Douglas back in business for Bulldogs

photo Georgia running back Brendan Douglas

The Georgia Bulldogs played 11 quarters this season before Brendan Douglas finally got some rushing attempts in the waning stages of a 66-0 win over Troy, but that was irrelevant this past Saturday.

With starting tailback Todd Gurley suspended and with Keith Marshall and Sony Michel injured, Douglas suddenly was the primary backup to Nick Chubb as the Bulldogs ventured to Missouri for an important Southeastern Conference East Division game. The 5-foot-11, 213-pound sophomore from Augusta capitalized on the opportunity with 13 carries for 65 yards (5.0 per carry) and a touchdown as the Bulldogs rolled 34-0.

"It was a lot of fun, and just to be back on the field felt good," Douglas said by phone this week. "Running back is a position where you can lose depth really fast, and I had to step up. The coaches did a great job of preparing me for that."

Chubb rushed 38 times for 143 yards and a touchdown, giving the unlikely tandem 51 carries for 208 yards and two scores. The Bulldogs were up 20-0 in the final minute of the third quarter when Douglas iced the game with a 15-yard touchdown run that ended with a vault into the end zone.

His highlight may not match Knowshon Moreno's scoring leap at Arizona State in 2008 or the one Gurley had last November against visiting Kentucky, but it produced points nonetheless.

"I was kind of surprised at first that the run was so open, but the offensive line did a great job on that play," Douglas said. "I got close to the end zone and wanted to jump over them, but I didn't quite get the jump that I wanted. I slipped a little bit, and I started thinking that if this turns out bad, I still better hold on to the ball."

Which, as it turns out, was all that mattered in the view of Bulldogs coach Mark Richt.

"As he was running toward the end zone, I was kind of hoping that he would get airborne," Richt said Tuesday in his news conference. "When you go airborne, a lot of times that ball comes out away from your body, but he kept that thing tucked the whole time. I was most proud of his ball security through it all, but Brendan is a good athlete.

"You get him in shorts and a t-shirt and tell him to run a 40 or do agility drills, or you get him in the weight room -- he's just a very good athlete and knows what he's doing. He's tough, and he's probably a better athlete than people want to give him credit for."

This is not unfamiliar territory for Douglas, a top-five fullback prospect in the 2013 signing class who had a prominent role last October when Gurley and Marshall were injured. He and fellow newcomer J.J. Green had to shoulder the load for the second half at Tennessee and for the entire game against Missouri and Vanderbilt.

Douglas rushed 84 times for 345 yards (4.1) and three touchdowns last season, including a 17-carry, 84-yard performance against the Commodores in Nashville.

The heralded signings of Chubb and Michel this past winter resulted in Douglas being fifth on the depth chart in late August when Clemson came to Athens. He was the eighth Georgia player to carry the ball this season, trailing the other four tailbacks, quarterback Hutson Mason, fullback Quayvon Hicks and freshman receiver Isaiah McKenzie.

"You just have to try and stay positive through things like that and keep working hard," Douglas said. "You can only control what you can control, which is coming to work every day and doing the best you can in practice. It is kind of weird that we lost some running backs last year, and here it is happening again."

Chubb and Douglas could get most of the attempts again this week as the No. 10 Bulldogs travel to Arkansas, though Green moved back from the secondary and has received carries in practice. Richt said following Wednesday's practice that Green could "help in a pinch" in Little Rock and reiterated Marshall's status as doubtful.

Douglas has 21 carries for 112 yards this season and the one highlight score. Yet it was his tough-yardage carries that managed to impress those who helped him up front.

"He just loves to hit people," sophomore right guard Greg Pyke told reporters this week. "He will lower his shoulder and get those extra yards. Those ugly 3-yard runs tend to add up."

Odds and ends

Richt told reporters Wednesday night that he expects to know Gurley's status before the team departs Friday, but a Georgia official said that does not mean Richt has any knowledge whether a final decision by the NCAA would be known that soon. ... Defensive backs Quincy Mauger and Dominick Sanders will play Saturday, Richt said, despite practicing this week in noncontact jerseys. ... Richt on if there could be a letdown this week: "I would hope not. There is so much at stake, and I think our players understand that."

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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