Will Nate Frazier Play vs. Vanderbilt? Here is What We Know About the Georgia Football RB – Sports Illustrated

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ATHENS – Georgia football is mandated to release its initial injury report Wednesday night for the Bulldogs’ Homecoming matchup with Vanderbilt.
The report will garner larger-than-usual attention this week again, as running back Nate Frazier did not play Saturday against Oklahoma, and coach Kirby Smart was unwilling to discuss the Compton native’s status on Monday when directly asked by a reporter about his injury.
"As far as Nate, I'll just defer to the injury report like everybody else does,” Smart said.
Frazier missed only the second game of his career at Georgia Saturday with what ESPN reported was a rib injury. SEC schools are not required to disclose the type of injury players have in official reports. In a post-game press conference immediately following Georgia’s 45-17 win at Arkansas, Smart was asked about Frazier and WR Isiah Canion leaving the game with apparent injuries.
“I think both of them are fine. I don't honestly know,” he said. “Nate had a little ding. It's bothering him. We're going to go check on it, and Isaiah the same way. But I thought both of them probably could've played if they needed to.”
The Monday following that game Smart indicated that he expected Frazier to play against the Sooners.
“Nate, I think's going to be fine,” Smart said. “It's going to be day-to-day – expect him to be able to play.”
That Wednesday Frazier appeared on the SEC’s injury report as “questionable”, meaning that he was “uncertain to play due to injury or condition” according to the parameters set forth by the Southeastern Conference’s Student-Athlete Availability Report protocols. By Saturday, Frazier was listed as a game-time decision. Although he fully dressed out for the game, Frazier didn’t warm up with the Bulldogs and didn’t play.
When asked immediately after the Oklahoma game how close to playing Frazier is to getting back to playing, Smart was non-committal.
“I don't really know,” he answered.
When asked Monday about two other injured Bulldogs, one of which had not been included in the injury report, Smart said:
“I’d refer to the injury report. That’s why we do those, right? People in this room beg for injury reports, and now y’all have one every Wednesday. 8:10 (PM). I’m sure y’all are on the edge of your seat waiting to get it,” he told reporters Monday. “You’re dying to get it to write another article about it. Y’all are awesome at following that thing. I follow y’all to get an update on the other teams. I don’t check it myself. But it will be out Wednesday at 8:10. Maybe a little later.”
The Southeastern Conference started injury reports for conference games in 2024. In a statement from commissioner Greg Sankey that August, the SEC said the purpose of the reports was “intended to reduce pressure from outside entities seeking participation information and represents a commitment of our 16 institutions to provide enhanced transparency to support efforts to protect our student-athletes and the integrity of competition.”
At the time, ESPN reported that Smart was supportive of the policy, citing concerns about gambling.
"If it keeps the pressure off of our kids from people reaching out to them, trying to get information from betting sites and trying to gain information,” he said. “There is no gain if you've got accurate information. So, it protects our kids. I'm for it."
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After two-plus decades of covering the Georgia Bulldogs and the SEC, Dean Legge is one of the definitive voices in Athens and beyond. Legge has authored two books – DAWGSTRUCTION and DOUBLE DAWGS – with each chronicling Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs' run to national titles in 2021 and 2022. Legge has been a Heisman Trophy voter since 2005 and a Biletnikoff Award voter since 2009. He’s covered SEC Championships, Peach Bowls, Orange Bowls, Sugar Bowls, the Rose Bowl Game, College Football Playoff National Championship Games, the NCAA Tournament, the College World Series as well as a slew of college football, basketball and baseball games. Legge graduated from Coker College in 1999 with a degree in Political Science. He played both tennis and basketball for the Cobras. After graduating, Legge completed his academic career at the University of Georgia where he earned a Master of Public Administration from the School of Public and International Affairs in 2001. In 2008, Legge was elected President of the Coker College Alumni Association. He served on the Board of Trustees at Coker from 2009 to 2017 and was a member of the Executive Committee, Student Services and Enrollment Committee and Athletic Committee in that time. Legge is a native of Tucker, Georgia.
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