Practice report: TB Isaiah Crowell in line to get start in opener
Walking wounded: NG John Jenkins (66) and SE Marlon Brown couldn't practice Tuesday due to injuries. (Photo by Guy Prokay/DawgTime.com)
ATHENS – Isaiah Crowell doesn’t know whether he will start at tailback in Georgia’s season opener against Boise State, but he probably won’t know what to do with himself if he doesn’t.
“I haven’t ever not started,” Crowell revealed Tuesday after practice.
And when he says ever, he means it.
The true freshman from Columbus said he started as a safety on defense in his first game as a 6-year-old little leaguer with the Eastway Cherokees. By Game 2, “Coach Buckner” (Crowell couldn’t recall his first name) came to his senses and moved Crowell to running back. And Crowell has been toting the rock with the first team ever since.
Of course, Georgia coach Mark Richt famously hinted on national signing day that Crowell could start his first game. “I wouldn’t be shocked to see him running that rock in the Dome against Boise State on the opening play if he does what he’s supposed to do,” Richt said last February.
At this point it seems likely that could happen. With just 10 days remaining before the Bulldogs face the No. 5-ranked Broncos in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta, Crowell is solidly the No.1 tailback. Never mind that it’s by default.
Last year’s leading rushers Washaun Ealey and Caleb King were unable to stay with the team and junior Carlton Thomas is suspended forf the opener. And as of Tuesday evening, converted tailback Richard Samuel is still slowed with a strained quadriceps muscle and Crowell the majority of snaps with the No. 1 unit ahead of Ken Malcome and Brandon Harton.
Nevertheless, Crowell insists he’s neither hopeful nor expectant when it comes to taking the first snap on offense on Sept. 3.
“Starting is not a big deal to me,” he said. “I just want to do whatever I can do to help my team win.”
At this point, Crowell’s significant contribution is a more of a need than a wish for the Bulldogs. And a first-year starter in a first game against a Top 10 opponent is problematic.
“He just hasn’t experienced enough of the situations that are going to come down the pipe,” Richt said. “Has he had a chance to see every blitz against every protection that he needs to understand? The answer is no. In theory, you take mental reps and try to give him as many situations as possible. We haven’t given him every single scenario yet. But before these next 10 days are over, we hope to make sure he’s got enough to feel comfortable.
“The good news is he’s picking up things quickly and he doesn’t shy away from any kind of contact.”
For his part, Crowell appears to be holding cool and steady. He said he gets nervous before games but not the “throw-up-in-the-trash-can” kind of nervous. And claims he is largely unconcerned with how he does in his first game.
“Doing whatever I can do, going 100 percent every play and helping my team win, that’s my goal,” Crowell said. “Really nothing about yards or touchdowns. I’d like to have a lot of yards or a lot of touchdowns. But if it doesn’t happen I just want my team to come out on top and win.”
Here’s a link to video of Crowell’s entire interview Tuesday at DawgTime.com.
Let the games begin
Georgia will take its first major step toward game preparation on Wednesday when it holds a “dress rehearsal practice game” at Sanford Stadium. Richt said the workout will be 90-95 percent scout work, with the No. 1 offense and defense going against scout teams simulating Boise State and a lot of scripted situations.
“We’ll play a half of football,”Richt said. “We’ll get our pregame ready, go into a coin toss and we’ll actually name captains by then.”
The Bulldogs have an ideal situation for simulating Boise State’s offense. Left-handed quarterback Michael Tamburo – a transfer from Boise State – will simulate the Broncos’ heralded, left-handed quarterback Kellen Moore.
Georgia practiced for only an hour Tuesday in shorts and helmets to rest up for Wednesday’s work.
Injury report
Two new players were among the injured players dressed in green jerseys on Tuesday. Fullback Bruce Figgins was sidelined with “a pulled muscle” that Richt described as “not too serious.” Also, tailback Carlton Thomas, who is already out for the opener due to suspension, was sidelined to give a chronic ankle injury rest. . . . Starting split end Marlon Brown (ankle) and backup nose guard John Jenkins (hamstring) remained sidelined.
Samuel practiced in a green jersey but his mobility was clearly still affected as he ran and walked with a noticeable limp. . . . Freshman flanker Malcolm Mitchell (hip) was able to return to practice in a limited capacity but is expected to be close to full speed for Wednesday’s workout.
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551 comments Add your comment
Nothing Could Be Finer
August 24th, 2011
10:42 am
Crowell will be the starter by default, same as Aaron Murray last year.
Joey
August 24th, 2011
10:43 am
GT Joe, “bookmakers” throw up a random number to set odds in a game. The number is adjusted as money pours in from gamblers on the two teams. Money being bet by gamblers controls the odds. The bookmakers don’t know and don’t care who has the best team.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
August 24th, 2011
10:44 am
Third musketeer…Carolina….
Lowcountry Bulldawg
August 24th, 2011
10:45 am
A Tech fan a Boise fan and a Carolina fan now are active on this blog…..
Which one certainly does not fit? I dare say the one that is unranked and 1-9 against us this decade.
DawginLex
August 24th, 2011
10:45 am
Isn’t it amazing that the down year for Boise included the Georgia game?
Yet that same QB beat Oklahoma?
Hmmmmmmmm
GT Joe
August 24th, 2011
10:46 am
Wow tampa, i’ve never heard someone try to spin so hard.
Let me educate you on lines. Linesmakers make the line based on their own analysis and publish it. If money comes in on one side, bookies can either leave the line the same because they think they are right and can win money, or they let the line change to mitigate risk.
This line hasn’t changed in a week. The bets are 53% BSU, 47% UGA. The linesmakers made a perfect line. Try spinning that.
http://www.sportsinsights.com/betting-trends/college-football.aspx
DawginLex
August 24th, 2011
10:47 am
The line started at boise by 7 then went to Boise by 1. now at 3
Action being attracted. Will end up being a pick em or a 1 point spread.
GT Joe
August 24th, 2011
10:47 am
Lex, 9-4 for Boise is a down year. You say that QB beat Oklahoma. Do you think 20+ more games of experience might help him out?
HMMMMM
GT Joe
August 24th, 2011
10:49 am
okay lex, what does that tell you. A professional gambler would see a line set at 7 by PROFESSIONAL linesmakers, and then a bunch of UGA idiots bet on their team because of ignorance and drive the line down.
A real gambler would bet hard on Boise when they see the line move like that.
DawginLex
August 24th, 2011
10:50 am
It is just interesting that a down year for Boise is the year they played us and got killed.
Have you ever played any kind of sport as a member of a team?
The confidence level of a team rises every week if they keep winning. Boise has won lately and are confident. They had won in 2004 also and were very confident. The whipping they took shattered their confidence and led to a “down” year.
Nothing Could Be Finer
August 24th, 2011
10:51 am
The line started at boise by 7 then went to Boise by 1. now at 3
Action being attracted. Will end up being a pick em or a 1 point spread.
—————————————————-
Bet the farm on the dogs.
Ga wins by at least 13.
Afan
August 24th, 2011
10:51 am
GT Joe,
it came down to the end and we won. I think tech has won that 1 time in like a decade?
i dont know about a class above. But we do have the mental edge. I wouldnt say Florida was a class above UGA but right now i would say they have the mental edge.
Its tough for tech to come out on the field and be tough when the crowd is chanting,
NERDS NERDS NERDS lol.
that is just to funny.
DawginLex
August 24th, 2011
10:52 am
I’m not a gambler so I could care less
Vince Doodly
August 24th, 2011
10:52 am
Crowell will be just another in a long line of failed UGA running backs… Sanks, Ealey, King…all were thought to be hot stuff coming out of HS only to do NUTHIN.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
August 24th, 2011
10:52 am
So the line was drove down by UGA idiots? I think hard nose gambles went, damn that to many points for a game played in the Georgia, first game of the year and UGA should come out motivated. I think I’ll take UGA. That is shrewd thinking imo. Again though expect Anti- UGA slant from you.
Joey
August 24th, 2011
10:53 am
3 Musketeers!
Great analogy!
DawginLex
August 24th, 2011
10:53 am
GT Joe must work in Vegas and personally know every person who bet on this game
Now that is a LOL GT JOE
Nothing Could Be Finer
August 24th, 2011
10:53 am
I’m not a gambler so I could care less
——————————————————-
So, you just follow the line to feel better about your team?
TampaDawg
August 24th, 2011
10:54 am
Mobile Dawg .. I know man, just messin with ya anyway. You’re too cool to take real shot at.
GT Joe
August 24th, 2011
10:54 am
Wow, now i get your point lex. You were saying that the UGA win CAUSED BSU’s down season? LOL. You really give your team too much credit. Honestly.
BTW, 2006 was when Peterson came to coach BSU. So your little 2005 win is meaningless.
Nothing Could Be Finer
August 24th, 2011
10:55 am
Does Crowell have good hands out of the backfield?
We all know that he is not good at pass-blocking, but can he at least catch the ball?
DawginLex
August 24th, 2011
10:55 am
Nah, I just said it is interesting that the only down year for Boise in recent memory was the year they played us
GDawg65
August 24th, 2011
10:56 am
How muvh kickback did Richt get to switch to those ungodly uniforms? Lets return to Georgia red and silver britches. GO DAWGS!!!!!!
Dogs Smell
August 24th, 2011
10:56 am
ViningsMike – Are you serious ? SEC Champs? Good lord they practice against themselves ! How can an 0-2 win a NC ? With that easy schedule I can see how many teams could say that but NOT GA.
GT Joe
August 24th, 2011
10:57 am
Lowcountry: UGA has a WAY bigger following than BSU, so it’s not hard to believe that more money would pour in on the UGA side, driving the line down ARTIFICIALLY. The “real” line is 7 according to Lex. I’d bet on the linesmakers being right every time.
TampaDawg
August 24th, 2011
10:57 am
GT Joe
August 24th, 2011
10:47 am
Lex, 9-4 for Boise is a down year. You say that QB beat Oklahoma. Do you think 20+ more games of experience might help him out?
———————————–
That QB for the game was Jared Zabransky not Kellen Moore. UGA lit up Zabransky the year before.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
August 24th, 2011
10:57 am
Trolls—-
“Bebe’s kids, we don’t die we multiply!”
Dirty Dawg
August 24th, 2011
10:57 am
Come on guys…we can all be hopeful and even optimistic, but let’s not get that far ahead of ourselves with these SEC and National Championship predictions. We’ll blow up that bridge when we come to it.
Boise State is ranked in the top five…we’re barely in the top twenty, so let’s not let our Bulldog mouths get ahead of our fast a$$es. Do I think we can beat ‘em, sure…do I believe we will, you betcha…but based purely on what should be the expectations – last season’s results, returning talent (and lost talent) – we have no reason to expect to be favored – and I assume we’re not and/or won’t be.
Having said all that, the defense has got to be as good as we all hope it will be, cause I don’t see BS not being every bit as competitive as they have been in every game they’ve played since…let’s see…about ‘05. So let’s just go down to the Dome and see if the ‘D’ can dominate…then we’ll take our chances on the ‘O’.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
August 24th, 2011
10:58 am
Ok Bebe
Joey
August 24th, 2011
10:58 am
I’m thinking 3 blind mice?
Uuugghh...
August 24th, 2011
10:58 am
Wow…GT Joe is sure chatty this morning. Clearly the World of Warcraft Server has crashed.
I am fired up about the game–horrible uniforms or not. My main concern is the fact that all of this positivity coming out of the practices sound remarkably similar to the propaganda we heard before the opening of the last few seasons. Remember all the glowing Joe Cox reports that came out of camp and practice–well those drive my cynicism.
Regardless–I am looking forward to a much improved defense and a narrow victory in the dome!
DawginLex
August 24th, 2011
10:59 am
NCBF
I was told by a family member a story about a friend of his. His friend went to the SC version of Fan Day with his young 8 year old son. Friend walked up to Spurrier and shook his hand while planning on getting an autograph for his son. He said to the coach “Good luck on the season. I hope we can play for a championship.” Spurrier shook the guy’s hand and said “Whatever” and turned to the next fan.
The guy took his son away. He got back home and cancelled his season tickets and notified the university he would no longer be contributing.
True story
Lowcountry Bulldawg
August 24th, 2011
10:59 am
Joey,
The Tom and Jerry version of Three Blind Mice. It is a cartoon so they will understand it better.
JB
August 24th, 2011
11:00 am
To hear the haters on here talk about Boise and the Dawgs, you would think the line would be 10-15 points, why little ole Georgia couldn’t beat UCF and now finds them going up against the second best coach in college football ( Saban and Johnson ties for first LOL) and a top 5 ranked team…….and only 3 points. What are they scared of?…………….The answer, Boise is all world playing North Nevada State, but this a different animal. Vegas knows we’ve beat Paul Johnson the last two years, and the world knows that takes some doing !
Joey
August 24th, 2011
11:03 am
GT Joe lost me when he said Bama’s scared to play Boise . . .
TampaDawg
August 24th, 2011
11:03 am
again, GT JOE, stay away from the odds makers talk. Fans money doesn’t drive the line. Most people betting on a game don’t even have a horse in the race so they can bet with their head, not their heart. And if you bet on odds makers by just taking the “favorite” every time, you will lose more money than you make all year, every year. Again, the line has less to do with who they think will win and by how much than it does with how to bring in an even stake on both teams.
dawgfacedboy
August 24th, 2011
11:04 am
It’s easy to get up for one big game a year, just ask Boise St. If they had to get up every year for fear of getting embarassed how would they do?? Parkview in their prime could beat half the teams on Boise’s schedule.
dawgfacedboy
August 24th, 2011
11:04 am
Should have said “every week” not “every year”.
TampaDawg
August 24th, 2011
11:05 am
Nice one Joey!
GT Joe
August 24th, 2011
11:05 am
Back to these lines, if the line started at 7, and this is an away game basically, that means that BSU would be -10 if the game was in Boise.
Just an FYI, linesmakers don’t see this game being close. But the betting public does. And again, the linesmakers are more right than wrong, otherwise they’d be flippin burgers.
GT Joe
August 24th, 2011
11:10 am
Um tampa, you clearly are not understanding what I’m typing.
I didn’t say take the favorite every time. If a linesmakers sets the line at 7, he thinks that it’s a 50/50 probability that the game will be decided by more than 7 or less than 7 points.
After that, it’s the betting public that drives line (in this case, money has poured onto UGA, driving the line down to 3). So now at 3, the betting is more or less 50/50 on the game.
But the PRO linesmakers saw the game as a 7. Anyone betting on BSU would get a bargain bet, UGA bets, not so much.
The PROs saw the game as boise by 7. Which means that BSU has a very HIGH probability of winning the game.
Afan
August 24th, 2011
11:11 am
Boise state plays nobody. If UGA played their schedule last year then UGA would have been at least 12 and 1.
for that matter, Ga southern could have put together a 12 and 1 season with that schedule. lol
GT Joe
August 24th, 2011
11:12 am
I’m just spittin facts here, but if they don’t fit your dream world, feel free to ignore.
GT Joe
August 24th, 2011
11:13 am
Afan, not so sure about 12-1 with BSU’s schedule. Ya’ll did lose to central florida.
Just wondering, if Alabama was switched over to the Mountain West conference just for this ONE season, would UGA beat bama because of bama’s easy schedule? Thought not.
Afan
August 24th, 2011
11:17 am
when you play tough teams week after week. You get injuries and have to fight thru it.
Its tough also mentally preparing for teams such as florida, lsu, alabama. week after week.
so when you play central florida, junior military college, miami middle school. back to back. you have a different result.
Joey
August 24th, 2011
11:18 am
He’s persistent – kinda like a housefly . . .
Get a room
August 24th, 2011
11:19 am
Mobile Dog, the only pervert around here is your cousin, Albert.
Afan
August 24th, 2011
11:19 am
boise did lose to nevada. who plays gulf coast community college as their toughest game.
Uuugghh...
August 24th, 2011
11:19 am
Done Joe.
If Boise State played in the SEC they would be the same as UGA.
Rarely the best…never the worst.
They would not be stringing together 1 loss seasons for 5 or 6 years straight. It is almost impossible to get up and stay up for every game of the season. Eventually you will come out flat–Boise State did several times last year. But you can play flat and still beat Coastal Carolina. That just doesn’t happen in the SEC–you get beat when you aren’t ready. I mean our terrible 7-6 team had Auburn on the ropes for a half–and they won the NC!
Nothing Could Be Finer
August 24th, 2011
11:20 am
Well, if Georgia played South Carolina’s schedule, they’d still lose on Sept 10