Daijun Edwards, Branson Robinson bring the pain vs. Auburn
ATHENS, Ga. — Coming into the season, Georgia running backs Kenny McIntosh and Kendall Milton were expected to be the two tasked with taking over for Zamir White and James Cook. McIntosh and Milton were the two most proven options, but not the only two options. On Saturday in Georgia’s 42-10 win over rival Auburn, it was Daijun Edwards and Branson Robinson instead that carried the weight for the Bulldogs. Robinson, a freshman, led Georgia in rushing with 98 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries while Edwards turned his 12 carries in 83 yards and a trio of touchdowns, something that hadn’t been done at Georgia since Sony Michel in the 2018 Rose Bowl.
“I thought he did a really good job,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said on Edwards. “He does a good job around the goal line, makes people miss. He’s elusive, but not so much explosive. He’s probably not going to break off a super long run, but he gets a lot of positive runs. It’s really hard to get him for a tackle for loss.”
“The addition of Branson was really big for us,” he added on Robinson. “He’s a guy we felt like all week we had to get more opportunities for him because he’s run the ball well in practice. He’s got a bit of a burst, and was able to get some carries with Kendall being banged up and I thought he did a good job.”
Smart wasn’t the only one that’s seen Edwards and Robinson perform like that in practice. Georgia running back Kenny McIntosh is the oldest in the running back room and looks at those two as his little brothers.
“His quickness, the way he can change directions quickly. He’s a little shorter than me and Kendall, like you said, but he can change directions real fast and explode into the hole. He can definitely catch the ball as well,” McIntosh said after the game on Edwards. “Daijun is definitely a tough guy. Like I said, he’s not the biggest but he’s definitely a tough guy. He can run through you, between the lines, outside the lines, stuff like that. He’s a complete running back.”
“I see it every day when we’re practicing with him. The way he runs the ball is physical,” McIntosh added on Robinson. “He’s fast, he’s quick, he makes decisions real fast and can make people miss. The way he runs the ball, him and Daijun are very strong. They can definitely between the lines and make cuts and stuff like that. He definitely brought that out today.”
McIntosh said that he was one of the most excited to see the success they had. A perfect example of that came as he was there to celebrate with Robinson after his fourth quarter score.
“I was excited to see my guys out there doing it,” McIntosh said. “My message to him (Robinson) was to go out there and keep doing it because like I said, I’ve been seeing it in practice. I reminded him it’s like Bloody Tuesday. It’s one our hardest practices against our team. You’re really going against a lot of great people at Georgia on our defense, so if he can do it against our team, he can do it against anybody.”
Edwards and Robinson will likely continue to factor in more and more to the running back rotation as the season goes along. Not only does it take pressure off of McIntosh and Milton, who left Saturday’s game with a groin injury, but it gives the Bulldogs a toughness element that the bigger backs are able to bring to the table.
Georgia takes on Vanderbilt next Saturday at Sanford Stadium. The Commodores fell to Ole Miss this week 52-28. Kickoff time between the Bulldogs and Dores is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
