Kirby Smart was raving about Trevor Etienne's monster performance against Texas
There was a lot of pressue on Georgia football running back Trevor Etienne heading into the Bulldogs' matchup with Texas last weekend. With two Georgia running backs sidelined with injuries, everyone knew that Etienne was going to be heavily relied on. But nobody knew how he would perform with this added pressure.
Etienne however answered that question in a big way.
Etienne was one of the biggest reasons why Georgia was able to knock off the top ranked Longhorns on Saturday. The Georgia offense scored three touchdowns in this game, with all three coming from their star running back. Etienne did this on 19 carries while racking up 87 yards on the ground.
Everyone took notice of Etienne during this game, including head coach Kirby Smart.
"I mean, he has been a bright spot, especially off the field, like energy, enthusiasm, leadership," Smart said via dawgnation.com. "I mean, he cares about those linemen. He does things for them that are just, we haven’t had guys run here do that. And he was big the other night for us. He made some really big cuts and runs and exploded through the line. It gave us a weapon that we needed."
Not only did Smart highlight the great performance by Etienne on Saturday, but he also discussed how great of a leader and teammate Etienne is. He brings everything you would want in a leader and superstar off the field, which is sometimes more important than what he brings on the field.
Who knows how long Georgia will be without Roderick Robinson and Branson Robinson in the backfield, but all signs point towards Georgia's running game being just fine while the Bulldogs wait for their return.
Another thing Smart mentioned was that Etienne wasn't able to have this great performance against Texas by himself, and knowing the person Etienne is he likely shares this same sentiment as well.
"Somebody’s out there blocking, somebody’s cracking people, somebody’s taking on hits. So he had tremendous help, but he did a great job."
Not only did Etienne play well on Saturday, but his offensive line did as well. The running back always gets the most attention because they are the ones racking up the yards in the boxscore and the players celebrating in the end zone. But no running back is able to be successful without solid offensive line play.
And Georgia's offensive line was more than solid against Texas. If they can keep that up then the Georgia offense will be just fine the rest of this sesaon.