ATHENS -- Nasty backlash from the season-opening loss to Boise State prompted one Georgia football player to give up Twitter for at least a week.
Linebacker Christian Robinson, who normally enjoys engaging on the social media platform, vowed to stay off Twitter this week after being barraged with unwelcomed messages from fans reacting to the loss to Boise.
"I got some pretty nasty stuff," Robinson said Monday night. "Right after the game, my phone was lighting up with just some nasty things. I've gotten some bad things before, but it was just a different level where I said I'm not going to deal with this right now."
He said some of the messages were from Boise State fans, but others were from UGA fans.
"Some of them, they got the ‘G' on their picture," he said. "I've seen some [of the same people] tweet me before, positive things. And the moment you don't do well, they can turn on you. You're never as good or as bad as you think you are."
Robinson said he "blocked" four or five followers whose comments were particularly offensive.
"People get upset, and they think their word means something, and they're going to try to knife you for a little bit," Robinson said. "Just because you have an avenue to talk to people doesn't mean you should attack them and say some things that aren't even football-related, and that was the main thing that got to me."
Robinson indicated he'll return to Twitter later.
Filling Ogletree's spot
With inside linebacker Alec Ogletree sidelined by a broken foot, three players are competing for his starting spot in Saturday's home opener against South Carolina: junior Mike Gilliard, freshman Amarlo Herrera and senior walk-on Jeremy Sulek.
Sulek and Herrera filled in against Boise after Ogletree's injury. Gilliard did not get a call during the game because, he said, he had trained in preseason practice only at the other inside linebacker position, but he got some first-team reps at practice Monday.
Sulek's background is an interesting story.
He said he was not offered a football scholarship by any college, large or small, as a senior at Dacula High. He enrolled at UGA on the HOPE scholarship in 2008 and "missed the game so much" that he walked on to the football team the following spring -- only to be cut in preseason camp. Undeterred, he walked on again the following year, and this is the finance major's second season on the squad.
Thomas back
Backup tailback Carlton Thomas, suspended from last week's game because of an undisclosed violation of team rules, said he learned from the experience.
"You're a young man; you make mistakes. But you've got to learn from your mistakes, and I feel like I have," he said Monday. "When you make a mistake, you can't continuously just sulk about it."
Thomas declined to say what his violation was. "A mistake is a mistake," he said, "and I've moved on."
He is eligible to play against South Carolina.
Etc.
The Bulldogs' Labor Day schedule included weightlifting, meetings and practice. Rain and lightning forced the team into its indoor multi-purpose facility about halfway through practice. . . . Outside linebacker Jarvis Jones said a friend told him that, by unofficial count, his helmet came off 23 times during the Boise State game. "That was the helmet that came with the [Nike Pro Combat] uniform, so I won't be having that problem any more," Jones said. . . . Georgia's latest depth chart, posted Monday, still lists Richard Samuel as the No. 1 tailback and Isaiah Crowell as No. 2. . . . Bacarri Rambo, back from a one-game suspension, and Sanders Commings are listed co-No. 1 at free safety. . . . The home opener is sold out, marking the 64th consecutive sellout in Sanford Stadium. Tickets are available for two UGA home games this season because of returns from the visiting team's allotment: Sept. 17 against Coastal Carolina and Nov. 5 against New Mexico State.
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