Georgia will be down another player in the Sugar Bowl.
Senior running back Brian Herrien did not travel with the Bulldogs to New Orleans and will not play against Baylor in Wednesday’s game, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Herrien, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior from Douglasville, is Georgia’s second-leading rusher with 490 yards and six touchdowns and the chief backup for starter D’Andre Swift. He also had 16 pass receptions and returned kickoffs for the Bulldogs.
Herrien is back home training for the NFL Draft.
That’s a problem for the No. 5-ranked Bulldogs, who also are uncertain about the availability of Swift. A junior from Philadelphia, Swift has surpassed 1,000 yards rushing each of the past two seasons, but he has been limited by a shoulder injury aggravated in the Georgia Tech game Nov. 30. He played only five plays in the SEC Championship game a week later.
On Friday, when the team arrived at Louis Armstrong International Airport, Georgia coach Kirby Smart said the Bulldogs remain “hopeful” that Swift will be able to play. He said Swift participated in most of the team’s 11 postseason practices back in Athens.
As for Herrien, Smart refused to comment directly on his availability.
“We’re going to focus on the players playing in the game,” Smart snapped.
He had the same answer regarding senior defensive tackle Tyler Clark, who also was not spotted among the Georgia players deplaning at the airport amid the reception of a second-line marching band and the cheering of Sugar Bowl committee members.
If neither Swift nor Herrien is available, the Bulldogs will turn to sophomore James Cook, who was cleared to play in the wake of a recent traffic arrest that included marijuana-use accusations, redshirt freshman Zamir White and freshman Kenny McIntosh. Those three players have 640 yards rushing and six touchdowns between them.
