Richt: 'Obviously' a tougher message being sent

Mark Richt was asked Tuesday if the two-game suspension for Caleb King – after Washaun Ealey got only one game – was a reflection of a tougher standard.

“Yes sir,” Richt said, nodding.

Did Richt feel like he needed to send a message?

“Obviously,” Richt said, again keeping his answer short.

King’s arrest, the 11th of a Bulldog player this year, occupied a large part of Richt’s weekly news conference.

King was arrested early Monday morning after it was discovered his license was suspended, the result of a failure-to-appear-in-court charge stemming from a speeding charge.

When Ealey was arrested in August, also after a suspended license charge (and hitting a parked car), Richt said the team had a system in place for checking to see if licenses were valid.

Asked about that Tuesday, Richt said they were now moving from doing monthly checks on player’s driver’s licenses, to doing weekly checks.

As for outstanding tickets, Richt said it was the player’s responsibility.

“In this particular case, you basically would have to get in contact with every single county in the state of Georgia on a daily basis too make sure something like that didn’t pop up,” Richt said.

The result of King’s suspension is a revamped tailback position. Carlton Thomas remains questionable with a hamstring injury, so some new guys could be getting carries against Vanderbilt.

Freshman Ken Malcome is a candidate to have the redshirt taken off, though Richt didn’t commit fully to doing that.

Fred Munzenmaier, normally a fullback, will “absolutely” be getting work at tailback, according to Richt.

Dustin Royston has been getting more work at the fullback position too, along with freshman Zander Ogletree.