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Kirby Smart says Georgia won’t worry about injury risk with QB run in Sugar Bowl
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Kirby Smart’s Georgia squad won’t hold back in a do-or-die game.
The Bulldogs lost QB1 Carson Beck for the postseason with his injury in the SEC Championship Game. For the College Football Playoff, they’re counting on backup Gunner Stockton.
While there are concerns that running plays increase a quarterback’s injury risk, Smart said they won’t worry about that with Stockton. He doesn’t see Notre Dame holding back on QB runs with Riley Leonard, either.
“Yeah, you have to do everything you can,” Smart said during a Monday press conference. “It’s win or go home, so there is no measure of, ‘well, I’ve got to be conservative on this. I’ve got to be conservative on that.’ I mean, is your quarterback a better running back than your running backs is the first question. Hard to believe with the backs they’ve got, and hard to believe with the backs we’ve got, that either of our quarterbacks are better.
“They are an extra hat. They bring an extra dimension. Red area, super-high tendency to run the quarterback. Zone-read teams, ability to pull the ball, eye candy, option plays, both teams execute those. I don’t think either coordinator will be holding back because they’re worried about the next game.
“They’re going to do whatever they have to do to win this game. And if Gunner [Stockton] or Riley [Leonard] had to run the ball 30 times during the game, I think both coordinators would do that. It’s not the makeup of the offenses; but whatever they’ve got to do to win the game, they’ll do.”
Stockton ran 8 times in the SEC Championship Game against Texas. He gained 27 yards, including 8- and 9-yard rushes, but also lost 19 for a net of 8 rushing yards.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
