Sony Michel, Keith Marshall must step up for Georgia Bulldogs

ATHENS, Ga. (TNS) — The Georgia Bulldogs successfully passed the tailback baton midway through last season from a suspended Todd Gurley to a ready-to-erupt Nick Chubb.

Can they transition now from an injured Chubb to Sony Michel?

“I think Sony is going to do what he’s been doing all year long,” Bulldogs sophomore tight end Jeb Blazevich said. “It doesn’t matter when he goes in or whether he starts. He doesn’t have any more or less pressure than usual this week. He just has to perform like we all do, and he’s been doing an amazing job of that.

“He had a great game this last game, and he’s just going to do what he does.”

Michel, a 5-foot-11, 212-pound sophomore from Plantation, Fla., will make his first regular-season start Saturday night against visiting Missouri, which coincidentally is the same opponent Chubb made his first start against last year. Michel started along with Chubb in last December’s 37-14 Belk Bowl victory over Louisville.

Chubb suffered a season-ending knee injury on the first play of last Saturday’s 38-31 loss at Tennessee, with Michel filling in admirably with 145 yards on 24 carries.

“I’ve always been preparing for this moment,” Michel said after the game. “I think it’s time, whether I’m ready or not.”

A shoulder injury last season against Tennessee limited Michel’s debut year to eight games. He rushed 64 times for 410 yards (6.4 per carry) and five touchdowns a year ago and already has topped some of those numbers this season with 63 rushes for 421 yards (6.7) and four scores.

Michel can run between the tackles but is not as effective in that area as Chubb, which could make for some play-calling challenges against the Tigers.

“We are not reinventing our playbook,” Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said. “We may emphasize some things more than others, and Sony will be the primary guy, but how does that translate into number of carries? We don’t know. I think the key to that is really keeping an eye on him and just seeing how he’s doing.

“Like I’ve said before, with a lot of TV timeouts, your No. 1 guy can stay ready and fresh.”

Saturday’s game also will provide an opportunity for redshirt junior Keith Marshall, who moves from third-string tailback to primary backup. The 5-foot-11, 212-pounder from Raleigh, N.C., has rushed 28 times this season for 159 yards (5.5) and four touchdowns.

Marshall had 10 carries for 73 yards and two touchdowns in the opening win over Louisiana-Monroe but had just one rush in the 38-10 loss to Alabama on Oct. 3. He had five carries for 24 yards last week in Knoxville.

“I do believe that Keith is ready to play,” Richt said. “He’s been getting a lot of reps, and he has been playing to a certain degree. He definitely knows he’s going to have to step up.”

Georgia also has junior Brendan Douglas at tailback and could use senior Quayvon Hicks, who has played fullback and tight end in his Bulldogs career. Richt was asked this week about A.J. Turman and said the redshirt sophomore has been working on the scout team.