Richt stands by his tailback; ball's in Crowell's hands now

There are two things I took from reading of this exchange between a fan in Columbus and Coach Richt:

A fan asked for the microphone and began talking about Crowell, the Columbus native and freshman tailback. He wondered whether Crowell, who was injury-prone last year, was “SEC tough.”

Richt defended his tailback.

“He was the Freshman of the Year in the Southeastern Conference. He didn’t do too bad,” Richt said.

The crowd laughed. Richt went on, saying that every freshman has a “learning curve,” and that Crowell has had to go through growing pains in the spotlight. He finished by saying his tailback had a good spring and made every practice.

The position is Crowell's to lose. And it's the kid's turn to stick up for his coach.