Is CMR to blame for Gurley's Injury?

Skeeterpop · Nov 17, 2014

I am no UGA fan by any means, but my wife is, and I was screaming Saturday night at UGA for continuing to put Gurley in to run late in the 4th QTR. It made absolutely no sense. Neither he nor Chubb should have been running the ball at that point in the game. You just ran a guy 29 times when he has not played in 5 weeks. Sure he had fresh legs but his muscles were not in game condition and the fatigue sets in much quicker when you have not been through that type of in game conditioning. Every Dr. will tell you the best thing you can do to help prevent knee injuries is strengthen the muscles around the knee. The stronger the muscles in that area the more stress they take off the ligaments of the knee. Running a guy 29 times when he has not played in so long means his muscles are going to be extremely fatigued and not working at 100% late in the game. Just look at the play, there was no impact to the knee. Anyone who has played sports and gotten muscle fatigue has felt that jelly leg feeling you get in your legs when they are tired. This is exactly what happened. He stretched out to make a stride and the muscles just give for a split second and there went the knee as he started to push off. Sure I know injuries happen like this all the time and most are non contact injuries. But how many times have you seen a guy go down late in a game not even making a cut with a ACL injury. Its because the muscles are too fatigued and the knee gives to the stress of trying to support too much weight.

Sorry for getting on the soap box. But IMO this was totally inexcusable. I am sure Gurley wanted to stay in but someone has to be smarter than that and know how many times he has run the ball. Why in the world do professional pitchers have a pitch count when they come back from injury or when they are starting the season at the beginning of the year? They know that until their body is in game condition you cant push it to the upper limits without serious risk for injury. Terrible way to go out.

Get well soon Gurley and light up the NFL.

B1GTide · Nov 17, 2014

No one is to blame. These things happen. Could they have taken him out? Sure, but they probably wanted to get him more reps since he missed 4 games. It's not like Auburn's defense was punishing him.

TideWatcher · Nov 17, 2014

Yeah, being out of game shape for several weeks probably did fatigue Gurley and made him more in danger of injury, but it is football and it happens. Few coaches think of injuries; the fans do. I am sure CMR hates is as much as anybody though. I admit I also was wondering why he was still in such a lopsided score.

capnfrog · Nov 17, 2014

Skeeterpop said:
I am no UGA fan by any means, but my wife is, and I was screaming Saturday night at UGA for continuing to put Gurley in to run late in the 4th QTR. It made absolutely no sense. Neither he nor Chubb should have been running the ball at that point in the game. You just ran a guy 29 times when he has not played in 5 weeks. Sure he had fresh legs but his muscles were not in game condition and the fatigue sets in much quicker when you have not been through that type of in game conditioning. Every Dr. will tell you the best thing you can do to help prevent knee injuries is strengthen the muscles around the knee. The stronger the muscles in that area the more stress they take off the ligaments of the knee. Running a guy 29 times when he has not played in so long means his muscles are going to be extremely fatigued and not working at 100% late in the game. Just look at the play, there was no impact to the knee. Anyone who has played sports and gotten muscle fatigue has felt that jelly leg feeling you get in your legs when they are tired. This is exactly what happened. He stretched out to make a stride and the muscles just give for a split second and there went the knee as he started to push off. Sure I know injuries happen like this all the time and most are non contact injuries. But how many times have you seen a guy go down late in a game not even making a cut with a ACL injury. Its because the muscles are too fatigued and the knee gives to the stress of trying to support too much weight.

Sorry for getting on the soap box. But IMO this was totally inexcusable. I am sure Gurley wanted to stay in but someone has to be smarter than that and know how many times he has run the ball. Why in the world do professional pitchers have a pitch count when they come back from injury or when they are starting the season at the beginning of the year? They know that until their body is in game condition you cant push it to the upper limits without serious risk for injury. Terrible way to go out.

Get well soon Gurley and light up the NFL.

Could all the Heisman hype, maybe have something to do with the fact that Gurley was still in the game? Trying to make up for lost time.

gtgilbert · Nov 17, 2014

capnfrog said:
Could all the Heisman hype, maybe have something to do with the fact that Gurley was still in the game? Trying to make up for lost time.

he's not getting back into the Heisman talk - no matter what he would have done in the last couple of games.

More likely is that he wanted to be out there to solidify his draft status with some decent stats at the end of the year to prove he didn't lose anything while sitting out.

92tide · Nov 17, 2014

you cant lay the blame for that type of injury at the coaches feet, imo. unfortunately, injuries are part of the game and i imagine gurley was chomping at the bit to get every carry he could.

although, i will note that richt has a tendency to overuse his rbs wrt # of carries.

Skeeterpop · Nov 17, 2014

I completely understand the response "its just football". However, this is not a starter who had been playing every week who the coaches left in the game too long. This was an elite player who had not played a game in 6 weeks. Not taken a full speed live hit in 6 weeks. I dont care if its Hershel Walker, Bo Jackson, Barry Sanders, etc. you dont run a guy 29 times when he is not played in 6 weeks. Sorry but I totally disagree. Its CMR responsibility to put player safety #1 when the situation warrants special conditions. Someone should have had him on a carry count. End of story IMO. Poor judgement and management not to mention common sense.

CrimsonForce · Nov 17, 2014

Skeeterpop said:
I completely understand the response "its just football". However, this is not a starter who had been playing every week who the coaches left in the game too long. This was an elite player who had not played a game in 6 weeks. Not taken a full speed live hit in 6 weeks. I dont care if its Hershel Walker, Bo Jackson, Barry Sanders, etc. you dont run a guy 29 times when he is n

It was a non-contact injury. Could've happened in practice or in warmups. No one is to blame..

Jessica4Bama · Nov 17, 2014

CrimsonForce said:
It was a non-contact injury. Could've happened in practice or in warmups. No one is to blame..

On ACL injuries, isn't there usually some instability in the knee anyway before it completely blows? Or can a perfectly healthy knee just decide to blow one day when you make an unexpected twist or turn? I would think there was something going on with his knee beforehand that could have caused the injury at any time.

CrimsonForce · Nov 17, 2014

Jessica4Bama said:
On ACL injuries, isn't there usually some instability in the knee anyway before it completely blows? Or can a perfectly healthy knee just decide to blow one day when you make an unexpected twist or turn? I would think there was something going on with his knee beforehand that could have caused the injury at any time.

I think it can go at any time. I'm not a doctor though, that's just my thought process from seeing it happen many years in athletics..

Skeeterpop · Nov 17, 2014

As for Prothro's injury. It was the first drive of the second half if I remember correctly. I had no issues him being in up 35-0 for that drive. That play was a fluke injury. Not due to fatigue or overuse and poor judgement.

JBama_in_PCOLA · Nov 17, 2014

B1GTide said:
No one is to blame. These things happen. Could they have taken him out? Sure, but they probably wanted to get him more reps since he missed 4 games. It's not like Auburn's defense was punishing him.

Totally agree with that. He needed reps and to get his wind back for upcoming games. You can't blame a coach, that's just football. It's kinda sad because he wasn't even touched!

JBama_in_PCOLA · Nov 17, 2014

Skeeterpop said:
As for Prothro's injury. It was the first drive of the second half if I remember correctly. I had no issues him being in up 35-0 for that drive. That play was a fluke injury. Not due to fatigue or overuse and poor judgement.

Also a gruesome one too. I'll never forget what I saw.

Skeeterpop · Nov 17, 2014

Jessica4Bama said:
On ACL injuries, isn't there usually some instability in the knee anyway before it completely blows? Or can a perfectly healthy knee just decide to blow one day when you make an unexpected twist or turn? I would think there was something going on with his knee beforehand that could have caused the injury at any time.

^^This is sometimes the case. And muscle fatigue skyrockets the risk when your knee has to support more weight and the workload is increased. Every Pro MLB team in the majors puts their starting pitchers on early season pitch counts for this exact reason except its for shoulders and elbows. Why in the world would they do this with every healthy pitcher unless it was a proven scientific fact that that player is ask a much higher risk of injury early on or until they have reached game condition with a few starts.

I dont understand why some cant look at this example and say. Yea. Gurley should not have been used to that extent and its on the head coach to put things in place to make sure if an injury occurs its not because of fatigue and the player not being in game condition.

bamacon · Nov 17, 2014

No. I'd blame TG for doing something illegal and missing all the game reps if anything. Even that though is a stretch. We had a player misstep and pop his hip out of socket like Bo Jackson. He was completely untouched. Stuff happens.

Skeeterpop · Nov 17, 2014

BamainBoston said:
I believe we were up 31-3 with 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

You could be right. I said I cant remember. However, I was not arguing every starter should not have been in the game. I was arguing a player who had not played in 6 weeks should not have been allowed to be overworked for any reason. 15-20 carries should have been a limit before the game IMO.

Skeeterpop · Nov 17, 2014

Let me back up a step. I played the game, did not play college but was All State at two positions in HS. I also coached for 10+ years. So I completely understand the risks of the game and how injuries even fluke one are inevitable. My issue is with overusing a player who has not played in 6 weeks not leaving a starter in late in a blow out. That is a coaching philosophy that is different for all coaches. Anyone who knows the college game knows 25+ carries today is being worked to the extreme. When you approach 30 carries its almost asking for it in todays game. Now you do this with a guy who has been watching from the sidelines for a month and a half and its plain dumb IMO. I guess I am alone here. Wish some Drs would share some info on muscle fatigue only increasing the risk of knee injuries. This is not just a random rant by a uninformed fan.

92tide · Nov 17, 2014

BamainBoston said:
I believe we were up 31-3 with 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

and going for it on 4th down

skipster63 · Nov 17, 2014

We live today in more of a judging society. CNS mentions that from time to time in his own way. From a fan's or the media's perspective, we always see things with the benefit of hindsight. I find myself doing at as well sometimes. I had an ACL tear myself and they can happen doing the most routine things and at the oddest times.....like doing a discount double check. And take it from a pitcher, pitching and running are two totally different things. I just think we need to back off sometimes from being so critical of coaches, players, etc. I also saw writers using this as their personal soapbox to slam the NCAA. That isn't the time and place for that either. I saw some chatter even about the band's timing during the MS State game. Just seems that wih each passing year we get more hyper critical. Maybe we all need some Xanax. I know my wife has threatened to go across the Mexico border and pick something up for me.

mdb-tpet · Nov 17, 2014

Anyone who's watched any Auburn football should realize they are not out of a game until the time expires at the end of the fourth quarter. I believe Gurley should have been in the game until it's IMPOSSIBLE for Auburn to come back and win. And the score was not 31-3, more like 31-7. It's also up to the player to be in condition to play 30 carries. He was also sharing carries with the other back. CMR is not to blame. If anyone is to blame, Gurley is to blame for signing autographs and not keeping himself in game shape. But this is more likely a freak accident. By your logic, no college running back should carry the ball more than 25 carries in the first game of the season, and we know that's not going to happen. And no running back should carry the ball more than 25 carries in a bowl game, also not going to happen.

Is CMR to blame for Gurley's Injury?

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