Georgia CB Branden Smith will not face a suspension despite being arrested in the spring, coach Mark Richt announced Saturday.
"After all the information we got we decided that he will be able to play the first game," coach Mark Richt told DawgPost.com, an affiliate of Scout.com.
Smith was arrested March 18 and charged with simple marijuana possession after he was pulled over in Alabama for following another vehicle too closely and having a light out on his car. He entered a pre-trial diversion program in May in an effort to have the case dismissed, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.
Georgia has a policy that players who are arrested for marijuana possession must be suspended for at least 10 percent of the schedule, but Richt decided that this case would not warrent that discipline.
This is good news for a Georgia secondary that faced its fair share of off-the-field incidents over the offseason. CB Sanders Commings has already been suspended for the first two games after facing domestic violence charges in January. S Bacarri Rambo could be suspended for four games or longer after failing a drug test, according to a March report from the Athens Banner-Herald. Richt has not confirmed or denied Rambo's pending suspension.
Smith, a senior, is a probable starting CB for Georgia. He has started 17 games in his three years in Athens and has 55 tackles and four interceptions.
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