Georgia won without its primary tailback, plus several others. South Carolina, contrarily, could not win without its main man toting the rock. The upshot: UGA has a fab first Saturday of November with, for all intents, a doubleheader sweep that puts the SEC East title in its hairy paws.
Hours before the Gamecocks got axed by Arkansas 44-28, the Bulldogs pulverized New Mexico State 63-16 despite been forced into emergency tryouts for tailbacks by volunteers from the student body.
Well, not really, but the Dawgs had to cope with some adversity to win their seventh straight and put the 0-2 start into the deep distance.
With Isaiah Crowell and two sidekicks suspended for failing a test -- not sociology or biology, but drug -- and Richard Samuel injured, coach Mark Richt summoned two players who have barely required showers in previous games. Brandon Harton -- who, at 5-foot-6 and 174 pounds is built like a pre-med major -- combined for 161 yards in 28 carries. And, only one fumble -- on Harton's first run.
Deep deep into the record books on Kyle Karempelis. Has any walk-on at Tailback U ever gained 63 yards?
The start at tailback actually went to a cormerback, Branden Smith, who made the most of it with 58 yards in two runs. Even with this mix-and--match, UGA busted out with six touchdowns in the second quarter alone , and quarterback Aaron Murray was able to take off the pads at halftime and start thinking about Auburn next week.
The win had no bearing on UGA leap-frogging the Gamecocks. What did the (Getting) Old Ball Coach running out of solutions for his crippled offense -- the season-long loss of injured tailback Marcus Lattimore, a situation complicated by the departure of coddled quarterback Stephen Garcia, who ran out of fifth chances and got bounced from the team.
Georgia picked the right week to be forced to ask, "OK, anyone wanna play tailback?" The punished players are back for Auburn, assuming they managed to avoid campus parties.
All is well, for the moment, in Bulldog Nation.
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