Georgia loses star RB Nick Chubb to knee injury in upset loss to Tennessee

Georgia sophomore running back Nick Chubb left Saturday's 38-31 lossatTennesseeearly after suffering a left knee injury.

Chubb took the opening handoff to the left side of the field and landed awkwardly on his left leg as he was tackled out of bounds.

After several minutes on the trainer's table, Chubb was helped up and given assistance on each side to get him off the sidelines. He slowly hobbled about 20 or so yards before asking to stop. A few seconds later, Chubb passed out in the arms of his helpers. A cart was quickly called down the sidelines and he was loaded in. Chubb regained consciousness and sat up in the cart.

Georgia coach Mark Richt was upbeat in his postgame news conference about Chubb avoiding a major injury.

"We are hopeful it won't require surgery, but we are not 100 percent sure," Richt said.

Chubb's former teammateTodd Gurley and Marcus Lattimore, both running backs who also suffered serious knee injuries, were quick to tweet support to Chubb:

Fellow SEC running backLeonard Fournetteof LSU also extended his condolences.

"My heart was shattered. You never want to see an athlete like that go down," said Fournette, who like Chubb began the season as a Heisman Trophy hopeful. "And knowing that we go through so much during (the) football offseason and just to get an injury, man, my prayers go out to him and his family -- especially to him. That's a tough pill to swallow."

Sophomore Sony Michel replaced Chubb and ran up 145 yards on 22 carries, adding three receptions for 26 yards. Keith Marshall was given touches as well, rushing five times for 24 yards.

Chubb entered Saturday having rushed for at least 100 yards in a school-record 13 straight games. Chubb ranks second in the SEC this season with 745 rushing yards and has seven rushing touchdowns. He also averages 8.2 yards per carry.

Chubb finished his freshman season with 1,547 rushing yards, which tied for fourth-most in a single season in school history.

He also set an SEC bowl record with 266 rushing yards on 33 carries in the Bulldogs' 37-14 win overLouisvillein last season's Belk Bowl.

Information from ESPN's Kaylee Hartung was used in this report.