UGA linemen want to keep Nick Chubb’s streak alive

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs must carry on with their season. They’ll do so by playing in what happens to include the biggest game of the year on Saturday against Alabama.

One of the main storylines heading into that monumental contest is whether Nick Chubb can sustain his streak of 100-yard-rushing games. Chubb, who has compiled 599 yards on 71 carries (8.4 average) and six touchdowns, leads the nation with 12 consecutive games of more than 100 yards.

Alabama counters with the SEC’s best rushing defense, the fourth-best in the country at 58.6 yards per game, and has not allowed a 100-yard rusher this season. The Crimson Tide returned their entire starting line from last season and rotates nine players in a typical game.

While Chubb has downplayed the importance of his 100-yard streak, Georgia’s linemen have made no secret what it means to them.

“I want to keep that going,” junior guard Greg Pyke said. “I know he doesn’t really care about that, but that comes down to offensive line. I mean, that’s something to be proud of. Your back is averaging 100 yards every game. That’s crazy, and I think that’s going to make us play that much harder, to kind of keep that streak going.”

Georgia is averaging 257.8 yards a game, which is second in the SEC behind LSU and 17th nationally. The Bulldogs’ team per-carry average of 6.87 yards leads the league and is fourth nationally.

While the offensive line gets at least some of the credit for that, Pyke says a lot of it is owed to the unique skills and abilities of Chubb and Sony Michel.

“They really do a great job on setting up those blocks for us,” Pyke said Monday. “Their vision is unbelievable and they’re powerful guys. They’re probably some of the strongest guys that we have on the team. They just fight for those extra yards and I think that’s what this game is going to really come down to.”

That said, Pyke says he doesn’t expect the Bulldogs to be ripping off a bunch of long runs like they have in their first four games.

“I don’t think that’s really going to happen that much because they’ll stack the box and their defensive line is so good,” he said. “But those 4- and 5-yard gains are going to really add up and that’s going to be what wins the game for us, just grinding, keep picking up those yards, those ugly yards, but in the end I think they’re going to add up and determine who is going to win this.”

Not surprisingly, coming off their scintillating performances against Southern, both Chubb and Michel were named captains by the Georgia coaches for Saturday’s game. Also designated captains for the game were offensive tackle John Theus and linebacker Leonard Floyd.