Injury trend exceeds old lows

Athens —- How bad is Georgia’s current injury predicament?

According to director of sports medicine Ron Courson, it’s as bad as he’s seen since he came to UGA in 1995. And that was a rough year.

The Bulldogs lost 10 starters for at least one game because of injuries that season, including season-ending injuries to quarterback Mike Bobo and tailback Robert Edwards. Georgia finished 6-6, and coach Ray Goff was fired with one game left in the regular season.

The Bulldogs (6-1, 3-1 SEC) can top that this fall, and they’re only at Game 8. As No. 7 Georgia readies to play Saturday at No. 13 LSU, at least 13 full-time or part-time starters have been sidelined with injuries. Two more players went down this week —- tight end Aron White (shoulder), who got his first start two games ago because injuries to others at his position, and backup linebacker Akeem Hebron (ankle).

Add White to the list that already included: left tackle Trinton Sturdivant (knee/season), left tackle Kiante Tripp (ankle/two games), left tackle/left guard Vince Vance (knee/season), defensive tackle Jeff Owens (knee/season), fullback Brannan Southerland (foot/five games), linebacker Dannell Ellerbe (knee/three games), tight end Tripp Chandler (shoulder/two games), tight end Bruce Figgins (shoulder/three games), defensive end Rod Battle (neck/four games), split end Kris Durham (two games/ankle), defensive end Jeremy Lomax (toe/one game) and defensive tackle Kade Weston (knee/three games).

Lineman Little on the move from UGA

Georgia offensive lineman Chris Little, who switched from Notre Dame to Georgia on signing day in 2007, is on the move again. The redshirt freshman from Twiggs County is transferring from Georgia.

“He just felt like it was time to move on,” coach Mark Richt said. “It wasn’t working out as well as he thought it would, and he wanted to move in a different direction.”

The 6-foot-6, 330-pound Little has been released from his scholarship and has permission from Richt “to go anywhere he chooses.”

Little struggled with injuries since arriving on campus. He showed up with a bad wrist that required surgery, then had a foot operated on before the start of this season. Two years ago, Little was rated as the No. 1 offensive lineman in Georgia by Rivals.com.

Dogs learning fresh route back home

Georgia is taking a different route home after Saturday’s game at LSU.

In an effort to get home quicker, the Bulldogs will return on Saturday from Baton Rouge directly to Athens using three small airplanes. Richt said it should save the team “around two hours.” On the trip to LSU, Georgia will bus to Atlanta and board a jumbo jet like it normally does.

“Traditionally, LSU plays its home games at night … and we had to make our [travel] plans well in advance,” Richt said. “If it saves a couple of hours of sleep, then that’s very valuable for not only the players but the coaches, too. Normally on a Sunday, the players can sleep in all day if they want, but the coaches are back in the office grinding pretty hard.”

Georgia will practice this Sunday instead of Monday because many players are taking the regents exam, which is required to graduate.