ATHENS — Georgia’s situation on the offensive line turned precarious Wednesday. Starting right guard Chris Burnette went down in practice with a knee injury, and coach Mark Richt revealed afterward that offensive lineman Kolton Houston currently is ineligible with an “NCAA issue.”
Burnette sustained a knee injury during individual work early in practice. Richt initially characterized the injury as “a tweak,” but the nature and extent will not be known until Thursday.
“Right this second, we don’t think it’s anything serious,” Richt said. “We’ll see if it swells and see how he does tomorrow. Hopefully it doesn’t swell a lot.”
Richt said it was the same knee in Burnette injured last season that forced him to sit out as a redshirt. That was a patella injury.
Compounding the seriousness of the situation is former starting left guard Kenarious Gates returned to practice only Tuesday from an injured ankle that has kept him sidelined since the first half of the first game of the season. Sophomore Dallas Lee has been starting at left guard.
“Gates did finish out the practice,” Richt said hopefully. “That helps. Between those guys hopefully we’ll have one of them ready, if not both.”
But what if neither is available?
“Don’t ask me that me that question,” Richt said with a feigned laugh. “I don’t know what would happen.”
Most likely, he allowed, the Bulldogs would slide senior center Ben Jones to right guard and start freshman David Andrews at center. Andrews got his first action Saturday against Coastal Carolina.
As for Houston, Wednesday was the first time it was revealed that he was sidelined for any reason other than “coach’s decision.” The 6-foot-5, 291-pound redshirt freshman was competing for playing time at both guard and tackle in preseason practice, but has not played in the Bulldogs’ first three games.
“It’s an NCAA issue,” Richt said. “It’s just an individual case that we’re not going to get into details about. It’s NCAA-related. We think it’s going to cleared up. We just don’t know when.”
Numerous open records requests for documents regarding NCAA investigations filed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution over the past few months have not uncovered any information stating that Houston’s eligibility was in question.
Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity declined comment Wednesday night, saying the matter was protected by federal privacy laws for students.
Houston has obtained legal counsel and is fighting the situation.
Mitchell becomes main target
With Marlon Brown expected to be sidelined for a second consecutive week with an ankle injury, freshman Malcolm Mitchell is scheduled to get his third start in four games at split end. But the 6-foot-1, 184-pound speedster likely would play extensively anyway.
“Since camp started he’s shown his ability to make plays,” offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said. “We knew he was a guy we were going to try to get the ball to.”
Mitchell is the Bulldogs’ leading receiver with 14 catches for 159 yards and has two touchdowns. And it’s not all just natural ability.
“He’s worked extremely hard at perfecting his craft,” Bobo said. “He’s a competitor. He’s not scared; he doesn’t flinch. We saw that early on when we put him in competitive situations in practice, and he’s been the same way in games. I think he’ll only get better and be a big-play receiver for us.”
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