Georgia may be without Nate Frazier again when Vanderbilt comes to town, and Kirby Smart isn’t offering much more than the official paper trail.
On Monday, Smart gave a short update on the injured running back, who sat out Saturday’s 41-13 win over Oklahoma after ESPN reported he was dealing with a rib injury. Frazier had also been pulled from Georgia’s blowout win over Arkansas the week before, though Smart said afterward that the back could have gone back in if needed. He stayed listed as questionable on the SEC injury report all week.
Frazier suited up against the Sooners, but he didn’t have gloves on and never took part in pregame warmups. When asked about his status Monday, Smart kept it simple: “I will just defer to the injury report. That's why we have one.”
The Bulldogs had to lean on Chauncey Bowens and Dwight Phillips to carry the load against Oklahoma’s defense, and the pair produced 110 of Georgia’s 129 rushing yards. Phillips delivered the day’s biggest burst with a 54-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
“That’s what we saw all spring and fall,” Smart said of Phillips' score. "We just got to get (Phillips) more opportunities.
And some of these leads have hurt our opportunities to get him in because you want to protect him, too. You don't want him out there taking hits when you're up 30 points on somebody.
I was really proud of him today. His ball security, and his hitting the hole.”
Frazier has now missed just two games in his Georgia career.
Georgia’s next game is Saturday against Vanderbilt at 12:45 p.m. on the SEC Network. After that, the Bulldogs head to Bryant-Denny Stadium for a meeting with Alabama.
The two teams have played seven times this decade, with four of those matchups coming for either a conference or national championship. Next week will be the third time Georgia has played at Alabama this decade, while the Tide has played in Athens once.
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