Tailback depth a big plus for Georgia

ATHENS, Ga. - This could be where it all pays off.

One of the biggest disparities in Saturday's top-10 Southeastern Conference football showdown at Auburn is Georgia's depth advantage at running back. The No. 2 Bulldogs - No. 1 again in the college football playoff rankings - will head to Jordan-Hare Stadium five deep at a position headed by the senior tandem of Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, while the No. 10 Tigers mostly will ride the legs of Kerryon Johnson, who is without fellow junior Kamryn Pettway for the rest of the regular season due to a fractured shoulder blade.

"Our stable of running backs is incredible," Georgia senior nose tackle John Atkins said. "Our first two running backs go in there and soften them up, and then you see all the other guys come in and just run through a defense. It's demoralizing."

The Bulldogs continued their preparation for Auburn on Tuesday with a two-hour workout.

Georgia already has made SEC history by becoming the first program to possess 4,000- (Chubb) and 3,000-yard (Michel) career rushers on the same roster. Chubb has rushed for 867 yards and 6.2 yards per carry this season, and he needs 13 yards to surpass Auburn legend Bo Jackson (4,303) and move into fourth on the league's career rushing chart.

Michel has rushed for 710 yards and 7.9 yards per carry, and he was quick to say, "I think so," when asked if Georgia's deep crop could provide an edge. Freshman D'Andre Swift is the third-string tailback for the Bulldogs and has rushed for 388 yards and 7.6 yards a carry, with sophomore Elijah Holyfield fourth on the team with 227 yards and 7.1 a pop.

Sophomore Brian Herrien, who had a 14-yard run in last Saturday's 24-10 win over South Carolina, ranks fifth among Georgia rushers with 184 yards and 3.5 yards a carry.

"This has helped keep everybody fresh," Michel said. "It has given other backs the opportunity to showcase their talents. It's just another way to use the talent that we have on this team, and I'm excited for all the guys who get a chance to get back there in the backfield and play.

"Ultimately, our goal is to wear down defenses, and with four to five backs you can wear down defenses. Guys are going to get tired on the other side of the ball, and we're going to get tired, but we've got other people who can step in and go from there."

Auburn has worn down its share of opponents the past couple of seasons with Johnson and Pettway, but the two were never at full strength at the same time this year. Pettway, a 6-foot, 235-pounder, led the SEC last season with 124.8 yards a game but missed three contests due to injury, including the 13-7 loss at Georgia.

Pettway already had missed three games this year before the Oct. 21 trip to Arkansas, where he rushed 11 times for 90 yards and three touchdowns before sustaining the season-ending setback.

The 6-foot, 212-pound Johnson has rushed for 868 yards this season, with a whopping 704 coming in the last four games. He is coming off a 29-carry, 145-yard performance in last week's 42-27 win at Texas A&M, and he also had five receptions for 29 yards.

"KJ is one of our best players, and you can see it in the way he plays," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said Tuesday in his weekly news conference. "He is a physical runner and a very smart player. In that fourth quarter, he just willed his way, and the special ones have that.

"He's definitely in that category of the special running backs we've had here."

Johnson has been a touchdown machine this season, reaching the end zone 15 times as a rusher and once as a receiver. Yet his 150 rushes the past six games is more than Chubb's 140 through nine contests.

Auburn's backup running back now is sophomore Kam Martin, who has 46 rushes for 310 yards (6.7 per carry) this season. Martin amassed 136 of those yards in the 41-7 opening win over Georgia Southern.

The Tigers are averaging 236.7 rushing yards per game and 5.0 rushing yards per carry, which are healthy numbers until compared to Georgia's totals. The Bulldogs average 279.3 rushing yards per game and 5.8 a rush, and they're doing it with fresher faces.

"We probably take it for granted, to be honest with you," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. "We don't look at it that way until we look at someone we're playing, and they say, 'Well, we've got this back out or this back bruised up.' It's usually not because of the last game but because of the cumulative effect of the 15 to 20 carries a game.

"We've certainly had a lot of carries, but we've just spread it out among a good group of backs."

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