Chris Conley has been in a green jersey nearly the entire preseason, but he was in a red one this past Saturday and he’ll be in a when Georgia plays at South Carolina on Sept. 13, and that’s the important thing.
Conley, a senior flanker and the Bulldogs’ leading receiver, played this past Saturday despite what he described as a “subluxation” of his right shoulder. He suffered the injury relatively early in preseason camp in a blocking drill. He was limited to two catches for 14 yards in season opener against Clemson, but he said that had nothing to do with the injury.
“I don’t think it was limiting me in any way on Saturday,” Conley said. “I can still run, I can still catch the ball and I can still block. In some moments, it does bother me. It’s a process. It’s a day-by-day thing that (doctors and trainers) are checking out. But it’s not limiting me in any way.”
Georgia certainly needs everything it can get from Conley. The Bulldogs were able to overwhelm Clemson with their running game, rolling up 328 yards including 198 from tailback Todd Gurley. Conversely, they attempted only 26 passes and finished with 131 yards passing, the team’s lowest total since throwing for only 114 in a loss at Vanderbilt last season.
As defense’s adjust to Georgia’s run-first mentality, the Bulldogs can expect more opportunities to open up in the passing game outside and over the top.
“Ultimately that does set up the passing game when you start getting nosy safeties,” Conley said. “When you see the way we ran the ball this past game, you have no choice but to stack the box or risk letting No. 3 go wild. When that happens you’re putting the challenge on the receivers to get open and on the quarterback to get the ball there. We welcome that.”
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