University of Georgia Athletics
Another Bulldog Out For Year With Knee Injury
September 13, 2009 | Football
ATHENS-----Senior defensive end Rod Battle is the latest Bulldog to be lost for the season due to a knee injury, Georgia coach Mark Richt announced Sunday during his weekly media teleconference.
A 6-4, 259-pound native of Atlanta, Battle left the South Carolina game in the second quarter due to an injured left knee. He has appeared in 36 career games for the Bulldogs including 22 starts. He started the first two games this season and had registered three tackles. Battle was redshirted his first season in 2005.
“Rod has an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury that will cost him the season,” Richt said. “I haven’t had a chance to look at the situation to see if he can get another year. It’s sad, he’s a classy human being who was practicing and playing hard, doing all the right things, being a leader and then this happens.”
This marks the second Bulldog in as many weeks to be lost for the season due to a knee injury. During the season opener at Oklahoma State, offensive tackle Trinton Sturdivant went down with an ACL injury for the second time in his Bulldog career.
“We lost another key player, it’s tough on us, but first and foremost, it’s tough for Roderick,” said Richt. “However, that’s why you recruit, train guys and teach guys to play both end positions. You try to get prepared for these moments.”
Georgia does get sophomore defensive end Justin Houston back this week. He was serving a two-game suspension to start the season due to a violation of team rules.
“Justin made a mistake and paid his price,” said Richt. “He was hurting, he wanted to play, but he understood the situation. He’s working on getting in shape, and he was working on his own too. He’s had a great attitude, he knew his time would come and now it’s here.”
The Bulldogs (1-1, 1-0 SEC) won a 41-37 thriller over the Gamecocks this past Saturday in Sanford Stadium. The outcome was not decided until the final 22 seconds. Junior linebacker Rennie Curran tipped Stephen Garcia’s pass attempt away near the end zone on a fourth and four play from the Georgia seven yard line. The Gamecocks ran 83 offensive plays Saturday, 30 more than the Bulldogs. Saturday’s game lasted three hours and 54 minutes; Georgia’s longest since the 2008 Sugar Bowl win over Hawaii that took 4:05. It was the longest regular season game for the Bulldogs since 2002 when Georgia beat South Carolina in Columbia, and that marathon lasted 4:01.
Richt said he was thankful for Saturday’s win and that he was pleased with how the offense performed.
“The offensive line played better, Richard (Samuel) ran better, we did a better job of getting more guys involved,” said Richt. “We said let’s get more guys an opportunity to make plays. Winning in the most positive thing. You create or deflate momentum based on the outcome. We can build on what helped us win; there are corrections and praise.”
Georgia returns to action Saturday when it faces Arkansas (1-0, 0-0 SEC) in Fayetteville, Ark. Kickoff is set for 7:45 p.m., and it will be televised live by ESPN.
The Bulldogs lead the all-time series with the Razorbacks 8-3 including winning the last five meetings. The teams last squared off in 2005 when Georgia edged Arkansas 23-20 in Athens. The Bulldogs posted a 20-14 win in their last trip to Fayetteville, which was in 2004.
