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Nolan Smith injury: Georgia confirms status of star edge rusher for rest of 2022 season
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Top-ranked Georgia has a Game of the Century coming up on Saturday afternoon in Athens against No. 2 Tennessee.
And it won’t be at full strength against the high-octane Volunteers’ offense with star senior linebacker Nolan Smith not in the lineup.
It turns out that Smith won’t be returning to the lineup at all in 2022.
Smith injured his right pectoral muscle in last Saturday’s victory over Florida in Jacksonville, and the school said on Tuesday that Smith will have season-ending surgery to repair the muscle injury on Thursday in Athens.
Georgia releases statement on Nolan Smith… pic.twitter.com/EZjshJMian
— Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) November 1, 2022
The school also announced that Smith will do his rehab on campus and that a full recovery is expected.
This is good news in the long term but of course won’t help the Bulldogs this Saturday in the No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown in Athens.
The Savannah, Georgia, product leads the Bulldogs with 3 sacks, 7 tackles for loss and 16 quarterback hurries this season. He also has 18 total tackles.
Without Smith in the lineup, Georgia will have to look for other ways to put pressure on Tennessee star quarterback Hendon Hooker, who has thrown for 2,338 yards with 21 touchdowns and just 1 interception this season.
Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart recently praised Smith for his leadership and toughness.
“Nolan is a natural leader,” Smart said, via ESPN. “He’s been that way since I met him when he was in eighth grade, and he came up here to camp. He’s been a natural leader.”
He’ll be sorely missed for the rest of the season, starting on Saturday against the Vols.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
