Very nice piece by Stewart Mandel on Georgia’s freshman running duo here. At least one coach knew what he had early on:
“I felt we were gonna be OK [after Crowell’s dismissal],” said Georgia running backs coach Bryan McClendon. “I knew I was going to play both of those guys already.”
The most impressive thing in the story isn’t what the coaches have to say about the two. It’s the chart comparing freshman running back pairs who have played in the SEC in the last decade or so. Gurley and Marshall have already surpassed what Williams and Brown did at Auburn in their first year and have a legit shot at outdoing McFadden/Jones. Whoa.
Get The Picture 
Thanks, Mr. Crowell, for stopping by the booth.
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Here, have this unregistered firearm as a parting gift.
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It was an inside job. Evil Richt strikes again!
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You know, I had completely forgotten about McFadden and Felix Jones. Those guys were pretty damn good. Our guys may be better…
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Nice, very nice (fingers crossed).
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IMO The Montana Project went a long way in making peace with Mandell-This is a great positive article-and I REALLY liked it
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Gurley was one of the Guys that was Baptised last
Sunday. He will be playing with a renewed spirit. Thank you Lord! So WHOA indeed!
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More from Montana…
I noticed ESPN is running a poll of who should be ranked #2 behind Alabama. In the state of Montana 7% of them pick UGA- besting both LSU and South Carolina in the poll.
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Nice catch. Wonder how many of the voters are from Great Falls.
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When Gurley committed after Marshall, the #2 rated back in the country, I assumed he did so because that was his friend and he felt his best path to the NFL was a defensive back. With the backs UGA was returning, and Marshall already coming in early, you have to really admire what must be inside him. What a tandem they could be before this ride is over!
I also think you have to take a new appreciation for UGA’s staff to have settled on the RB-by-committee several years ago, maybe 2004. These young players know that UGA will give the ball to 2-3 backs and not rely on a single runner any longer (Musa was the last I remember for that). They realize that there will be enough opportunities to make a name for themselves and not have to take so many hits. More and more teams are doing this tthroughout the country so it isn’t like we own the concept but Georgia seems to stick to more of an absolute rotation than others. My only criticsm is that we need to vary in certain situations, like when we were on our own 1 and planning on running up the gut, isn’t Boo the guy for that? He seens much more geared for the power dive and takes care of the ball well.
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Knowshon
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He was defintiely more of a featured back than a by committee participant but I am sure you remember how many times he came out (maddenly when we got down near the Red Zone). We didn’t run Knowshon 25-35 times a game, but he was the closest we have had in almost a decade.
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He was also forced into that role due to injuries. As soon as Thomas Brown came back, we platooned them again, just this time with Knowshon carrying the bulk instead of the reverse. For the UF game, he was the ONLY scholarship back we had available (we even brought true frosh Caleb King on the trip just in case an injury made us take his RS off and get in him there).
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Must’ve been tough pulling Caleb away from his studies like that.
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2 striking things from that article (which was a nice article by Mandel as stated by the Senator)
1. It would have been nice to get Ronald Darby as well if Marshall was really working him that hard.
2. I hope our WR blocking continues to be good despite the loss of Michael Bennett. I have raved about his blocking all season. I think this will be sorely missed.
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No doubt it hurts to lose Bennett. However, I can see Marlon Brown taking over his spot. He’s made some big catches this year, and his blocking has been superb from what I’ve seen.
We also need to get the TEs more involved, though the drop/miss by Lynch didn’t help in that regard. However, if Artie gets the ball and gets up a head of steam, I’d hate to be the DB that had to try to tackle him.
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I love the lack of attitude and ego in those two. They will both be better rbs because of their competition and friendship. They know the meaning of a win win situation.
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Gurshall is the new “The Davids” look for overkill from CBS and tWWL, and I am loving that it’s our guys in the spotlight again.
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I’m just glad they haven’t earned the nickname “Marley”.
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+1 …I did enjoy the book though.
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