Trevor Etienne Write a slogan on your noseband every week. Earlier this year it was: “Live a Legacy,” inspired by older brother Travis Etienne, the Jacksonville Jaguars running back who went to Clemson.

“Don’t worry about leaving a legacy,” Etienne said, remembering his brother’s advice. “Live a legacy.”

In other words, enjoy it while it happens. That’s part of the reason Etienne is now at Georgia, after rushing for over 800 yards the previous two years at Florida. He wanted to raise his profile and win more games. He’s doing both, becoming a focal point of the offense in a way no Georgia running back has been since D’Andre Swift in 2019.

GeorgiaHowever, the overall running game looks a bit like it did in 2016. And that’s not a big deal.

The ugly stats: Georgia ranks 14th in the SEC in rushing yards per game, after not being lower than sixth since Kirby Smart’s first season, when he was ninth. Georgia is doing better in yards per rush, eighth, but is down from third place last year and second in each of the national championship seasons. In fact, Georgia hasn’t ranked lower than fifth in the SEC in rushing yards since 2016.

For all your quarterback concerns carson beckand needs to reduce turnovers, he still averages more passing yards per game than last year (284 vs. 281). The problem is the extra passes he has to make to get there, averaging 35 passes per game compared to 29 last year. Part of that is Georgia being behind in more games, but part of it is just the belief that this is a better passing team right now. So if the Bulldogs can improve the running game a notch or two, it would help the passing game as well.

Playing Florida could be an antidote: The Gators are second-worst in the SEC in rushing yards allowed per game, and 12th in rushing yards allowed per play.

But then it would get more difficult: old miss and Tennessee They are the top two in the SEC in each of those categories.

In other words, Georgia better figure it out. The good news: Tate RatledgeThe All-SEC guard is set to return after missing the last four games with a sprained ankle. The best news: Etienne is in his groove.

“Trevor has brought a lot of juice to the offense,” second-year tight end Lawson Luckie saying. “He showed it in the Texas game, but we saw it before. “I’m glad he’s showing that to the world now.”

Etienne had 87 rushing yards and 23 receiving yards at Texas, and now has 422 rushing yards, averaging 5.15 yards per carry, with seven rushing touchdowns in six games. He has also been active in the passing game, with 20 receptions (fourth most on the team) for 130 yards. In total, Etienne has touched the ball on 25.1 percent of Georgia’s plays since returning from a game-one suspension for a DUI arrest in March.

It’s a departure from the tandem approaches of recent years, closer to when Swift touched him on 23.4 percent of snaps in 2019. Then and now it’s largely out of necessity: injuries to Rodrigo Robinson IIwho has not played, and Branson Robinsoninjured in the October 12 match against Mississippi State. The inexperience of Nate Frazierwho averages almost 5 yards per carry but still earns the coaches’ trust in pass protection and ball security.

The running game in general is a complex issue, as Smart will tell you. Short outfield passes are often referred to as “extensions of the running game.” Normal outside runs have a lot to do with perimeter blocking, and that’s where Georgia has missed good blocking receivers like Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaintbut tight ends like Luckie and stanford transfer Ben Yurosek They have been improving.

“We think there are a lot of hidden yards out there,” Luckie said.

Even closer to the box, Georgia liberally uses guards and tackles to throw, and depends on the running backs knowing where the play is going, where the holes are supposed to be. So injuries to running backs, Ratledge, center Jared Wilsonand Etienne and Frazier getting used to the offense likely have had an impact.

So has the way defenses have played them, Smart added, and that changes game to game.

“It’s like the passing game, it’s relative to who you’re playing and it’s relative to how you’re played,” Smart said. “Not everyone has played us the same. Not everyone has the same X’s and O’s. We don’t really change our running game game by game. Nobody does it. You can’t introduce new runs, so you don’t invent runs. You take the races that you have throughout the year and say: Okay, how can they work against these fronts? And in some cases they have worked very well.”

And in some cases, obviously not.

One way to measure run blocking and how the running back handles it is yards before and after contact. This year, Etienne is averaging 1.48 yards before contact, which is below Georgia’s team average (2.11, ranking 47th in the country) and below what Etienne averaged at Florida last year (1.73) and his first year (2.22), according to TruMedia. In other words, Etienne hasn’t benefited from a big block this year.

After contact, Etienne averages 3.67 yards, which is also below what he did at Florida (4.08 last year and 3.87 as a freshman), but above the Georgia team average (2.87, which ranks 98th in the country). He generally fares better after being hit, although he still ranks 45th nationally in yards after contact. So there is room to grow, both because Etienne is more explosive and because he also avoids second contact (which also has to do with blocking).

It’s all connected, as Smart would say.

“I have a lot of confidence in our game and our ability to run the ball. Because people have to honor our ability to throw the ball,” Smart said. “That’s one of the things we do well, so they complement each other.”

As for Etienne, now he will be able to shine against the team he left. By all indications, he left on good terms and said he still speaks often with former Gators teammates.

“Nothing but love for those guys,” Etienne said. “So I can’t wait to go out there and compete against those guys, my friends, my brothers.”

Etienne said that after the Texas game, when his nose strip had written on it: “Why not us?” Meaning, he said, “Why can’t tonight be the night for us to have our escape?” And they did it.

What the nasal strip will say this week, Etienne didn’t say. Just another subplot to pay attention to.

(Photo: Alex Slitz/Getty Images)