Georgia Bulldogs Face Tough Task Without Todd Gurley

By Tim Letcher on October 9, 2014

The Georgia Bulldogs face a must-win game on Saturday when they visit the Missouri Tigers.

While every game in college football is really a “must-win”, this game is especially important for the Bulldogs, especially with Thursday’s news that Georgia star running back Todd Gurley has been suspended indefinitely.

Georgia head coach Mark Richt and his staff will have to change the game plan without the Heisman Trophy frontrunner. So far this season, Gurley has done it all for the Bulldogs. He is sixth in the nation in rushing, despite having 44 fewer attempts than the national leader. He has also returned a kickoff for a score, caught 11 passes for 53 yards and thrown a 50-yard completed pass.

Now, the running game will fall to a pair of true freshman running backs. Nick Chubb, who has 224 yards rushing and two touchdowns, and Sony Michel, who has 223 yards and three touchdowns, will try to fill Gurley’s shoes on Saturday.

If Richt and his team are to make a legitimate run at the SEC East title, they simply must beat Missouri. If they lose, the Bulldogs would find themselves two games behind the defending SEC East champions. And essentially, they would be three games behind the Tigers because they would lose the tiebreaker to Mizzou.

Looking forward shows a couple of other reasons that Georgia must win this game. The Bulldogs still have a couple of big challenges remaining on their schedule after this week. Georgia must face its big SEC East rival, the Florida Gators, on November 1. While Florida is not as good as they have been in years past, strange things can happen in rivalry games.

Georgia also faces the Auburn Tigers, with that game scheduled for November 15. Auburn is currently ranked second in the country, and the Tigers are the defending SEC champions, so that game poses a big challenge for Georgia.

If Georgia can find a way to replace Gurley and move the ball on the ground in this one, it would bode well for them in a must-win contest.

Tim Letcher is a contributing writer for www.RantSports.com and a member of the Football Writers Association of America. Follow him on Twitter @TimLetcher , on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.