Chubb a workhorse as fill-in for Gurley

Nick Chubb #27 of the Georgia Bulldogs is wrapped up by Ian Simon #21 of the Missouri Tigers midway in the fourth quarter on October 11, 2014 at Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Kyle Rivas/Getty Images)

Credit: Kyle Rivas

Credit: Kyle Rivas

Nick Chubb #27 of the Georgia Bulldogs is wrapped up by Ian Simon #21 of the Missouri Tigers midway in the fourth quarter on October 11, 2014 at Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Kyle Rivas/Getty Images)

Nick Chubb admitted he was pretty nervous going into Saturday’s game at Missouri. He was pretty tired going out.

Getting his first start on the road in a nationally-televised matchup of Top 25 teams, the freshman from Cedartown responded marvelously. Chubb finished with 143 yards on 38 carries and a touchdown.

“Yeah, I’ll be very sore (Sunday),” said Chubb, who had the most carries by the Bulldog since Verron Haynes had 39 against Georgia Tecj on 2001. The most I carried in high school was maybe 35. They told me beforehand it may be 45. I thought they were joking. Turns out they weren’t joking at all.”

No, Chubb was a real workhorse for the Bulldogs. He was filling in for suspended starter Todd Gurley, who had accounted for 36 percent of the Georgia’s offense before Saturday. He averaged only 3.8 yards on those carries, with a long run of 18 yards. That broke down as 2.8 yards a carry in the first half (21-59) and 4.9 in the second (17-84).

“He earned every bit of those 140-something yards he got,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said of Chubb. “That’s a lot of work. That’s a lot of physical play. I thought Missouri’s defense was pretty good against the run all day. We just kind of kept pecking away at them.”

Together with backup Brendan Douglas and a few others, the Bulldogs managed 210 yards rushing.

“It feels good,” Chubb said. “But that’s a Georgia tradition. We run the ball. You have to keep pounding them. Things will open up sooner or later.”