On Monday, Georgia announced that freshman tailback Knowshon Moreno would be the offensive captain for Saturday’s game at Vanderbilt.  Yesterday, they took the next step and named him the starting tailback.

It’s not like Moreno getting the call is a big shock.  Thomas Brown is out with an injury, and Kregg Lumpkin is still coming back from his injury.  Moreno has earned plenty of playing time.  With the team badly in need of a spark, this show of confidence (both the captaincy and the starter label) in one of the most exciting players of the season is a good move by the staff.

In fact, it’s worth noting that all four captains for this game – Moreno, Ellerbe, Mimbs, and Prince Miller – are all first-year starters.  That’s quite a message being sent. 

Of course some of the youth movement – like Rennie Curran pushing for a starting linebacker job – isn’t necessarily a positive sign.  Call it desperation or what you like, but Georgia hasn’t given this many freshmen this much playing time since the old Scottish Rite freshman games against Georgia Tech.