Sturdivant Gone for the Year. Entering Temporary Emo Mode in 3...2...1...

by MaconDawg on Aug 12, 2008 10:13 AM EDT

The official word is out on Trinton Sturdivant's knee injury from yesterday. And the news is very bad. Sturdivant tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) medial collateral ligament (MCL) and the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in his knee.

It's not oftent that you hear of a triple ligament tear. It is, as you would imagine, a very gruesome injury. Speaking frankly, there was a time not very long ago when this injury was generally career ending. There are no guarantees now.

But others have come back from this type of injury. It is the same one that Miami tailback Willis McGahee suffered before returning for an exceptional NFL career. Robert Edwards actually tore all four ligaments in his left knee during that freakish flag football injury in 1999 before returning to the NFL and ultimately the CFL (where he was atwo-time All-Star). So it can happen.

There really isn't a "bright side" to this kind of thing medically, though. It's an awful blow for Trinton Sturdivant, his family and his teammates. Our thoughts here at Dawgsports go out to him.

This is, of course, a college sports blog. Therefore, we'd be remiss if we didn't look at this injury from a football persepctive. Longterm, it's slightly fortunate tht a) Sturdivant didn't redshirt as a freshman and b) the injury occurred near the start of fall camp. Trinton can now use his redshirt year to recover and won't lose a season of eligibility, unless his recovery stretches into the 2009 season.

That's made less likely by the fact that the injury occurred so early in the season. He'll have eight months to recover before the start of spring practice, which if all goes well could be all the time he needs. If not, he'll be able to continue his rehab over the summer and possibly be ready for fall drills in August 2009. That's a depressing timetable for him, I'm sure. But it is better than suffering the same injury in the fifth week of the season, thereby burning a year of eligibility and forcing the coaches to find replacement on the fly.

Speaking of replacements, sophomore Josh Davis is filling in at left tackle for the moment, but may not stay there. My guess is that Coach Searels moves Kiante Tripp over from the right tackle spot, then inserts either Vince Vance or Cordy Glenn at right tackle for the first game of the season. I think that with a right handed quarterback you need your best offensive lineman on the left, and right now that's probably either Tripp or the briefly suspended Clint Boling. Boling may end up in one of the tackle spots for the remainder of the season.

This also probably moves the chances of Ben Jones redshirting from slim down to none. If one of the veteran guards (Vance or Boling) has to move over to tackle, Chris Davis will almost certainly start at guard, leaving Jones as our best option at center. The only way this deosn't happen is if either Tanner Strickland or Justin Anderson steps over to left guard from right guard. There's also the possibility (raised by our intrepid correspondent Darius Dawgberry) of moving A.J. Harmon over to offense to provide depth. With Harmon nearing the goal weight of 315 pounds set for him to stay on defense, this move might only be necessary if we run into further injury/legal trouble.

The bottom line is that football is a violent game. People get hurt. Someone has to step in and step up. We're fortunate that we finally have some legitimate depth on the offensive line to fill in the gaps. But there's denying this injury really hurts. You don't lose your best tackle, the guy who has the most starts of any offensive lineman on the team, and not lose a step. But again, we'll work through it. Good luck Trinton. We're pulling for you. I'm off to listen to my copy of The Cure's Greatest Hits. Somehow it seems apporpriate. Until a brighter tomorrow . . .

Go 'Dawgs!!!

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Red-shirt

Would Trinton be able to get a medical red-shirt instead of burning a regular red-shirt?

by fotodog on Aug 12, 2008 10:48 AM EDT 0 recs

It doesn't work like that

You get one red-shirt year, period.

You must petition for a medical red-shirt to get that 6th year of eligibility, and some committee decides whether or not to grant you that medical red-shirt/6th year. You cannot take a medical red-shirt without having used a red-shirt. I’ve seen cases where kids had a normal red-shirt, had a bad injury towards the end of their career some time sr season say, and then get denied the appeal. I can’t really speak meaningfully on it otherwise. I think you see it granted when a kid has the unfortunate luck of twice having a season ended prematurely due to injury. A good example would be Will Thompson, who wound up with a sixth year. I think he got hurt in the spring both times, but I might be mistaken.

I will say this: it’s a good thing that before this injury, and in spite of suspension issues, both Ben Jones and Cordy Glenn were claiming spots in the two deep by their actions in practice (and sheer force of jedi-will, of course). Obviously, nobody ever wants to rely on freshman on the OL, and ideally one has a two deep in place when the freshman class arrives (meaning that anyone who moves up really earned it). We didn’t quite have that two deep here, but by all accounts so far both of these kids are tremendous talents. This hurts, and there’s no getting around that. But I like the guy we have who is going to be dealing with it (Searels).

May the wings of liberty never lose a feather

by peacedog on Aug 12, 2008 11:50 AM EDT up 0 recs

I could be wrong . . .

but I think the answer is, not at this point. I’m pretty sure you have to use the redshirt year that everyone gets automatically first. But, you can petition for a 6th year of eligibility if you then suffer an injury (Will Thompson did this). However, you generally must have played in less than 20% of the season (3 games) in order to get a medical redshirt year. I often refer to these as “Spurrier redshirts”, because the former genius was well-known at one time for putting true freshmen on the field in games 1, 2 and 3 who subsequently came down with unfortunate injuries requiring a redshirt. These included “turf toe”, “high ankle sprains” and “hip pointers” that looked mysteriously like “can’t catch a cold”, “too small to run block” and “tackles like the tailback has ebola”.

by MaconDawg on Aug 12, 2008 11:50 AM EDT 0 recs

And to be clear . . .

as peacedog notes, you only get one, unless an NCAA committee approves you for a 6th year. That does happen from time to time (Will Thompson) but is not a sure thing (Cincinnati QB Ben Mauk was turned down this season).

by MaconDawg on Aug 12, 2008 12:17 PM EDT up 0 recs

Is it safe to say he was the 2nd most important player on the team...

in terms of “guys UGA can least afford to lose”?

Unique analysis of the 'Noles and the national CFB Landscape at HTTP://www.FSUncensored.blogspot.com

by FSUncensored on Aug 12, 2008 12:14 PM EDT 0 recs

Not necessarily.

There was a pretty good debate over at www.georgiasports.blogspot.com about this. Most everyone agres that TS was in the top 3-4. Obviously, Matt Stafford and Knowshon Moreno are in the discussion, then you have a variety of other players to consider as well. For example, I would truly hate for our defense to lose either of two senior leaders: Jeff Owens or Dannell Ellerbe. While we have other guys with their physical abilities, we’d take a serious hit in the experience/leadership department. Regardless, I think it’s safe to say that losing your starting blindside tackle is always a very bad thing.

by MaconDawg on Aug 12, 2008 12:21 PM EDT up 0 recs

Interesting.

I tend to discount leadership stuff. Having played football for many years, my experience was that leadership mattered more on the sidelines, and is over glamorized by sportswriters and movies.

Let me ask this another way: VORP (Value Over Replacement Player):
1. Stafford
2. Studivant?
3. I’d put Knowshon back farther since UGA is loaded at tailback?

Basically, your best players aren’t always the most important value wise, when you consider the drop off in production from them to the backup.

Unique analysis of the 'Noles and the national CFB Landscape at HTTP://www.FSUncensored.blogspot.com

by FSUncensored on Aug 12, 2008 1:15 PM EDT up 0 recs

The thing is

VORP, in baseball, is a fascinating and pretty telling statistic that derives from hard statistical data.

We have no such methodology in college football (the fine folks at Football Outsiders have been doing lots of cool work on the pro side, though).

So I’m not sure we can adequately codify this with a hypothetical football VORP. UGA is loaded at tailback, but Moreno is the only one with experience and you never can tell how kids are going to react to being out there on saturday’s. I have a number of friends who used to bitch about Lumpkin not getting enough carries and over the supposed “he doesn’t block as well” reason, but that kind of matters. In addition to knowing all the assignments on other plays. I’d say potentially UGA could weather the loss of Knowshon better than a lot of people nationally give us credit for.

But who knows. I suspect Knowshon’s VORP would be really high; higher than Stafford’s, though I wouldn’t call him more important. But I do know that Sturdivant deserved all SEC on a reserve team last year (granted, I’m biased). It was an up and down year at times but he was really playing at a high level down the stretch.

May the wings of liberty never lose a feather

by peacedog on Aug 12, 2008 2:04 PM EDT up 0 recs

I agree with you about it being a little overplayed . . .

I don’t remember any of our “team leaders” helping me tackle a guy one on one in the open field. I do remember them being the first ones to tell me to shake it off when I missed. But I think it’s also important in the huddle, in practice, team meetings, etc. And it’s just not the same when that leader is standing around in shorts with a towel around his neck.

And I think you’re right to take the VORP approach. It’s not a perfect analogy to college football. But we should remember that this time last year Sturdivant not only hadn’t started a game for UGA, he hadn’t played a college snap. Clint Boling has essentially the same amount of experience, and Vince Vance is right behind in that regard. So I don’t think the drop-off is terribly significant. Honestly, I think the dropoff from Jeremy Lomax to Neland Ball and/or Justin Houston at rush end might be greater. Ditto the dropoff at safety from Reshad Jones and C.J. Byrd to Sanders Comings and John Knox. So, it could be worse.

It would also be a lot worse if this had happened during the post-Donnan lean years when we were playing a total of 6 offensive linemen, and sometimes relying on some exceptional walkons for significant minutes (paging Ryan Schnetzer . . .). Again, even the bad days could usually be worse.

And in case you haven’t heard, we picked up a big commitment for 2009 today when tight end Arthur Fontaine of Dartmouth, Mass. committed to Georgia. I’ll be back with more on that tomorrow.

by MaconDawg on Aug 12, 2008 3:17 PM EDT up 0 recs

Being a Florida State guy,

I know all about being thin at OLIne. Last year, we had only 7 healthy linemen for most of the year and were close to playing walk ons. This year, we start (from left to right): JR (23YEAROLD), SO(RS), SO(RS), FR(RS), FR (RS, possibly jumped by True FR Zebrie Sanders)

Unique analysis of the 'Noles and the national CFB Landscape at HTTP://www.FSUncensored.blogspot.com

by FSUncensored on Aug 12, 2008 4:17 PM EDT up 0 recs

I think the LT is a cog on any team

where throwing is an integral part of the offense. As such, losing him really sucks. And the ripples are significant – Knowshon’s backups are both making waves but pass protection from the RB just got a little more important maybe. Can either of them do it? Can Knowshon improve?

May the wings of liberty never lose a feather

by peacedog on Aug 12, 2008 12:24 PM EDT up 0 recs

As for Tripp

I don’t think Trip is going to get moved over, ultimately (I have no idea what we’ll do for GSU). I think Boling was every bit as good as Sturdivant last year and is a heck of an athlete. So I think when he gets back that he gets moved to LT, being the intersection of “best OL” “most experienced OL” and “can actually play OT” (some kids just don’t have the footwork to do it, but still make tremendous guards). I have no basis for this, and it’s hardly a bold prediction.

But Tripp moving over seems a distinct possibility.

May the wings of liberty never lose a feather

by peacedog on Aug 12, 2008 12:25 PM EDT 0 recs

I'm not in panic mode

I am the most pessimisstic UGA fan this side of Larry Munson, but this isn’t freaking me out. We still return lots of experience on the OL, and Coach Searles has proved that he can cobble together a line chock full of freshmen and make it solid. We have recruited great talent for the OL the past couple off seasons, and we should have faith that somebody can step up the way that Sturdivant and Boling did last season. It will take a few weeks for them to gel, but the team does have some time. This makes getting Southerland back even more important as well. Hopefully he remains on or ahead of schedule. Naturally, I would rather have everybody healthy, but I think this is something that can be overcome.

by SG Standard on Aug 12, 2008 1:15 PM EDT 0 recs

DawgSports guys

Are you open to an interview with FSUncensored?

We are starting 2 Freshmen and 2 soph’s on the Oline. I know you were in a similar situation last year, and I’d love to have you guys as a guest and ask some questions about your 2007 preseason thoughts, what went right, and what went wrong with your young OLine.

Lemme know. Great site you guys run here. I want to take TomahawkNation’s Spot on SB Nation if I can, but I’ve only been around a month.

Unique analysis of the 'Noles and the national CFB Landscape at HTTP://www.FSUncensored.blogspot.com

by FSUncensored on Aug 12, 2008 5:42 PM EDT 0 recs

Some ESPN absurdity

So according to the georgia sports blog, ESPN’s guys think that we are no longer #1 because of this injury. Do any of you guys see it being that important? I know how vital the left tackle position is, but I just don’t see this being a make-or-break injury. If we lose a game or two this season, I doubt we will be able to pin it on this particular injury. If it were at another position, (not to get specific for fear of a jinx, but QB, RB, CB, or either safety), I think I would be much more concerned. It could be because I am viewing the offensive line as a unit, rather than focusing on one individual. If the rest of the line can pick up the slack, and if Coach Searles can once again work some magic, I feel like the team can overcome this.

by SG Standard on Aug 12, 2008 8:21 PM EDT 0 recs

I recommend reading "The Blind Side" by Micheal Lewis

While I questioned UGA’s ability to score points on the road (last year was pretty bad, obviously) I figured they’d improve it and ranked them #3 to start the year. This injury, in my mind, drops them to the Clemson, Missouri, LSU range.

Unique analysis of the 'Noles and the national CFB Landscape at HTTP://www.FSUncensored.blogspot.com

by FSUncensored on Aug 12, 2008 9:35 PM EDT up 0 recs

Perhaps,

but it’s important to remember that Sturdivant didn’t have a single snap under his belt at the beginning of last year and that turned out ok.

The guys they are planning on moving to that spot have game and starting experience for the most part so they would just be shifting positions.

It’s also worth noting that they likely would not be tested until the LSU game (or Tennessee at the earliest). Thats a long time in terms of in-game experience.

by RedCrake on Aug 12, 2008 10:09 PM EDT up 0 recs

Having starting experience at one of the most crucial spots on the field is always important. I do think South Carolina will present a major test, even though Columbia is a horrible city and the school is poor.

Unique analysis of the 'Noles and the national CFB Landscape at HTTP://www.FSUncensored.blogspot.com

by FSUncensored on Aug 12, 2008 10:47 PM EDT up 0 recs

True

but Norwood is moving to DE so he will be learning a new position and will only be into th 3rd week by the time they play. The real challenge for UGA in the past has been Jasper Brinkley and if he’s coming off the edge the blocking duties will fall to the RB.

There’s no question that losing TS will be a challenge, but it could be much worse if there weren’t any big, experienced linemen on the depth chart.

by RedCrake on Aug 12, 2008 11:32 PM EDT up 0 recs

Brinkley is the problem

Like you said, the first couple weeks should be doable. But throw in a guy with Brinkley’s talent and factor in our lack of Southerland in that game, and it could be an issue. We all saw last season how vital he was to the USCe defense, and we most likely won’t be at the top of our protection game. Even with all that, as has been said, last season was a much bigger problem.

by SG Standard on Aug 13, 2008 12:28 AM EDT up 0 recs

I already posted this on the Georgia Sports Blog...

but I had so much fun researching it I thought I’d put it here too. Its nice to gain some perspective and see the kind of talent we have coming down the pike. Here goes….

Humor me here…

The year is 2011. The Dawgs offensive lineup returns the following starters.

Jr QB Aaron Murray
Sr RB Caleb King
Sr RB Richard Samuel
Sr RB Carlton Thomas
Sr WR AJ Green
Sr WR Tavarres King

(And don’t forget a certain Mr. Ealey)

O-Line -

LT 5thYr Sr Trinton Sturdivant
LG Sr Chris Little
C Sr Ben Jones
RG Sr Justin “Bean” Anderson
RT Sr Cordy Glenn

There would also be numerous upperclassman returning to D including Rambo, Commings, etc.

The schedule sets up with Louisville, So. Car., Coastal Car., Miss. St., Kentucky, and Auburn at home. The only road games of consequence are Tenn. and GaTech. We also have away dates with Vandy, Ole Miss, and of course the Cocktail Party. (There is also a non-conf. game TBD)

Obviously the chances of injuries, disciplinary issues, or the draft not entering into this is limited. But its worth a look given Sturdivant’s situation.

What can I say, I’m a glass half full guy.

by RedCrake on Aug 12, 2008 8:21 PM EDT 0 recs

Thats the thing

Ive been telling friends that this would be The Year for a few years now. But, with the way we’ve been recruiting, there isn’t only going to be one The Year. There is going to be The Decade, or The Era, or something like that. We have a great coaching staff and are asserting ourselves on a national level, despite the outcry from Stewart Mandel and his friends in Montana. Naturally, not all of these all star recruits will pan out, but I like the track record we have established the past few recruiting cycles. If our coaching staff can remain stable, we could be looking at a run that Dawg fans havent seen for a very long time. Maybe ever.

by SG Standard on Aug 12, 2008 9:25 PM EDT up 0 recs

Exactly

Losing the Tennessee and Florida games in 1992 felt like the end of the world, because that seemed like our one shot for the next several years . . . and, as it turned out, it was.

Losing the South Carolina game in 2000 felt like the end of the world, because that seemed like our one shot for the next several years . . . and it would have been, but for a change in coaching regimes.

Losing the Florida game in 2002 felt like the end of the world, because that seemed like our one shot for the next several years . . . but it wasn’t.

I hate having to say “wait ‘til next year,” and I hope we don’t have to say that this year, but, if we do, we’re finally at a point where we know “next year” could be the year as easily as this year. It’s the point Florida, Florida State, Miami, and Nebraska reached at various points in the 1980s and ‘90s, and that Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas, and Southern California occupy today: being in contention every single year.

These are the glory days. One injury doesn’t change that.

Go 'Dawgs!

by T Kyle King on Aug 13, 2008 7:13 AM EDT up 0 recs

The problem with the SEC though,

Is that there’s 6 teams right now who have the same mindset. LSU, AU, and UA in the West, and UT, UF and UGA in the east. All of those teams have recruited as good or better than UGA in the recent past. (Okay maybe not UT or AU last year). You’ve then got S. Carolina as a wild card, and Ole Miss, and Arkansas about a year or two away from making serious pushes.

The margin for error is so small these days.

by LSU Jonno on Aug 13, 2008 9:18 AM EDT up 0 recs

As you said,

AU and UT have been down in the recruiting. I firmly believe that South Carolina will not be able to build its recruiting up during Spurrier’s tenure and once he is gone they will fade back to relative obscurity. I don’t believe Nutt will take Ole Miss any further than he took Arkansas, which is to say maybe in the hunt for the West every so often.

Two teams you mentioned, LSU and UF have been and likely will continue to be perennial contenders for the foreseeable future.

Which leaves UGA and Alabama (both of whom are consistently ranked in the top 10 if not top 5 in recruiting). I believe Kyle’s point is we are about to join the ranks of the perennial contenders.

In past decades, the elite were made up of Alabama, Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State, USC, Notre Dame, etc. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if over the next decade the elite power school are comprised of (or at least contain) LSU, UF, UGA, and Alabama. Yeah they will beat up on each other, but in years where the schedule lines up favorably like UGA in 2011, they will consistently be in cotention for a national title.

by RedCrake on Aug 13, 2008 3:16 PM EDT up 0 recs

Well I agree with everything you said...

But I still think there is more to the puzzle. What about Petrino? And yeah Spurrier won’t be around too much longer, but he’s at least put SC in position to hire another good coach, with some good talent there. I think you’ve got Ole Miss pegged right. But I don’t see UT fading that much. I expect UT to really surprise people this year as well, and their recruiting is looking up (which is more than you can say for AU). Crompton is really really good. He made a believer out of me in the 2006 UT-LSU game.

by LSU Jonno on Aug 14, 2008 4:52 PM EDT up 0 recs

Did anyone

else listen to the podcast from ESPN in which Beano Cook mentioned that the attrition rate is now higher because of the increased weight of the players and the increased number of practices? I can see the latter increasing the rate of injuries because of the more practices that take place. I am curious to hear what other people think.

As peacedog mentioned this loss will have a ripple effect. Sorry for the loss.

by monolake on Aug 14, 2008 12:32 AM EDT 0 recs