There seems to be two schools of thought concerning the Bulldogs’ recent spate of injuries. Some see the loss of starting left tackle Trinton Sturdivant for the season due to a knee injury as a catastrophic blow that most certainly will put an end to the team’s national championship aspirations, let alone their hope of going undefeated. According to others, Sturdivant’s injury, as well as the injury of reserve safety Quintin Banks, barely registers. The truth is somewhere in between.
Sturdivant started all 13 games for Georgia a year ago as a true freshman after enrolling in time for Spring practice. A U.S. Army All-American out of Wadesboro, N.C., his high-school film caught the eye of coaches from Penn State to USC. He was very dependable as a freshman, flawlessly protecting Matthew Stafford’s blind side for much of the season. With him out of the lineup, there will obviously be a drop off. That does not mean, however, that the team has to drop off. In backup Josh Davis and starting right tackle Kiante Tripp the Bulldogs have options in protecting Stafford’s blind side. They can also move a guard out to left tackle. But the most likely scenario is that the Bulldogs may depend a little more on the run than they anticipated. With running backs like Knowshon Moreno, Caleb King and Richard Samuel, that is not a bad thing.
Banks may be out of action for six weeks due to a MCL tear, meaning he could miss the first four games of the season. The Bulldogs open with Georgia Southern and Central Michigan, which are both capable passing teams. The Chippewas feature the dual-threat Dan LeFevour at quarterback, but both Central Michigan and the Eagles likely will not have the defensive personnel to keep Georgia from outscoring them. The Bulldogs visit South Carolina for the third game of the season and Arizona State for the fourth. By then, the coaches will know more about reserve safeties John Knox, Baccarri Rambo, Nick Williams and Makiri Pugh. All four are freshmen, with Knox being a redshirt. Safety depth was a concern of head coach Mark Richt going into Fall camp, so the team really can not afford an injury to starters CJ Byrd or Reshad Jones. Still, with the backups’ talent level and the fact that they will have several weeks to prepare, the situation seems manageable.
No. 1 Georgia has suffered some big injuries before playing a single down this season, but that is just par for the course. Already, USC quarterback Mark Sanchez has suffered a dislocated kneecap and Florida tight end Cornelius Ingram has been lost for the season with a torn ACL, so Georgia is not the only top team to have been hit with the injury bug. Teams are ranked in college football not only based on their starting 22, but for their depth and coaches as well. Georgia has enough of the last two to weather these storms.
Butler can be reached at jbutler@scoreatl.com.
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