Senior running back Kregg Lumpkin said redshirt freshman Knowshon Moreno, the youngest running back on the team, is a character who keeps learning each day with tremendous speed and power.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford described Moreno as the same guy who came to Georgia last year – a high-energy player.

Moreno, a Belford, N.J. native, came to the team last year trying to break into the running back lineup, but with the three-headed monster of Lumpkin, Danny Ware and Thomas Brown, that task proved virtually impossible.

So instead of constantly trying to be in the game last year, Moreno watched and learned the system even when the running backs were struggling and after Brown tore his ACL in the middle of the season.

It is not a choice Moreno said he regrets, but actually something that helped him.

“I feel like I made a big jump from last year,” Moreno said. “Last year was a big learning stage and I am still learning now. I have a lot of things to work on like pass protection.”

Now is the time for Moreno to break through and work his way into the lineup. Since Ware opted out of his senior year to go to the NFL and Brown is recovering from knee surgery, there are only two running backs to compete during spring football.

Spring is the time for Moreno to impress the coaches before Brown returns to the competition and Georgia commitment Caleb King gets to campus in the fall.

“I got to work on seeing the defense better,” Moreno said. “I am going to have to study and, as I study, apply that to the field.”

The preparation of taking a year off to learn Georgia’s system has helped Moreno, however, head coach Mark Richt said he could still use work.