Blog

Dec 26, 2023

Sport Shorts: No. 1 Georgia loses running back Branson Robinson to season

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Branson Robinson, who showed his potential to emerge as a lead running back in 2023 for No. 1 Georgia by rushing for two touchdowns in the Bulldogs' 2022 national championship game

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Branson Robinson, who showed his potential to emerge as a lead running back in 2023 for No. 1 Georgia by rushing for two touchdowns in the Bulldogs' 2022 national championship game win over TCU, will miss this season after suffering a ruptured patellar tendon.

Coach Kirby Smart announced Wednesday that Robinson, a sophomore, suffered the injury on Tuesday.

Robinson rushed for 330 yards and three touchdowns while playing in 12 games last season as Georgia won its second straight national championship.

Robinson rushed for a season-high 98 yards against Auburn. He showed potential to assume a bigger role in 2023 when he ran for 42 yards on seven carries with the two scores in the 65-7 rout of TCU.

Smart said Robinson's injury “puts us in a tough situation” at running back as quarterback Carson Beck enters his first season as the starter. Kendall Milton and Daijan Edwards are the most experienced running backs. Roderick Robinson, Cash Jones and Andrew Paul also could be part of the rotation.

Branson Robinson was returning from a turf toe injury he suffered in spring practice before suffering the ruptured patellar tendon in what Smart said was a non-contact injury.

“It’ll be done by committee as it always has been here,” Smart said of the plan at running back. "I hate it for Branson because he had really worked hard. By the end of the spring, when he had the turf toe, he was battling back all offseason, he’s had a great summer and looked really good in the days leading up to this injury.”

There could be more pressure on the running backs as Beck succeeds Stetson Bennett following the first back-to-back national titles in school history.

The offense also is adjusting to a new coordinator, Mike Bobo, after Todd Monken was hired by the NFL's Baltimore Ravens.

Smart said losing Robinson won't change the Bulldogs' offensive plans.

“His injury isn’t going to affect our run-to-pass ratio,” Smart said. "We have capable backs. He was one of our better backs. ... We’ve got capable backs there and we’ve got people around them to get the ball to. I don’t see that changing who we are offensively, it just probably makes another injury more significant, what special teams roles do you want the backs playing, because you’ve got to be aware at what point there’s a drop off.”

John Isner is retiring from tennis after the US Open. He played in the sport's longest match

John Isner will retire from professional tennis after playing at the U.S. Open, he announced Wednesday, bringing an end to a career that included one Grand Slam semifinal appearance and a victory in the longest match in the sport's history.

“This transition won't be easy but I'm looking forward to every second of it with my amazing family,” the big-serving, 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) American wrote in a posting on social media that included a photo showing Isner, his wife and their four children.

“Time to lace ‘em up one last time,” the 38-year-old Isner said, referring to the year’s last major tournament, which begins in New York on Monday.

Isner reached a career-best ranking of No. 8 in 2018, shortly after reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon, won 16 singles titles and has hit more than 14,000 aces, an ATP Tour record. That includes 113 — the single-match mark — in his win against Nicolas Mahut that lasted 11 hours, 5 minutes across parts of three days in the first round at the All England Club in 2010 and ended at 70-68 in the fifth set.

There is now a plaque commemorating that contest on the wall outside Court 18, where it was played.

“Especially once the match got past, you know, 25-all, I wasn’t really thinking,” Isner said back in 2010. “Hitting a serve and trying to hit a forehand winner is the only thing I was doing.”

That match and Isner's loss to Kevin Anderson by a 26-24 score in the fifth set in the semifinals at Wimbledon eight years later were a big part of the impetus for the sport's eventual switch to standardizing tiebreakers in the decisive sets at all Grand Slam tournaments.

He was born in North Carolina and played tennis at the University of Georgia, helping the school win the 2007 NCAA team tennis championship, before turning pro that year.

Isner won more than $22 million in prize money and for years was the highest-ranked American man.

He has gone just 8-13 in 2023 and his ATP ranking dropped to No. 158 this week.

Isner bowed out in the first round at each of this season’s first three Grand Slam tournaments. The last time he got to the third round at a major was at Wimbledon last year, when he defeated Andy Murray at Centre Court.

“It’s no secret that I am most definitely not a better tennis player than Andy Murray. I might have been just a little bit better than him today. It was an incredible honor to play him on this court, in front of this crowd,” Isner said that day. “At the age I’m at now, I need to relish these moments. This was one of the biggest wins of my career.”

Brian Holtzapple can be reached at 570-742-9671 or [email protected].

Log In

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,racist or sexually-oriented language.PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.Don't Threaten. Threats of harming anotherperson will not be tolerated.Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyoneor anything.Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ismthat is degrading to another person.Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link oneach comment to let us know of abusive posts.Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitnessaccounts, the history behind an article.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

Would you like to receive our daily news? Signup today!

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.