Georgia coach Mark Richt continued to play coy with the Bulldogs’ tailback situation on the eve of the SEC Championship game.
Richt made all tailbacks off limits to reporters seeking interviews this week. After being asked about the position Wednesday, Richt said he was “tired of talking about the tailbacks” and declared that he would not answer any more questions about the position until after Saturday’s game.
But as is the custom of the SEC Championship game, there was a news conference held with the two participating head coaches on Friday at the Georgia Dome. On cue, a Louisiana reporter asked Richt how he expected his running back rotation to look.
“I’m not telling,” Richt said, laughing at the question. “I haven’t really talked much about the tailbacks for this game. I don’t know why, I just got tired of talking about it. I didn’t tell our local media guys, so we’ll wait until the game.”
Ever since Richt’s vow of silence, rampant speculation swirled on fan forums and in social media that the Bulldogs’ leading rusher is suspended for Saturday’s game. Richt was never asked that question directly, but Isaiah Crowell is on Georgia’s dress-out list for the game. He also was among the Bulldogs present for a 15-minute walk-through session Friday at the Georgia Dome.
Watching from the sideline as the players milled about on the field Friday, Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said he wasn’t aware of anything that would keep Crowell from playing in Saturday’s game. “I’d know, wouldn’t I?” he asked rhetorically.
But Richt wasn’t about to reveal what his rotation might look like. He has started four different players at tailback this season. The latest was redshirt freshman Ken Malcome against Georgia Tech on Saturday.
“We’ll wait, we’ll wait,” Richt said, still laughing. “Let’s call it a game-time decision. How about that?”
Richt staying put
UGA president Michael Adams on Thursday said he expected Richt to be the Bulldogs’ football coach next season. As a result, Richt spent a lot of time fielding questions from out-of-town media Friday about his future at Georgia.
Richt made it crystal clear he doesn’t plan to go anywhere.
“As long as I’m healthy, as long as Georgia wants me, that’s kind of how I feel today,” Richt said. “I don’t know. Life can change things. When I came to Georgia, my goal was for Georgia to be the last stop for me. I left a place that was awesome, Florida State, and Coach [Bobby] Bowden is one of the most influential men in my life other than my father. To leave there it had to be a special place, and it had to be a place where I wanted to spend the rest of my career.
“I didn’t want to go somewhere thinking it was a steppingstone to go somewhere else. It’s too hard emotionally for me to recruit guys and look them in the eye and say I’m going to be your coach and knowing deep down, maybe, if something better comes along I’m leaving. I just didn’t ever want to operate that way. So Georgia’s my home and my family’s home.”
Storybook season
Georgia’s John Jenkins said his journey from Meriden, Conn., to Perkinson, Miss., to Athens, to starting nose guard in the SEC Championship game, is “like a story book.”
“Honestly, it’s like a movie, when you see one of those sports movies where somebody gets hit with adversity and they’ve got a theme song like Rocky,” the 350-pound junior-college transfer said this week. “In his first match he always gets beat then he comes back somehow and the music’s going in the background. It’s like that.”
Jenkins’ preseason camp began with him passing out because of the extreme heat. He didn’t start the first five games of the season, but has been solidified as the starter since Game 6.
Etc.
Richt wasn’t certain that tailback Richard Samuel or defensive end DeAngelo Tyson will be available to play Saturday, though both will be dressed out. “Whether or not they play, I don’t know, Richt said. “If they do play, they’ll be gutting it out.” ... LSU safety Eric Reid is considered questionable with a bruised quadriceps. ... An injured soldier named Noah Galloway will perform the pregame coin toss.
About the Author
