The new plan at running back? Take a guess

Georgia running backs coach Bryan McClendon was a receiver in his playing days, but he joked after Tuesday’s practice that he was thinking of suiting up with his unit.

“This is a blast. We’re having open tryouts,” McClendon said.

He most still joking. Probably.

Given the suspension of Caleb King, and the hamstring injury to Carlton Thomas, the Bulldogs enter the weekend with Washaun Ealey the clear-cut starter, but after that, who knows.

The situation remains in flux. Thomas has not been ruled out, and a decision has yet to be made on whether to take the redshirt off of freshman Ken Malcome. Fred Munzenmaier, normally a fullback, has been given work at tailback.

So the great question around Georgia football this week is what the plan is for tailback.

The coaches aren’t sure yet either.

“You’ve got Washaun and Munzenmaier, and then you’d have to make a decision on Ken Malcome,” Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said. “We’ll have to wait and see right now.”

Asked if Malcome had done enough to play, Bobo smiled.

“Well we ain’t got no one else,” Bobo said.

Munzenmaier would welcome some time at tailback.

“Yeah. Second-string guy, I’d look forward to any chance to get on the field,” Munzenmaier said. “I won’t complain what position.”

Munzenmaier played tailback the fourth quarter of the Louisiana-Lafayette game, as well as a bit of the Independence Bowl.

“I’m ready to do whatever they need me to do,” he said. “I’ve been exposed to the system over a long period of time. So I know what to do at both positions.”

The production of Georgia’s tailbacks has been a sore point anyway this season.
Ealey and King talked about each running for 1,000 yards. They may not combine for that many: Through six games Ealey has 246 and King has 228, and King is out the next two games.

The longest run by a Bulldog this season was by a receiver (A.J. Green’s 40-yard end-around at Colorado.) The second longest is by a quarterback (Aaron Murray’s 35-yard touchdown run against Tennessee).

But McClendon sounded pretty frustrated that King encountered his trouble this week.

“Before all this I think Caleb was doing a good job at that actually,” McClendon said. “Just as far as these past few games, he did a good job of separating himself as The Guy. Of course this hurts him a little bit.”

But what this does is give Ealey – the projected starter this summer – another chance to show his wares.

“He has to go out there and he has to do a good job,” McClendon said. “Not so much fill the void, he has to go out there and fill the job no matter what.”