Practice update: UGA TBs Isaiah Crowell, Richard Samuel battle injuries
Richard Samuel, in the dreaded green jersey, the latest Georgia tailback to be sidelined with injury. (Photo by Kyle Sears/DawgTime.com)
ATHENS – Despite appearances, Georgia running backs coach Bryan McClendon said the Bulldogs’ tailback situation is not dire as one might think.
McClendon opened Saturday morning’s practice with just one scholarship tailback that will be available for the season opener against No. 7 Boise State in three weeks. The top two players at the position – Isaiah Crowell (groin) and Richard Samuel (thigh) – were both sidelined with injuries.
McClendon said that’s no cause for concern.
“It dwindles down in camp. That’s normal, especially with [running backs],” McClendon said. “Those guys take a beating every practice in pads, it doesn’t matter if it’s just shoulder pads and helmets, shells or full pads, those guys are getting hit on. You want to minimize it when you can.”
As for Crowell, McClendon said he returned later in the practice and was able to participate in practice. Samuel remained on the sidelines with a strained leg muscle from yesterday’s full–contact work.
Fortunately for the Bulldogs, Brandon Harton, who was awarded a scholarship on Thursday night, returned from missing three days with a concussion. Junior Carlton Thomas was also on hand but he is suspended for the first game.
“If we had to play a game tomorrow I’d be confident both of those guys could step out there and do a darn good job,” McClendon said. “But you don’t want them practicing banged up because you know they’re going to have to play banged up.”
Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo wasn’t concerned about either player falling too far behind on installation. With school out they are not limited by the 20-hour-per-week rules they’re able to spend extra time with them. UGA classes begin on Monday, however.
Amarlo Herrera sidelined
Freshman inside linebacker Amarlo Herrera had his right arm in a sling and was unable to practice Saturday morning. But linebackers coach Kirk Olivadotti said it looks worse than it is.
“He’s fine,” Olivadotti said. “He just dinged his shoulder a little bit. He’ll be back.”
Herrera, a 6-foot-2, 231-pound graduate of North Clayton High, has bee one of the bright young stars of camp. He’s backing up Alec Ogletree at Mo linebacker.
“He’s progressing well,” Olivadotti said. “He’s finding new stuff to screw up every day and that’s a good thing. As long as he’s not screwing up the same stuff he’ll be fine.”
‘Tree’ laying wood
Speaking of Alec Ogletree, aka “Tree,” Olivadotti said his transition to inside linebacker from safety is going remarkably well.
“Tree can uncoil on some people, he really can,” Olivadotti said. “He has really good vision in zone coverage and recognizes routes real well and he can lay you out, quite frankly.”
Practice update
Georgia wrapped up its “camp” portion of preseason practice on Saturday with its traditional “watermelon cutting” after its second practice of the day.
The Bulldogs used to do that to signify the end of a couple of weeks worth of two-a-days. But the NCAA now requires a five-day acclimation period and days off between any twice-a-day work, so logistically it’s not possible to get in as many before school begins. So Georgia had only two true two-a-days. UGA’s fall class begin on Monday.
The Bulldogs will now have a day off Sunday after enduring 12 practices in 10 days without a break. They’ll also move to afternoon practicing after holding the majority of them in the relative cool of the morning.
Etc. . . .
Defensive end Derrick Lott is now back to participating fully. He had been out of action since July after cutting his leg in a scooter accident at the football complex. . . . The official UGA jerseys fans will be able to buy this season are 1, 7, 11, 18 and 34, UGA’s Alan Thomas confirmed. . . . Former Georgia All-American David Pollack is leaving his job as a sport talk radio host at 790 The Zone (WQXI-AM) to work full time for ESPN. Earlier this summer it was announced that Pollack would be joining ESPN’s Game Day show as a part-time contributor.
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180 comments Add your comment
East Repeat
August 13th, 2011
7:01 pm
No pleasure in seeing UGA players go down with injuries, just commenting on the fact they are down with injury. And yes, UGA does have a much better football tradition and history than USC, but which program appears to be on the rise and which on the decline? I don’t see how UGA fans think Jenkins having problems with heat, WE and CK leaving (ok, CK was no loss), and now the other top RB’s on the team having preseason injuries is, well, O.K. Looks pretty bad to me, but what do I know I am just a dumb SC football fan, who follows SEC and UGA closely. After all, I live here now for the last 35 years!
Carl Spackler
August 13th, 2011
7:02 pm
There is a need for concern…there are only 29 days that the coaches have to work with these guys and make them a unit, so an injury to any potential starter/contributor is news worthy…perhaps it wouldn’t be an area of concern if it was someone that has a few years in the system under their belts, but a freshman, or someone moving to another position/role could have a larger impact than some may think…keep giving the updates Chip, some of us appreciate them
East Repeat
August 13th, 2011
7:03 pm
All SC football info is behind a stinking pay sight on The State paper. AJC knows they have a good thing here, keep it up Chip and AJC!
AltamahaDawg
August 13th, 2011
7:06 pm
Yea, yea you were. And now being called out, you are backing away from it.
I’ll say this about confidence. I am absolutely positive that UGA will be dramaticaly better than they were last year. I don’t see how any SC fand can say that. And if that was one of your better team in a long time , they beat one our worst team in a long time, and not by much.
CDAWG
August 13th, 2011
7:06 pm
BroncoBlue, please tell your team to take it easy on us, man we are just hoping we can stay on the field with the mighty Boise State smurfs!
Rural Education
August 13th, 2011
7:10 pm
I hate Pollack, what a homer. No need to ever watch Game Day now.
LogicalUS
August 13th, 2011
7:15 pm
Look no amount of sugarcoatidevng and spin can hide that this is devastating for UGA.
If either of these two backs were Jr or Sr upperclassmen, missing a couple of days of reps would be less of an ordeal but these two can not afford to miss even an hour of reps since they are already behind the 8-ball.
Most fans simply fail to understand that it isn’t the taking the handoff and scooting around the corner which is the problem but ALL the other responsibilities required of the RB which are pointing to an epic fail. This means that UGA is going to have to go vanilla in pass protection schemes and it is virtually guaranteed now that they are going to have to keep the TE in for blocking on most passing plays to protect Murray. Mark this post down so UGA fans can understand later why Charles seemed “to disappear” in these two big games.
And all players understand that you can “walk-thru” responsibilities all you want but nothing is the same as making the decisions in real time, especially for kids unaccustomed to live college football. The UGA running game just took another downgrade from its already perilous position.
AltamahaDawg
August 13th, 2011
7:18 pm
SC’s “rise” was completely defined by Ga and FL having abnormally down years. Perhaps this year they can still take advantage of that. But as far as trends going forward, Which is more prabably: Sc will rise to heights never before seen, or Ga and Fl will just return to normal? And TN for that matter.
AltamahaDawg
August 13th, 2011
7:20 pm
epic fail??
Really Britney?
CHDawg
August 13th, 2011
7:21 pm
Chicken Legs, you could be right because Lattimore is a great back; Spurrier a great coach, and the team is doing much better, but here are few reasons why you could be wrong:
1. UGA is a much better team this year. SC was Murray’s first SEC game; CMB was very conservative and predictable because he didn’t want to overload him. The team was a bit demoralized from the sudden loss of Green a couple of weeks earlier. It was CTGs first SEC game and the defense was inexperienced. Our D will be much tougher with a much better NG, and better players at most positions.
2. You only beat us 16-7 leaky beak! And Ealey, the back you said we needed so badly, fumbled in the SC end zone while racking up his 75 yds on the ground. SC whipped the Dawgs, but it wasn’t a blowout.
3. Two words–Dream Team. Freshmen can make a difference, and you should know this my clucking apprentice. We may be the ones crowing this year– Isaiah Crowing that is!
4. This one ain’t in the Chicken Coop! It’s in the Dawg House! Can’t hurt our chances!
5. The attitude is much better in the Dawg house this year rooster booster! The team has a new determination and this is coming from the coaching staff.
6. I think it will probably be a great game, but stop your clucking…read and you will learn, son! Good luck.
AltamahaDawg
August 13th, 2011
7:23 pm
So glad to have somebody in here that understand what most fans do not, so we can “mark it down” as the wisdom it was.
So basically, you are saying that it’s better to practice than not?
What a nerd you are.
AltamahaDawg
August 13th, 2011
7:26 pm
If he really knew UGA football as much as he claims, he would realize that the entire fist half was defined by our DBs having very little confidence of where to be, so SC took advantage of that is several key passing downs. I believe they will know where to be this year.
gadawg
August 13th, 2011
7:26 pm
Destin Dawg, what an idiot you are play hurt I would like to see your ass out there with a groin injury.
LogicalUS
August 13th, 2011
7:34 pm
“absolutely positive that UGA will be dramaticaly better than they were last year. I don’t see how any SC fand can say that”
I don’t know how anyone could make such nonsense claims except for the ultimate homerism.
Looking at SC’s roster, they certainly seem to have plenty of reason for believing that they will be drastically better this season. They return a senior QB, return a sophomore Top 5 nationally RB, and a Top 10 Junior WR. I looked at their roster and was surprised that their backup to the Lattimore kid is their leading rusher from two year ago.
Their roster on Defense looks like it is returning a ton of Jr and Sr players at virtually every position, a ton of whom appeared to have been thrown to the wolves as freshmen and sophomores two years ago?
So I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t expect them to be hugely better this season as these nationally respected players, like the Lattimore kid and the Jeffrey WR become sophomores and juniors?
Looking at UGA, exactly what other than blind faith would lead anyone to expect UGA to be vastly improved since they lost both their top WRs, currently have only a walk-on RB healthy enough to practice while waiting on a freshmen and a former LB to heal, and has a defense which lost it most productive players from a year ago and has undergone a major reshuffle of players to other positions and is absolutely depending on a JUCO NG to finally enable it to stop the run?
It is okay to hope that UGA may work things out and be okay, but only foolish blind homerism would have any UGA talking smack to other teams fans at this point and making crazy boast of “knowing this and absolutely positive about that”. Silly.
AltamahaDawg
August 13th, 2011
7:34 pm
or a hangnail.
PLAY hurt sure. Practice 3 weeks before the seaon hurt….why?
dawgster
August 13th, 2011
7:38 pm
@TampaGator…Understood…My point was us true dawg fans are just as passionate and sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees…not sure if that line works but the best I could come up with right now….Also, didn’t say you weren’t a dawg fan, but sometimes it does appear you lump us all together as having visions of splender….Theres no doubt we always expect the best in preseason and as of late we haven’t lived up to alot of fans expectations…Maybe this year….I think you know me well enough by now to know that I don’t make predictions or say things about other teams that I will have to take back later…I am hopeful about our turn around this year, and don’t have a clue what will happen in Jax…As you said, too many times the dawgs(fans) thought we would win in Jax only to be disappointed…Each year is different and seems that something new happens, but bottom line is we are not getting it done….I believe it has truly become a mind thing and we have got to turn that thinking around…Winning probably would do that….
Also, I try to stay away from the shopping trips to the mall….nothing good ever comes out of that as far as the pocketbook is concerned…As always great to read your comments and although we may not always agree I respect your comments and opinions…I will promise you this however…If the dawgs should prevail in Jax this year, I won’t come on here throw out a bunch of “told you so’s”…I’ll just be proud of the dawgs and the coaching staff and try to win our other games…And if we do win it will be because we were the better team that day as has been the case in all of your recent victories…Could we have won some of these the past few seasons, perhaps without a key injury here or there, but the same could be said for the gators also, Had Tebow not been banged up in a few years back that game could have been different, but who knows, I’ll take the win and will accept the losses when I have too…Looking for a great season and I truly think the dawgs will be a very good team by the time we meet in Jax…Of course as always key injuries at certain positions will determine what type of season we both have in my opinion….go dawgs…And for the record the gators are not my second favorite team….Not sure who would be, I have always been a dawg since I was a boy and the first time being on the field…go dawgs
CHDawg
August 13th, 2011
7:46 pm
I guess the reason all of these nerds come to post the Tokyo Rose messages is that they are scared? Our freshmen RB pulls a groin and ESPN puts on the lead story page for CFB! They don’t cover their teams like that….must be sad.
East Repeat
August 13th, 2011
7:47 pm
The beat down of UGA by SC last year was on the field, not on the scoreboard. It was domination by Lattimore, pure and simple. Home field always helps, and that may be enough to get UGA the win this year. But read LogicalUS’s post, sounds logical to me. See you in the stands Sept 10th!
nash
August 13th, 2011
7:48 pm
If the dawgs do run he 4-2-5 I think that Big Mike Throrton would get some run at the d tackle spot with Washington and, Lott seeing time at the ends spots. Don’t forget that T.J is listed as ready to play also
gadawg
August 13th, 2011
7:49 pm
Rural Education, your stupidity really shows where did you get your education which is not much in a one horse rinky dink school. You damn right Pollack is a home he played at the University of Georgia num nutts. You must be either a Tech fan or an Alabama fan. Go back to school and get some more education you truly need it.
AltamahaDawg
August 13th, 2011
7:50 pm
For a guy who thinks it crazy “knowing this or absolutely that”, your post was pretty filled with a lot of that.
Mad Dog One
August 13th, 2011
7:51 pm
Fellow DAWG fans I have had some bad things to say about boise state’s schedual. Just for s$@ts & giggles I looked it up. Man I don’t know if we could win 3 or 4 games with that kind of sech. in case you havent seen it they play the following. GEORGIA, Toledo,Tulsa,Nevada,Fresno State,Colorado State,Air Force,UNLV,TCU,San Diego State,Wyoming & New Mexico if this don’t put the fear of GOD in you I don’t know what will. They have a good team for who they play.
AltamahaDawg
August 13th, 2011
7:57 pm
Logical is making the assumption that no new players, and no difference in situations will make SC dramatically better, but dismisses that an All-SEC QB going through his second year will be. And none of the changes at UGA will work. And disputes the almost universallly accepted improvement of any program in the second year of a new scheme on defense.
A tech fan wanting SC to be better, Imagine.
CHDawg
August 13th, 2011
8:00 pm
I didn’t see much logic. Samuel has played the position a lot, and will be back soon probably. He is an upperclassman. He was the TB in 09 when UGA beat SC, leaky beak! The injuries cause all of the TBs to step up and get reps with the ones–making them better. They will all improve. Crowell finished the practice. He probably hasn’t missed much so far. If he stays hurt next week, it could slow him down, but we will have to wait and see. Malcome’s injury concerns me. He is a tremendous talent in my view, and this thing has nagged him a long time. Samuel and Crowell will likely be back pretty quickly. Lattimore is a great back; we’ll see on the 10th.
CHDawg
August 13th, 2011
8:01 pm
Alt, exactly! “A tech fan wanting SC to be better…”
AltamahaDawg
August 13th, 2011
8:13 pm
BTW, SC defense was actually worse last year than 2009 and lost about half the starters. Why is that spelling such a definite improvement ?
Lower half of the SEC in pretty much all offensive stats (including rushing), and lost some starters on it’s line. Everybody I have read have said its going to be difficult for latty and jeffreys to beat their performances last year. Garcia?? well. How does that spell major improvement?
Spurrier is just going to count on everybody else being down, and hope that the 3 conference losses happen to be the right ones, one more time before he retires.
AltamahaDawg
August 13th, 2011
8:41 pm
Yea CH, and lecturing somebody about talking smack. Which I was far from doing. A tech troll, on a Georgia Blog, inviting himself into a discussion between SEC rivals. Is that rich or what?
I think after so long, they just get where they can pretend they can’t even see how pitiful that is anymore.
Silver Dawg
August 13th, 2011
9:12 pm
Been reading the blogs here for a while and would like to contribute. I AM a dawg fan and probably like many dawg fans have concerns for the first two games. Just read an article in the ‘Bleacher Report’ regarding their defensive line. Some of them were approaching 300 pounds and were spoken highly of.
TampaGator
August 13th, 2011
9:34 pm
For all you Dawg fans out there……..for reading about Boise State’s team.
There is a really good review of the Boise State team on http://www.gatorsports.com right now….if you can tolerate being on a Gator site for a bit. Just ignore all the pro Gator stores in the site and read with an open mind about Boise.
The paper is giving an overview of the top 25 teams in the country, and the Boise team is review on the site today.
THEY HAVE A VERY GOOD TEAM…….and as i wrote recently on here, their success this year depends on the play of their young receivers and defensive backs. They are strong on all the other areas….and very experienced, especially on both lines of scrimmage and running back. Read and learn…….Boise will be a big challenge for the Dawgs in the Dome.
TampaGator
August 13th, 2011
9:36 pm
…..also an interesting story on the recent commit of the RB, Henry, to the Dawgs. He has been a Gator fan all his life…..and he may just have made an emotional commit on his visit to Athens. Far from over with him for 2013.
SugarHillDawg
August 13th, 2011
9:59 pm
Keelen Moore.meet Alec Ogletree. Tree is gonna split his teeth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LogicalUS
August 13th, 2011
10:00 pm
“A tech troll, on a Georgia Blog, inviting himself into a discussion between SEC rivals”
Your assumptions about being a tech fan would be about the same as your delusions about the “divine right” that UGA will be better because of your obvious wish and need that the have to be better. YOU BE WRONG AGAIN.
Sorry that your lack of ego can’t handle a dose of reality into this discussion board about college football and the UGA football program. Perhaps you should stick to the media guide where every UGA player certified Pro-bowler in waiting.
You are guaranteed to be one of the idiot UGA fans who end up screaming at the poor players in October when they do not measure up to YOUR delusional expectations. I will simply lump you in with the homers who simply lack the maturity to look at this team with an ounce of honesty.
Good lord is every poster here a twelve year old juvenile?
SugarHillDawg
August 13th, 2011
10:00 pm
Sorry about the misspellling, Kelly Anne.
LogicalUS
August 13th, 2011
10:16 pm
“THEY HAVE A VERY GOOD TEAM”
Impossible, haven’t you heard that every other team in American is guaranteed by “divine right” to be horrid and on a downward path to mediocrity except for the almighty UGA Bulldogs.
UGA is 4-deep at every position and they are so awesome that they are only practicing with walk-on RBs in sympathy to the poor other schools who are on their schedule this season.
Now has to how this juggernaut of 4-deep supermen went 6-7 last season is unmentionable and by God you are a troll for even posing the question.
Just know that these UGA homers require that it be different and no lack of returning experience or talent has any bearing on the actual ability of these poor kids to live up to the delusional expectations.
RamboDog
August 13th, 2011
10:25 pm
LogicalUS
August 13th, 2011
10:16 pm
You are a Tech LOSER hiding behind a keyboard. Go play with your room mate, he is a heavy sleeper, and he likes it so he will pretend to be asleep either way!!
Pound Dawg
August 13th, 2011
10:38 pm
South Carolina is overrated—they have a good offense, but garcia is inconsistent and Grantham’s D will put pressure on him all day. Their D is good not great. Ga can upset SC in Athens—book it.
sowegauga
August 13th, 2011
10:53 pm
Chip- Even if Grantham was excited about Samuel at LB (which I honestly doubt), it doesn’t change my main point. RS began ‘09 as a starter at RB, played his way to the bench about half way through the season, was moved to D, and is now somehow considered likely to start against Boise.
So what I posted stands: I’ve never seen or heard of a player climbing from the bottom of the RB depth chart to the top by practicing at LB for a year and a half.
Spike 80DF
August 13th, 2011
11:00 pm
I think Grantham needs to run that 4-4-5 defense that UT was trying to unveil last year at LSU….I hear it’s really effective!
Pulpwud Smiff
August 13th, 2011
11:11 pm
Dis Crow-ell ain’t haf as gud ass I wuz.
hariest dawg
August 13th, 2011
11:34 pm
Boise State want’s no part of Richard Samuel. He makes the ground shake when he runs. Dawgs on Top!
bwkdawg
August 14th, 2011
12:19 am
Two dates I can’t wait for is Sept 4 ( WON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT BRONCOS ON THE BLOG) and Sept 11 (U KNOW WHY).
RED DOG 77
August 14th, 2011
2:52 am
No worries here about IC and RS……..They’ll be fine, and so will “Boo” after they put him on the shelf for a spell. Oh, and by the way, “Boo” has been around a while, not missing out on the play-book……..kid already knows it. I would suspect by September 3rd we will have a full stable of healthy RBs………Me? unlike many on this site I don’t have a crystal ball, but 2011 seems to have a chemistry this BULLDOG hasn’t seen in three years………three more weeks!………gonna be fun……………GATA!!!!!………….RED
Mary Marr
August 14th, 2011
8:30 am
Dawgturds are so stupid.
Wet Willie...keep on smiling
August 14th, 2011
8:49 am
Talking season is about to end and that is sad for your dawg fans because you “do it so well”. Do yourself a favor and start early working on funds for the buyout for Mark. I still am amazed to see UGA fans trash talk the Gator folks…really funny
Silver Dawg
August 14th, 2011
10:10 am
@Tampa Gator
I checked out the link you posted (although I did get a little queasy with all the Gator stuff there). Boise strength = D line. Although I think our O line can at least match them, leaving at worst a draw. Their weakness = receiving corp. Our strength = pass defense. I think that’s where we will get them. Receivers covered = sacks (oversimplified). I don’t think they will run with the Tree there.
GR82BAG8R
August 14th, 2011
12:44 pm
Georgia has the talent to be a very good team this year. No one will know how good until after the first two games. Beat Boise State and lose to USCe, and it will be a long year. Lose to Boise State, but beat USCe, and there will be hope. Win both, and you could play for the SEC Championship. Lose both and Richt is gone.
kb
August 14th, 2011
1:03 pm
Anyone who bases their logic on what happened at Georgia 2010 and thinks it will carry over into 2011 is in for a rude awakening. It would be huge to win the first two but to think if going 1-1 or 0-2 will dictate the rest of the season or Mark Richts future is very misguided.
LHarding Dawg
August 14th, 2011
1:16 pm
kb – There are many people on this blog that are either misguided or very young.
kb
August 14th, 2011
1:16 pm
@east repeat, S. Carolina goes back to being south Carolina , or should i say continues to being south carolina losing 5 or 6 games again this year. Talk smack when carolina plays in a major bowl game, wins a conference championship or finishes in the top 10, something in they’ve been unable to do in the programs pathetic history. 15-43 -2 vs Georgia.
Hazy Daisy
August 14th, 2011
1:22 pm
Crowell will be an even bigger bust than Ealey or King, you can see the writing on the wall.