Despite missteps, Isaiah Crowell on pace to run down 1,000 yards
When Isaiah Crowell has stayed on the field, he has proven extremely effective. He has 821 yards rushing despite missing five quarters of play for disciplinary reasons. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
ATHENS — There has been a lot to complain about in Isaiah Crowell’s first season with the Bulldogs. The freshman tailback has been suspended twice for disciplinary reasons, has had some fumbling issues and has frustrated many with his inability to remain in games. But as Georgia prepares to face Kentucky in a game that could clinch the SEC East on Saturday, it is evident that Crowell is also pretty darn good at what he does on the football field.
Crowell (5-foot-11, 215 pounds) is on pace to become the Bulldogs’ first 1,000-yard rusher since Knowshon Moreno had, 1,400 yards in 2008. With 821 yards rushing, he has already surpassed Washaun Ealey’s production from a year ago (811). He is currently third in the SEC with an average of 91.2 yards per contest.
Getting to the 1,000-yard mark is something Crowell is determined to do.
“I want to get over 1,000 pretty bad,” said Crowell, who would be the only Bulldog other than Herschel Walker to do it as a true freshman. “My goal was to be a freshman All-American. I don’t know if that’s going to happen or whatever, but I definitely want to get a thousand. That was my goal at the beginning of the season and I want to be able to reach my goal.”
If the Bulldogs can keep him on the field, it’s likely Crowell will do that and then some. He’ll have four more chances to do so if Georgia can get past Kentucky this Saturday. If he averages 71 yards rushing in those games, he’ll move past Frank Sinkwich (1,103 yards in 1941) into Georgia’s top 10 for rushing yards in a season. An average of 145 yards moves him past Moreno (1,400, ‘08) into the top five of all time.
To run down any such marks, Crowell must prove more resilient than he has been the last half of the season. After recording 104 yards on 22 carries against Mississippi State on Oct. 1, Crowell has averaged 58 yards on 15 carries in the three games he played before Auburn last week. He had 17 carries in the second half alone and finished with 132 yards on 24 attempts as Georgia salted away victory last Saturday.
But once again, Crowell spent a significant period of time on the sideline when he got dinged up in the first half against Auburn. He hobbled out of the game at the 5:30 mark of the first quarter and didn’t play the rest of the half. Coach Mark Richt said this week Crowell is dealing with a minor knee injury.
Crowell’s penchant for coming out of games has called into question his durability and toughness. So far this season he has dealt with rib, wrist, elbow, thigh, knee and ankle injuries. None of them have been serious enough to keep him out of practices or games, however.
“I have always stayed pretty healthy,” said Crowell, who came to Georgia as the No. 1-rated running back prospect in America. “I’ve had, you know, small stuff, but it wasn’t back-to-back like this. … Something hurts all the time, but I’m getting used to it. It’s mostly aches and bruises.”
Crowell said Georgia’s coaches give him the option of removing himself from games, which he has done quite often. “I just wave and make sure Coach McClendon sees me,” he said.
“If I’m gassed or I’m hurt I want to come out because I want to be able to give 100 percent for my team,” Crowell explained. “If I’m not able to do my best I’d rather somebody else come in and do their best. When I get ready and think I can do my best then I’ll go back.”
Nonetheless, Crowell insisted he’s in good shape and that conditioning is not an issue. At this point in the season, he said he feels stronger than he has all year.
“I think I’m good and conditioned,” he said. “Doing it the whole season has helped me a lot. In practice they make me stay in a lot and do multiple plays and I think that has helped.”
Crowell’s 24 carries against Auburn were his most since getting 30 against Ole Miss on Spet. 24.
“It’s all about preparation during the week,” he said. “Me and Carlton did a lot during that week we were out and I think we both did well. I think my legs were fresh. You just have to be prepared to work during the week so I can be ready for the game.”
Of course, Crowell would be closer to 1,000 if not past it already had he not missed five quarters of play for disciplinary reasons. The suspensions coupled with Georgia’s SEC championship pursuits seem to have reinvigorated Crowell.
“Our team worked hard for this,” he said. “There were a lot of negative things people were saying at the beginning of the season. I think we got through it, we ignored the noise and, you know, just kept pushing and fighting and kept working hard. Now that people are saying positive things we’ve still got to ignore the noise. When we were doing bad everybody was on our back about that, now they’re on our back about doing good. That’s just how people are. So you have to ignore it and keep working hard.”
If Crowell can stay the course, major accomplishments could await.
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554 comments Add your comment
Kerryb
November 17th, 2011
1:35 pm
Mobile Dawg, I just think sometimes that he is getting a bad rap. I’ve never read anything about him being a selfish player, or having a big ego. I have read that he is mostly a quiet humble kid. Who knows about this marijuana thing. I think it was interesting that all 3 were RB’s. And the older one was Carlton Thomas whose already been in trouble in the past. How do you know he wasn’t following his lead? I read somewhere that the 1st Quarter of the Vandy game was because he missed a class. Apparently as a UGA football player you are not allowed to miss any classes. I know when I was in college I skipped one or two. I just think everyone needs to ease up on the kid.
RealDawg
November 17th, 2011
1:35 pm
JB is foolish, to say the least. The best team we beat is who?
Carolina Dawg
November 17th, 2011
1:36 pm
Why you buggin,
I am just saying…..
Teams going 0-11 after beating GT is more of a streak than the 9-1 we have against them. If we are going to take the good statistics, we have to look at history and see how we can change the future.
Obviously, I would like to win both games, but given a choice, I would rather win the SEC – that is much more prestigious than winning against GT (especially lately).
My point being – let’s not get caught up in preparing for an anomaly that we lose are rythim and get totally embarrased nationally the next week in the SEC CG.
Dawg48
November 17th, 2011
1:37 pm
Gtbob
Yea it was when we beat y’all AGAIN! It is funny that tech fans can believe that tech has a chance against geirgia!
RealDawg
November 17th, 2011
1:39 pm
be real dawg48, GT beat us 3 years ago, and could have beat us/tied us on the last possession the last 2 years.
GT under CPJ is no cake walk. I’d advise you to look at the scores/stats.
AltamahaDawg
November 17th, 2011
1:39 pm
Didn’t we beat GT in 2009 and win the bowl game next?
The other bunch is ACC teams that all seem to have issues winning more than a couple games in a row.
GT Joe
November 17th, 2011
1:40 pm
More parity in the ACC makes it hard to go undefeated. The SEC, on the other hand, is 3 good teams, 1 decent team, and 8 garbage teams.
Sting Time
November 17th, 2011
1:41 pm
Yea its funny Dawg48 how you sharted yourself in the 2nd half of last years game and it came down to Tech beating Tech by missing the extra point – UGA had nothing to do with that. You were so confident last year about holding tech to under 200 yards for the game and 400+ rushing yards allowed later by Grantham’s defense.
How can Tech ever believe they could even beat UGA.
GT Joe
November 17th, 2011
1:44 pm
Just remember, mutts: we’ve beaten a team FAR better than you this season.
Dawg48
November 17th, 2011
1:44 pm
It’s time for real dawg to turn in his G!
Dude did we win the games! Ok then
Sting Time
November 17th, 2011
1:44 pm
GT Joe is right…..
ACC has much more parity – UGA would not win 8 in a row if they had to against Miami, UVA, UNC, Clemson, and VT.
Let’s face it the SEC is more unbalance this year than ever with AL, LSU, and Ark being head and shoulders above the rest. I am not sure UGA is there because they have played none of those 3 SEC teams and don’t have a signature win given the rest of the SEC is awful this year.
wde
November 17th, 2011
1:46 pm
@Sting Time yeah going 1-9 would make you think your can’t…
Kerryb
November 17th, 2011
1:46 pm
GT Joe, what you are saying is that all ACC teams are garbage teams.
Blue
November 17th, 2011
1:46 pm
Enter your comments here
Dr. Morpheus
November 17th, 2011
1:47 pm
IC has made a solid contribution this year. His carries against Florida in the second half were big time. He’s a great RB who will only get better. I hope he’s ignoring the trolls and haters who like to attack a Dawg any way they can.
Dawg48
November 17th, 2011
1:47 pm
Keepin it REAL over here
Blue
November 17th, 2011
1:47 pm
How about getting him “on track” to shut his mouth on the field? Every time he gets in a guy’s face talking smack, he either fumbles or has to come out ‘hurt’ because somebody hit him too hard.
Kerryb
November 17th, 2011
1:48 pm
I love it when Tech fans say that we haven’t played anyone when in fact they played some cupcakes and an ACC schedule full of garbage teams.
Kerryb
November 17th, 2011
1:49 pm
Dr. Morpheus, I’m a Dawg fan too but that was mostly Samuel making those runs in the second half against UF.
Kerryb
November 17th, 2011
1:50 pm
Blue, I don’t think that most UGA fans had a problem with Moreno doing that and he did it on just about every run.
robodawg
November 17th, 2011
1:50 pm
Crowell is only going to get better. Carlton Thomas has actually filled in well for Crowell off the bench. I’ve been pleased with both of them.
GTBob
November 17th, 2011
1:51 pm
I would like to win both games, but given a choice, I would rather win the SEC
UGA has no chance at winning the SEC while Saban, Petrino, and Miles are around. Just accept beating Tech because that is pretty much the pinnacle of your season every year.
GT Joe
November 17th, 2011
1:51 pm
ummmkay kerryb. We beat the #5 team in the country, and handed the game to the #8 team. Both ACC teams.
When UGA plays a #5 from the WAC (which lost to TCU), they get destroyed.
They best SEC team you guys played DOESNT EVEN GET A VOTE IN THE COACHES POLL. LOL.
I wish we played in the SEC Least.
Terry
November 17th, 2011
1:52 pm
GT Joe, Clemson has one of the worst rushing defenses in football, that is the only reason y’all beat them, VT had one of the best rushing defenses, and y’all loss to them. It’s how you match up, and UGA matches up very good against the run.
Sting Time
November 17th, 2011
1:53 pm
Kerryb – I was being specific while you are being general in nature.
So are you saying UGA would have gone undefeated against GT’s schedule? I think Auburn is your signature win and another ACC team waxed them pretty good this year too.
Terry
November 17th, 2011
1:54 pm
GT Joe, I can choose, and pick Polls all day, there is more than one Poll used in the BCS.
CHDawg
November 17th, 2011
1:55 pm
Why Malcome? Just look at the tape from G day, or the tape from the last couple of minutes in the AU game to see the answer. He pushes a whole bunch of War Eagles in his three runs. The kid is clearly very powerful. The coaches do see a lot more; I will grant you. Maybe he doesn’t block, or maybe he has a bad attitude. I am inclined to think he is just a bit discouraged. He had an aggravated groin, which could explain why they think he belongs 4th on the depth chart. And then sitting on the pine, when you feel like you can compete, is very frustrating. He’ll get his chance, and I suspect they will run him this week. We’ll see. We could use a really tough and powerful back. Finally, much as I love UGA, we do have a problem with leaving TB talent unused. Some of our TBs have been buried on the depth chart, and they go on to have NFL careers! One even wound up All Pro.
GT Joe
November 17th, 2011
1:57 pm
Terry: pick either poll used in the BCS: Auburn is nowhere to be found.
Sting Time
November 17th, 2011
1:57 pm
I agree and think GT would have walked through UGA’s schedule with the exception of Boise State. GT would have beaten USC as USC was lucky to escape with a win against Navy who runs our offense.
The BEST offense that UGA has beaten was ranked #68 in the nation and UGA’s average defeated foe offense ranks #90 out of #120 schools.
I am just saying that UGA seems to think GT will always be a cake walk and the 9-1 does not tell the story of 10 of the last 12 being decided by 1 score or less.
DawgMa
November 17th, 2011
1:57 pm
I can’t imagine GT beating us. If Jarvis Jones and Washington are given QB responsibility, the QB will have to pitch everytime. And then if we cheat up the safeties to take the pitch man, either Rambo or Williams will do the job. We can also switch up the coverages and bring in Boykin or Cummings for the pitch responsibility. There is no way the middle will ever be open for a dive. Of course the thing to stop us doing this would be a passing attack. But where is GT going to get a passing attack? We put 8 in the box and let GT try to live by the pass…….no way we lose.
GT Joe
November 17th, 2011
1:59 pm
Terry: what makes you think UGA is good against the run? was it the performance against the missy sisters? or new mexico community college? Wait, was it the performance against coastal carolina? or the worst Florida team in 30 years? Please don’t bring up Auburn, I watched that game, Auburn is horrific.
CHDawg
November 17th, 2011
2:01 pm
Give it a break GT Joe. UGA is number 5 in the nation against the run. Surely a NATS grad can understand percentages, can’t he?
AltamahaDawg
November 17th, 2011
2:01 pm
I agree Joe. I wasn’t passing judgment on the ACC (although I do) with that comment. Just factual. ACC teams generally tend to not win very many in a row. That’s mosty conference so all’s fair. The SEC does about the same thing with about 8 teams, and then there are 2-4 team that are in another class, and that varies from year to year.
Blue
November 17th, 2011
2:01 pm
KerryB; I disagree on Moreno. He didn’t do it as often. And I think in Crowell’s case, it’s why I NOTICE him taking himself out of games more…because he talks SO much and the fumbles and the hits that make him take him out of a game usually come right after. He could learn a lot from how Latimore does it (and no…I’m not a SC fan). The bigger issue is that he WILL get called for it at some point because team leaders and coaches don’t seem to ‘take him on’ about toning it down some, and he is going to get a penalty in a HUGE situation. It is coming…
GT Joe
November 17th, 2011
2:01 pm
Dawgma: you have that high school offense figured out, huh.
We’d LOVE for you to dedicate 2 players to our QB (worst athlete of all our ball carriers). That means mismatch somewhere else.
GTBob
November 17th, 2011
2:01 pm
VT had one of the best rushing defenses, and y’all loss to them.
We didn’t lose to them because we couldn’t rush the ball. We rushed the ball fine against them. UGA fans are all the same. Anytime GT loses it’s because of the offense, regardless of how the offense actually did.
Terry
November 17th, 2011
2:03 pm
GT Joe, Auburn is ranked #24 in the BCS idiot.
CHDawg
November 17th, 2011
2:04 pm
They play in a couple of weeks. Why not just watch the game and then we will know for sure? CPJ has gashed us badly on the ground every year; I wouldn’t count them out, guys. Hopefully our fast LBs can stop them better this year.
Terry
November 17th, 2011
2:04 pm
UGA is ranked 5th in rushing defense.
GT Joe
November 17th, 2011
2:04 pm
CHDawg: #5, against what competition? The SEC Least? Or was it Boise that THREW all over you (not ran)?
Just keep in mind that UGA has beaten teams that are 10-30 in SEC play. You cannot not rig up an easier schedule.
Sting Time
November 17th, 2011
2:05 pm
DawgMa,
Same thing was said last year about stacking the box and GT came away with 411 rushing yards against UGA. Yes, GT lost on the scoreboard due to a missed XP, but Boise State and GT are both Top 20 offenses and the next 2 highest offenses UGA faced were #53 and #68.
DawgMa
November 17th, 2011
2:06 pm
No No No GT Joe, Washington and Jones are opposite LBs. They have QB responsibility when the play is to their side. Otherwise, they have backside responsibility or drop back pass protection. Same with the safeties. This is CTG second year to figure out that silly offense and he will do it. Dawgs have to much talent for GT offense.
GT Joe
November 17th, 2011
2:06 pm
Terry: both polls that make up the BCS have Auburn nowhere. The Coaches poll and the Harris poll. That’s 2/3 of the BCS formula.
The other 1/3 is the computers (one of which has Auburn ABOVE UGA). LOL. No HUMANS think Auburn is a top 25 team. IDIOT.
AltamahaDawg
November 17th, 2011
2:07 pm
I think people beleive UGA to be good against the run because they are, at the very least, a more than casual observer of the game, and they know what it takes to defend the run. The fact that a team does something well against a lesser opponents is NOT proof they can’t do it against better teams. YOu have to look at why they did so, and make a judgement as to it that would translate further.
CHDawg
November 17th, 2011
2:08 pm
GT Joe, 5 in the nation, and that is playing in the toughest conference there is; surely, you can’t be dumb enough to miss the significance of that?
GT Joe
November 17th, 2011
2:09 pm
DawgMa: yes, dawgs have much more talent. But CTG can’t “figure out” this offense, because it can’t be “figured out”. There is an answer to EVERY defensive scheme.
I’m not saying it’s unstoppable; we usually stop ourselves with missed assignments/bad execution. These are things that armchair QBs don’t notice because they don’t know what to look for.
GT Joe
November 17th, 2011
2:10 pm
CHDawg: SEC Least is the easiest division in college football. You beat SEC teams that are 10-30 in SEC play. Surely you can’t be ignorant enough to not see that.
CHDawg
November 17th, 2011
2:10 pm
GT Joe, that argument is even dumber, buddy! UGA is #4 in overall edge, and #5 against the run, so the run numbers aren’t because they are weak against the pass.
Terry
November 17th, 2011
2:11 pm
GT Joe here is the BCS page see for your self.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/rankings/bcs
CHDawg
November 17th, 2011
2:11 pm
Auto correct; edge was ydge.