The Todd Gurley saga has finally reached its final conclusion.
The NCAA announced Thursday night it had upheld Georgia’s appeal of his four-game suspension for accepting more than $3,000 in exchange for autographs.Membership committee upholds Todd Gurley suspension upon appeal. He will be eligible to play Nov. 15.
— Inside the NCAA (@InsidetheNCAA) October 31, 2014
Gurley has missed the last two games due to the investigation, and will miss the ninth-ranked Bulldogs’ dates with Georgia (Saturday) and Kentucky (Nov. 8).
“We are very disappointed in tonight’s decision by the Division I Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee regarding our appeal on Todd Gurley’s eligibility reinstatement,” Georgia said in a statement. “We believe our case to the NCAA for Todd’s immediate reinstatement was strong and compelling. However, we now have exhausted all available options and look forward to Todd’s return to competition on November 15. The full attention of the Bulldog Nation now needs to be focused on our team and Saturday’s important game against Florida.”
The silver lining here for Georgia is that the Bulldogs should beat the Gators and Wildcats without Gurley, and then get a rested and hacked off version of the nation’s best runner back for No. 4 Auburn on Nov. 15.
Despite missing the past two games, Gurley still leads Georgia in rushing with 773 carries and eight touchdowns on 94 carries while catching 11 passes for 53 yards and completing his only pass for 50 yards.