University of Georgia receiver Marlon Brown.ATHENS, Ga. - Da'Rick Rogers won't be the only receiver at Saturday's Tennessee-Georgia game who had to decide between those two schools.
A year before the Calhoun, Ga., resident signed with the Volunteers, Marlon Brown exited Tennessee to join the Bulldogs. Brown was rated by Scout.com as the No. 2 receiver in the 2009 signing class and No. 5 by Rivals.com after accounting for 1,785 all-purpose yards and 19 touchdowns during his senior season at Harding Academy in Memphis.
Brown collected his first two college receptions two years ago in the loss at Tennessee but missed last season's meeting after suffering a shoulder injury in practice. The 6-foot-5, 222-pound junior missed games last month against Coastal Carolina and Ole Miss with an ankle injury and has just four catches this season for 34 yards.
"I'd love to see Marlon get back to being 100 percent and just seeing what he could do," Georgia coach Mark Richt said Tuesday. "He had a really good camp and [Rantavious] Wooten had a good camp, and here we are just kind of wondering when Wooten is going to come back.
"Those are two guys who were in the starting lineup during the preseason with the way they were practicing, and now some other guys have got opportunities."
Freshman Malcolm Mitchell leads Georgia's receiver position with 22 catches, while junior Tavarres King has 12 and redshirt freshman Michael Bennett 10. Brown is next.
"We would love to play six receivers a lot," Richt said. "We can't play with three receivers. We need six who are healthy and know what to do and can make plays."
Strike that, please
Georgia sophomore quarterback Aaron Murray got a little confused Tuesday after being asked to name his biggest win.
"At the end of this season, when we're 10-3, then I could tell you that was my favorite game, because we would have won a lot of games," he said.
When asked why 10-3, Murray changed it to 11-3. When asked why 11-3 since the Bulldogs have lost just twice so far, he quickly shot back with 12-2.
"Everyone just cut that part out," a laughing Murray said. "I was talking too fast and wasn't thinking."
Replacing Washington
The Bulldogs are playing the next two weeks without junior outside linebacker Cornelius Washington, who leads the team with 3.5 sacks but got suspended for his DUI arrest early Sunday morning. Richt said replacing him probably will be by committee.
Sophomore Chase Vasser started ahead of Washington against South Carolina and Ole Miss, has tallied 10 tackles and two tackles for loss this season and would seem to get first crack Saturday. It's also an opportunity for former walk-on Reuben Faloughi and freshmen Ray Drew and Ramik Wilson, who have combined for seven stops this year.
Odds and ends
Senior cornerback Brandon Boykin, whose bottom teeth are wired this week after his facemask struck his lower lip last Saturday, is not going through contact work but will play in Knoxville. ... Vince and Barbara Dooley have tentatively planned to watch the game at Derek Dooley's house. ... Richt on studying all four Vols games this season but focusing on their loss at Florida: "When you do play an SEC opponent, it just gives you a little bit better idea of what you're dealing with athletically." ... Tennessee leads the series 21-17-2, but Georgia is 7-4 against the Vols since 2000. ... Richt on the '09 blowout in Neyland: "Before it was over, it looked like they had beat us to the point that we gave in. It's hard to fight when you're so far down, but I don't know if we fought the whole 60 minutes."