ATHENS –- A year ago, he was a walk-on wide receiver. Saturday, he was Georgia's No. 1 tailback with the SEC East championship on the line.
Brandon Harton, a 5-foot-6, 174-pound sophomore from Reidsville, was forced into that improbable role because of Georgia's latest travails at the tailback position -– another injury to Isaiah Crowell and another suspension of Carlton Thomas.
Harton didn't have a perfect game by any means; he mustered only 12 yards on seven carries in the first half and lost two fumbles in the second half. But he had enough good runs to finish the game with 101 yards on 23 carries as Georgia beat Kentucky 19-10 to clinch the SEC East championship.
It was a special afternoon for a player who walked on at Georgia as a wide receiver, asked if he could move to tailback last spring and was awarded a scholarship during the summer.
"Most walk-ons don't get to play offense or defense; they play special teams a good bit," Harton said. "So just to come in and have this kind of an impact on this kind of a game, it feels great."
Crowell started the game and ran the ball on two of the Bulldogs' first three plays, gaining 6 and 5 yards. But he left the field with an injured left ankle after the second carry and did not return.
Thomas, who would have been Crowell's top backup, was not at the game because, for the third time this season, he was suspended by coach Mark Richt.
"Carlton did not play because he violated a rule," said Richt, who did not disclose what the violation was. "That's all I'm going to say about that."
Thomas also was suspended from the season opener against Boise State and the Nov. 5 game against New Mexico State.
For most of the second half Saturday, Crowell watched from a bench behind the Georgia sideline, seated next to injured offensive tackle Trinton Sturdivant. Seated on the other side of Sturdivant was tailback Richard Samuel, who missed his third consecutive game because of an ankle injury suffered against Florida.
Samuel is not expected back before the SEC Championship Game, if then. And it was unclear after Saturday's game whether Crowell will be healthy enough to play, and whether Thomas will be allowed to play, in the regular-season finale at Georgia Tech.
"I don't know," Richt said. "That's a good question."
As for the severity of Crowell's injury, Richt said only: "Bad enough where he didn't play anymore."
Georgia beat Kentucky to win the SEC East despite the depletion of the tailback position, but the Bulldogs struggled offensively. They were held to 50 yards rushing in the first half, 19 of those by quarterback Aaron Murray, but finished with 155 after Harton had 89 in the second half.
"Brandon Harton had to come through for us," Richt said.
Harton was generally pleased with his performance -- except, of course, for the fumbles.
"Isaiah went down, so I had to step up and just play with confidence and do my best," Harton said. "But there is no excuse for bad ball security. We work on it day in and day out. I just have to work harder in the future."
Behind Harton, little-used Ken Malcome got some playing time, rushing for 37 yards on nine carries. Malcome lost a fumble on his first carry.
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