Georgia hopes to have Todd Gurley’s eligibility restored in time to play Florida in its next game, Nov. 1. Whether the star tailback will be available is up to the NCAA, which received a reinstatement request from UGA on Wednesday.
Gurley was suspended Oct. 9, when the school launched an investigation into allegations he accepted money from sports-memorabilia dealers in exchange for autographing merchandise. If true, that would be a violation of NCAA rules regarding improper benefits for student-athletes and result in his immediate ineligibility.
UGA on Wednesday applied for Gurley’s reinstatement and turned over the results of its 13-day investigation to the NCAA’s student-athlete reinstatement committee. Now it simply has to wait to hear back from that committee to find out whether missing two games will be sufficient punishment.
Sources have said that the process typically takes about 24 hours, but no one at Georgia seemed to know for sure.
“We can’t control (the NCAA) and when they get us information,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “We’re hoping we find out as soon as possible. We’d like to know if in fact Todd is going to play against Florida. We’d like to know that early enough to prepare for that. We’re hoping for a relatively quick turnaround here, but I have no idea how long it will take.”
Gurley issued his first statement regarding his alleged improprieties Wednesday and took “full responsibility for the mistakes.”
“I want to thank the university, coaches, teammates, and the Bulldog Nation for their patience and support,” Gurley said. “I take full responsibility for the mistakes I made, and I can’t thank the university, my coaches, and teammates enough for supporting me throughout this process. I’m looking forward to getting back on the field with my teammates.”
Freshman Nick Chubb filled in while Gurley and two other tailbacks were sidelined the past two games, and the No. 9 Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1 SEC) won both, 34-0 and 45-32, respectively, against Missouri and Arkansas on the road. Chubb rushed for 345 yards and three touchdowns in those games.
Both Gurley and fellow junior tailback Keith Marshall were back at practice Wednesday and could give Georgia’s high-scoring, SEC-leading offense more ammunition for the annual game against the Gators (3-3, 2-3) in Jacksonville. Freshman Sony Michel (broken shoulder blade) has yet to return to practice.
“We want to play somebody at their best, and certainly Todd is one of the best players in country,” Florida coach Will Muschamp said of Gurley. “He’ll be fresh, I’d imagine that.”
While Richt would like to get an answer on Gurley from the NCAA as soon as possible, he said it wouldn’t change the game plan for Florida either way. The Bulldogs currently lead the SEC in rushing at 265.9 yards per game and are averaging 43 rushing attempts per contest. The run-first mentality will be the trend whether it’s Chubb or Gurley in the backfield.
“Our plan really and truly won’t change whether Todd plays or not,” Richt said. “It’s really just how many reps to give him as you’re preparing. A week like this week, it’s a little like spring ball or camp in that we really re-emphasize fundamentals. We don’t do an awful lot of things scheme-wise. So the repetitions for who we think is going to play doesn’t come into play as much this week as it does when you’re inserting the plan and get a lot of repetition with the guys that are going to play. That’s when it’s important and that will be next week.”
Gurley’s troubles started when a memorabilia dealer contacted several national media outlets alleging that the Bulldogs’ Heisman Trophy candidate been paid “thousands of dollars” to sign memorabilia. Bryan Allen sent emails to ESPN and other media outlets claiming to have a video of Gurley doing a private autograph signing.
Allen hired Atlanta criminal defense attorney Ed Garland, who has declined comment when contacted by the AJC.
Word that Allen was “shopping a story” about Gurley eventually got back to UGA. After Gurley was interviewed by the school compliance officers Oct. 9, Georgia declared him ineligible and informed the NCAA of its impending investigation. UGA senior administrators, including school President Jere Morehead, met with NCAA eligibility staff while in Indianapolis on another enforcement matter Oct. 15, and the two parties have remained in communication throughout.
“I think everybody, all parties, were satisfied with how everything went,” Richt said Wednesday. “We wanted to be thorough and do things on Todd’s timing, too. We just wanted to make sure when we presented something it was correct and not rushed. We just wanted to be sure we did things properly, and that’s what we did.”
