ATLANTA – Running back Trevor Etienne, who missed the past three games with a rib injury, wasn’t included on No. 5 Georgia’s final availability report and will apparently play against No. 2 Texas in Saturday’s SEC championship game.
Texas star left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. (ankle) went through a pre-game workout but was ruled out just before game time. Georgia defensive lineman Christen Miller (shoulder) was dressed after some questions about his availability for the SEC championship game (4 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN), which will decide which team gets a top four seed and first-round bye in the upcoming College Football Playoff.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said earlier in the week that Banks, a projected first-round pick in next year’s NFL draft, had been practicing. He was hurt in the first quarter of last week’s 17-7 victory at Texas A&M and was wearing a walking boot on the sideline.
Redshirt freshman Trevor Goosby filled in for Banks and helped the Longhorns run for 243 yards.
Miller didn’t play in last week’s 44-42, eight-overtime victory over Georgia Tech and is one of the defense’s better run stoppers.
Etienne, who transferred from Florida this year, played a big role in Georgia’s 30-15 victory at then-No. 1 Texas on Oct. 19, rushing for 87 yards with three touchdowns. He was catching punts and running in Saturday’s warm-ups at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Freshman Nate Frazier has been the Bulldogs’ primary running back in Etienne’s absence. He ran for a career-high 136 yards with three touchdowns in a 59-21 win over UMass and then had the winning score in the eighth overtime against Georgia Tech.
