Georgia coach Kirby Smart: ‘Hopeful’ Warren McClendon, Ladd McConkey play vs. Ohio State

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart gave his best non-answer when asked if right tackle Warren McClendon and receiver Ladd McConkey would play when the No. 1 Bulldogs face No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

“Hopeful to get both of them out there and hopeful both of them can play,” Smart said on Thursday, when they both practiced.

McClendon, a 6-foot-4, 300-pound fourth-year junior who has made 37 straight starts at right tackle, had to exit Georgia’s 50-30 win over LSU after suffering a lightly sprained medial collateral ligament injury in his knee. He was replaced by sophomore Amarius Mims in the second half of the win.

If McClendon can’t start, or if his injury prevents him from playing at a high level, the 6-foot-7, 330-pound Mims is prepared to take McClendon’s spot.

“It’s not hard to stay ready, just the fact of my teammates counting on me when I go in,” Mims, who has never started a game as a Bulldog, said. “I don’t want to let them down. Everybody who is not in should be ready.”

While McClendon is confident he’ll play on Saturday, he agreed with Mims.

“Amarius he’s a good player. he’s getting there, getting the reps and becoming a smarter player at that,” he said.

McConkey’s situation is different.

He went down with a little more than a minute left in the first half against LSU when he was tackled while going out of bounds by several Tigers after a 22-yard reception. He was clutching his right knee when he got up and he didn’t go back into the game.

McConkey’s 51 receptions for 675 yards and five receiving touchdowns all rank second on the team behind tight end Brock Bowers.

If McConkey is out, his playing time likely will be divided among several players, including AD Mitchell (5 catches, 69 yards), Dillon Bell (19 catches 169 yards), Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint (27 catches, 303 yards) and Dominick Blaylock (14 catches, 207 yards).

Slowed by a lingering ankle injury, Mitchell didn’t play or played very sparingly in 11 straight games before playing 15 snaps against the Tigers. While he didn’t catch a pass, he threw a two-point conversion pass to Darnell Washington in the fourth quarter.

“He’s so dynamic, he’s an electric player,” McConkey said of Mitchell. “We missed having him out there this year, he’s a fantastic player. For him to be able to finally get healthy and get back out there it’s awesome to see and I’m so glad he’s able to do it.”

The Buckeyes are also dealing with an injury at a key position after star running back TreVeyon Henderson underwent season-ending foot surgery earlier this month.

He’s been replaced atop the depth chart by Miyan Williams, who has rushed for 817 yards and 13 touchdowns on 125 carries — an average of 6.5 yards per attempt. But he was held to 34 yards and eight carries in a loss to Michigan in the final game of the regular season.

Williams was sick earlier this week but returned to practice on Thursday.

Chip Trayanum, who started the season at linebacker, has converted to running back to bolster the Buckeyes’ depth. He rushed for 83 yards on 14 carries against Michigan and has 92 yards on 15 carries this season.

Ohio State coach Ryan Day also said freshman Dallan Hayden, who has rushed for 510 yards and five scores on 102 carries in nine games, will also get more playing time against the Bulldogs.

“It’s going to take everything we have to go on the road to go win this game,” Day said. “I just think that we wanted to be in this situation at CFP at the end of the year. It took a different road to get here, but we’re here. So now we’ve got to just do an unbelievable job this month of preparing and maximizing every day.”