Isaiah Crowell: Once again, he’s the ‘missing man’ for UGA
Isaiah Crowell is about to be hugged after scoring against Tennessee. (AP photo)
Georgia wanted Isaiah Crowell so much it committed a secondary violation to get him. It had 10 incumbent Bulldogs array themselves, in uniform, in an offensive set, and it had Crowell, who was on a recruiting visit, take his place in the backfield. This, Georgia was saying, is where you can be next season. (It was also a breach of byzantine NCAA rules.)
And, at least for part of the time, that’s where Crowell has been this season — ensconced as Georgia’s No. 1 tailback. He leads the team in rushing and has had three 100-yard games. He has also gone missing during games so often we’ve all taken to wondering what’s really going on. Is he taking himself out of the game because he’s tired? Does he get injured that often? Are the coaches holding him back? If so, why?
After Crowell didn’t play in the first quarter against Vanderbilt, Mark Richt told a halftime interviewer the freshman had been withheld “because we love him.” (”Undisclosed disciplinary reasons” were the real explanation, apparently.) On Tuesday, after Richt’s regular media briefing had concluded, Georgia announced that Crowell was one of three tailbacks — third-stringer Carlton Thomas and Ken Malcome are the other two — who have been suspended for Saturday’s game against New Mexico State. No specific reason was given.
Thus will the Bulldogs be minus four tailbacks Saturday: Richard Samuel was hurt against Florida and has undergone ankle surgery that will sideline him for the rest of the regular season. But the greater issue is Crowell, of whom so much was expected. To be fair, he has come close to justifying the massive hype that preceded him, but the stop-and-start nature of his season — now you see him; now you don’t — has led some to wonder if he’ll be a Bulldog long.
Some cast Isaiah Crowell as the recruit who was going to save Richt’s job, and clearly the freshman has done his part to lift the Bulldogs to 6-2 and second place in the SEC East. But there have been warning signs over those eight games that make us ask: Will the “missing man” turn out to be more trouble than he’s worth?
By Mark Bradley
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479 comments Add your comment
Hairy Dawg
November 2nd, 2011
8:13 am
If they just smoking weed like rumors says then they don’t needs to be punished. Everybody should smoke some weed to celebrate in Jax for putting Judas Muschump and wounded lizzard Gaytors out of misery. Coaches should of had big party for winning Cocktail Party and players should get to party to. They just enjoying win and party for that and not deserving suspensoins for being college players partying.
Go Dawgs!
Jay
November 2nd, 2011
8:14 am
Just wait til Groh shuts down the stoners. uga football is clemson light. This time it will be total destruction
gt 45 ga 14
Hairy Dawg
November 2nd, 2011
8:15 am
Weed aint that bad and not deserving punished!
Studawg
November 2nd, 2011
8:18 am
Who cares! We just beat Florida! They were just smoking a little reefer! Its new Mexico State! They’ll be back! Stupid yes, but not the end of the world.
Whiskey Breath
November 2nd, 2011
8:19 am
This is cruel and harsh punishment. To hold these young men out on the biggest game of the year
is too harsh. Just because they had a celebration puff, doesn’t mean Richt should be so harsh in his punishment. CMR is a taskmaster! At least they will be fresh for a lesser opponent, Auburn.
AltamahaDawg
November 2nd, 2011
8:25 am
So you think weed gave him some unfair advantage in the Florida game? Yea, that exactly how it works. You lost, stop crying.
dean
November 2nd, 2011
8:25 am
I agree with the guy who said last night that the next punishment should be an azz whooping by the seniors. If that doesn’t work, so long.
Dontavius Supremo
November 2nd, 2011
8:30 am
I would bench all three for the balance of the year. That said, there is still a big problem at UGA with football athletes. Who is incharge?? As a UGA grad and big fan, I woulld rather go 0-10 than have to put up with this criminal activity year after year. Enough, Coach Richt.
Bunk Belue
November 2nd, 2011
8:31 am
Aw come on, these guys did nothing wrong! It’s all just a conspiracy to bring these boys down! Heck, everyone knows Coach Richt is a great guy running a great program!
GT
November 2nd, 2011
8:37 am
Columbus, Georgia, if I were Georgia I would stay away from Columbus running backs. Wasn’t that where the recruits came from that rifled the lockers of Georgia players during the G day game. I can’t understand why Richt can’t see these guys coming. He needs to read Micheal Lewis’s Money Ball.
Spurrier comes up in his handling of Garcia. In the middle of the season with a divisional race on the line he tosses Garcia off the team. We heard more in this paper about the treatment of a newspaper reporter in Columbia than the move with Garcia. The spin was Spurrier was unpredictable and paranoid, but a lot of fun to watch. Steve Spurrier’s record speaks for itself same as Paul Johnson’s. They get no love don’t ask for it, but the schools they coach for get their money’s worth.
GT
November 2nd, 2011
8:43 am
GTBob I am with you. Georgia Tech, now that is what we are trying to prevent in college football. If we had a 100 GTs what would the world look like a bunch of U of Miamis, back in the Jimmy Johnson days? One thing I will give Miami they could win with thugs, as Georgia is proving it ain’t that easy to do.
Call it like it is
November 2nd, 2011
8:46 am
Just business as usual, you take young studs who wouldnt have a prayer of getting into college without their physical skills, insert them into SEC football, they think their Gods, they party as if they are, then when they get caught, slap on the wrist, then all is good the next week.
Kick them off the team, and the NCAA should have a standing rule they cant play football at any NCAA school! Its just that easy. Then give their scholarship to some well deserving you man or woman who would use the money to get a real degree and do good for society.
JuJu Beans
November 2nd, 2011
8:48 am
These three may or may not have failed drug tests. I don’t know or care. If this were still a free country, then we wouldn’t allow our citizens to be forced to submit to urinalysis on demand – but that’s another issue altogether. Coaches and employers understood when a player or employee had substance abuse problems before these tests were even invented. Behavior should trigger disciplinary action – not drug test results.
What is relevant in this situation is that these three didn’t likely fall prey to random tests last Thursday. Something happened to trigger this action. While a positive drug test result may provide the University with cover for suspending the players, the behavior that triggered the tests is the actual reason for the suspensions – and the coaching staff didn’t need to wait for a chemical analysis to know that. True or not, it now appears that the coaching staff took advantage of the delay in receiving the test results to allow these players to compete in the Florida game.
One bit of “good” news: Georgia is not the only SEC football program that recruits athletes of poor character. Arkansas wide receiver Marquel Wade (a recruit from Florida) has been suspended one game by the Southeastern Conference for an illegal hit during Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt. Wade was suspended for violating NCAA rules governing hitting an opponent trying to field a kick and targeting a player with the crown of his helmet. The freshman was thrown out of the game, a 31-28 Arkansas win, after drilling Vanderbilt punt returner Jonathan Krause, who had called for a fair catch.
Kudos to the SEC administration and the officiating crew. They had the right reaction this time. The offending player was ejected immediately, and the administration didn’t feel the need to appear politically correct by also suspending the victim, as they did in the Geathers incident that occurred in the Vandy vs. Georgia game.
Buzz2011
November 2nd, 2011
8:50 am
Thanks Mark: A sobering truth revealed!!!
Does that sound familiar Mark??
DC
November 2nd, 2011
8:50 am
Whiskey Breath you are an idiot…
@chiefdawg where did you get that information?
Also, I am amazed at all these UGA fans acting like this is no big deal…if this happened at any other school you guys would get the pitch forks against them…but since its UGA its “no big deal”..”they probably needed the rest too”…”i kissed my sister”..
DC
November 2nd, 2011
8:51 am
test
GT
November 2nd, 2011
8:52 am
Karempelis may just surprise you. He started three or four years for Wesleyan and looked good in games that had Ealey and Marshall playing against him. Tough kid, every college team could use some like him. Maybe a light will go on in Richt’s head if he looks good Saturday.
typical GA fan
November 2nd, 2011
8:55 am
“One bit of “good” news: Georgia is not the only SEC football program that recruits athletes of poor character.”
And that is “good” news???? Dayum.
J. Sanks
November 2nd, 2011
8:56 am
We now have the complete list of courses that Isaiah Crowell is taking for the fall semester. It’s a pretty ambitious schedule for the lad, but I’m sure he’ll be up to it.
1. Know Your ABCs – Part I (A-M)
2. Fun With Dick and Jane – The Coloring Book
3. Life Studies: Put the Mojo on Your Teammates While Emptying Their Lockers
4. Law 101 – Know Your Miranda Rights
5. Dress for Success: The Inspiring True Story of the Fabled Red Panties
6. Arithmetic 1 – Multiplying by One
7. Psychology: Getting Along With Your Cellmate
8. How to Pee into the Cup Without Making a Mess
The GA way
November 2nd, 2011
8:58 am
“…One bit of “good” news: Georgia is not the only SEC football program that recruits athletes of poor character…”
And THIS is “good” news?????
GT
November 2nd, 2011
9:03 am
I think these thugs tee off on Vandy like schoolyard bullies. It brings the worse out in a thug to see players that want more than 15 minutes of frame. I can remember talking to a player from Princeton about playing UNLV in the NCAA March Madness. They should make a movie of that team and that game. The cultures were so diverse and the thugs were trying to intimidate the Princeton team that was concentrating so hard to their coaches that at one point the Princeton guard tells the ranting UNLV playing shut the f.. up I can’t hear my coach and the UNLV guy actually said excuse me, I am sorry.
J. Sanks
November 2nd, 2011
9:04 am
There hasn’t been an ethical, intelligent coach at UGA since Wallace Butts.
Phony Saint Mark certainly doesn’t qualify. He’s the sleaziest coach in the SEC, and he’ll never come close to winning another conference championship.
Dawg Whisperer
November 2nd, 2011
9:05 am
TampaGator…its clear to me that you know little, if anything, about Christianity. Jesus is forgiveness but expects the sinner to repent. He told Peter to forgive someone 70×7 when Peter (the apostle) asked how many times he should forgive.
Coach Richt combines coaching with compassion. He does it in his personal life as well as his coaching. He dedicates time and money for others less fortunate because of his Chrisitan faith as does Tebow.
My suggestion to you is that you stick with something that you actually know about.
JuJu Beans
November 2nd, 2011
9:07 am
@The GA way
I’m afraid that is about as good as it gets nowadays. Georgia fans, under the Mark Richt regime, has been relegated to hoping that idiots on other football teams will get into even worse trouble than their own “problem children” in order to deflect attention away from Athens and that other teams will lose games so that they can back into a hollow SEC East Division Championship in spite of having beaten nobody with a winning record.
Thank Goodness Alabama injured Florida’s quarterback and drug test results were delayed so that the Dawgs didn’t have to suffer through yet another embarrassing loss in Jax this year. Too bad that meaningless victory only guarantees the continuation of the CMR regime at UGA.
Dawg Whisperer
November 2nd, 2011
9:08 am
My comments directed to TampaGator apply to rest of you who pretend that you know coach Richt or feel capable of appraising his Chrisitan character.
B'dawg
November 2nd, 2011
9:10 am
Bring on KEITH MARSHALL. Enough said.
JuJu Beans
November 2nd, 2011
9:10 am
Dawg Whisperer,
I like that. The Cecil Newton defense, eh? Works for Auburn!
Technically Correct
November 2nd, 2011
9:13 am
Eighteen-year-old, celebrated football recruits not only think – they expect – to be above the law and Crowell seems to be no different. Personally, I like Mark Richt, but as long as college coaches have to stretch or break the rules to sign players like Crowell, or have to find innovative ways to set themselves apart and impress teenagers, like singing “Happy Birthday” to recruits or, like other coaches, flying onto high school practice fields in helicopters, things will never change. It is the sad reality of big-time college football that some coaches and programs will lower themselves and compromise their own integrity to sign spoiled and undisciplined, but super-talented, 10-star kids with the hope that they will provide enough of an edge on the gridiron to outweigh the damage they may do to the college and their teammates. How refreshing it is to see the occasional coach who has “had it” and cuts a troublemaker loose…
Rise and Fall of the 3rd Richt
November 2nd, 2011
9:14 am
the real No. 1 is Isaiah Johnson at GT. Not this drug induced coward, some 5 star dream you morons drink the Kool aid over again and again
Dawg Whisperer
November 2nd, 2011
9:14 am
Judge not, lest you be judged, Mr. Beans.
Rise and Fall of the 3rd Richt
November 2nd, 2011
9:15 am
and if GT beats UGA you self righteous hypocrites on here singing Richts praises will be calling for his head just like you did after you lost to Central FL
GT
November 2nd, 2011
9:15 am
Pastor Eddie Long would like me to ask has anyone seen his Rolex watch.
JuJu Beans
November 2nd, 2011
9:16 am
It’s okay Dawg Whisperer. I’ve got my “get out of jail free” card right here in my back pocket. See… I can claim religion just as well as can anyone else. Like you said, you can’t prove anything.
Dawg Whisperer
November 2nd, 2011
9:20 am
It’s not about proving anything to anyone except to the One that matters, JuJu.
JPG
November 2nd, 2011
9:21 am
I am Gator fan, so I want to say congratulations to the Dawgs on a well earned win down at the cocktail party. I don’t think the suspensions are that big of a deal, kids do dumb things all of the time. I think in the bigger picture, you just hope Crowell isn’t going down a bad path that will end up with him not realizing his full potential…..
Dawg Whisperer
November 2nd, 2011
9:22 am
It’s been pleasant but I’ve got work to do.
Apostle
November 2nd, 2011
9:23 am
These pampered players need a swift kick in the backside and let them know the world doesn’t revolve around them.They’ve let their teammates and fans down.
Ron Swanson
November 2nd, 2011
9:23 am
Is UGA or Tech on probation? Who had their signature 2009 win against their “rival” vacated. Please advise…
kent
November 2nd, 2011
9:24 am
boos will be boos
JuJu Beans
November 2nd, 2011
9:29 am
Run away and “work”. Tell the FSM I said hello.
Gump
November 2nd, 2011
9:30 am
Looks like UGA still recruits dumb thugs. Still a bunch of cancers in this program.
Bob
November 2nd, 2011
9:31 am
Crowell has only 4 TD’s this year is so pathetic.
GT
November 2nd, 2011
9:33 am
Shakespeare couldn’t beat these stories of UGA football. They keep killing the fatted calf for another recruit and then another and then another. At least make a different mistake. Richt read Money Ball and you will see how schools like TCU have overcome all the negatives they have to win. Pretend you are not Georgia, don’t take the best looking girl to the dance and have her dancing with every guy there using you as her ride. Try someone who really wants to be there with you.
starring William Conrad as Frank Cannon
November 2nd, 2011
9:34 am
Pass another big ole fat spliff for these thugs.
Clean House
November 2nd, 2011
9:38 am
Mark Richt should go ahead and kick these thugs off the team now.
norris
November 2nd, 2011
9:39 am
For heavens sake! Get a grip people! It’s not an NCAA violation when the crap isn’t illegal! (you can buy this crap at gas stations!) It is a UGA policy! Georgia and Kentucky are the only teams in the SEC who suspend players for their first failed test! It was stupid and they are paying the price. If the test was administered on Thursday, why would you suspend them for a game on Saturday? Please use logic folks!
Mark
November 2nd, 2011
9:41 am
The only reason Richt suspended for the NM State game is because they’ve already played Coastal Carolina.
Teriyaki Dawg
November 2nd, 2011
9:42 am
If Crowell could read these posts maybe he would work harder…….screw it, lets all go to Hooters
GT Dude
November 2nd, 2011
9:43 am
The real question is not what these players did, it is when did they do it and when did the coaches / administration know about it? Could it have been known before the UF game?
The is where the sleeze factor comes into play!
Can anyone say Jim Tressel
GT
November 2nd, 2011
9:44 am
And for Tech probation. It is like a consummated marriage that was annulled. Nine month later something happens that proves reality while the records show it could have never happened. Who are we fooling. CPJ put a team on the field that was the best team in 2009 in the ACC. He is doing it again this year under probation. The man’s about winning. I have no idea if Johnson is Jewish or Christian or what, all I know is if Georgia had a coach like him they would have won a lot more than the ACC and if 300 dollars separated them from their claim on a national championship in the minds of some so be it because it happened whether you want to admit it or not. You can have your records give me moments like last Saturday night in Grant Field or in Jacksonville with Vince Dooley.