UGA Football Coach Kirby Smart Gives Positive Update On Running Backs
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ATHENS - Kirby Smart and the UGA football are dealing with some injuries at running back right now.
Sophomore Branson Robinson is out for the year, and their two leading returning backs, veterans Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards, are also coming back from injuries.
It’s a banged up group, but on Tuesday, Smart gave some positive and encouraging news on his two starters as we inch closer and closer to the regular season.
“They’ve both done more”, Smart said on Tuesday. “Daijun stayed in a black jersey. Kendall’s been out of the black. They both look good. We’re giving a lot of reps to a lot of other guys because we’ve got other guys to get prepared for, but they’ve both been in individual work and they’ve both done drills. They both worked during the run periods and the pass periods. I feel good about both of them.”
“We're looking at everybody at running back”, Smart said on Monday. “We'll try to find the best way possible to get the ball in the hands of the playmakers. But to answer your question specifically, Daijun was dealing with an MCL. He had one last year, but he's actually doing great. I think he's going to be able to practice and do everything today (Monday). So we feel good about Daijun's status. It happened in the second scrimmage. I don't know what that date was. But would have been, I guess, a week ago Saturday, and he's bounced back pretty good from that. He looks good. Kendall, he's been dealing with a hamstring most of, almost all of camp. He feels 80, 90 percent. And we're hopeful to get him back today as well in terms of practicing and taking reps. The volume they do we have to be careful of because they haven't been in the heat as much as the other guys in the last week. But we feel good about those. I feel good about Andrew Paul. Roderick Robinson has had a good camp. Cash has had a good camp. Really got a bunch of guys who have repped and done some good things there.”
So it looks like Milton and Edwards could play against UT-Martin in the opener.
But should they?
Georgia should win this game with their third string. Easily. If Edwards and Milton aren’t 100%, if there any point in playing them?
Andrew Paul is a bruising back at 220+ pounds. Sources say he’s been really impressive. Cash Jones is a guy we continue to hear about behind the scenes. He’s stronger and faster than most Georgia fans realize. He’s an ‘eat off the floor” guy that loves to compete. He’s been working hard, and he should see a decent amount of carries on Saturday. Freshman Roderick Robinson should also be able to help.
In reality, if Georgia’s offensive line does their job, whoever is running the ball should have plenty of holes to run through. The biggest takeaway is that Georgia’s backs are getting healthier. They’re not all back completely, but some week three against South Carolina, Georgia should have a fairly decent backfield.
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About UT Martin
The Skyhawks are members of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are the two-time defending champions of the Oho Valley Conference. FCS teams can have a maxium of 63 scholarships and split them up however they want. The Skyhawks went 7-4 last season and fell 65-24 at No. 3 Tennessee. They are coached by Jason Simpson who is in his 18th season at the helm with a record of 107-84 (.560).
Did You Know? Simpson gave Bulldog defensive line coach Tray Scott his first full-time job when he hired him to coach UT-Martin’s defensive line in 2013. Simpson began his collegiate career as a football/baseball player at Mississippi State and concluded his career playing baseball at Southern Miss.
We’ve Gone Streaking
* The Bulldogs are 29-1 in their last 30 games including winning back-to-back national championships. Georgia enters the 2023 season on a 17-game winning streak, which is tied for the school record. The Bulldogs won 17 in a row from 1945-47 while the current stretch of success began with a 34-11 win over Michigan in the 2021 CFP semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl.
* Georgia has won 27 consecutive regular season games dating back to a 31-24 home victory over Mississippi State on Nov. 21, 2020. The school record is 28 in a row from 1981-83.
* Georgia’s longest home winning streak is 24 set from 1980-83. Currently, the Bulldogs have won 18 straight at home. The current streak began with a 21-0 win over Kentucky on Oct. 19, 2019.
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