Athens, Ga. ? Michael Cooper wasn’t happy.

The running back sat out his first season at Georgia, then played little in the spring game. He wondered if he had a future with the Bulldogs. He wondered if it was time to move on.

“Whenever you’re put in a position where you feel things are not rolling your way, you have to give it a little thought,” Cooper said.

Coach Mark Richt stifled any talk of a transfer, assuring Cooper of a significant role this season. The red-shirt freshman will be the starter today when the No. 8 Bulldogs (2-0) play host to 25th-ranked South Carolina (2-0) in the Southeastern Conference opener.

Tony Milton isn’t expected to play because of a nagging leg injury. Cooper, who leads the team in rushing with 135 yards on just 17 carries, will get his first career start.

The Bulldogs feel confident handing the ball to Cooper, who is averaging 7.9 yards per carry and has yet to be brought down behind the line of scrimmage. This looks like the guy who was one of the state’s top high school backs in 2001, rushing for 2,352 yards and 38 touchdowns.

“I’ve been waiting patiently to get in there and get a chance to do my thing,” Cooper said.

He didn’t get a chance to play last season. Georgia already had Musa Smith, who became the school’s first 1,000-yard rusher in 10 years, and Milton, a red-shirt freshman who had a better grasp of the plays.

When Cooper struggled to make the adjustment to Richt’s offense, coaches decided he would be better off taking a redshirt season.

“Last year, he was a little bit tentative, which is very typical for a true freshman,” the coach said. “We didn’t see any point putting him in a little bit here and a little bit there. I know it was tough on him, tough on his ego. He got a lot of publicity in high school. People wanted to see him. But we didn’t think it was to his advantage.”

Cooper spent time on the scout team, trying to learn the offense while portraying other teams in practice.

Only 5-foot-11 but 223 pounds, Cooper is a bowling ball of a back with good speed and power. He grew up playing defense, but switched to offense during his sophomore year. As soon as he scored his first touchdown, he decided that running back was where he wanted to be.