Dawgs’ Robinson II likely out; no word on Etienne
-
Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
Georgia coach Kirby Smart isn’t ready to say whether Florida transfer Trevor Etienne will be available to play in Saturday’s opener against No. 14 Clemson, but the No. 1 Bulldogs know they probably won’t have at least one of their top running backs.
Smart confirmed Monday that tailback Roderick Robinson II recently underwent surgery to repair a toe injury. While Smart said Robinson would probably be “week to week,” he isn’t expected to play against the Tigers on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta (12 p.m. ET, ABC).
Robinson, a sophomore from San Diego, is the Bulldogs’ top returning rusher with 196 yards and two touchdowns in 2023. The Bulldogs lost their top rushers from last season, Daijun Edwards and Kendall Milton.
Etienne was arrested on March 24 on charges of DUI, reckless driving and three other misdemeanors. In a plea agreement in July, prosecutors dropped the DUI charge as Etienne pleaded no contest to reckless driving and guilty to charges of underage possession of alcohol, failure to maintain lane and a window-tint violation.
Etienne received 12 months of probation. He was fined $852 and ordered to complete a substance-abuse evaluation, 40 hours of community service and an alcohol risk reduction program.
Under Georgia athletic department policy, Etienne would have missed 10% of the Bulldogs’ season — at least one game — if he had been found guilty of DUI. It’s unclear whether the plea agreement changes that.
“I don’t really talk about all the other stuff, with regards to suspensions, for any of our players,” Smart said Monday.
If Etienne isn’t available to play against the Tigers, sophomore Branson Robinson would probably be Georgia’s top tailback. He missed all of the 2023 season while recovering from a ruptured patella tendon. Robinson, ESPN’s top running back prospect in the 2022 class, has practiced in preseason camp without limitations, Smart said.
Robinson, from Canton, Mississippi, ran for 330 yards with three scores as a freshman in 2022.
“That is a grueling injury to go through and work all the way back to the point where he didn’t get to go through all of spring,” Smart said. “This fall camp’s been big for him in terms of confidence. He’s gained confidence through special teams. He’s gained confidence through reps. But he had a good body of work before, so it wasn’t like he didn’t have that entire freshman year where he took a lot of reps that 2022 season.”
Walk-on Cash Jones and freshman Nate Frazier, who has turned heads in the preseason, figure to get carries against Clemson, especially if Etienne doesn’t play.
“I mean, at Georgia we don’t like to say, ‘OK, let’s start all over,'” Smart said. “There’s these guys that have been in our program that have been picking up stunts, blitzes that our defense runs. We do two-spot walkthroughs where they’re getting to pick things up. There’s a lot of guys that have had a lot of reps doing those things that hopefully have a great game Saturday.”
-
Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who lost his starting job earlier this week, will not be returning to the team, he announced Thursday night.
Castellanos, who started 12 games last season and retained the top job under new coach Bill O’Brien, wrote on X that “unfortunately, all good things come to an end, even though it’s sooner than I would like.” He did not mention the transfer portal in his departing message and has not officially entered it. The junior from Waycross, Georgia, started his career at UCF and appeared in five games in 2022.
O’Brien said Tuesday that Grayson James, who replaced Castellanos in last week’s win against Syracuse, will start Saturday when Boston College visits No. 14 SMU. Castellanos “wasn’t real thrilled” with the decision, O’Brien said, adding that the quarterback decided to step away from the team for several days.
Castellanos had 2,248 passing yards and 1,113 rushing yards last season under coach Jeff Hafley, passing for 15 touchdowns and adding 13 on the ground. He had 18 touchdown passes and only five interceptions this season, but his accuracy dipped in recent weeks, and he completed only 2 of 7 passes against Syracuse before being replaced.
In his statement, Castellanos thanked both coaching staffs he played for at Boston College and wrote that he had “some of the best experiences of my life in the Eagles Nest and I will truly cherish these memories forever.”
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida quarterback DJ Lagway is “ready to play,” coach Billy Napier said Thursday on his weekly radio show.
Napier removed Lagway from the team’s injury report and penciled him in to start against No. 21 LSU in the Swamp on Saturday.
Lagway practiced every day this week while progressing from a strained left hamstring. The highly touted freshman was carted off the field against Georgia on Nov. 2. Tests revealed a “less significant” injury than initially feared, and now he’s back in time to face the Tigers.
The Gators (4-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) need him. They have to win two of their final three regular-season games to become bowl eligible.
LSU (6-3, 3-2) has struggled mightily against dual-threat QBs, including Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, who ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns last week.
Lagway returns after walk-on and Yale transfer Aidan Warner started in his place against Texas. Warner threw two interceptions and was 12-of-25 passing for 132 yards in a 49-17 loss.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
No. 12 Georgia will be without leading rusher Trevor Etienne for Saturday’s showdown against No. 7 Tennessee.
Etienne was downgraded from questionable to out on Thursday night’s SEC availability report.
Etienne left Georgia’s win over Florida with an upper-body injury on Nov. 2 and did not return. He played limited snaps in last week’s 28-10 loss at Ole Miss, carrying the ball six times for 24 yards.
Etienne leads the Bulldogs with 477 rushing yards and seven touchdowns this season.
The loss is another blow to Georgia’s banged-up backfield. Cash Jones is also listed as questionable while Branson Robinson remains out after missing the past three games with a knee injury.
That leaves true freshman Nate Frazier as the only healthy Bulldogs running back who has played meaningful snaps this year. Frazier is second on the team with 333 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports7 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway