Starting receiver Malcolm Mitchell will miss the remainder of the season due to an ACL tear in his right knee that he suffered during Georgia’s 38-35 loss to Clemson on Saturday. Head coach Mark Richt confirmed the injury Sunday in a press conference.
“Malcolm unfortunately has an ACL injury that needs to be repaired,” said Richt. “I’m not sure when we’ll do the surgery, but it will be sometime in the near future. What we thought happened did happen. It was confirmed with an MRI today.”
Mitchell injured his knee during a touchdown celebration after Todd Gurley’s 75-yard touchdown run, according Richt.
“He actually hurt it in the exuberance of the first touchdown of the game for us when he went to congratulate his teammate,” Richt said. “I think he jumped up and chest bumped or whatever, and he landed in a bad way and that’s when he knew something had happened.”
A medical redshirt is a possibility for the Valdosta native since he is eligible to apply for one. Richt and his staff dealt with similar instances like this last season when Michael Bennett and Marlon Brown were both lost for the year due to ACL tears. Fortunately, Georgia has enough quality depth at wide receiver, including sophomore Justin Scott-Wesley, Rantavious Wooten, Chris Conley, and JUCO transfer Jonathan Rumph, to possibly overcome the absence of the Dawgs leading receiver. Bennett could be a solution, considering the junior has starting experience and played the majority of the Clemson game in Mitchell’s position.
Last year, it was Bennett who tore his ACL in the week leading up to the South Carolina game, and the Dawgs will need to make relatively quick adjustments with the Gamecocks visiting Athens this upcoming weekend. South Carolina handed the Bulldog’s their biggest loss of the season last year in a 35-7 SEC East route. Kickoff is slated for 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and will be broadcasted on ESPN.
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