Knowshon Moreno defends taking himself out

Athens — Georgia fans say they have a simple solution for some of the Bulldogs’ scoring woes — keep Knowshon Moreno on the field.

Moreno, a tailback, has the option of pulling himself out of games if he’s tired or hurt. He did that a couple of times this past Saturday against Florida.

Enlarge this image

Pouya Dianat/pdianat@ajc.com

Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno watches from the sideline during the Bulldogs’ loss to Florida.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

RELATED UGA LINKS

• Schedule • Beat Blog • Standings

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

On the game’s second series, Moreno had just gained 25 yards to get the Bulldogs down to the Florida 9 when he decided to leave the game. Freshman Caleb King came in and whiffed on a pass block, allowing Matthew Stafford to be sacked for a six-yard loss. Stafford lost five more yards on the next play and Georgia was forced to settle for a field goal try. It missed.

Against BCS opponents this season, Georgia is scoring touchdowns 54 percent of the time when it gets inside the 20-yard line. Six of Moreno’s 12 touchdowns this season were scored against BCS opponents.

“You know what, I know people have said that but I really have not studied it to see exactly what’s happening,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said of Moreno’s absences. “I just think when Knowshon is gassed to the point where he’s not going to be as effective as the next guy he’s going to let us know.”

That’s also Moreno’s explanation.

“I don’t think just because I’m out that’s why we’re making mistakes,” Moreno said. “What we’re doing is just keeping everyone fresh. It doesn’t matter what part of the field we’re on. I guess some of the times we’re in the red zone. [But] if I’m not going to be 100 percent and can’t give my all 100, then why be in there when Caleb is in there and he can do the same job that I can do?”

Moreno had 19 touches in the 49-10 loss to Florida. That’s considerably fewer than last year against the Gators when Moreno had 188 yards rushing on 33 carries and three touchdowns. But it’s about the same amount of touches he averaged last season (20.6) and this one (20.4).