An injury here, an injury there…

Well, this certainly sucks.

Georgia football’s running back depth had been a question this preseason. Now it’s thinned even more.

Coach Kirby Smart said Wednesday that running back Branson Robinson is out for the season after sustaining a noncontact ruptured patella tendon.

“Tough, tough break for him,” Smart said.

Hate to see it for him.  Hope he makes a full recovery.

Did you ever think we’d see a day when there was a legit question about running back depth?

*************************************************************************

UPDATE:  The hits just keep on coming.

UGA RB Daijun Edwards Dealing With MCL Sprain

Sources have told @DawgsCentral_ they are hopeful Edwards will be able to play in UGA’s opener against UT-Martin, but the injury to Edwards is another blow to a RB room that is very banged up right nowhttps://t.co/ymHXjrsoxS

— Graham Coffey (@GrahamCoffeyDC) August 23, 2023

Mandel’s bold prediction

Contrary to some I’ve seen, this one ($$) is on the bold side.

Predicted coach firings

Billy Napier, Florida: Week 11. Big-brand SEC programs don’t let coaches have two bad seasons, and Napier, 6-7 in his first one, has the makings of a last-place team this fall. That former Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz is his best option at that position does not bode well. If he really goes 3-9, the boosters will find $32 million to pull the plug.

Not that there’s anything wrong with it.  I just have the feeling that Napier’s good work on the recruiting trail will be enough to pull him over the finish line with the boosters for another season.

Revisiting a familiar venue

You know, even considering how institutionally dumb the NCAA tends to be, you’d think they might have learned their lesson with this:

The NCAA in 2021 settled a decade-long defamation lawsuit with Bush’s former position coach, Todd McNair, for his role in the infractions case. USC was forced to disassociate from Bush for a period of 10 years that ended in 2020.

But, noooooooo…

The Heisman Trust said it would welcome Bush back into its family if the NCAA reinstated his records from the 2005 season. Heisman eligibility requirements state that recipients “must be in compliance with the bylaws defining an NCAA student athlete.”

However, the NCAA declined to reconsider Bush’s case, saying it does not reevaluate past penalties. In explaining the association’s decision, an NCAA spokesperson mentioned “pay-for-play arrangements” in a statement to ESPN:

“Although college athletes can now receive benefits from their names, images and likenesses through activities like endorsements and appearances, NCAA rules still do not permit pay-for-play type arrangements. The NCAA infractions process exists to promote fairness in college sports. The rules that govern fair play are voted on, agreed to and expected to be upheld by all NCAA member schools.”

It is that claim of “pay-for-play arrangements” that has prompted Bush’s defamation lawsuit.

“The lawsuit is based on the NCAA maliciously attacking his character through a completely false and highly offensive statement that was widely reported in the media and substantially and irreparably damaged his reputation,” Bush’s representatives said in a statement obtained by CBS Sports.

“The NCAA’s statement is completely false and highly offensive. The NCAA knew Mr. Bush was never even accused of, involved in, much less sanctioned for any ‘pay-for-play arrangement,’ which never occurred.”

All you had to do was keep your effing mouth shut, NCAA, but you couldn’t resist.  And the result, as the above indicates, was inevitable.

Reggie Bush is going after the NCAA. The former USC star running back and two-time All-American is planning to file a defamation lawsuit against the NCAA on Wednesday stemming from a 2021 statement made by an NCAA spokesperson claiming Bush was involved in a “pay-for-play arrangement,” Bush’s representatives told CBS Sports on Tuesday night.

And why not?

Birth of a Fabris Pool

Invitations for this season’s pick ’em went out by email about a half an hour ago.  If you didn’t receive one, you can click here and sign up.

Just a reminder — no picks for Week 0.  Things kick off Week 1, just like the Dawgs.

If you have any problems getting on board, let me know in the comments.

Potty training, Gainesville edition

While I tend to agree with Josh Pate here that bulletin board material is overrated, I’m more than willing to make an exception in this case.

Uhhhh pic.twitter.com/aabjO32w8o

— Jon Tweets Sports (@jontweetssports) August 22, 2023

I hope this is on continuous loop in the Georgia locker room for the two weeks leading up to the Cocktail Party.  FTMF, indeed.

Nice conference you got there. Shame if anything were to happen to it.

Well, dayum.

While conference realignment has both benefitted and hurt certain aspects of college football this offseason, one major change on everyone’s mind is the impact of expansion on the College Football Playoff.

According to a recent report from the New York Post’s Ryan Glasspiegel, sources claim that any conference not named the SEC or the Big Ten attempting to get in the way of how the two leagues construct the future playoff is risking  out of the tournament.

“One source cautioned to The Post that the other conferences risk implosion along the lines of the Pac-12, which greatly overvalued itself in network rights negotiations, if they stand too obstinately in the way of what the Big Ten and SEC want,” Glasspiegel writes.

“Pac-12-ing themselves” is about as cold a threat as you can make, especially considering that it’s the Big Ten that stuck the knife there in the first place.  This is how a real alliance acts, Kliavkoff.

Disciplined

This is one of the more impressive stats I’ve come across recently:

We decided to rank all 14 SEC programs by the amount of penalties accrued across the past 5 seasons. Keep in mind, these rankings are based on an average of total penalties/total games played, so the results don’t skew in favor of those playing less games. It also includes all games, including CFP matchups and bowl games.

All stats found via CFB Stats.com.

1. Alabama: 6.81 per game
2. Ole Miss: 6.81 per game
3. Missouri: 6.80 per game
4. Tennessee: 6.7 per game
5. Florida: 6.5 per game
6. Mississippi State: 6.4 per game
7. Auburn: 6.4 per game
8. Texas A&M 6.4 per game
9. Arkansas: 6.3 per game
10. South Carolina: 6.1 per game
11. LSU: 5.8 per game
12. Kentucky:  5.6 per game
13. Vanderbilt: 5.5 per game
14. Georgia: 5.2 per game

Remember how we’re told that penalties are a tolerable by-product of an aggressive defense?  Now it looks like we can have it all.

Georgia is in a league of its own here, too. The Bulldogs averaged a full penalty less per game than 9 other SEC programs and essentially a penalty less than South Carolina at No. 10.

Kirby is a wizard.  That’s all I can come up with.