Another UGA tailback out; Carlton Thomas suspended at least one game
Georgia tailback Carlton Thomas, the Bulldogs leading returning rusher from last season, will miss the Boise State game due to suspension for a team rules violation. (AJC photo by Bob Andres/bandres@ajc.com)
Athens — There’s another reason Georgia felt the need to move Richard Samuel to tailback. Carlton Thomas is suspended for at least the first game of the season.
The rising junior from Frostproof, Fla., violated team rules back in the spring, three persons familiar with the situation confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. As per Georgia Athletic Association student-athlete policy, Thomas has to sit out 10 percent of scheduled games this season.
The Bulldogs play 12 games this season, including the season opener against Top-10-ranked Boise State in the Georgia Dome. Most recently that has resulted in one-game suspensions, though Georgia Athletic Director Greg McGarity declined to specify.
“If we have any announcements regarding suspensions, they’ll be made at the appropriate time,” said McGarity, declining further comment.
Had Georgia not moved Samuel from linebacker to running back, it would have had only redshirt freshman Ken Malcome and true freshman Isaiah Crowell on scholarship at tailback. Neither, of course, has played in a college game.
Washaun Ealey and Caleb King, Georgia’s top two rushers each of the last two seasons, each have left the program since the end of spring practice.
Thomas (5-foot-7, 175 pounds) has played in 17 games the last two seasons, including one start last season against Colorado. He is the Bulldogs’ leading returning rusher from last season with 272 yards and two touchdowns.
Indications are Thomas’ infraction occurred before Georgia’s announcement this summer that King would be ineligible this season. Interviewed this past Friday, Thomas talked about serving as a leader as the most experienced member of Georgia’s backfield.
“I pretty much take it as I’m the back with the most experience, the most game-time experience, the most knowledge at the position,” Thomas said. “So I take it as a challenge to lead the group. That’s what I try to do every day. I try to be positive, I try to be motivated and try to give them somebody whose going to push them as much as they push me. We’re trying to get the best out of every guy.”
Thomas’s suspension continues an alarming rate of attrition for the running backs under the watch of position coach Bryan McClendon. Ealey was indefinitely suspended and eventually granted an unconditional release due to mutual discontent and King was unable to meet the NCAA’s satisfactory progress rule for fifth-year seniors. Now Thomas has run afoul of team policy.
No specific reason was given for Thomas’ suspension. A 10 percent-competition suspension can be applied for missing excessive academic appointments, arrests or flunking a drug tests. No record of arrests could be found.
Last Thursday, Georgia moved Samuel linebacker back to tailback, where he played his first two seasons. Samuel started six games as a sophomore before falling behind Ealey and King on the depth chart. He moved to linebacker and redshirted last season after a minor knee injury.
|– Chip Towers
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423 comments Add your comment
ATL Sports Fan
July 18th, 2011
1:04 pm
GA Gator. He ran the ball for 94 yards and had a TD. Plus he had a 87 yard touchdown rull called back for a holding penalty. I saw the game he wasn’t shut down as you say. His team fell behind early due to bad play by the QB (think he fumbled 2 or 3 times and threw a INT). You just as well as I do know when you get behind by a TD or more you have to threw the ball a little more than you want.
chickenman
July 18th, 2011
1:05 pm
ya why the heck are we suspending kids for a game that if you lose could begin the FIRE campaign
Sam the Sham
July 18th, 2011
1:05 pm
UGA is the new University of Miami. I keep waiting for the 2live crew to show up.
Dumb@$$ in the Valley
July 18th, 2011
1:07 pm
Bottom feeders???? hahahahahahaha ur a clown. I cant wait for NCAA to bang down your door and rip away the NC you bought with SCAM.
We had one bad year, oh nooooo now we suck, lets all stop watching.
Seriously do us all a favor and jump off a bridge.
ga gator
July 18th, 2011
1:07 pm
ATL Sports Fan, my point is again, he may be great, even the next Hershel but when he was counted on most he wasn’t and time will tell. You CANNOT compare what he did against 2A schools to the daily grind of the SEC.
Michael Vick Nike Bi**
July 18th, 2011
1:08 pm
I am getting so sick and tired of this with Georgia! Its the same bull crap every year and what ends up happening is we finish 7-5 and look bad in the process. Unfortunately this all falls on Mark Richt! No I am not bashing him, but when was the last time we had an off season with very minimnal distractions. We are down to literally no running backs, 5 offensive lineman, no proven recievers, a hope for a better defense, questionable offensive coaching, and a fan base that tolerates more from their team than any other so called major program would! This will be Richts DOOM Year! He is done after this year and its sad to see players getting suspended, leaving the team, failing out of school, transferring, etc. That is a sign that something is not right here.
ATL Sports Fan
July 18th, 2011
1:08 pm
chickenman, he has averaged 1 to 2 carries a game since he has been on campus. It’s not that big of a deal. People need to relax about the offensive line. They are not a patch together line. They are very expierenced just lack game playing depth.
Sam the Sham, really Miami and 2 Live Crew all because a kid is on academic probabtion. WOW, its not like the kid was robbing liquor stores or stealing rims and shoes.
Dumb@$$ in the Valley
July 18th, 2011
1:08 pm
Sam the Sham
July 18th, 2011
1:05 pm
UGA is the new University of Miami. I keep waiting for the 2live crew to show up.
You are dumb@$$ of the day!!!
Miami recruits from prison. Not one player arrested. Man haters get dumber by the day.
DawginLex
July 18th, 2011
1:09 pm
Douche in the valley
You said “You lost AJ Green last year and we saw how that worked out.”
I haven’t predicted anything but reality for UGA in 2011.
I have said 8-4 should be attainable.
I have said we will lose to SC
9-3 would be glorious and 10-2 is miracleville.
I’m not going to spend my day arguing with an idiot who I have argued with before under a different blog handle. funny you know all aobut my posts for the last 10 months but you are a newbie who really is an old troll who posts under multiple handles.
You are officially on ignore.
Here comes the part now where you call me gump
Joey
July 18th, 2011
1:10 pm
“Chit…Half of Bobo’s playbook just went out the window….”
*********************************************
Surely Bobo can draw up 4 more plays!
Tiger in the Valley
July 18th, 2011
1:10 pm
Dumb@$$ in the Valley
July 18th, 2011
1:07 pm
Bottom feeders???? hahahahahahaha ur a clown. I cant wait for NCAA to bang down your door and rip away the NC you bought with SCAM.
We had one bad year, oh nooooo now we suck, lets all stop watching.
Seriously do us all a favor and jump off a bridge.
One bad year…..and what bowls did you play in the past 3 years….enough said…..Shreveport and Memphis……keep the hits coming…..you lost along time ago.
The funny thing is the bridge down here on West Point lake that I just climbed up on has CMR and two coaches ahead of me. I will wait my turn to jump.
RedandBlackDAWG
July 18th, 2011
1:10 pm
Theevilone,
This is a violation of team rules. Doesn’t have anything to do with the NCAA. I think you would best be served by worrying about your own schools problems, which might be bigger than team rules violations.
If $312 cost tech, what will $185,000 cost auburn
July 18th, 2011
1:10 pm
Not worried about our offensive backfield. That position is meaningless unless the OL does their job. We could have Knowshon back there and it wont matter with our current OL. The BIG(!) question is the defensive backfield. I mean last year, they were running an NFL scheme and couldnt even defend a wheel route!
Jimmy Crack
July 18th, 2011
1:11 pm
Georgia also has a rule that states if a player gets assistance in classes, i.e. tutoring, note transcription, transportation to and from classes, hand holding and/or thumb re-sucking, then that player is academically eligible to STAY OUT OF TROUBLE YOU BRAIN DEAD MANATEE!
Hey, Bryan McClendon, you feeling a little INEPT lately? Feel like you’re “stealing” money?
ga gator
July 18th, 2011
1:11 pm
DawginLex, amen brother. Both our schools have too much unknown to be able to predict a championship. I do however like your chances this year better than ours unless Charlie Weis does a miracle on Brantley.
chuck
July 18th, 2011
1:12 pm
This creates a bigger problem in that we are going to be forced to limit the full contact scrimmages. I have bad memories of what happened the last time we reduced contact in scrimmages.
ATL Sports Fan
July 18th, 2011
1:12 pm
ga gator, I never said he as going to come in and start and get most of the carries. Heck Richt never said that. He said if he comes in and does what he needs to do or we ask him to do. He has a chance to carry the ball in the Dome. You say he didn’t step up his play when they needed him to? He rushed for 94 yards with a TD and had another almost 90 called back due to penalty. If you add the yards that were called back due to penalties he rushes for close to 215 yards and 2 TD’s. He can’t help that his line was called for holding calls or not enough men on the line etc.
you guys make me sick
July 18th, 2011
1:12 pm
Seriously, suspend him for the weaker teams? pick and choose how the punishment is meted out? you guys make me sick. it’s all about the winning, isn’t it? Personal accountability, morals, maturity, etc and so on don’t count in the bullpupnation do they? you whine about the number of players that get in trouble, say it’s all marks fault, and then you whine even louder when they get caught and are expected to serve their punishment. sick sick sick.
Stinger
July 18th, 2011
1:13 pm
Put me in coach!!!!!!!!
mike
July 18th, 2011
1:13 pm
UGA will go 8-4 at best. Probably 7-5
securtiy dawg
July 18th, 2011
1:13 pm
Enter your comments here
DawginLex
July 18th, 2011
1:14 pm
ga gator
I’m sorry but I don’t see it with Brantley
I’m starting to believe that this entire Georgia senior class is filled with idiots.
Might not be a bad idea for Richt and Muschamp to just play all the freshmen and take your lumps.
LogicalUS
July 18th, 2011
1:15 pm
“Crowell is going to top Lattimore’s year, mark it.”
Good lord, just hope this delusion doesn’t lead to fans screaming at Crowell come October when he doesn’t live up to these delusions.
That Lattimore kid is a once in a decade type kid, he apparently arrived at SC as one of the top 5 strongest players on the team. Looking at his history he had started and played at Byrnes High in SC since the 9th grade. Byrnes is a national school who played and beat schools nationwide from Glades in FL, to Evangel Christian, to schools from Ohio to California while Lattimore was in school. In addition they play in the top division of SC football which has produced more D1 prospects that any outside of FL. Gaffney, Spartanburg, Dorman, Summerville(AJ Green played here) and others are just some of the schools which comprise Byrnes opponents.
It is unfair to compare the Crowell kid to Lattimore.
DawginLex
July 18th, 2011
1:16 pm
Lattimore came in totally in shape and ready to rock
Crowell is puking at the workouts
There is no comparison
I hope IC turns out to be really good but Samuel was moved for a reason.
Tiger in the Valley
July 18th, 2011
1:16 pm
Dawg lex…
I have no ill will toward you, I just look at you as one of those guys who cannot see how bad the entire situation at UGA has gotten, while every other team in the SEC has upgraded their coaching staffs, recruiting and facilities while UGA has just recently made an upgrade to their facilities while standing pat on coaches with the exception of Grantham( his third choice).
I know you probably go to one or two games a year and sit their all day long and bark like some of your other UGA redneck fans think is cool while everyone( even MSU with their obnoxious cowbells) thinks is just ignorant. Barking….Barking….why not sniff each other…?
But have a good day and keep living in the fantasy world Marky Mark created years ago with a decent coaching staff and great recruits left by Donnan.
Contractor
July 18th, 2011
1:17 pm
Oh well, this is not a reason to panic. I have plenty of faith that Malcolm, Crowell, and Samuel will be ready for Boise State. These guys know what is needed of them, and they will produce a body in the backfield to help take the strain off of Murray. All this boo hooing and whining is amateur and there is not one reason for anyone to get upset. Did y’all really expect Caleb King to run up and down the field on anyone? Cause I sure as hell didn’t. His knowledge of the playbook will be missed, but that is all. Samuel and Malcolm have had a couple years in the program and understand. Crowell will have a couple of months to focus and do what he does best, just making something happen.
Born2Bark
July 18th, 2011
1:18 pm
Haven’t seen anyone mention the obvious advantage of Samuel coming over from LB. After playing LB for a year he knows exactly what linebackers do and can read blitzes, which makes him way more valuable in protection, plus the guy is one of the strongest and fastest on the team. Kid will get better with every rep and has the body to take a beating. I hope I.C is the real deal too, but everyone calling for him to cary the load from day 1 need to wake up.
ga gator
July 18th, 2011
1:18 pm
Might not be a bad idea for Richt and Muschamp to just play all the freshmen and take your lumps.
The only hope with Brantley was Meyer tried to make him run Tebow’s offense and it failed and Brantley looked horrible. He has all the physical tools to play well but I am afraid his confidence was permenently ruined. On the other hand I would agree if he falters, Driskel is a tremendous talent and could use next year to learn on the job.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
July 18th, 2011
1:18 pm
If UGA has problems on the perimeter finding Murray a consistent WR to get the ball to then the lack of a strong running game will be very evident. This is the year where having AJ back would have been a godsend.
No downfield passing threat, means the box will be crowded and then it puts that much more pressure on a already suspect OL. The key is getting our passing game off to a fast start. This will be the year UGA must Pass the ball to set up the Run.
RUMORMILL
July 18th, 2011
1:18 pm
BIG WHOOPTY DOO. HE’LL SIT ONE OF THE 7 CUPCAKE GAMES. NO WAY HE SITS AT BOISE OR USC. NO WAY. RICHT DOESN’T HAVE THE COURAGE. SITTING HIM 3 OR 4 GAMES IN AGAINST A NO BODY TEACHES THE KID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AND ONLY HELPS DEVELOPE YOUNGER PLAYERS, SO IT REALISTICALLY WORKS IN RICHTS ADVANTAGE. NO ONE IS IMPRESSED BY THIS “DISCIPLINE.” GET REAL.
Really!?
July 18th, 2011
1:20 pm
What would solve this problem is if uga just went to a run and shoot like Hawaii and Texas Tech used to. Just throw it 50 times a game and let your qb roll up the heisman type yards. Then you won’t need rbs.
How can these guys continue to hurt the H. Walker legacy!!??
the dude
July 18th, 2011
1:21 pm
HOW STUPID CAN THESE ATHLETES BE? LET THEM ALL TRANSFER TO ga tech WHERE THEY BELONG.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
July 18th, 2011
1:21 pm
Also Lattimore came in as a Freshman at Byrnes and was making plays. That Byrnes team lead by Willie Korn placed 7-8 guys at D-1 schools his Frosh year. Lattimore at 14 was a stud on the field. Almost impossible to compare them.
The next Hurshell Walka
July 18th, 2011
1:22 pm
Thomas is just another cancer in the program. Rid him immediately
Beast from the East
July 18th, 2011
1:22 pm
DawginLex,
Brantley for Heisman!!!! LOL!
Dumb@$$ in the Valley
July 18th, 2011
1:23 pm
hahahahaha so we have an 8 win season then 6-7. you act as if Auburn has won NC every year. but in reality you didnt do anything before this NC since 04. so…….. I wouldnt be too high on yourself, escpecially with no SCAM this year. Hahahaha you will be lucky to finish dead last in West this year.
Dumb@$$ in the Valley
July 18th, 2011
1:23 pm
hahahahaha so we have an 8 win season then 6-7. you act as if Auburn has won NC every year. but in reality you didnt do anything before this NC since 04. so…….. I wouldnt be too high on yourself, escpecially with no SCAM this year. Hahahaha you will be lucky to not finish dead last in West this year.
DawginLex
July 18th, 2011
1:23 pm
BeastFromTheEastEatenByDawg
LOL LOL LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Get ready, it’s coming!!!!!!!!!!!
uga 92
July 18th, 2011
1:24 pm
If Carlton is out for the first game, who will Bobo run up the middle when it’s 3rd and 15 and we are on our own 30?
frannie mae
July 18th, 2011
1:24 pm
Like I said UGA is in BIG BIG trouble!
Delusional fans
July 18th, 2011
1:24 pm
If things are as bad as some of these anti-UGA posters say, why over a 10 year period, is Florida the only team with a winning record against Richt.
Based on Richt’s 10 year track record, and average of almost 10 wins a year, the 6 win season in 2010 was an anomaly. He is much more likely, statistically, to return to the 10 win season, than to have another clunker.
And to the USC poster, asking if a Georgia fan would bet the house UGA would beat Boise and SC, I would ask would you be willing to put your house on the market betting SC beats UGA? Would be a stupid bet either way for a rational person.
Titleist88
July 18th, 2011
1:25 pm
TheEvilOne – You won a national championship with a quarterback who STOLE A COACHES laptop, painted it, and when confronted – threw it out the dorm window. And you are laughing? Laughing?
Contractor
July 18th, 2011
1:25 pm
OH, and this is just another event that will get Crowell on the field from Day 1, which is what EVERYONE wanted. So what is the problem here? I don’t remember recruiting him so he could redshirt and play two years and head to the NFL like Knowshon.
LogicalUS
July 18th, 2011
1:25 pm
“knows exactly what linebackers do and can read blitzes”
Unfortunately it is more important for him to be KNOW the blocking calls from the UGA offense and especially his specific role in blitz pick up not what the linebacker are doing.
It doesn’t matter that he can read the blitz if he rushes to pick up the wrong guy who is already accounted far by a fullback or TE and leaves his assigned man a clear shot at the QB.
There is a reason why freshmen take so long to get their blocking assignments and it isn’t not knowing a blitz in coming.
Having a new OL coach isn’t going to help in this case either.
Field Goal Jesus is the answer
July 18th, 2011
1:25 pm
Boise State 52 UGA 9
Beast from the East
July 18th, 2011
1:26 pm
DawginLexEatenByGator!
Has a nice ring to it, huh?
@Frannie Mae
July 18th, 2011
1:27 pm
You wish!
Beast from the East
July 18th, 2011
1:27 pm
ga gator,
Heard anything definite on Demps?
A fair question to all Richt lovers
July 18th, 2011
1:27 pm
Where is the leadership that everyone talks about from the HC?
Redneck Bill from Trailerville
July 18th, 2011
1:27 pm
Well, all I want to know is if our opponents plan to use KY jelly. Heck, there won’t even be a cloud of dust, much less three yards, when we get the ball. Our backfield is thinner than the stuff you make from three-day-old coffee grounds. I got a 17 year old that plays running back pretty good, but I want him to go to college, not UGA. He’s a smart guy.
So I plan on closing my eyes on running plays and looking up after the play is over. This Murray kid better throw for about 21,000 yards this season. It’s the only way we’re going to move the ball.