Former Florida Gators running back Trevor Etienne transferred to Georgia after the 2023 season in the latest twist of the Georgia-Florida rivalry. Etienne is now Georgia’s starting running back and a key player for the Bulldogs entering their stretch run of the 2024 college football season.
“It’s become the norm of college football,” said Florida coach Billy Napier on facing his former running back. “It’s already happened a handful of times this year that we played against players on the other side that were on our team in the past.”
Etienne has been very productive for Georgia. The 5-foot-9, 205-pound running back has 82 rushes for 422 yards and seven touchdowns. Etienne is Georgia’s leading rusher and also has added 20 receptions for 130 yards.
Adding Etienne benefited Georgia and hurt Florida. However, Napier is not looking back on his time with Etienne. Instead, he’s focused on the now and what the Gators have in their running back room.
“It’s gotten to a point where you just move on to the next one,” continued Napier. “I think we’ve done what we needed to do to be productive at running back. Obviously Jadan (Baugh), Ja’Kobi (Jackson); Montrell (Johnson) has been very productive for us this year. That position for us is at the centerpiece of our offense and I couldn’t be more proud of the guys that we have there.”
Florida, who is already without their starting quarterback, may also be without their leading rusher in Montrell Johnson against Georgia. Johnson missed the Kentucky game with an injury.
If Johnson is out, then expected freshman running back Jadan Baugh to receive the majority of carries for the Gators. Baugh had 22 carries for 106 yards and five touchdowns in Florida’s win over Kentucky. The Gators are expected to have a run-approach against Georgia.
