One member of Georgia’s starting defense has already been ruled out of today’s game against Tennessee. The status of one its most productive players on the offensive side of the ball? That’s still to be determined.
Starting free safety Tray Matthews, the school has confirmed, did not make the trip to Knoxville with the team and will not play against the Vols. Matthews tweaked his hamstring during practice this week.
The Macon Telegraph reports that Quincy Mauger is expected to start in place of Matthews.
Star running back Todd Gurley, on the other hand, did make the trip. There is still official word on whether he takes the field, though, as the sophomore continues to be hampered by an ankle injury that knocked him out of the LSU game and sidelined him for practice this week.
Despite missing more than half of last weekend’s game, Gurley is No. 19 in the country and No. 3 in the SEC in rushing yards per game with 112.5.
If Gurley is unable to go Saturday, UGA would again turn to fellow sophomore Keith Marshall to handle a sizable chunk of the running game load. Filling in for Gurley against the Tigers, Marshall rushed for a season-high 96 yards on 20 carries. The 20 carries were a career-high, surpassing the 16 he had in the season opener against Clemson.