Kirby Smart evaluates running back room, reveals how close Georgia is to being full health

It’s not often that you can go down the list of the top 100 rushing offenses in college football and fail to find Georgia. But such is the case currently.

The Bulldogs rank 101st nationally in rushing offense, generating just 128.3 yards per game. Coach Kirby Smart knows it’s not good enough.

“Well, our running game has not been where it’s needed to be,” Smart said ahead of the SEC Championship Game. “I can promise you that. There’s a lot of combination parts of that.”

Despite that, Georgia remains in position to potentially earn a College Football Playoff berth, where it would be able to compete for a national title.

Still, there’s a lot that needs to happen to get the run game shored up. Smart started with the biggest issue.

“We’ve had a dang merry-go-round offensive line,” he said. “I’ve never been around a group that’s had to change lineups especially in practice. We’ve had probably five starters miss entire weeks of practice. It hasn’t always equated at game time, but it equates to game playing ability.

“That’s one of the biggest things we struggle with, is just staying healthy at the offensive line. That would help our run game some. Not to mention being healthy at running back would help some.”

If Georgia can win the SEC Championship Game, it would go a long way toward getting everyone healthy again. That extra week with a first-round playoff bye would be absolutely monumental.

Because as things stand right now, Georgia remains quite banged up. Three different backs are dealing with ailments.

“I don’t see how you could say we are 100%,” Smart said. “Branson (Robinson) and (Roderick Robinson) are neither 100%. They’re out there trying to play. Trevor (Etienne) is a ways away. I still don’t know. We haven’t even seen those guys. He wasn’t really close to playing last week. I don’t know how that’s going to play out.

“I know that Nate (Frazier) is playing really hard. He’s growing up. I don’t see him as a freshman anymore. We got to keep getting everybody ready.”

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