Georgia leading rusher Trevor Etienne has been ruled out for the No. 12 Bulldogs’ showdown with No. 7 Tennessee, the team announced Thursday night. Etienne was listed as questionable on the team’s first injury report of the week on Wednesday.
The Florida transfer has rushed for 477 yards and seven touchdowns to go with 140 yards receiving. He scored three rushing touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ Oct. 19 win over Texas but has logged just 13 carries for 57 yards combined in Georgia’s last two games due to a nagging rib injury.
Without Etienne, Georgia will likely give more carries to Nate Frazier. Frazier is second on the team in rushing with 333 yards and three scores.
Regardless of who has played running back, the Bulldogs have struggled to get much going on the ground. After nine games in 2024, they are averaging just 124 rushing yards per game, ranking 15th out of 16 teams in the SEC and No. 104 nationally.
The run game struggles have created problems for other parts of the offense as well. Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck recently attributed his turnover issues to a lack of production on the ground.
“It’s not about how I play but how we play,” Beck told 247Sports. “Our identity is to run the ball. We just weren’t able to do that tonight. Maybe whenever that happens, I have to step up and we have to make some explosive plays in the passing game. Or maybe I got to start making some plays on the ground. Somebody has to step up and make a play whenever we’re not able to run the ball comfortably.”
The Bulldogs host the Volunteers at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday.
Read the full article here
