After initially injuring his ribs in Georgia's win over Florida, it was assumed that Trevor Etienne took another hit during the game against Ole Miss and that's what put him on the shelf for last week's game against Tennessee.

After practice on Tuesday, head coach Kirby Smart said that wasn't the case.

"We honestly don't know the answer to that. We think it occurred during the week of practice last week, but he didn't take any hits," Smart said. "He was in a black shirt, not taking hits. He was running around, and he felt something in there when he planted and pushed. So we don't know."

Smart also thought something happened in the Ole Miss game.

"I assumed it was probably during the Ole Miss game, but he didn't complain of any pain. He didn't complain of any soreness. We did the re-X-ray, and he felt good," Smart said. "He went out to practice (last) Monday and felt good. Went out to practice Tuesday, and then something happened, but it would have been non-contact. He wasn't getting touched, and that's when we checked it, and that's when we found it (sources say cracked ribs). We're still hoping to get him back soon."

...Smart said Branson Robinson (meniscus) continues to improve.

"Yeah, he's running. I think I'm saying this right. He started to cut yesterday, and he's cutting. He did not do anything with us, but he did do a lot of running. He hit good speeds," Smart said. "He's getting his confidence back, planting and cutting. He was in meetings, doing game-plan stuff. He's making progress, but he's not taking the ups with us."

After a tough start to the season off the field, sophomore cornerback Daniel Harris is starting to make a big impact on it.

Harris’ season got off to a rocky start following his September arrest on five misdemeanor driving offenses, but since then he’s stepped up.

“He's played significantly more in recent weeks because he's practiced better. I thought his practice habits really began to change after Texas during that off week,” head coach Smart said. “I thought he stepped it up and had really good practices. His playing time has increased since then.”

Against Tennessee, Harris took it one step further.

After Julian Humphreys was called with a pass interference early in the game, Harris was inserted into the lineup and never came out, playing the final 67 defensive snaps.

Pro Football Focus thought Harris played well.

His overall grade of 76.5 was the highest of any Bulldog defensive back.

“He did a real good job against Tennessee,” cornerback Daylen Everette said. “But you know, I've been seeing him day by day in practice, and he’s just becoming a better player. He’s getting better every day. You can see his development, so yeah, I’m really proud of him.”

Due to injuries to the running back room, freshman Nate Frazier has been asked to carry more of the load.

So far, he’s done fine.

"Well, first of all, I think he's very mature. He came from, you know, arguably probably one of the best programs in the whole country in Mater Dei. They have put out their own players and won more national championships in high schools than anybody," Smart said. "So, I mean, he's a kid that's very mature. He knew exactly what he wanted. And I think our national exposure helped us recruit him."

With Etienne (ribs) expected to miss another game, Frazier has a chance to take over the team lead in rushing with a strong performance against UMass.

Etienne still leads the Bulldogs with 477 yards and seven touchdowns, but Frazier is not very far behind with 401 net yards and four scores.

"He came in in June. That's hard to do. It's not particularly hard for a running back to play as a freshman, but he did not come in with the other guys," Smart said. "The last guy I think maybe was (D'Andre) Swift because Swift went to a private school and didn't come in midyear. Came in in the summer. Nate's picked things up really quickly. He's talented, he's conscientious, and just been really pleased with his overall work ethic."

…Georgia’s game against Tennessee drew over 10 million viewers, the most of any team this weekend.

…Peyton Woodring has been named a semifinalist for the Groza Award which goes annually to the nation’s top kicker.

…Although Carson Beck showed he has better wheels than many give him credit for against Tennessee, don’t look for him to start adding “dual quarterback” to his job description.

“I look at it as Carson (Beck) making good decisions on when to run. He's done a great job this year. There's no way I could say, ‘Ooh, man, I wish you'd pulled it down and ran’. I could say ‘I wish you'd have thrown it to the check down’. But I can't say that he should have pulled it down and ran,” Smart said of Beck, who ran for 32 yards, including a touchdown against Tennessee.

“I think he makes good decisions on when to do that. I think our offensive staff does a tremendous job of utilizing his ability to run on certain plays,” Smart said. “That was a design run on one of those plays. People think it was a scramble, but there was a scramble for a touchdown, and there was an empty play where he counted the box and knew what we wanted him to do, and he broke tackles.”