Floyd to miss Belk Bowl for Georgia

Georgia sophomore outside linebacker Leonard Floyd underwent shoulder surgery Tuesday and will miss the Dec. 30 Belk Bowl against Louisville.
Georgia sophomore outside linebacker Leonard Floyd underwent shoulder surgery Tuesday and will miss the Dec. 30 Belk Bowl against Louisville.

ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia Bulldogs will be without a key defensive player for their Dec. 30 matchup against Louisville in the Belk Bowl.

Bulldogs coach Mark Richt announced Wednesday that outside linebacker Leonard Floyd underwent surgery Tuesday to “clean up” his shoulder. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound sophomore tallied 55 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss this season, and his six sacks lead the team.

“Leonard will not be available for this game,” Richt said. “We want to give him the maximum amount of time to be prepared for next year, so we’ve made that determination to do that.”

There is no timetable for Floyd’s return, Richt added.

Floyd started 11 of Georgia’s 12 regular-season games, playing sparingly in the 63-31 win Nov. 8 at Kentucky due to his shoulder. Freshman Lorenzo Carter, who replaced Floyd in Lexington and racked up nine tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks against the Wildcats, is expected to start in the bowl.

“Surgery went well,” Floyd posted on Twitter, adding he would be back “better than before.” Floyd is three years removed from high school and eligible for the 2015 NFL Draft, but Richt announced this past weekend that Floyd had decided to return.

Facing Grantham

Georgia going against former defensive coordinator Todd Grantham in Charlotte has not been a big deal to Richt or Grantham, and that was the sentiment shared by Bulldogs players Wednesday. Senior inside linebacker Amarlo Herrera pointed out that Rodney Garner was a Georgia assistant during his first two seasons and an Auburn assistant the last two years.

“I was probably closer to Coach G than I was Grantham,” Herrera said of Garner. “It’s not a big deal. I’m just ready to play them.”

Herrera has not spoken to Grantham, Georgia’s defensive coordinator from 2010 to ‘13, since the pairing was announced Dec. 7. He expects a “cordial” visit during one of the bowl functions.

Bulldogs quarterback Hutson Mason said Grantham will be familiar with Georgia’s offense but that the game will come down to execution. Might Mason study Georgia film from when Grantham oversaw the Bulldogs defenders?

“That’s definitely something we’ll look at,” Mason said.

A shorter schedule

Tennessee has conducted four on-campus practices for the Taxslayer Bowl, including two before the Volunteers knew their destination. Alabama held the first of seven on-campus practices Tuesday night, but Georgia’s practice Wednesday night will be one of just four in Athens.

“We chose to condition,” Richt said. “We had our guys come in every single day that there weren’t exams and either get a lift or a run or both, so that one week after Georgia Tech we did that. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of last week we did that, and then once final exams hit, we were kind of at the mercy of not only exams but studying for exams.

“We know we’ve got to maximize the time that we have right now.”

Odds and ends

Chucks Amaechi, a linebacker from Arizona Western Community College, signed a national letter of intent with Georgia on Wednesday. … Georgia has 35 rushing touchdowns this season, which is the second-most in program history behind the 1971 Bulldogs, who tallied 39.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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