Georgia Football: 3 Bulldog RBs Suspended Puts Mark Richt in Tough Situation

The Georgia Bulldogs will be extremely thin at running back on Saturday when New Mexico State comes into town, as three student-athletes were suspended on Tuesday and one was lost to injury. 

According to ESPN's DAWG Nation, Carlton Thomas, Ken Malcome and the freshman sensation Isaiah Crowell were all suspended for violating team rules, but the good news is that they will only miss one game. 

The bad news is that Richard Samuel, the only other experienced running back on the team had surgery on his ankle today is will miss more than just Saturday, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

So where does this leave Georgia? Should the Bulldogs be worried on Saturday? 

Fortunately, they're taking on a New Mexico State team that's on a two-game losing streak, and is giving up an average of 32 points per game, which is 98th in the country.

The Bulldogs defense will keep the Aggies in check, and they'll be lucky if they score more than once or at all. 

As far as Georgia's offense goes, it's up to quarterback Aaron Murray to make plays. He's done a good job this season, and he finally got a marquee victory for his team with the win over Florida last week, but now Murray has no run support.

Georgia will look to fullbacks Zander Oglretree and Bruce Figgins for help. Those two have yet to carry the ball this season, which shows you how much confidence Georgia has in these two guys. Both players converted to fullback from different positions. 

The Bulldogs will also call upon defensive backs Branden Smith and Brandon Boykin to run the ball sometimes, but head coach Mark Richt doesn't believe they'll be used a ton. 

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"Those guys will probably be on the field every single snap defensively, so we’re going to need them to be fresh there,” Richt said. “I don’t know if there will be a huge difference in the amount of reps that they would get, but every week we spend time with them and have things ready to go." 

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The other running backs now available are all walk-ons. One of those guys is Brandon Harton, and he should get some good reps, as he was very impressive during spring and summer workouts.

Still, though, this is not where Georgia wants to be at this late in the season.  

Richt has had problems with his players violating team rules in the past, evidence of this was in 2010 when almost a dozen players were arrested.

Running back has been a huge problem in 2011. Georgia lost Washaun Ealey to transfer and Caleb King to his lack of wanting to be a student. This is also Thomas' second suspension this season. 

Richt has often be criticized for his lack of discipline, but here he did a good job of laying down the law. There's been no release of what these running backs did, but for Richt to suspend all three and leave himself with no running backs is a very bold move.

It sends a message to the rest of the team, but also puts a lot of pressure of the key offensive players.

It's no secret Georgia's passing game is about to get a ton of work, and maybe even have a career day. 

However, every team needs to have success running the ball, and the Bulldogs aren't going to struggle in that area. After so many throws, a defense can begin to adjust well against the pass. 

Saturday's game will be a true test to how well Murray can play under pressure, as well as how well the coaching staff can overcome this adversity. 

Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo has been hated on for a couple of years now because of his play-calling, and if he doesn't plan well for Saturday he will never hear the end of it. 

In the end, Georgia should win with no problem because of their defense. However, it will be interesting to see if fatigue affects the offensive game play since Georgia won't be able to run the ball as well as it could have had the starters been available.