackle Warren McClendon said. “It’s always good to be able to run the ball. Once you’re able to run the ball, you can throw the ball a little bit better. That has been one of our main focuses to run the ball better since the SEC championship.”

Miami Central High where Cook starred is less than 10 miles away from where Cook and Georgia will play.

James Cook missed the Peach Bowl last season after the death of his father, also named James, last December at age 46 from complications of diabetes, according to ESPN.

Georgia running backs coach Dell McGee wore Cook’s No. 4 jersey on the sideline as a tribute.

This will only be the second bowl game for Cook at Georgia. He didn’t play against Texas in the Sugar Bowl as a freshman due to a foot injury and had just 12 rushing yards on 3 carries the next season in the same bowl against Baylor.

After this season, Cook will take part in the Senior Bowl for top NFL hopefuls. Cook is rated the No. 9 overall running back prospect by ESPN’s Mel Kiper.

Brother Dalvin is the NFL’s third leading rusher with 1,067 yards — former Georgia star Nick Chubb is fourth.

Dalvin Cook missed a game this season with a dislocated shoulder but returned to rush for 205 yards and 27 carries with 2 touchdowns against the Steelers and again had a big workload with 28 carries for 89 yards against the Bears this week.

“He just works hard every day, doesn’t take days off, doesn’t take things for granted,” James Cook said. “He puts the time in every day and it pays off for him.”

Dalvin Cook last year told the Athens Banner-Herald that James is “more versatile than me,” with “great, soft hands,” to catches passes.

“I can catch the ball a little better than him, but he’s a great, special player, too,” James Cook said. “The things that he does I try to critique my game off him, try to do some of the things he does.”

Cook isn’t the only Georgia player returning to South Florida for the game. So are running back Kenny McIntosh, nickel back Latavious Brini and receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint.

“Playing in front of my family and my friends,” Cook said, “is going to be special.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football RB James Cook returns home for Orange Bowl game