ATHENS — Trevor Etienne was a standout in Georgia’s 30-15 win over Texas on Oct. 19, running for 87 yards and three touchdowns.
But heading into the Bulldogs’ rematch with the Longhorns on Saturday in the SEC Championship, the junior running back has missed the previous three games with a rib injury. Coach Kirby Smart was not optimistic about Etienne’s status for the game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Trevor’s a ways away,” Smart said. “He wasn’t really close to playing last week. So I don’t know how that’s going to play out.”
Etienne was the team’s leading rusher before exiting the Florida game Nov. 2 with a rib injury. He returned to play Nov. 9 against Ole Miss but has been absent since.
In Etienne’s absence, Nate Frazier has stepped up as the team’s leading running back with a team-high 587 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. Frazier rushed for 50 yards Friday against Georgia Tech with a touchdown and the game-winning two-point conversion.
“Nate’s playing really hard,” Smart said. “He’s growing up. I don’t see him as a freshman anymore, and we’ve got to keep getting everybody ready.”
Cash Jones also played a big role for Georgia on Saturday, catching four passes for a team-high 53 yards and a touchdown out of the backfield.
Etienne isn’t the only Georgia running back dealing with an injury. Branson Robinson has been out since the Mississippi State game Oct. 12 with a knee injury, and Roderick Robinson returned to action against Tech after missing 11 games with a toe injury.
Smart has not been happy with the Georgia rushing offense, which is 15th in the SEC and 101st in Football Bowl Subdivision at 128.2 rushing yards per game. Besides the injuries at running back, the Bulldogs have been hit by injuries to the offensive line. Starting left tackle Earnest Greene has missed the last three games with a shoulder/arm injury, and Micah Morris, Jared Wilson and Tate Ratledge have missed multiple games due to injury.
“Well, our running game is not where it’s needed to be, I can promise you that,” Smart said. “But there’s a lot of combinations and parts of that. I mean, we’ve had a dang merry-go-round offensive line year. I’ve never been around a group that’s had to change lineups (so much), especially in practice. I mean, we’ve had probably five starters miss entire weeks of practice. And it hasn’t always equated to game time, but it equates to game-playing ability.
“So that’s one of the biggest things that we’ve struggled with is just staying healthy on the offensive line, and that would help our run game some. Not to mention being healthy at running back would help some.”
The fifth-ranked Bulldogs (10-2) returned to practice Monday ahead of Saturday’s SEC Championship against the second-ranked Longhorns (11-1).
