Georgia Bulldogs junior running back Nick Chubb will play Week 1 of the 2016 NCAA season after tearing his ACL back in October vs. North Carolina.
According to Seth Emerson of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia Bulldogs star running back Nick Chubb will play Week 1 against the ACC’s North Carolina Tar Heels in the Georgia Dome on Saturday, Sept. 3. Chubb has not played for Georgia since tearing his ACL on his first carry vs. the Tennessee Volunteers on Oct. 10, 2015.
Emerson was able to extract this information on Chubb’s status with a quote from Georgia head coach Kirby Smart during his press conference Wednesday.
When asked about how deep his running back rotation will be in the neutral-site opener, Smart said, “I think everybody is in line to get carries. Nick [Chubb]’s in line. Elijah [Holyfield]’s in line. Brendan Douglas is in line. Brian Herrien’s in line. Tae Crowder’s in line. So all those guys are in line to get carries.”
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Until wrecking his right knee on a play near the sideline on the first play of the game vs. Tennessee last October, Chubb had rushed for over 100 yards in 13 straight starts, breaking Georgia icon Herschel Walker’s record by one game.
In 19 games for Georgia as an underclassmen, Chubb has 311 carries for 2,294 rushing yards and 22 rushing touchdowns. Getting Chubb back in any capacity in Week 1 will go a long way in helping the Bulldogs win a tough neutral-site game versus ACC champion North Carolina.
Georgia will enter the ACC/SEC matchup as a field goal favorite, but still have yet to name a starting quarterback for the 2016: incumbent Greyson Lambert, redshirt junior Brice Ramsey, or 2016 five-star recruit Jacob Eason.
One thing that Smart wasn’t certain about in his Wednesday press conference was the game status for Georgia’s other star junior running back, Sony Michel. Michel broke his hand this summer and Smart doesn’t “know if he can play or not.” Michel rushed for 1,136 yards and eight touchdowns as the primary tailback for Georgia after Chubb went down last season.
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Michel may not play on Sept. 3, but Smart should be ecstatic that he will have Chubb available for his first game coaching his alma mater’s football team on Labor Day Weekend.