This town has chewed me up and spit me out. I just want to make it home in one piece, which remains questionable with two more nights of these shenanigans to go. It has been an experience to remember though -- at least the bits and pieces that I can still recall...
Anyway, Mark Richt announced today that Thomas Brown will start the Sugar Bowl over Knowshon Moreno. I don't think that has as much to do with Knowshon's ankle that he sprained against Georgia Tech (which Richt said has improved greatly in the last few days -- and I saw him on Bourbon Street last night and Knowshon seemed to be feeling and moving around just fine as he was galavanting back to the team hotel before curfew) as that he just wants to let Thomas start his last game because Thomas is Thomas. I expect both of them to carry the ball 15-20 times...much like they have in each of the last three games that both have been available since Thomas returned from a broken collarbone.
It breaks down like this:
THOMAS BROWN
vs. GT 17-139, TD
vs. UK 22-73, TD
vs. AU 14-81, TD
KNOWSHON MORENO
vs. GT 17-45
vs. UK 22-124, TD
vs. AU 22-101, 2 TD
That gives Thomas 53 carries for 293 yards since his return and Knowshon 61 for 270. Pretty even. And I'd expect things to remain that way, although you may see Kregg Lumpkin steal some carries from one or both.
Also, Richt said today that Dannell Ellerbe (illness, Achilles) and Marcus Washington (ankle) seem to be doing better and will play tomorrow.
Other stuff:
* The team posed for its team picture today at the Superdome. They wore their black jerseys, which I think makes for a pretty cool team picture.
* No Dog Walk tomorrow. They couldn't figure out a way to do it logistically.
* The team's curfew is 11 p.m. tonight, meaning the team won't get to enjoy NYE in the French Quarter. Probably a good thing, as it seemed they were enjoying their New Year's Eve last night.
All right, that's all for now. Happy New Year everybody! Have a fun and safe night.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Taking a break
It's been a whirlwind few days here in New Orleans. I've gotten to hang out with some of UGA's sports communications staff in the French Quarter after hours a couple of times this week, which has been really fun. After burning the candle at both ends for a few nights, though, I really should take this one off. We just rolled in from a media party at the old U.S. Mint, which was interesting. They have a gold exhibit right now that's worth seeing.
Anyway, on the UGA front, I've written a couple of lengthy stories in the last couple days. The one in today's paper was on offensive line coach Stacy Searels. There'll be one tomorrow about the value of the Polynesian culture to Hawaii's team.
On the newsy side of things, the health of Georgia's linebacking corps is a situation that bears watching. Dannell Ellerbe clearly didn't feel well today and is apparently hurt on top of it. Marcus Washington is still slowed by an ankle (?) injury. It's not a great situation for them right now.
I didn't realize this until he said it today, but Geno Atkins' dad, Gene, was a safety with the New Orleans Saints when I was a kid. Geno said it's like a dream come true to be playing in the Superdome where his dad used to play. I thought that made for a nice little note in tomorrow's notebook.
Also wrote a quick one about the team going to see LeBron James play the New Orleans Hornets tonight. Some of those guys seemed pretty excited about it. I wanted to do that myself, but didn't get finished with work in time. Oh well.
Anyway, on the UGA front, I've written a couple of lengthy stories in the last couple days. The one in today's paper was on offensive line coach Stacy Searels. There'll be one tomorrow about the value of the Polynesian culture to Hawaii's team.
On the newsy side of things, the health of Georgia's linebacking corps is a situation that bears watching. Dannell Ellerbe clearly didn't feel well today and is apparently hurt on top of it. Marcus Washington is still slowed by an ankle (?) injury. It's not a great situation for them right now.
I didn't realize this until he said it today, but Geno Atkins' dad, Gene, was a safety with the New Orleans Saints when I was a kid. Geno said it's like a dream come true to be playing in the Superdome where his dad used to play. I thought that made for a nice little note in tomorrow's notebook.
Also wrote a quick one about the team going to see LeBron James play the New Orleans Hornets tonight. Some of those guys seemed pretty excited about it. I wanted to do that myself, but didn't get finished with work in time. Oh well.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Munson staying home
I guess many of you Internet-savvy Georgia fans have already seen that Larry Munson changed his plan to call the Sugar Bowl. I think he's just not feeling up to it.
That's about the newsiest thing that has come out of Sugar Bowl practice thus far. Out at practice today, WR Kris Durham was apparently injured as the writers were leaving the Superdome, but it's unclear how severe. LB Marcus Washington was out there, but was in green -- as he has been for quite some time. There are several guys practicing with some variety of bumps and bruises, including TB Knowshon Moreno and FB Brannan Southerland. LB Dannell Ellerbe was not participating in drills while the media was allowed at practice today, but he was not dressed in green.
Had some interesting talks today with various folks for upcoming stories. I got the chance to talk to Hawaii defensive lineman Michael Lafaele and LB Solomon Elimimian for something I'm working on about the Polynesian culture's influence on the team. Elimimian is from South Central Los Angeles, so he had some really interesting things to say about the culture shock he experienced.
Also, I just talked to former Auburn coach Pat Dye for a story I'm doing on Georgia's offensive line coach, Stacy Searels. He was intrigued when I told him coach Searels doesn't talk to the media, which just kind of came up off hand. It didn't really have anything to do with what we were talking about. It's interesting that Searels and Georgia defensive line coach Rodney Garner lined up side-by-side on Auburn's offensive line years ago and now they're coaching on the same staff. Anyway, the Searels story is coming tomorrow. It's somewhat difficult doing a profile story on someone who won't talk to you, but lots of other people are willing to talk for him...and he's done a great job this year, unquestionably. Lots of people are willing to say positive things about what he's done.
Well, I'm heading downstairs to listen to what Georgia's players have to say at their Q/A time today.
That's about the newsiest thing that has come out of Sugar Bowl practice thus far. Out at practice today, WR Kris Durham was apparently injured as the writers were leaving the Superdome, but it's unclear how severe. LB Marcus Washington was out there, but was in green -- as he has been for quite some time. There are several guys practicing with some variety of bumps and bruises, including TB Knowshon Moreno and FB Brannan Southerland. LB Dannell Ellerbe was not participating in drills while the media was allowed at practice today, but he was not dressed in green.
Had some interesting talks today with various folks for upcoming stories. I got the chance to talk to Hawaii defensive lineman Michael Lafaele and LB Solomon Elimimian for something I'm working on about the Polynesian culture's influence on the team. Elimimian is from South Central Los Angeles, so he had some really interesting things to say about the culture shock he experienced.
Also, I just talked to former Auburn coach Pat Dye for a story I'm doing on Georgia's offensive line coach, Stacy Searels. He was intrigued when I told him coach Searels doesn't talk to the media, which just kind of came up off hand. It didn't really have anything to do with what we were talking about. It's interesting that Searels and Georgia defensive line coach Rodney Garner lined up side-by-side on Auburn's offensive line years ago and now they're coaching on the same staff. Anyway, the Searels story is coming tomorrow. It's somewhat difficult doing a profile story on someone who won't talk to you, but lots of other people are willing to talk for him...and he's done a great job this year, unquestionably. Lots of people are willing to say positive things about what he's done.
Well, I'm heading downstairs to listen to what Georgia's players have to say at their Q/A time today.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Eason talks about staying at UGA
After meeting with the higher-ups at FAMU, his alma mater, Georgia associate head coach John Eason decided he wants to stay where he is. Here's what he had to say:
On talking about coming back to FAMU:
They contacted me about their football coaching position. Went down this past Friday and I met with the president and athletic director and we had some discussions about it. I just felt at this time in my career, I just felt that it was best for me to continue what we started here at this university. I’m looking forward to doing that.
Was it flattering?
There’s no doubt about it. Anytime your alma mater calls you, it’s flattering. You think about having an opportunity to go back home. I think one of their concerns I think was money. But I think when you think about going back to your alma mater and when I think about at this point in my career, money was not an issue. It was a matter of having an opportunity to give back and to go back home. It was just a situation where it was just not meant to be.
Was it a hard thing to turn down?
Yes it was, because I really wanted to do it. It was something that I wanted to do and I just felt like I could not. I just felt like I had to stay here. I was looking at what I’ve got coming back and what I’ve got coming in and it’s a treat.
On talking about coming back to FAMU:
They contacted me about their football coaching position. Went down this past Friday and I met with the president and athletic director and we had some discussions about it. I just felt at this time in my career, I just felt that it was best for me to continue what we started here at this university. I’m looking forward to doing that.
Was it flattering?
There’s no doubt about it. Anytime your alma mater calls you, it’s flattering. You think about having an opportunity to go back home. I think one of their concerns I think was money. But I think when you think about going back to your alma mater and when I think about at this point in my career, money was not an issue. It was a matter of having an opportunity to give back and to go back home. It was just a situation where it was just not meant to be.
Was it a hard thing to turn down?
Yes it was, because I really wanted to do it. It was something that I wanted to do and I just felt like I could not. I just felt like I had to stay here. I was looking at what I’ve got coming back and what I’ve got coming in and it’s a treat.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Closing up shop
All right, this is pretty much it from Athens for this season. The team's last practice in town is early tomorrow morning and they'll break for Christmas. That means it'll be the last practice at Butts-Mehre for the seniors. I talked to Kelin Johnson and Thomas Brown about it and they didn't particularly seem nostalgic about it. I'll throw that in my notes for Saturday.
I'll be moving out of my apartment here tomorrow as well, so I may not post again until the team reports on the 26th...unless something pressing happens...
By the way, Mark Richt said that he didn't know of any of his coaches interviewing for another job. I mentioned the coach Eason thing to him and he said FAMU has tried to hire him before. Stay tuned, though. I'd be willing to bet one of them draws some interest before all the open jobs are filled.
Merry Christmas to everyone.
I'll be moving out of my apartment here tomorrow as well, so I may not post again until the team reports on the 26th...unless something pressing happens...
By the way, Mark Richt said that he didn't know of any of his coaches interviewing for another job. I mentioned the coach Eason thing to him and he said FAMU has tried to hire him before. Stay tuned, though. I'd be willing to bet one of them draws some interest before all the open jobs are filled.
Merry Christmas to everyone.
Academic all-clear
You folks who can't seem to let this academic eligibility issue drop (with the rumors mostly concerning a certain UGA tailback) will be glad to know that it's settled. Mark Richt said today that everybody on the team is academically eligible to play in the Sugar Bowl.
More later.
More later.
GSWA All-State teams
The Georgia Sports Writers Association released its all-state teams and it's got plenty of names who are of interest to you UGA folks. I think there were 10 or 11 who are currently committed to Georgia. I went through and bolded those names, although I may have missed somebody.
State Player of the Year: Washaun Ealey, Emanuel County Institute, Junior
Class AAAAA
Offensive Player of the Year - Kenneth Miles, Brookwood
Defensive Player of the Year - Joel Kight, M.L. King
Coach of the Year - Randy McPherson, Lowndes
QB - Michael Tamburo, North Gwinnett, 6-1, 180, Jr.
RB - Kenneth Miles, Brookwood, Sr. 5-11, 195
RB - Cordellaro Jones, M.L. King, 5-8, 180, Sr.
WR - Brice Butler, Norcross, 6-2, 178, Sr.
WR - Craig Presley, Houston County, 6-2, 175, Jr.
WR - Alan Bonner, Newnan, 5-10, 170, Jr.
OL - Aaron Hawkins, M.L. King, 6-4, 300, Sr.
OL - Clint Duggan, North Gwinnett, 6-4, 265, Sr.
OL - Eric Grube, Brookwood, 6-1, 285, Sr.
OL - Levi Vedas, Lowndes, 6-2, 275, Sr.
OL - Zach Allen, Tift County, 6-3, 310, Sr.
ATH - Greg Reid, Lowndes, 5-9, 170, Jr.
K - Adam Shreiner, Walton, Sr. 5-10, 185, Sr.
DL - Chase Thomas, Walton, 6-4, 215, Sr.
DL - Larry Bryant, Tift County, 6-2, 260, Sr.
DL - Eric Eberhardt, North Gwinnett, 6-1, 245, Sr.
DL - Ryan Seymour, Camden County, 6-5, 240, Sr.
LB - Joel Kight, M.L. King, 5-9, 210, Jr.
LB - Curtis Weatherspoon, Valdosta, Sr. 6-2, 205
LB - Tavaris Williams, Lowndes, 6-0, 200, Sr.
DB - Tristan Strong, Grayson, 6-2, 224, Sr.
DB - Elton Ford, Chattahoochee, 6-0, 200, Sr.
DB - Sean Smith, M.L. King, 5-9, 170, Sr.
DB - Kelly Dawsey, Lowndes, 5-11, 185, Sr.
P - Dawson Zimmerman, Brookwood, 6-2, 178, Sr.
RET - Brian Sutherland, Campbell, 5-8, 175, Sr.
Honorable mention - Darvin Adams, Harrison, Sr.; Nick Amon, Grayson, Sr.; David Arnold, Valdosta, Sr.; Burke Batten, Coffee, Sr.; Ray Beno, Newnan, Jr.; Devonta Bolton, Norcross, Sr.; Matt Britain, North Cobb, Sr.; Derrick Bryant, Peachtree Ridge, Sr.; Alex Daniel, Roswell, Sr.; Dion Dubose, Norcross, Sr.; Major Herron, Camden County, Sr.; Donte McConico, Mundy's
Mill, Sr.; Shawn Monos, Warner Robins, Sr.; Matt Roark, North Cobb, Sr.; Dustin Taliaferro, Roswell, Sr.; Kevin Minter, Peachtree Ridge, Jr.; Nigel Mitchell-Thornton, Stephenson, Jr.; Ebele Okakpu, Roswell, Sr.; Russell Powell, Newnan, Jr.; Justin Smith, Chattahoochee, Sr.
Class AAAA
Offensive Player of the Year - Tavarres King, Habersham Central, Sr.
Defensive Player of the Year - Toby Jackson, Griffin, Sr.
Coach of the Year - Conrad Nix, Northside-Warner Robins
QB - Marques Ivory, Northside-Warner Robins, Sr., 6-1, 245
RB - Tijuan Green, Northside-Warner Robins, Sr., 5-10, 195
RB - Debrale Smiley, Thomas County Central, Sr., 5-10, 235
WR - Tavarres King, Habersham Central, Sr., 6-1, 175
WR - Nick Bass, Northside-Warner Robins, Sr., 6-0, 180
WR - Danny Madison, Westside-Macon, Jr., 6-1, 195
OL - Jason Peacock, Baldwin, Sr., 6-4, 360
OL - Gabe Irvy, Habersham Central, Sr., 6-5, 318
OL - Jerome Bibbins, Northside, Sr., 6-3, 270
OL - Jimmy Staten, Ware County, Jr., 6-4, 240
OL - Kent Cleveland, St. Pius X, Sr., 6-5, 285
ATH - Brandon Boykin, Fayette County, Sr., 5-10, 170
K - Eric Osteen, Richmond Academy, Jr., 6-0, 165
DL - Toby Jackson, Griffin, Sr., 6-4, 255
DL - Abry Jones, Northside-Warner Robins, Jr., 6-4, 260
DL - DeAngelo Tyson, Statesboro, Sr., 6-2, 300
DL - Bernard Smith, Mays, Sr., 6-3, 220
LB - Julian Burnett, Westside-Macon, Jr., 5-10, 220
LB - Corico Hawkins, Baldwin, Jr., 6-1, 235
LB - Steven Fowlkes, Banneker, Sr., 6-5 215
LB - Ryan Hidaldo, Whitewater, Sr., 6-1, 208
DB - K.J. Morton, Northside-Warner Robins, Jr., 5-9, 170
DB - Darrell Simmons, Banneker, Sr., 6-2, 200
DB - Jamoris Slaughter, Tucker, Sr., 6-1, 178
DB - Jonathan Davis, Tucker, Jr., 5-9, 194
P - Chris Philpot, St. Pius X, Sr., 6-0, 186
RET -Victor Daniels, Ware County, Sr., 5-9, 185
HONORABLE MENTION - Jadarius Brown, Baldwin, Sr.; Anthony Caldwell, Douglas County, Jr.; Matt Daniels, Fayette County, Sr.; Terrence Fambro, Clarke Central, Sr.; Eric Fields, Northside-Warner Robins, Jr; Arsenio Glenn, Baldwin, Sr.; Cordy Glenn, Riverdale, Sr.; Bo Hatchett, Habersham Central, Sr.; Darius Ivey, Northside, Jr.; Trent McGuire, Cedar
Shoals, Sr.; Kevin Millward, Evans, Sr.; Nathan Postell, NW Whitfield, Sr.; Charles Reeves, Stone Mountain, Sr.; Gerry Reeves, Creekside, Sr.; Darreion Robinson, Clarke Central, Sr.; Phillip
Searcy, Upson-Lee, Jr.; Anthony Taylor, Northside, Sr.; Kory Threatt, Westside, Jr.; Nick Williams, Bainbridge, Sr.; P.J. Williams, Thomas County Central, Sr.
Class AAA
Offensive Player of the Year - Chris Jackson, Henry County, Sr.
Defensive Player of the Year - Jarvis Jones, Carver-Columbus, Jr.
Coach of the Year - Jim Showfety, Chamblee
QB - Drew Little, Henry County, Jr., 6-4, 245
RB - Tauren Poole, Stephens County, Sr., 5-10, 200
RB - Warren Norman, Chamblee, Jr., 5-10, 181
WR - Jarmon Fortson, Carver-Columbus, Sr., 6-3, 220
WR - Chris Jackson, Henry County, Sr., 6-1, 190
WR - Gerald Ford, Gainesville, Sr., 6-3, 210
OL - Johnnie Farms, Perry, Jr., 6-3, 290
OL - Omoregie Uzzi, Chamblee, Sr., 6-3, 305
OL - Colin Alford, North Hall, Sr., 6-1, 245
OL - Jarvis Pitts, Shaw, Sr., 6-0, 260
OL - David Noel, Monroe-Albany, Sr., 6-4, 290
ATH - DeRon Furr, Carver-Columbus, Sr., 6-3, 220
K - Smith Haverty, Westminster, Sr.
DL - Jerico Brown, Glenn Hills, Jr., 6-2, 245
DL - Juan Pickett, Shaw, Sr., 6-1, 265
DL - Matt Lunati, Westminster, Sr., 6-3, 248
DL - Jason Jones, Westover, Sr., 6-3, 225
LB - Kanorris Davis, Perry, Sr., 6-0, 215
LB - Qua Huzzie, LaGrange, Jr., 5-11, 200
LB - Jarvis Jones, Carver-Columbus, Jr., 6-4, 210
LB - Richard Samuel, Cass, Sr., 6-2, 205
DB - Casey Hayward, Perry, Sr., 6-0, 190
DB - DeQuan Menzie, Carver-Columbus, Sr., 5-10, 170
DB - Darren Myles, Carver-Atlanta, Jr., 6-3, 190
DB - Derrick Walker, Spencer, Sr., 6-2, 195
P - Joe Mansour, LaGrange, Soph., 6-2, 170
RET - Adam Crump, Central-Macon, Jr., 5-11, 185
HONORABLE MENTION - Taylor Adetona, Gainesville, Sr.; Reginald Bryant, Cairo, Jr.;
Sam Burkhalter, Blessed Trinity, Jr.; Arsenio Clemmons, Carver-Atlanta, Sr..; Demond Dennis, Carver-Atlanta, Jr.; Darius Eubanks, Thomson, Jr.; Justin Forham, Gainesville, Sr.; Cheon Gresham, Apalachee, Jr.; Jackson Griffith, North Hall, Sr.; Kyle Griswould, Shaw, Jr.; Mareo Howard, Peach County, Sr.; Braxton Lane, Sandy Creek, Jr.; Jon Lee, Apalachee, Soph.; Angelo Pease, Cairo, Jr.; Jaybo Shaw, Flowery Branch, Sr.; Trent Shealy, Apalachee, Sr.; Cornelius Washington, Burke County, Sr.; Brandon Watts, Washington County, Jr.; Meshack Williams, Worth County, Jr.; Bryan Willis, Shaw, Sr.
Class AA
Offensive Player of the Year - Demetris Murray, Buford, Sr.
Defensive Player of the Year - Rashard Smith, Dublin, Jr.
Coach of the Year - Mike Muschamp, Lovett
QB - Tre Lamb, Calhoun, Sr., 5-9, 170
RB - Demetris Murray, Buford, Sr., 5-10, 208
RB - Adam Urbano, Calhoun, Sr., 5-9, 185
WR - Christian Robinson, Greater Atlanta Christian, Sr., 6-3, 207
WR - Marcus Mayo, Jefferson County, Sr., 5-10, 170
WR - Melvin Harris, Buford, Sr., 6-7, 175
OL - A.J. Harmon, Jefferson County, Sr., 6-6, 320
OL - Michael Ozment, Pepperell, Jr., 6-2, 255
OL - Mike Powers, Dodge County, Sr., 6-3, 285
OL - Jamie New, Berrien, Sr., 6-0, 270
OL - Kyle Carey, Lovett, Sr., 6-1, 214
ATH - B.J. Bostic, Jefferson County, Soph., 5-10, 160
K - Michael Pinkerton, North Oconee, Sr., 5-10, 160
DL - Omar Hunter, Buford, Sr., 6-1, 311
DL - Derrick Shumake, Swainsboro, Sr., 6-3, 280
DL - Brandon Thompson, Sr., Thomasville, 6-2, 275
DL - Jimmy Daniels, Macon County, Sr., 6-1, 252
LB - Ricco Braxton, Lovett, Sr., 6-4, 190
LB - T.J. Pridemore, Buford, Sr., 6-2, 236
LB - Andreakas Rollins, Dublin, Sr., 5-10, 205
LB - C-Reon Arnold, Cook, Jr., 5-10, 195
DB -Rashard Smith, Dublin, Jr., 5-10, 185
DB - Nick Thomas, Vidalia, Sr., 5-10, 180
DB - Charles Gordon, Dodge County, Sr., 5-10, 190
DB - Ward Massee, Fitzgerald, Sr., 5-10, 185
P - Brett Mason, Putnam County, Sr., 6-1, 180
RET - Andre Hicks, Lovett, Sr., 5-9, 167
HONORABLE MENTION - Ezekial Andrews, Dodge County, Sr.; Johndrick Beasley, Jefferson County, Sr.; Justin Beasley, Banks County, Jr.; Ralph Bolden, Charlton County, Sr.; Anthony Brooks, Fitzgerakd, Sr.; Jonathan Carkhuff, Lovett, Sr.; Wilbert Carter, Greene County, Sr.; Chris Clay, Randolph-Clay, Sr.; Quinton Davis, McIntosh County Academy, Sr.; Nick Davison, Sr., Calhoun; Brandon Haywood, Rockmart, Jr.; Cameo Holloway, Dodge County; Julian Horton, Greater Atlanta Christian, Sr.; Dallas Lee, Buford, Jr.; Nick McRae, Dublin, Sr.; Maurice
Hayes, Pepperell, Sr.; Denzel Wesley, Rutland, Sr.; Brandon Whitaker, Pepperell, Sr.; Adam Whitlock, Lovett, Sr.; Malachi Youngblood, Putnam County, Sr.
Class A
Offensive Player of the Year - Lorenzo Dennard, Wilcox County, Sr.
Defensive Player of the Year - Ben Johnston, Clinch County, Sr.
Coach of the Year - Bob Lord, Fellowship Christian
QB - Lorenzo Dennard, Wilcox County, Sr., 6-3, 200
RB - Washaun Ealey, ECI, Jr., 5-10, 205
RB - Jacquise Terry, Pacelli, Sr., 6-1, 190
WR - Douglas German, Whitefield Academy, Sr., 6-4, 180
WR - Dominique Ellis, Clinch County, Jr., 6-0, 180
WR - Octavius Staton, Chattahoochee County, Sr., 6-2, 205
OL - Evans Wellborne, Athens Academy, Sr., 5-11, 195
OL - Chad Turner, ECI, Sr., 6-4, 270,
OL - John Martin, Brookstone, Sr., 6-0, 220
OL - Devon Walls, Warren County, Sr., 6-0, 250
OL - Victor Grace, Wilcox County, Sr., 6-2, 275
ATH - Reuben Haynes, Commerce, Sr., 6-1, 185
K - Allen Page, Brookstone, Sr., 6-1, 170
DL - J.C. Lanier, ECI, Jr., 6-4, 350
DL - Monterrio Clay, Twiggs County, Sr., 6-2, 255
DL - Tytus Baynes, Social Circle, Jr., 5-10, 275
DL - Ben Johnston, Clinch County, Sr., 6-0, 210
LB - Deauntay Legrier, Wilcox County, Sr., 6-2, 240
LB - Wesley Kiggins, Brookstone, Sr., 6-0, 200
LB - Terrence Neal, Dooly County, Sr., 6-2, 250
LB - Terry Ashley, Irwin County, Sr., 5-10, 185
DB - Alfonzo Dennard, Wilcox County, Sr., 5-11, 185
DB - Willie Gibson, Wilcox County, Sr., 5-10, 180
DB - Kamaron Riley, Hawkinsville, Sr., 6-1, 185
DB - Tommy Seals, Warren County, Sr., 5-11, 185
P - Marshall Malchow, Aquinas, 6-0, 170, Sr.
RET - Tyler Taylor, Dooly County, Sr., 5-11, 185
HONORABLE MENTION - Josh Bohanan, Jefferson, Sr.; Travis Burley, Warren County, Sr.; Will Callaway, Athens Academy, Sr.; Wes Carter, Eagle's Landing Christian, Sr.; Vintavious Cooper, Clinch County, Soph.; Ronnell Ferguson, Lincoln County, Sr.; Lester Jones, Chattahoochee County, Sr.; Walter Lenard, Landmark Christian, Sr.; McKay Matthews, Athens
Academy, Jr.; Trey Miller, Whitefield Academy, Jr.; A.G. Middlebrooks, Lincoln County, Soph.; John Moesch, Savannah County Day, Sr.; Sammy Oates, Pacelli, Sr.; Hiawatha Parker, Turner County, Sr.; William Pearl, Our Lady of Mercy, Jr.; Deondrick Pina, Schley County, Jr.; Conrad Quiros, Whitefield Academy, Jr.; Baccari Rambo, Seminole County, Sr.; Jatoyeus Jones, Lincoln County, Jr.; Martin Weatherby, Fellowship Christian, Sr.
State Player of the Year: Washaun Ealey, Emanuel County Institute, Junior
Class AAAAA
Offensive Player of the Year - Kenneth Miles, Brookwood
Defensive Player of the Year - Joel Kight, M.L. King
Coach of the Year - Randy McPherson, Lowndes
QB - Michael Tamburo, North Gwinnett, 6-1, 180, Jr.
RB - Kenneth Miles, Brookwood, Sr. 5-11, 195
RB - Cordellaro Jones, M.L. King, 5-8, 180, Sr.
WR - Brice Butler, Norcross, 6-2, 178, Sr.
WR - Craig Presley, Houston County, 6-2, 175, Jr.
WR - Alan Bonner, Newnan, 5-10, 170, Jr.
OL - Aaron Hawkins, M.L. King, 6-4, 300, Sr.
OL - Clint Duggan, North Gwinnett, 6-4, 265, Sr.
OL - Eric Grube, Brookwood, 6-1, 285, Sr.
OL - Levi Vedas, Lowndes, 6-2, 275, Sr.
OL - Zach Allen, Tift County, 6-3, 310, Sr.
ATH - Greg Reid, Lowndes, 5-9, 170, Jr.
K - Adam Shreiner, Walton, Sr. 5-10, 185, Sr.
DL - Chase Thomas, Walton, 6-4, 215, Sr.
DL - Larry Bryant, Tift County, 6-2, 260, Sr.
DL - Eric Eberhardt, North Gwinnett, 6-1, 245, Sr.
DL - Ryan Seymour, Camden County, 6-5, 240, Sr.
LB - Joel Kight, M.L. King, 5-9, 210, Jr.
LB - Curtis Weatherspoon, Valdosta, Sr. 6-2, 205
LB - Tavaris Williams, Lowndes, 6-0, 200, Sr.
DB - Tristan Strong, Grayson, 6-2, 224, Sr.
DB - Elton Ford, Chattahoochee, 6-0, 200, Sr.
DB - Sean Smith, M.L. King, 5-9, 170, Sr.
DB - Kelly Dawsey, Lowndes, 5-11, 185, Sr.
P - Dawson Zimmerman, Brookwood, 6-2, 178, Sr.
RET - Brian Sutherland, Campbell, 5-8, 175, Sr.
Honorable mention - Darvin Adams, Harrison, Sr.; Nick Amon, Grayson, Sr.; David Arnold, Valdosta, Sr.; Burke Batten, Coffee, Sr.; Ray Beno, Newnan, Jr.; Devonta Bolton, Norcross, Sr.; Matt Britain, North Cobb, Sr.; Derrick Bryant, Peachtree Ridge, Sr.; Alex Daniel, Roswell, Sr.; Dion Dubose, Norcross, Sr.; Major Herron, Camden County, Sr.; Donte McConico, Mundy's
Mill, Sr.; Shawn Monos, Warner Robins, Sr.; Matt Roark, North Cobb, Sr.; Dustin Taliaferro, Roswell, Sr.; Kevin Minter, Peachtree Ridge, Jr.; Nigel Mitchell-Thornton, Stephenson, Jr.; Ebele Okakpu, Roswell, Sr.; Russell Powell, Newnan, Jr.; Justin Smith, Chattahoochee, Sr.
Class AAAA
Offensive Player of the Year - Tavarres King, Habersham Central, Sr.
Defensive Player of the Year - Toby Jackson, Griffin, Sr.
Coach of the Year - Conrad Nix, Northside-Warner Robins
QB - Marques Ivory, Northside-Warner Robins, Sr., 6-1, 245
RB - Tijuan Green, Northside-Warner Robins, Sr., 5-10, 195
RB - Debrale Smiley, Thomas County Central, Sr., 5-10, 235
WR - Tavarres King, Habersham Central, Sr., 6-1, 175
WR - Nick Bass, Northside-Warner Robins, Sr., 6-0, 180
WR - Danny Madison, Westside-Macon, Jr., 6-1, 195
OL - Jason Peacock, Baldwin, Sr., 6-4, 360
OL - Gabe Irvy, Habersham Central, Sr., 6-5, 318
OL - Jerome Bibbins, Northside, Sr., 6-3, 270
OL - Jimmy Staten, Ware County, Jr., 6-4, 240
OL - Kent Cleveland, St. Pius X, Sr., 6-5, 285
ATH - Brandon Boykin, Fayette County, Sr., 5-10, 170
K - Eric Osteen, Richmond Academy, Jr., 6-0, 165
DL - Toby Jackson, Griffin, Sr., 6-4, 255
DL - Abry Jones, Northside-Warner Robins, Jr., 6-4, 260
DL - DeAngelo Tyson, Statesboro, Sr., 6-2, 300
DL - Bernard Smith, Mays, Sr., 6-3, 220
LB - Julian Burnett, Westside-Macon, Jr., 5-10, 220
LB - Corico Hawkins, Baldwin, Jr., 6-1, 235
LB - Steven Fowlkes, Banneker, Sr., 6-5 215
LB - Ryan Hidaldo, Whitewater, Sr., 6-1, 208
DB - K.J. Morton, Northside-Warner Robins, Jr., 5-9, 170
DB - Darrell Simmons, Banneker, Sr., 6-2, 200
DB - Jamoris Slaughter, Tucker, Sr., 6-1, 178
DB - Jonathan Davis, Tucker, Jr., 5-9, 194
P - Chris Philpot, St. Pius X, Sr., 6-0, 186
RET -Victor Daniels, Ware County, Sr., 5-9, 185
HONORABLE MENTION - Jadarius Brown, Baldwin, Sr.; Anthony Caldwell, Douglas County, Jr.; Matt Daniels, Fayette County, Sr.; Terrence Fambro, Clarke Central, Sr.; Eric Fields, Northside-Warner Robins, Jr; Arsenio Glenn, Baldwin, Sr.; Cordy Glenn, Riverdale, Sr.; Bo Hatchett, Habersham Central, Sr.; Darius Ivey, Northside, Jr.; Trent McGuire, Cedar
Shoals, Sr.; Kevin Millward, Evans, Sr.; Nathan Postell, NW Whitfield, Sr.; Charles Reeves, Stone Mountain, Sr.; Gerry Reeves, Creekside, Sr.; Darreion Robinson, Clarke Central, Sr.; Phillip
Searcy, Upson-Lee, Jr.; Anthony Taylor, Northside, Sr.; Kory Threatt, Westside, Jr.; Nick Williams, Bainbridge, Sr.; P.J. Williams, Thomas County Central, Sr.
Class AAA
Offensive Player of the Year - Chris Jackson, Henry County, Sr.
Defensive Player of the Year - Jarvis Jones, Carver-Columbus, Jr.
Coach of the Year - Jim Showfety, Chamblee
QB - Drew Little, Henry County, Jr., 6-4, 245
RB - Tauren Poole, Stephens County, Sr., 5-10, 200
RB - Warren Norman, Chamblee, Jr., 5-10, 181
WR - Jarmon Fortson, Carver-Columbus, Sr., 6-3, 220
WR - Chris Jackson, Henry County, Sr., 6-1, 190
WR - Gerald Ford, Gainesville, Sr., 6-3, 210
OL - Johnnie Farms, Perry, Jr., 6-3, 290
OL - Omoregie Uzzi, Chamblee, Sr., 6-3, 305
OL - Colin Alford, North Hall, Sr., 6-1, 245
OL - Jarvis Pitts, Shaw, Sr., 6-0, 260
OL - David Noel, Monroe-Albany, Sr., 6-4, 290
ATH - DeRon Furr, Carver-Columbus, Sr., 6-3, 220
K - Smith Haverty, Westminster, Sr.
DL - Jerico Brown, Glenn Hills, Jr., 6-2, 245
DL - Juan Pickett, Shaw, Sr., 6-1, 265
DL - Matt Lunati, Westminster, Sr., 6-3, 248
DL - Jason Jones, Westover, Sr., 6-3, 225
LB - Kanorris Davis, Perry, Sr., 6-0, 215
LB - Qua Huzzie, LaGrange, Jr., 5-11, 200
LB - Jarvis Jones, Carver-Columbus, Jr., 6-4, 210
LB - Richard Samuel, Cass, Sr., 6-2, 205
DB - Casey Hayward, Perry, Sr., 6-0, 190
DB - DeQuan Menzie, Carver-Columbus, Sr., 5-10, 170
DB - Darren Myles, Carver-Atlanta, Jr., 6-3, 190
DB - Derrick Walker, Spencer, Sr., 6-2, 195
P - Joe Mansour, LaGrange, Soph., 6-2, 170
RET - Adam Crump, Central-Macon, Jr., 5-11, 185
HONORABLE MENTION - Taylor Adetona, Gainesville, Sr.; Reginald Bryant, Cairo, Jr.;
Sam Burkhalter, Blessed Trinity, Jr.; Arsenio Clemmons, Carver-Atlanta, Sr..; Demond Dennis, Carver-Atlanta, Jr.; Darius Eubanks, Thomson, Jr.; Justin Forham, Gainesville, Sr.; Cheon Gresham, Apalachee, Jr.; Jackson Griffith, North Hall, Sr.; Kyle Griswould, Shaw, Jr.; Mareo Howard, Peach County, Sr.; Braxton Lane, Sandy Creek, Jr.; Jon Lee, Apalachee, Soph.; Angelo Pease, Cairo, Jr.; Jaybo Shaw, Flowery Branch, Sr.; Trent Shealy, Apalachee, Sr.; Cornelius Washington, Burke County, Sr.; Brandon Watts, Washington County, Jr.; Meshack Williams, Worth County, Jr.; Bryan Willis, Shaw, Sr.
Class AA
Offensive Player of the Year - Demetris Murray, Buford, Sr.
Defensive Player of the Year - Rashard Smith, Dublin, Jr.
Coach of the Year - Mike Muschamp, Lovett
QB - Tre Lamb, Calhoun, Sr., 5-9, 170
RB - Demetris Murray, Buford, Sr., 5-10, 208
RB - Adam Urbano, Calhoun, Sr., 5-9, 185
WR - Christian Robinson, Greater Atlanta Christian, Sr., 6-3, 207
WR - Marcus Mayo, Jefferson County, Sr., 5-10, 170
WR - Melvin Harris, Buford, Sr., 6-7, 175
OL - A.J. Harmon, Jefferson County, Sr., 6-6, 320
OL - Michael Ozment, Pepperell, Jr., 6-2, 255
OL - Mike Powers, Dodge County, Sr., 6-3, 285
OL - Jamie New, Berrien, Sr., 6-0, 270
OL - Kyle Carey, Lovett, Sr., 6-1, 214
ATH - B.J. Bostic, Jefferson County, Soph., 5-10, 160
K - Michael Pinkerton, North Oconee, Sr., 5-10, 160
DL - Omar Hunter, Buford, Sr., 6-1, 311
DL - Derrick Shumake, Swainsboro, Sr., 6-3, 280
DL - Brandon Thompson, Sr., Thomasville, 6-2, 275
DL - Jimmy Daniels, Macon County, Sr., 6-1, 252
LB - Ricco Braxton, Lovett, Sr., 6-4, 190
LB - T.J. Pridemore, Buford, Sr., 6-2, 236
LB - Andreakas Rollins, Dublin, Sr., 5-10, 205
LB - C-Reon Arnold, Cook, Jr., 5-10, 195
DB -Rashard Smith, Dublin, Jr., 5-10, 185
DB - Nick Thomas, Vidalia, Sr., 5-10, 180
DB - Charles Gordon, Dodge County, Sr., 5-10, 190
DB - Ward Massee, Fitzgerald, Sr., 5-10, 185
P - Brett Mason, Putnam County, Sr., 6-1, 180
RET - Andre Hicks, Lovett, Sr., 5-9, 167
HONORABLE MENTION - Ezekial Andrews, Dodge County, Sr.; Johndrick Beasley, Jefferson County, Sr.; Justin Beasley, Banks County, Jr.; Ralph Bolden, Charlton County, Sr.; Anthony Brooks, Fitzgerakd, Sr.; Jonathan Carkhuff, Lovett, Sr.; Wilbert Carter, Greene County, Sr.; Chris Clay, Randolph-Clay, Sr.; Quinton Davis, McIntosh County Academy, Sr.; Nick Davison, Sr., Calhoun; Brandon Haywood, Rockmart, Jr.; Cameo Holloway, Dodge County; Julian Horton, Greater Atlanta Christian, Sr.; Dallas Lee, Buford, Jr.; Nick McRae, Dublin, Sr.; Maurice
Hayes, Pepperell, Sr.; Denzel Wesley, Rutland, Sr.; Brandon Whitaker, Pepperell, Sr.; Adam Whitlock, Lovett, Sr.; Malachi Youngblood, Putnam County, Sr.
Class A
Offensive Player of the Year - Lorenzo Dennard, Wilcox County, Sr.
Defensive Player of the Year - Ben Johnston, Clinch County, Sr.
Coach of the Year - Bob Lord, Fellowship Christian
QB - Lorenzo Dennard, Wilcox County, Sr., 6-3, 200
RB - Washaun Ealey, ECI, Jr., 5-10, 205
RB - Jacquise Terry, Pacelli, Sr., 6-1, 190
WR - Douglas German, Whitefield Academy, Sr., 6-4, 180
WR - Dominique Ellis, Clinch County, Jr., 6-0, 180
WR - Octavius Staton, Chattahoochee County, Sr., 6-2, 205
OL - Evans Wellborne, Athens Academy, Sr., 5-11, 195
OL - Chad Turner, ECI, Sr., 6-4, 270,
OL - John Martin, Brookstone, Sr., 6-0, 220
OL - Devon Walls, Warren County, Sr., 6-0, 250
OL - Victor Grace, Wilcox County, Sr., 6-2, 275
ATH - Reuben Haynes, Commerce, Sr., 6-1, 185
K - Allen Page, Brookstone, Sr., 6-1, 170
DL - J.C. Lanier, ECI, Jr., 6-4, 350
DL - Monterrio Clay, Twiggs County, Sr., 6-2, 255
DL - Tytus Baynes, Social Circle, Jr., 5-10, 275
DL - Ben Johnston, Clinch County, Sr., 6-0, 210
LB - Deauntay Legrier, Wilcox County, Sr., 6-2, 240
LB - Wesley Kiggins, Brookstone, Sr., 6-0, 200
LB - Terrence Neal, Dooly County, Sr., 6-2, 250
LB - Terry Ashley, Irwin County, Sr., 5-10, 185
DB - Alfonzo Dennard, Wilcox County, Sr., 5-11, 185
DB - Willie Gibson, Wilcox County, Sr., 5-10, 180
DB - Kamaron Riley, Hawkinsville, Sr., 6-1, 185
DB - Tommy Seals, Warren County, Sr., 5-11, 185
P - Marshall Malchow, Aquinas, 6-0, 170, Sr.
RET - Tyler Taylor, Dooly County, Sr., 5-11, 185
HONORABLE MENTION - Josh Bohanan, Jefferson, Sr.; Travis Burley, Warren County, Sr.; Will Callaway, Athens Academy, Sr.; Wes Carter, Eagle's Landing Christian, Sr.; Vintavious Cooper, Clinch County, Soph.; Ronnell Ferguson, Lincoln County, Sr.; Lester Jones, Chattahoochee County, Sr.; Walter Lenard, Landmark Christian, Sr.; McKay Matthews, Athens
Academy, Jr.; Trey Miller, Whitefield Academy, Jr.; A.G. Middlebrooks, Lincoln County, Soph.; John Moesch, Savannah County Day, Sr.; Sammy Oates, Pacelli, Sr.; Hiawatha Parker, Turner County, Sr.; William Pearl, Our Lady of Mercy, Jr.; Deondrick Pina, Schley County, Jr.; Conrad Quiros, Whitefield Academy, Jr.; Baccari Rambo, Seminole County, Sr.; Jatoyeus Jones, Lincoln County, Jr.; Martin Weatherby, Fellowship Christian, Sr.
More redshirt stuff
Want to read what the older guys had to say about the redshirts, and what some of the redshirts had to say about themselves? Well I'm dumping almost all of it here. I'm holding onto some stuff with Logan Gray for a note I'll do for Friday's paper. Otherwise, here's a big chunk of what the guys had to say for my Thursday redshirt thing. Some of these things, I had to trim down in the thing with my actual story to keep them brief. Some of these comments I didn't use at all. So here they are:
JUSTIN ANDERSON
Offensive tackle Chester Adams on Justin "Bean" Anderson:
"Bean has all the talent in the world. He’s gonna be one of the best offensive linemen that’s come to Georgia in a long time. He struggled a little bit learning what to do, but he’s coming along real good. He’s got great athletic ability and he’s gonna do big things for Georgia once he starts playing."
NELAND BALL
Defensive end Marcus Howard on Neland Ball:
"At the beginning of the year, Neland, just like any other freshman, came out here real green and didn’t know much. You can tell as the season went on, he stayed in the weight room. Even in the summer time when we came back, he wanted to go out and work just to try to get better. Right now, he put on a bunch of weight. He’s real big and it’s shown out there on the practice field. Like the last two, three weeks of practice, he was having a great practice. He’s gonna help the team win some ballgames, if not next year, the year after for sure. I think he’s gonna compete for some playing time next year."
Safety Kelin Johnson on Neland Ball (and a little on Logan Gray):
"The other guy that’s surprised me a lot is Neland Ball. He’s gotten so much bigger. His upside, it’s unbelievable. He’s tall, he’s strong. I think those guys in my mind will most definitely be real good. And especially Logan. Logan’s gonna be real good. He tore us up one practice. He didn’t need anybody out there, he played offense and defense."
DREW BUTLER
Punter Brian Mimbs on Drew Butler:
"I think his future’s real bright here. He’s definitely gonna start here. He’s been punting really well lately. He punted well in camp and throughout the season. He’s a hard worker. Sometimes you see him out on the field when all of us are done for the day and don’t want to wear our legs out, but he’s out there still punting. He’s definitely trying to get ready. When his opportunity comes, I think he’s gonna be ready. I think he’s gonna do a good job."
LOGAN GRAY
Quarterback Matthew Stafford on Logan Gray:
"I think he’s gonna be a good player. He works hard in the weight room trying to get bigger and does a good job out on the field. He’s getting it. I think he’s gonna be really good."
BEN HARDEN
Offensive tackle Chester Adams on Ben Harden:
"Ben’s gonna have a big role coming in playing center, picking up where Bubba left off. He’s gonna have a big challenge in front of him identifying defenses and recognizing where the blitz is coming from."
WALTER HILL
Receiver Walter Hill on his redshirt season:
On what he worked on most this season:
"I’d have to say I’ve improved my route-running, because I was a little rusty coming in with my route-running. I just adapted to the speed of the game. I got that pretty well. I’m still trying to get a feel for the offense. I’d say that’s my downfall right now, is getting a feel for the offense. But I’d say I’m coming along pretty well."
On getting compliments from the veteran defensive players on his abilities:
"I’m trying to go out there every day and just give them a good look on scout team and help them prepare every week for the opponent."
On how far he's come along this year:
"This year’s been very productive for a lot of redshirts, not just me. It’s been fun sitting back, watching them play and wishing I was out there. Some games I just wish I could come in."
Receiver Mikey Henderson on Walter Hill:
"Walter’s a beast. At the beginning, adjusting to the speed was difficult for him, but he’s caught on fast. He’s a big body, he has great hands. Didn’t he play quarterback in high school? He’s smart and he knows the plays. He’s a big body. Once he develops with everything out there, he’s gonna be great. He has the mind to play and he plays hard, but it’s just that we’ve got a lot of guys. That’s how things are going now."
"His tools are awesome and I wish I had them. To see him go out there, he can catch anything that’s around his body and go up over anybody. It’s just when he gets that confidence. Like everybody, he knows right now that whatever I do out there isn’t really gonna affect anything, wait till next year. Everybody has it. I feel like when next year comes, he’s gonna be somebody y’all will be interviewing."
Quarterback Matthew Stafford on Walter Hill:
"He’s got great hands. He goes up and gets it when it’s in the air. He moves slow sometimes walking around, but when he gets out there, he plays hard, so it’s good. He’s physical."
Cornerback Bryan Evans on which redshirt has stood out to him:
"I like Walter Hill. He doesn’t talk too much. People think he’s slow, but he has deceptive speed and he has real good hands, so I think he’s gonna be a factor next year."
JUSTIN HOUSTON
Linebacker/defensive end on Justin Houston:
"Man that dude’s a freak of nature. Awesome athletic strength. I believe he could start next year at any position – mike, will, sam, any one he wanted to start at. Even defensive end, he’s big enough to play defensive end also. He’s not as quick as Charles is at the mental game, seeing something and just reacting to it. But I think over the years, in the next year, two, he’ll be good to go. I think he’s gonna be a great athlete. I think he’s gonna be an all-American."
JOHN KNOX
Safety Kelin Johnson, on John Knox:
"He has so much ability. He’s gonna be like Rennie (Curran). You know how Rennie’s always a magnet to the ball? Knox is gonna be like a magnet to the ball. He might not know what he’s doing, but he’s gonna be at the ball. When he got here, he got here late and it was hard for him to get in the mix of things. But at the end of the season, the young guys started getting more playing time and having a little more scrimmages. And he’s been in those scrimmages and he’s been one making plays for the defense – getting interceptions, making big hits. I was like, ‘Wow,’ it’s good that you see a younger guy, you can look up to me and I can see a little of what I’ve done to help him become a better player."
Cornerback Bryan Evans on John Knox:
"John Knox is a hitter. He already has the body frame. He didn’t lift weights with us coming into the summer, so I think him getting three months summer training, he can put on weight. He’s already at 205 so I think when he gets his weight, he’ll be very prepared."
CHRIS LITTLE
Offensive tackle Chester Adams on Chris Little:
"Chris Little, he struggled the first couple of weeks with an injury to his wrist. But once he came back from that, he’s been a great help to the team. He’s a big guy and he’ll be able to move people out of the holes. That’s gonna be a great asset to the team."
TANNER STRICKLAND
Offensive tackle Chester Adams on Tanner Strickland:
"Tanner’s got great athletic ability. He’s very strong. His punch is outrageous – he’s got good hands. He’s just got to move his feet a little better and learn the playbook and he’ll be fine."
ISRAEL TROUPE
Receiver Mikey Henderson on Israel Troupe (and a little more on Walter Hill):
"We always laugh at Troupe because he still has some of that baseball in him when he’s running his routes. It was like he was rounding the bases when he would run some of those routes. He’s come along dramatically. I think we’ve got that baseball mentality worked out of him a little bit. Just like Walt played quarterback and that helps him, Troupe playing baseball, you can just see his ball skills obviously. He goes up for balls just like he was 6-4, 6-5 like anybody else and he has toughness. They’re both progressing well. When they go down and get that scout team, they get a lot more reps than they would down here, because we have a lot of receivers. They’re starting to get more and more reps and around this time is when the young guys start getting heavy in the scrimmages and they start running all the twos reps and everything. So you can definitely see the more reps they get, the better they get."
Quarterback Matthew Stafford on Israel Troupe (and a little on Justin Houston):
"He’s been doing good. He’s gonna be a heck of a player. I’m happy for him. He’s starting to get it now, too. Now’s the time of the year where everybody starts clicking and realizing kinda what it’s about. They’re doing a good job. I think Justin Houston’s gonna be a heck of a player. He’s been doing a good job on the scout team too."
ARON WHITE
Tight end Tripp Chandler on Aron White:
"Aron’s gonna be a special player at Georgia. He comes out there ready to fight and ready to work and ready to get after it every day. I remember being a freshman, I didn’t redshirt, but I didn’t play very much obviously behind Pope and Trez and went out there every day knowing I’m not gonna play very much on Saturday. And in Aron’s case, he’s not gonna play at all this year and he’s still going out there and working hard like he does every day. Sometimes usually the freshmen start to tinker off and start to lose that focus toward the end of the season, and Aron really hasn’t. Today we stayed with the O-line to work during pass-rushing and everyone got a rep. It didn’t get around to Aron, but he was yelling at coach, going, ‘Get me in coach! Get me in, I want a rep coach!’ To see that, it’s special to see his work ethic and how hard he’s gonna work every day."
CHARLES WHITE
Linebacker/defensive end Brandon Miller on Charles White:
"My point of view on Charles is he’s got all the athletic ability. I think he overthinks things too much. I think he’s just a normal freshman right now because he’s trying to learn certain things, but it’s all just coming to him at once. He’s trying to figure out what’s going on and the whole deal when he needs to just focus on one particular thing at different times and whatnot. I think next year he’ll be good to go. He’s a great athlete, he thinks on his feet and he’s real smart out there. He’s gonna be a mike, so he’s gotta have command and control and responsibility of the whole unit. I think he has those keys towards him."
JUSTIN ANDERSON
Offensive tackle Chester Adams on Justin "Bean" Anderson:
"Bean has all the talent in the world. He’s gonna be one of the best offensive linemen that’s come to Georgia in a long time. He struggled a little bit learning what to do, but he’s coming along real good. He’s got great athletic ability and he’s gonna do big things for Georgia once he starts playing."
NELAND BALL
Defensive end Marcus Howard on Neland Ball:
"At the beginning of the year, Neland, just like any other freshman, came out here real green and didn’t know much. You can tell as the season went on, he stayed in the weight room. Even in the summer time when we came back, he wanted to go out and work just to try to get better. Right now, he put on a bunch of weight. He’s real big and it’s shown out there on the practice field. Like the last two, three weeks of practice, he was having a great practice. He’s gonna help the team win some ballgames, if not next year, the year after for sure. I think he’s gonna compete for some playing time next year."
Safety Kelin Johnson on Neland Ball (and a little on Logan Gray):
"The other guy that’s surprised me a lot is Neland Ball. He’s gotten so much bigger. His upside, it’s unbelievable. He’s tall, he’s strong. I think those guys in my mind will most definitely be real good. And especially Logan. Logan’s gonna be real good. He tore us up one practice. He didn’t need anybody out there, he played offense and defense."
DREW BUTLER
Punter Brian Mimbs on Drew Butler:
"I think his future’s real bright here. He’s definitely gonna start here. He’s been punting really well lately. He punted well in camp and throughout the season. He’s a hard worker. Sometimes you see him out on the field when all of us are done for the day and don’t want to wear our legs out, but he’s out there still punting. He’s definitely trying to get ready. When his opportunity comes, I think he’s gonna be ready. I think he’s gonna do a good job."
LOGAN GRAY
Quarterback Matthew Stafford on Logan Gray:
"I think he’s gonna be a good player. He works hard in the weight room trying to get bigger and does a good job out on the field. He’s getting it. I think he’s gonna be really good."
BEN HARDEN
Offensive tackle Chester Adams on Ben Harden:
"Ben’s gonna have a big role coming in playing center, picking up where Bubba left off. He’s gonna have a big challenge in front of him identifying defenses and recognizing where the blitz is coming from."
WALTER HILL
Receiver Walter Hill on his redshirt season:
On what he worked on most this season:
"I’d have to say I’ve improved my route-running, because I was a little rusty coming in with my route-running. I just adapted to the speed of the game. I got that pretty well. I’m still trying to get a feel for the offense. I’d say that’s my downfall right now, is getting a feel for the offense. But I’d say I’m coming along pretty well."
On getting compliments from the veteran defensive players on his abilities:
"I’m trying to go out there every day and just give them a good look on scout team and help them prepare every week for the opponent."
On how far he's come along this year:
"This year’s been very productive for a lot of redshirts, not just me. It’s been fun sitting back, watching them play and wishing I was out there. Some games I just wish I could come in."
Receiver Mikey Henderson on Walter Hill:
"Walter’s a beast. At the beginning, adjusting to the speed was difficult for him, but he’s caught on fast. He’s a big body, he has great hands. Didn’t he play quarterback in high school? He’s smart and he knows the plays. He’s a big body. Once he develops with everything out there, he’s gonna be great. He has the mind to play and he plays hard, but it’s just that we’ve got a lot of guys. That’s how things are going now."
"His tools are awesome and I wish I had them. To see him go out there, he can catch anything that’s around his body and go up over anybody. It’s just when he gets that confidence. Like everybody, he knows right now that whatever I do out there isn’t really gonna affect anything, wait till next year. Everybody has it. I feel like when next year comes, he’s gonna be somebody y’all will be interviewing."
Quarterback Matthew Stafford on Walter Hill:
"He’s got great hands. He goes up and gets it when it’s in the air. He moves slow sometimes walking around, but when he gets out there, he plays hard, so it’s good. He’s physical."
Cornerback Bryan Evans on which redshirt has stood out to him:
"I like Walter Hill. He doesn’t talk too much. People think he’s slow, but he has deceptive speed and he has real good hands, so I think he’s gonna be a factor next year."
JUSTIN HOUSTON
Linebacker/defensive end on Justin Houston:
"Man that dude’s a freak of nature. Awesome athletic strength. I believe he could start next year at any position – mike, will, sam, any one he wanted to start at. Even defensive end, he’s big enough to play defensive end also. He’s not as quick as Charles is at the mental game, seeing something and just reacting to it. But I think over the years, in the next year, two, he’ll be good to go. I think he’s gonna be a great athlete. I think he’s gonna be an all-American."
JOHN KNOX
Safety Kelin Johnson, on John Knox:
"He has so much ability. He’s gonna be like Rennie (Curran). You know how Rennie’s always a magnet to the ball? Knox is gonna be like a magnet to the ball. He might not know what he’s doing, but he’s gonna be at the ball. When he got here, he got here late and it was hard for him to get in the mix of things. But at the end of the season, the young guys started getting more playing time and having a little more scrimmages. And he’s been in those scrimmages and he’s been one making plays for the defense – getting interceptions, making big hits. I was like, ‘Wow,’ it’s good that you see a younger guy, you can look up to me and I can see a little of what I’ve done to help him become a better player."
Cornerback Bryan Evans on John Knox:
"John Knox is a hitter. He already has the body frame. He didn’t lift weights with us coming into the summer, so I think him getting three months summer training, he can put on weight. He’s already at 205 so I think when he gets his weight, he’ll be very prepared."
CHRIS LITTLE
Offensive tackle Chester Adams on Chris Little:
"Chris Little, he struggled the first couple of weeks with an injury to his wrist. But once he came back from that, he’s been a great help to the team. He’s a big guy and he’ll be able to move people out of the holes. That’s gonna be a great asset to the team."
TANNER STRICKLAND
Offensive tackle Chester Adams on Tanner Strickland:
"Tanner’s got great athletic ability. He’s very strong. His punch is outrageous – he’s got good hands. He’s just got to move his feet a little better and learn the playbook and he’ll be fine."
ISRAEL TROUPE
Receiver Mikey Henderson on Israel Troupe (and a little more on Walter Hill):
"We always laugh at Troupe because he still has some of that baseball in him when he’s running his routes. It was like he was rounding the bases when he would run some of those routes. He’s come along dramatically. I think we’ve got that baseball mentality worked out of him a little bit. Just like Walt played quarterback and that helps him, Troupe playing baseball, you can just see his ball skills obviously. He goes up for balls just like he was 6-4, 6-5 like anybody else and he has toughness. They’re both progressing well. When they go down and get that scout team, they get a lot more reps than they would down here, because we have a lot of receivers. They’re starting to get more and more reps and around this time is when the young guys start getting heavy in the scrimmages and they start running all the twos reps and everything. So you can definitely see the more reps they get, the better they get."
Quarterback Matthew Stafford on Israel Troupe (and a little on Justin Houston):
"He’s been doing good. He’s gonna be a heck of a player. I’m happy for him. He’s starting to get it now, too. Now’s the time of the year where everybody starts clicking and realizing kinda what it’s about. They’re doing a good job. I think Justin Houston’s gonna be a heck of a player. He’s been doing a good job on the scout team too."
ARON WHITE
Tight end Tripp Chandler on Aron White:
"Aron’s gonna be a special player at Georgia. He comes out there ready to fight and ready to work and ready to get after it every day. I remember being a freshman, I didn’t redshirt, but I didn’t play very much obviously behind Pope and Trez and went out there every day knowing I’m not gonna play very much on Saturday. And in Aron’s case, he’s not gonna play at all this year and he’s still going out there and working hard like he does every day. Sometimes usually the freshmen start to tinker off and start to lose that focus toward the end of the season, and Aron really hasn’t. Today we stayed with the O-line to work during pass-rushing and everyone got a rep. It didn’t get around to Aron, but he was yelling at coach, going, ‘Get me in coach! Get me in, I want a rep coach!’ To see that, it’s special to see his work ethic and how hard he’s gonna work every day."
CHARLES WHITE
Linebacker/defensive end Brandon Miller on Charles White:
"My point of view on Charles is he’s got all the athletic ability. I think he overthinks things too much. I think he’s just a normal freshman right now because he’s trying to learn certain things, but it’s all just coming to him at once. He’s trying to figure out what’s going on and the whole deal when he needs to just focus on one particular thing at different times and whatnot. I think next year he’ll be good to go. He’s a great athlete, he thinks on his feet and he’s real smart out there. He’s gonna be a mike, so he’s gotta have command and control and responsibility of the whole unit. I think he has those keys towards him."
Redshirt stuff: Caleb King
As I mentioned earlier, I'm going to post a lot of what folks were saying about the different redshirt guys. I figured I'd post separately about Caleb King, as he was the focus of my redshirts story -- so I talked to far more people about him than anyone else. There will be a separate post with comments on some of the other players.
For starters, here's what Caleb himself had to say:
"I think it was a blessing for me to redshirt, to see how everything is run and how the system goes. Next year, I should be full-go."
On how close he came to playing against Florida:
The Florida game, I was practicing with the ones and twos. They took me off the scout team. And then they had it in my mind I was gonna go in on the sideline, in like the second series. And I actually pulled the starting kickoff return in that game, too. But it didn’t happen like that.
On how difficult it was to get geared up to play and then gear back down:
During the game, it was hard. But after the celebration and the win over Florida, I forgot about it.
On the biggest thing he learned this year:
Patience. Like in high school, you can be the best athlete out there, you can be the top player. But here you can still be the best athlete, but if you take a false step in the backfield or run through the wrong hole, you’re not gonna go nowhere.
On whether redshirting might have been somewhat of a lesson in humility:
You could say that – just to work harder in the weight room or do the little things to bring your game up.
On how sitting out gave him a chance to get settled into college:
That’s true. Knowshon’s getting all the spotlight right now, so I’m just trying to scrap and learn everything I can and try to be in a good position at the beginning of the year.
On being excited about his opportunity next year:
I am. I was this year too – the Florida game. Next year, all the hype will be on him and then I’ll come in and me and him will do the same thing he did with Thomas.
Here's some of what Tony Ball said about Caleb:
"What he has shown, he has really shown the patience and the resilience and focus of a freshman back that you’d hoped he would have, and he has really shown that. The thing that I was most impressed with with him during that time period was, No. 1, his willingness to help the team, and his focus. When he knew it was time, his attention in the meetings was great, his focus on the practice field during practice was really great. So that was the one thing that I was really impressed with and encouraged by with him. And he knows going into the spring, you’ve got to be encouraged by the fact that he knows going into the spring that it’s his time. So you’ve got to be encouraged with that."
On how close Caleb was to playing:
"It’s not hard to figure out when you say, ‘OK, this back’s down, this back’s down, who else you got?’ and you start running out of people. But I’ve always said, and I said this during that timespan, I’ve always approached the coaching with players, especially these backs, you’ve got to approach each day as if you’re one play away from being on the field. And that’s why you don’t panic in that situation. You’re hoping guys have been doing what you expect them to do, and you’re getting guys ready because they do understand that they’re one play away. You lose Thomas, you lose Lump, you lose JJ, it’s not hard to figure out, ‘Hey guys, I’m one play away.’ So it wasn’t that difficult, because that’s the approach we always take."
Here are a couple of Thomas Brown quotes on Caleb:
"In my opinion, redshirting can be good for you in a lot of ways. I didn’t redshirt. I kinda got thrown in the fire very quickly and didn’t have too much time to adjust to it. Going through your redshirt year, you kinda adjust to the college lifestyle and adjust to things on and off the field – learning how to prioritize yourself. I’ve just been proud of the way he’s handled himself, just continuing to do well in school and on the field as well. He’s been coming along, gaining more confidence and learning the offense more."
"He’s shown many bright spots. Being a pretty big kid, he’s gonna be maybe 210, 215, 220, something like that, but he has great quickness. I’ve seen him make so many guys miss in practice and you can see he’s gonna be a great player."
And here's Mark Richt on the Florida situation with Caleb:
"I personally didn’t feel like it was the right thing to do, or I didn’t have any peace about it, let’s say that. But the offensive coaches believed it was, and Caleb had a very good attitude about it. That combination made me feel like, ‘All right, let’s get him ready.’ I felt like between JJ and Knowshon we could do it, and Chapas knowing what to do. Because I believed Thomas Brown was coming back. I didn’t know when Lumpkin was, but I felt like Thomas would come back. And even that was uncertain, because I asked Thomas and he was like, ‘Well, I don’t know.’ It was a tough call, but as we practiced, JJ practiced really well and Caleb was still feeling his way. It’s very natural. You’re thinking you’re redshirting and all of a sudden, bang, you’re in. He tried to get ready and he wasn’t super comfortable, I don’t think. I think the coaches saw that there was a little, not hesitation in wanting to play, but hesitation in not being certain what to do on every play. Then you sit there and you know it’s gonna be a war and things are gonna be flying around real fast. We felt like it might…by time we got closer to the game, I think all the coaches felt like, ‘Let’s try to get through this thing with JJ.’"
On the complications in trying to play him at midseason:
"We have the ultimate confidence. We’re very confident he can run the ball well. Sometimes that’s what can make the difference. If a guy runs it 10 times and runs it well, it may be the difference in winning and losing. And then you were hoping all the other things would come to him. But see, we do so many checks at the line. We might be checking from run. You might say, ‘Well put him in on the run and take him out on the pass.’ Well half the things we do is checking from run to pass or pass to run. So you can’t predict what the defense is gonna do, so you might have him in there a little more in the passing game than you might want. We’d have had to be very careful what we called while he was in the game. It’s very similar to how we felt about Knowshon the year before."
On how excited they are about him for next year:
"Right now, he’s the No. 2 tailback in the spring. You line up, he’s the No. 2 tailback. And you know we’re gonna play more than one back, so he’s gonna have a tremendous opportunity. And he’ll really be ready, you know? Like Knowshon, he was really ready. If we’d have played Knowshon last year, I’m sure he might have broken a couple nice runs here and there, but he might have made a couple MAs that broke down a series here and there. We’d have been scared to play him. He mighta got hit and fumbled. Now, the guy was really ready to play and had a tremendous season."
For starters, here's what Caleb himself had to say:
"I think it was a blessing for me to redshirt, to see how everything is run and how the system goes. Next year, I should be full-go."
On how close he came to playing against Florida:
The Florida game, I was practicing with the ones and twos. They took me off the scout team. And then they had it in my mind I was gonna go in on the sideline, in like the second series. And I actually pulled the starting kickoff return in that game, too. But it didn’t happen like that.
On how difficult it was to get geared up to play and then gear back down:
During the game, it was hard. But after the celebration and the win over Florida, I forgot about it.
On the biggest thing he learned this year:
Patience. Like in high school, you can be the best athlete out there, you can be the top player. But here you can still be the best athlete, but if you take a false step in the backfield or run through the wrong hole, you’re not gonna go nowhere.
On whether redshirting might have been somewhat of a lesson in humility:
You could say that – just to work harder in the weight room or do the little things to bring your game up.
On how sitting out gave him a chance to get settled into college:
That’s true. Knowshon’s getting all the spotlight right now, so I’m just trying to scrap and learn everything I can and try to be in a good position at the beginning of the year.
On being excited about his opportunity next year:
I am. I was this year too – the Florida game. Next year, all the hype will be on him and then I’ll come in and me and him will do the same thing he did with Thomas.
Here's some of what Tony Ball said about Caleb:
"What he has shown, he has really shown the patience and the resilience and focus of a freshman back that you’d hoped he would have, and he has really shown that. The thing that I was most impressed with with him during that time period was, No. 1, his willingness to help the team, and his focus. When he knew it was time, his attention in the meetings was great, his focus on the practice field during practice was really great. So that was the one thing that I was really impressed with and encouraged by with him. And he knows going into the spring, you’ve got to be encouraged by the fact that he knows going into the spring that it’s his time. So you’ve got to be encouraged with that."
On how close Caleb was to playing:
"It’s not hard to figure out when you say, ‘OK, this back’s down, this back’s down, who else you got?’ and you start running out of people. But I’ve always said, and I said this during that timespan, I’ve always approached the coaching with players, especially these backs, you’ve got to approach each day as if you’re one play away from being on the field. And that’s why you don’t panic in that situation. You’re hoping guys have been doing what you expect them to do, and you’re getting guys ready because they do understand that they’re one play away. You lose Thomas, you lose Lump, you lose JJ, it’s not hard to figure out, ‘Hey guys, I’m one play away.’ So it wasn’t that difficult, because that’s the approach we always take."
Here are a couple of Thomas Brown quotes on Caleb:
"In my opinion, redshirting can be good for you in a lot of ways. I didn’t redshirt. I kinda got thrown in the fire very quickly and didn’t have too much time to adjust to it. Going through your redshirt year, you kinda adjust to the college lifestyle and adjust to things on and off the field – learning how to prioritize yourself. I’ve just been proud of the way he’s handled himself, just continuing to do well in school and on the field as well. He’s been coming along, gaining more confidence and learning the offense more."
"He’s shown many bright spots. Being a pretty big kid, he’s gonna be maybe 210, 215, 220, something like that, but he has great quickness. I’ve seen him make so many guys miss in practice and you can see he’s gonna be a great player."
And here's Mark Richt on the Florida situation with Caleb:
"I personally didn’t feel like it was the right thing to do, or I didn’t have any peace about it, let’s say that. But the offensive coaches believed it was, and Caleb had a very good attitude about it. That combination made me feel like, ‘All right, let’s get him ready.’ I felt like between JJ and Knowshon we could do it, and Chapas knowing what to do. Because I believed Thomas Brown was coming back. I didn’t know when Lumpkin was, but I felt like Thomas would come back. And even that was uncertain, because I asked Thomas and he was like, ‘Well, I don’t know.’ It was a tough call, but as we practiced, JJ practiced really well and Caleb was still feeling his way. It’s very natural. You’re thinking you’re redshirting and all of a sudden, bang, you’re in. He tried to get ready and he wasn’t super comfortable, I don’t think. I think the coaches saw that there was a little, not hesitation in wanting to play, but hesitation in not being certain what to do on every play. Then you sit there and you know it’s gonna be a war and things are gonna be flying around real fast. We felt like it might…by time we got closer to the game, I think all the coaches felt like, ‘Let’s try to get through this thing with JJ.’"
On the complications in trying to play him at midseason:
"We have the ultimate confidence. We’re very confident he can run the ball well. Sometimes that’s what can make the difference. If a guy runs it 10 times and runs it well, it may be the difference in winning and losing. And then you were hoping all the other things would come to him. But see, we do so many checks at the line. We might be checking from run. You might say, ‘Well put him in on the run and take him out on the pass.’ Well half the things we do is checking from run to pass or pass to run. So you can’t predict what the defense is gonna do, so you might have him in there a little more in the passing game than you might want. We’d have had to be very careful what we called while he was in the game. It’s very similar to how we felt about Knowshon the year before."
On how excited they are about him for next year:
"Right now, he’s the No. 2 tailback in the spring. You line up, he’s the No. 2 tailback. And you know we’re gonna play more than one back, so he’s gonna have a tremendous opportunity. And he’ll really be ready, you know? Like Knowshon, he was really ready. If we’d have played Knowshon last year, I’m sure he might have broken a couple nice runs here and there, but he might have made a couple MAs that broke down a series here and there. We’d have been scared to play him. He mighta got hit and fumbled. Now, the guy was really ready to play and had a tremendous season."
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Coaching rumors: Eason-FAMU
An article in today's Tallahassee Democrat speculated that Florida A&M might be interested in Georgia associate head coach/receivers coach John Eason for its head coaching vacancy.
Grambling State coach Rod Broadway was expected to take the FAMU job, but did not. That leaves the school searching for another candidate, and Eason, 62, has numerous ties to the school and the Tallahassee area. He played for FAMU from 1966 to 1968 and has bachelors and masters degrees from the school, as well as a Ph.D from Florida State. He also served as a coach and administrator at Florida State and coached high school football at Leon High in Tallahassee.
As with many coach search stories, there's plenty of speculation and anonymous commentary to go around. I'm sure we'll see if there's anything to it in the near future.
Grambling State coach Rod Broadway was expected to take the FAMU job, but did not. That leaves the school searching for another candidate, and Eason, 62, has numerous ties to the school and the Tallahassee area. He played for FAMU from 1966 to 1968 and has bachelors and masters degrees from the school, as well as a Ph.D from Florida State. He also served as a coach and administrator at Florida State and coached high school football at Leon High in Tallahassee.
As with many coach search stories, there's plenty of speculation and anonymous commentary to go around. I'm sure we'll see if there's anything to it in the near future.
Wednesday update
I think the beat guys actually broke the news to both Mark Richt and Molloy VanGorder (a walk-on defensive back at Georgia) that Molloy's dad, Brian, is returning to the SEC to be defensive coordinator at South Carolina. I'm sure many of you remember him as Georgia's ultra-successful defensive coordinator from 2001 to 2004. I remember him from blowing me off every time I've tried to interview him. Not that I hold a grudge or anything. Anyway, his son seems like a nice kid.
Here's what Molloy said:
"I’d heard rumors. I really never talked to my dad about it. I talked to my family last night, heard that it might be happening and then I was supposed to wait for today, give him a call back and find out what was going on."
On playing South Carolina next September:
"I’m definitely staying here. It’ll be weird. That’ll be the first time in my life where I’ll have to root against my dad."
On all the moving he's had to do (this is his dad's 10th coaching job since 1989 and fifth in the last five years):
"I think it’s helped our family out a lot in terms of we learned how to make friends, you have to go to new schools all the time. I think it’s prepared me to come here to UGA. I feel for my mom, obviously, but different opportunities present themselves, and it is what it is."
Here's what Mark Richt had to say on the matter:
"Good for him. He’s a good coach, good friend. Anytime somebody loses their job, you like to see it when they get one. I didn’t realize that until just now, but it doesn’t surprise me. If I was coach Spurrier, I’d try to get him too."
On whether he put in a good word for VanGorder with Steve Spurrier:
"I had no idea. When you saw when coach Spurrier lost his coordinator, it made sense. That’s good for Brian."
On what this means for their matchup next season:
"Most of our guys probably don’t remember coach VanGorder much. Our coaches do, of course. I’m trying to think how many players would really carry over to next year. There might have been some this year. Maybe, maybe none."
Other stuff:
* The team went to see "I Am Legend" last night together and today they were given the opportunity to play paintball if they wanted to go. They took a busload, but I'm not sure exactly how many guys went. Richt had a good reason for why he didn't plan to play:
"I didn’t make that event mandatory. I just didn’t want to make everybody do that because there is a little bit of danger to it. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you might get yourself hurt or somebody else hurt. And no I’m not gonna get involved in it. I’d imagine if I’m out there and there’s like 40 paintball guns out there and I’ve got one of the 40, I’d imagine there’d be 39 aiming at me, so I didn’t want to give them that opportunity."
"I thought about making them all do it, but I backed off. I heard a war story about how some guy’s glasses got foggy and he liked to pull them off to fix them and he got drilled in the eye. I watched that movie “Christmas Story” where that guy had the Red Rider B-B gun and his mother said he’d shoot his eye out and sure enough, he did, he broke his glasses. So I had visions of that and I said I’m not gonna make everybody do it."
* He talked some about Blake Barnes' plan to transfer to Delta State after the season. He said they still don't plan to sign a quarterback in the upcoming class, although he said they may sign two next year:
"I don’t think so, although that is kinda thin. We do have Jon DeLaureal and he’s been in our system for going on three years, I guess, so that’ll be nice. And we may have to flirt around with, maybe getting another player who played quarterback in high school and might be playing receiver or DB or running back or something and just might have to teach him a little quarterback play, in case you get some injuries."
* He also said they're probably still not going to add but one more commitment to this signing class. (I thought the comment about a silent commitment was rather cryptic):
"We’re really just about done. There’s a couple more guys on the board. My goal was to sign, was to hopefully get one more commitment – one more public commitment anyway. Sometimes there’s commitments that we know about that no one else knows about at this point. I was shooting to get one more commitment from what we have right now regardless of what happened with Blake or anybody else really. I think if we had a mass exodus of juniors or a bunch of guys transfer, that might change my thinking. But I don’t see it changing too much."
* More on the Blake Barnes stuff:
On when Blake made the decision:
"Just a couple days ago. He had let me know that he was looking around a little bit. He communicated with me the whole way through, which I appreciated."
On whether it surprised him that Blake would make this decision so late in the game:
"Not really. He likes it here. He loves it here and it’s a tough decision to leave your friends and a place that you really enjoy. But he just wanted to step in the huddle and be the leader, or at least have the opportunity to do that again. And at this point, he felt like that probably wasn’t gonna happen. I’m happy for him in that I think that’s what he wants to do. He wants to go compete one last time and it looks like he’ll get that chance with a very good football team."
So there's some stuff for ya from today. My redshirts story is running tomorrow, along with the list with teammates' comments on the 14 redshirting players. I'll link to it here tomorrow. I'm also planning to throw together the "director's cut" on that list with the comments and include all the comments I transcribed (at length) about a bunch of the redshirts. You only have so much space in the paper for this stuff, but I can ramble on all I like here. Plus, I got quotes from several different guys on some players and only used one, while for some of them, I used the only quote I got about them...anyway, look for that either late tonight or tomorrow. have a good one.
Here's what Molloy said:
"I’d heard rumors. I really never talked to my dad about it. I talked to my family last night, heard that it might be happening and then I was supposed to wait for today, give him a call back and find out what was going on."
On playing South Carolina next September:
"I’m definitely staying here. It’ll be weird. That’ll be the first time in my life where I’ll have to root against my dad."
On all the moving he's had to do (this is his dad's 10th coaching job since 1989 and fifth in the last five years):
"I think it’s helped our family out a lot in terms of we learned how to make friends, you have to go to new schools all the time. I think it’s prepared me to come here to UGA. I feel for my mom, obviously, but different opportunities present themselves, and it is what it is."
Here's what Mark Richt had to say on the matter:
"Good for him. He’s a good coach, good friend. Anytime somebody loses their job, you like to see it when they get one. I didn’t realize that until just now, but it doesn’t surprise me. If I was coach Spurrier, I’d try to get him too."
On whether he put in a good word for VanGorder with Steve Spurrier:
"I had no idea. When you saw when coach Spurrier lost his coordinator, it made sense. That’s good for Brian."
On what this means for their matchup next season:
"Most of our guys probably don’t remember coach VanGorder much. Our coaches do, of course. I’m trying to think how many players would really carry over to next year. There might have been some this year. Maybe, maybe none."
Other stuff:
* The team went to see "I Am Legend" last night together and today they were given the opportunity to play paintball if they wanted to go. They took a busload, but I'm not sure exactly how many guys went. Richt had a good reason for why he didn't plan to play:
"I didn’t make that event mandatory. I just didn’t want to make everybody do that because there is a little bit of danger to it. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you might get yourself hurt or somebody else hurt. And no I’m not gonna get involved in it. I’d imagine if I’m out there and there’s like 40 paintball guns out there and I’ve got one of the 40, I’d imagine there’d be 39 aiming at me, so I didn’t want to give them that opportunity."
"I thought about making them all do it, but I backed off. I heard a war story about how some guy’s glasses got foggy and he liked to pull them off to fix them and he got drilled in the eye. I watched that movie “Christmas Story” where that guy had the Red Rider B-B gun and his mother said he’d shoot his eye out and sure enough, he did, he broke his glasses. So I had visions of that and I said I’m not gonna make everybody do it."
* He talked some about Blake Barnes' plan to transfer to Delta State after the season. He said they still don't plan to sign a quarterback in the upcoming class, although he said they may sign two next year:
"I don’t think so, although that is kinda thin. We do have Jon DeLaureal and he’s been in our system for going on three years, I guess, so that’ll be nice. And we may have to flirt around with, maybe getting another player who played quarterback in high school and might be playing receiver or DB or running back or something and just might have to teach him a little quarterback play, in case you get some injuries."
* He also said they're probably still not going to add but one more commitment to this signing class. (I thought the comment about a silent commitment was rather cryptic):
"We’re really just about done. There’s a couple more guys on the board. My goal was to sign, was to hopefully get one more commitment – one more public commitment anyway. Sometimes there’s commitments that we know about that no one else knows about at this point. I was shooting to get one more commitment from what we have right now regardless of what happened with Blake or anybody else really. I think if we had a mass exodus of juniors or a bunch of guys transfer, that might change my thinking. But I don’t see it changing too much."
* More on the Blake Barnes stuff:
On when Blake made the decision:
"Just a couple days ago. He had let me know that he was looking around a little bit. He communicated with me the whole way through, which I appreciated."
On whether it surprised him that Blake would make this decision so late in the game:
"Not really. He likes it here. He loves it here and it’s a tough decision to leave your friends and a place that you really enjoy. But he just wanted to step in the huddle and be the leader, or at least have the opportunity to do that again. And at this point, he felt like that probably wasn’t gonna happen. I’m happy for him in that I think that’s what he wants to do. He wants to go compete one last time and it looks like he’ll get that chance with a very good football team."
So there's some stuff for ya from today. My redshirts story is running tomorrow, along with the list with teammates' comments on the 14 redshirting players. I'll link to it here tomorrow. I'm also planning to throw together the "director's cut" on that list with the comments and include all the comments I transcribed (at length) about a bunch of the redshirts. You only have so much space in the paper for this stuff, but I can ramble on all I like here. Plus, I got quotes from several different guys on some players and only used one, while for some of them, I used the only quote I got about them...anyway, look for that either late tonight or tomorrow. have a good one.
Matthew Stafford Q/A
Here are about 8-10 minutes that Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford did with the beat writers last Friday afternoon. I thought there was some interesting stuff in here. Enjoy!
On not throwing it around this year like somebody like Hawaii's Colt Brennan:
We’re still playing pretty balanced, but we’ve got two great backs and an offensive line that’s doing a great job of blocking. If it’s working, keep doing it.
On whether it's difficult for him to throw so sporadically:
Absolutely. It’s tough to sometimes get in a rhythm, but we do a good job of picking out plays that are pretty basic and easy for us to throw and catch, so it’s working well for us.
On whether that affects him:
Not really. I think there’s sometimes during in the year where I was pressing, but I think I’m doing a good job of just kinda taking what they’re giving me now.
On whether not throwing much affects a former quarterback like Georgia's offensive coordinator Mike Bobo:
He’s been doing good. I think he just wants to win. That’s the way we all are around here. Whatever it takes to win, we’re willing to do it. He’s been doing a good job of not forcing the issue on anything, really.
On whether he expects that to change:
Yeah, we’ll probably start throwing more and more as I get older and as our O-line gets older, just things like that. But even if it did stay like this, if we’re winning games, I’m happy.
On whether he looks at his stats:
I do sometimes, but I really don’t know them.
More on getting to throw more in the future:
Yeah, and it’ll come. I’m still young. Obviously I expect a lot out of myself this year, but I’ve just gotta keep doing what I’m doing and keep plugging away.
On whether he thinks a bowl win would affect their preseason rankings:
I think a win would be huge for us, not only in the preseason rankings, just going into the offseason workouts for us, getting some momentum and keeping it, I guess. I think it’d be big for us.
On how it seems like time of possession will be an important statistic in the bowl:
Definitely. Their offense can put up points in a hurry. They’ve been doing a great job of that all year, so we’re gonna have to try and keep the ball as much as we can.
Yeah. Florida’s the same. Any team with a good offense, it’s nice to hold the ball for a while.
On whether they might add more wrinkles because of the extra time between games:
Yeah probably. We ran two or three in the bowl game last year. We have a few. Just obviously with the extra time, coaches are thinking about trick plays and stuff like that – just ways to exploit the defense. I guess it’s worked.
On whether he's watched Hawaii's defense on film:
I’ve watched some…They play hard. They look good, play hard, run to the ball, not overly sophisticated in what they do, but they do what they do well. It’s gonna be a challenge.
On the difference with Bobo as OC this year:
We just do a lot more out of different sets. We were pretty basic. I only got to play under coach Richt’s system for half a year or so, so I’m not the expert on that. We just do a lot more out of different sets and personnel groupings and just some different stuff – not a whole lot too different.
More on Bobo:
He just wants to win. That’s awesome. He does a great job. Obviously him being the quarterback coach is nice because he does a great job of teaching me and telling me exactly what he wants the offense to look like and how he wants it run. It makes it easy on me just hearing it from one guy.
On whether he had a talk this year with O-line coach Stacy Searels about being patient with the young offensive line:
In the spring, our motto was, ‘Fake it till we make it,’ so yeah, we sat down and had that talk. But they’re doing a great job.
On how the line has improved as the year went along:
I think they have. They’ve been doing a great job and we’re able to do pretty much everything we want to do.
On being frustrated with the line just before the season:L
It’s tough. We had three freshmen playing and guys in new positions. We didn’t even have it all sorted out then on who was gonna play where. Some guys really stepped up and played well this year and made it a whole lot easier on me and the backs.
More on whether he was ever frustrated by not throwing more:
Sometimes, but the biggest thing to me is winning ballgames. We’ve been doing a good job of that lately and hopefully we can keep it going.
On why he came to Georgia from Texas:
I just like the coaching staff, I liked the guys around and I liked the town. It was a place where if I couldn’t play football, I’d be happy going to school here.
On Thomas Brown taking 21 hours this semester:
It’s crazy. I really don’t know how he does it. It’s unbelievable. How many classes is that, three or four?
It was seven, five of which were upper-level classes in his major:
Wow. Good luck. I’m not doing that anytime soon.
On whether he saw any effect on Thomas because of the academic burden:
No. He’s been doing great over here and I haven’t seen any difference out of him.
And now Thomas is graduating and can focus on the draft and the combine:
He’s gonna tear that combine up too, so I’m happy for him.
On whether he saw Knowshon Moreno's attitude as a runner wear on defenders:
I don’t know if I saw it on defenders, I think a lot of people got their eyes opened – coaches and teams, to see how special of a player he is, more than anything.
On whether Georgia has a growing national image:
I hope so. Hopefully after this game, if we play well and get a win, we’ll start getting looked at even more on a national scale. I think we’ve been doing a pretty good job of doing that, though. Winning is what really gets you out there.
On Logan Gray:
I think he’s gonna be a good player. He works hard in the weight room trying to get bigger and does a good job out on the field. He’s getting it. I think he’s gonna be really good.
On Walter Hill:
He’s got great hands. He goes up and gets it when it’s in the air. He moves slow sometimes walking around, but when he gets out there, he plays hard, so it’s good. He’s physical.
On redshirts that have stood out:
Whew, so many. Walter, Troupe’s been playing good too.
On Israel Troupe (I'm pretty sure that's who he was talking about):
He’s been doing good. He’s gonna be a heck of a player. I’m happy for him. He’s starting to get it now, too. Now’s the time of the year where everybody starts clicking and realizing kinda what it’s about. They’re doing a good job. I think Justin Houston’s gonna be a heck of a player. He’s been doing a good job on the scout team too.
On what stands out about Troupe:
He’s fast, he catches the ball. He and Walter both are physical guys, bring a tough mentality to the receiver position. They’ve been doing well.
On not throwing it around this year like somebody like Hawaii's Colt Brennan:
We’re still playing pretty balanced, but we’ve got two great backs and an offensive line that’s doing a great job of blocking. If it’s working, keep doing it.
On whether it's difficult for him to throw so sporadically:
Absolutely. It’s tough to sometimes get in a rhythm, but we do a good job of picking out plays that are pretty basic and easy for us to throw and catch, so it’s working well for us.
On whether that affects him:
Not really. I think there’s sometimes during in the year where I was pressing, but I think I’m doing a good job of just kinda taking what they’re giving me now.
On whether not throwing much affects a former quarterback like Georgia's offensive coordinator Mike Bobo:
He’s been doing good. I think he just wants to win. That’s the way we all are around here. Whatever it takes to win, we’re willing to do it. He’s been doing a good job of not forcing the issue on anything, really.
On whether he expects that to change:
Yeah, we’ll probably start throwing more and more as I get older and as our O-line gets older, just things like that. But even if it did stay like this, if we’re winning games, I’m happy.
On whether he looks at his stats:
I do sometimes, but I really don’t know them.
More on getting to throw more in the future:
Yeah, and it’ll come. I’m still young. Obviously I expect a lot out of myself this year, but I’ve just gotta keep doing what I’m doing and keep plugging away.
On whether he thinks a bowl win would affect their preseason rankings:
I think a win would be huge for us, not only in the preseason rankings, just going into the offseason workouts for us, getting some momentum and keeping it, I guess. I think it’d be big for us.
On how it seems like time of possession will be an important statistic in the bowl:
Definitely. Their offense can put up points in a hurry. They’ve been doing a great job of that all year, so we’re gonna have to try and keep the ball as much as we can.
Yeah. Florida’s the same. Any team with a good offense, it’s nice to hold the ball for a while.
On whether they might add more wrinkles because of the extra time between games:
Yeah probably. We ran two or three in the bowl game last year. We have a few. Just obviously with the extra time, coaches are thinking about trick plays and stuff like that – just ways to exploit the defense. I guess it’s worked.
On whether he's watched Hawaii's defense on film:
I’ve watched some…They play hard. They look good, play hard, run to the ball, not overly sophisticated in what they do, but they do what they do well. It’s gonna be a challenge.
On the difference with Bobo as OC this year:
We just do a lot more out of different sets. We were pretty basic. I only got to play under coach Richt’s system for half a year or so, so I’m not the expert on that. We just do a lot more out of different sets and personnel groupings and just some different stuff – not a whole lot too different.
More on Bobo:
He just wants to win. That’s awesome. He does a great job. Obviously him being the quarterback coach is nice because he does a great job of teaching me and telling me exactly what he wants the offense to look like and how he wants it run. It makes it easy on me just hearing it from one guy.
On whether he had a talk this year with O-line coach Stacy Searels about being patient with the young offensive line:
In the spring, our motto was, ‘Fake it till we make it,’ so yeah, we sat down and had that talk. But they’re doing a great job.
On how the line has improved as the year went along:
I think they have. They’ve been doing a great job and we’re able to do pretty much everything we want to do.
On being frustrated with the line just before the season:L
It’s tough. We had three freshmen playing and guys in new positions. We didn’t even have it all sorted out then on who was gonna play where. Some guys really stepped up and played well this year and made it a whole lot easier on me and the backs.
More on whether he was ever frustrated by not throwing more:
Sometimes, but the biggest thing to me is winning ballgames. We’ve been doing a good job of that lately and hopefully we can keep it going.
On why he came to Georgia from Texas:
I just like the coaching staff, I liked the guys around and I liked the town. It was a place where if I couldn’t play football, I’d be happy going to school here.
On Thomas Brown taking 21 hours this semester:
It’s crazy. I really don’t know how he does it. It’s unbelievable. How many classes is that, three or four?
It was seven, five of which were upper-level classes in his major:
Wow. Good luck. I’m not doing that anytime soon.
On whether he saw any effect on Thomas because of the academic burden:
No. He’s been doing great over here and I haven’t seen any difference out of him.
And now Thomas is graduating and can focus on the draft and the combine:
He’s gonna tear that combine up too, so I’m happy for him.
On whether he saw Knowshon Moreno's attitude as a runner wear on defenders:
I don’t know if I saw it on defenders, I think a lot of people got their eyes opened – coaches and teams, to see how special of a player he is, more than anything.
On whether Georgia has a growing national image:
I hope so. Hopefully after this game, if we play well and get a win, we’ll start getting looked at even more on a national scale. I think we’ve been doing a pretty good job of doing that, though. Winning is what really gets you out there.
On Logan Gray:
I think he’s gonna be a good player. He works hard in the weight room trying to get bigger and does a good job out on the field. He’s getting it. I think he’s gonna be really good.
On Walter Hill:
He’s got great hands. He goes up and gets it when it’s in the air. He moves slow sometimes walking around, but when he gets out there, he plays hard, so it’s good. He’s physical.
On redshirts that have stood out:
Whew, so many. Walter, Troupe’s been playing good too.
On Israel Troupe (I'm pretty sure that's who he was talking about):
He’s been doing good. He’s gonna be a heck of a player. I’m happy for him. He’s starting to get it now, too. Now’s the time of the year where everybody starts clicking and realizing kinda what it’s about. They’re doing a good job. I think Justin Houston’s gonna be a heck of a player. He’s been doing a good job on the scout team too.
On what stands out about Troupe:
He’s fast, he catches the ball. He and Walter both are physical guys, bring a tough mentality to the receiver position. They’ve been doing well.
Tuesday news
Wow, this has been a crazy day for college football news, what with the Florida State academic cheating scandal and players all over the country being announced as academically ineligible -- most notable around this area is Clemson starting linebackers Nick Watkins and Tremaine Billie and starting Christian Capote won't be available for the Chick-fil-A Bowl meeting with Auburn in Atlanta.
There was some breaking news today at Georgia, as well, although I doubt it will make the main headlines on ESPN's site: junior quarterback Blake Barnes is transferring after the season. He plans to transfer to Delta State for his final season. I think it was fairly apparent that Blake was never going to take a significant snap at Georgia, but I'm not sure what was the impetus behind this decision -- nor would I feel comfortable speculating about it in print. I spoke with Georgia's sports communications director Claude Felton about it today, and he said there's no ill will on Georgia's part...So good luck to Blake. He's clearly a good kid. Hopefully he'll get to make something happen next year at Delta State.
* Mark Richt called today's practice "a little bit better than a ho-hummer" and joked about how some of the players wanted to do a two-a-day on Thursday and just skip the last practice in Athens on Friday morning. "Somebody asks that every year and every year I say no," he laughed.
* I asked him and Tony Ball a bunch of stuff about Caleb King for my Thursday story on the redshirting players. There was also some stuff about Logan Gray, who it sounds like Richt is pretty pleased with for how he handled his scout team duties this year, including mimicking Hawaii's Colt Brennan in bowl prep.
* I wrote a note for Wednesday on snapper Bo Fowler inheriting punt snap duties from Jeff Henson for the bowl. Fowler talked a little bit about the differences between snapping for PAT/field goal and snapping for punts. He's been starting snapper for place-kicking since the Tennessee game, so I wouldn't think there would be a noticeable drop-off with Henson out.
* I thought this story was interesting about how this cable operator has run out of HDTV boxes because of all the people who want to watch the Sugar Bowl the way any good sporting event should be seen -- watching a huge HD-capable TV from your sofa or favorite chair. That'll probably pop up in my notebook for Thursday.
* I did a story on Matthew Stafford not getting to throw it around this year. I used a lot of his comments from last Friday's media day in the story. I thought he said a few interesting things, so I'll post that Q/A he did with several of the writers in a separate post.
* On the local news front, I saw today that Miami fired its defensive coordinator, Tim Walton. That's sad news for folks around Columbus as Walton went to Carver High before playing collegiately at Ohio State.
There was some breaking news today at Georgia, as well, although I doubt it will make the main headlines on ESPN's site: junior quarterback Blake Barnes is transferring after the season. He plans to transfer to Delta State for his final season. I think it was fairly apparent that Blake was never going to take a significant snap at Georgia, but I'm not sure what was the impetus behind this decision -- nor would I feel comfortable speculating about it in print. I spoke with Georgia's sports communications director Claude Felton about it today, and he said there's no ill will on Georgia's part...So good luck to Blake. He's clearly a good kid. Hopefully he'll get to make something happen next year at Delta State.
* Mark Richt called today's practice "a little bit better than a ho-hummer" and joked about how some of the players wanted to do a two-a-day on Thursday and just skip the last practice in Athens on Friday morning. "Somebody asks that every year and every year I say no," he laughed.
* I asked him and Tony Ball a bunch of stuff about Caleb King for my Thursday story on the redshirting players. There was also some stuff about Logan Gray, who it sounds like Richt is pretty pleased with for how he handled his scout team duties this year, including mimicking Hawaii's Colt Brennan in bowl prep.
* I wrote a note for Wednesday on snapper Bo Fowler inheriting punt snap duties from Jeff Henson for the bowl. Fowler talked a little bit about the differences between snapping for PAT/field goal and snapping for punts. He's been starting snapper for place-kicking since the Tennessee game, so I wouldn't think there would be a noticeable drop-off with Henson out.
* I thought this story was interesting about how this cable operator has run out of HDTV boxes because of all the people who want to watch the Sugar Bowl the way any good sporting event should be seen -- watching a huge HD-capable TV from your sofa or favorite chair. That'll probably pop up in my notebook for Thursday.
* I did a story on Matthew Stafford not getting to throw it around this year. I used a lot of his comments from last Friday's media day in the story. I thought he said a few interesting things, so I'll post that Q/A he did with several of the writers in a separate post.
* On the local news front, I saw today that Miami fired its defensive coordinator, Tim Walton. That's sad news for folks around Columbus as Walton went to Carver High before playing collegiately at Ohio State.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Interesting Stafford story
I saw this story linked on a blog called Dawgsonline and if its premise is correct, it's just crazy, man.
According to this story in the community newspaper that serves the Highland Park (Texas) area where Matthew Stafford played in high school, 106 seniors -- about 20 percent of the senior class -- at Stafford's Highland Park High have applied to Georgia. Of the total applications the graduating seniors have submitted, only Texas (120) and TCU (110) have received more than UGA. That's more than in-state Texas A&M (79) and Baylor (80) have received from HPHS students. They're calling it "The Stafford Effect."
That's insane, although Georgia seems to have already been a fairly popular option among Highland Park kids before Matthew came here. The story has a chart tracking the number of applications seniors at the school sent to UGA in past years:
2008 -- 106
2007 -- 75
2006 -- 69
2005 -- 35
2004 -- 53
2003 -- 66
It almost makes you want to rant about how dumb high school kids are in picking where they go to school, if in fact they're applying places because of how the quarterback of the football team went to their school...But then I think of the even faultier logic I used when I was 18 and picking where to go to school (I didn't start at Auburn. I transferred there after a semester somewhere else). The bottom line is you find somewhere you'll have fun and/or learn how to do something that can pay your bills for the rest of your life (hopefully both). If those kids find that at Georgia, regardless of the factors they weigh in their college decision, that's great for them.
According to this story in the community newspaper that serves the Highland Park (Texas) area where Matthew Stafford played in high school, 106 seniors -- about 20 percent of the senior class -- at Stafford's Highland Park High have applied to Georgia. Of the total applications the graduating seniors have submitted, only Texas (120) and TCU (110) have received more than UGA. That's more than in-state Texas A&M (79) and Baylor (80) have received from HPHS students. They're calling it "The Stafford Effect."
That's insane, although Georgia seems to have already been a fairly popular option among Highland Park kids before Matthew came here. The story has a chart tracking the number of applications seniors at the school sent to UGA in past years:
2008 -- 106
2007 -- 75
2006 -- 69
2005 -- 35
2004 -- 53
2003 -- 66
It almost makes you want to rant about how dumb high school kids are in picking where they go to school, if in fact they're applying places because of how the quarterback of the football team went to their school...But then I think of the even faultier logic I used when I was 18 and picking where to go to school (I didn't start at Auburn. I transferred there after a semester somewhere else). The bottom line is you find somewhere you'll have fun and/or learn how to do something that can pay your bills for the rest of your life (hopefully both). If those kids find that at Georgia, regardless of the factors they weigh in their college decision, that's great for them.
WAC teleconference highlights
Hawaii coach June Jones, on playing Georgia:
"They’re by far the best team we’ve played since I’ve been here in nine years. They’ve got a lot of great athletes, a lot of team speed and we’ll have to play a perfect game to hang with them. But our kids are excited about going. We’ve had good practices so far and I’m sure that we’ll show up and be respectable."
Jones, on the BCS payout helping Hawaii:
"I think that more than the BCS money, because we have a lot of needs – not just in football, but in the athletic department – I think the season we’ve had has brought attention to the legislators and the people in town that understand how we’ve gotten this thing done and made it visible that we need more help from downtown, and I think that’s taking place. I think the actual check itself will obviously be of help, but at the same time we have big needs. The $4.2 million will probably do some of the things that we need repaired more than anything."
Jones, on how they might spend the money:
"For example, we have new football offices that were halfway built three years ago and they’ve never been completed because they ran out of money. Hopefully the money will go to that and those type of things will be improved. Like I said, we have a lot of things that need to be done and I’m sure this will start the ball rolling anyway."
Jones, on their running game:
"We throw the ball, catch it and then we run after the catch. That’s probably our running game. We have had games, normally our fullback gets somewhere between 15 to 23 touches a game. Some games it just depends on how teams are playing us, the yardage becomes better. I think if you eliminate the negative yards from quarterback sacks and those type of things, I would say our running backs are averaging close to 7 or 8 yards a carry, so we get done what we need to get done."
Jones, on the interest on the Sugar Bowl in Hawaii:
"It is quite an effort. This is a once-in-a-lifetime deal for this whole state. I’ve said this forever, this isn’t really the University of Hawaii, this is the state’s team. We probably have 500 to 1,000 student tickets for every one of our games. It’s basically the cab drivers, the maids, the working guys, the firemen, policemen that come support our team. It’s the only game in town. There is no pro sport here. And the other thing that happens is there’s a tremendous amount of transplanted Hawaiians on mainland U.S. When we went to Louisiana Tech, when we went to Reno, when we went to San Jose, we probably had 20, 25,000 people at the stadium. They’re coming from everywhere to identify back with Hawaii, basically. I would say that if, everything said and done, if there was 50,000 tickets, we would have 50,000 people there."
Boise State coach Chris Petersen, on Hawaii's improved defense:
"They’ve really made some great strides on defense. They play very hard, they’re well-coached, they’re aggressive, they really attack you. I think Hawaii’s always scored a lot of points and I think they’ve probably taken more strides on the defensive side of the ball than anywhere else. They lead the nation in scoring, so they do about as well as they can do there, but that’s where they make it tough. Their defense has tightened up and you’ve got to score with them. So when the defense is playing well and playing their game, they’re tough to beat."
Petersen, on Hawaii playing in the BCS:
"I think it’s good for college football because as we all know, on any given day, strange things happen in college football and I think that’s the beauty of it. I think people appreciate and like it when the so-called underdog wins every now and again. It’s healthy for the whole process."
Petersen, on how the BCS money helped his school:
"I’m sitting here staring at a $38 million pressbox that’s going up outside my window here. We had that in the works and the plans were going, but that certainly helped get that project completed. There’s no question about that. Those BCS games are good for our conference and certainly good for the team that plays in them."
Petersen, more on how the BCS appearance is helpful:
"I think it just gives your university so much more exposure. There’s gonna be a lot of eyes on you and if Hawaii goes over there and represents themselves like they can, a lot of people will be very impressed with what they’ve got going on there."
Petersen, on whether Hawaii feels pressure to play well like Boise did last year:
"I hope they don’t feel pressure because then I don’t think they’ll play their best. I’m hoping they’ll go over there and relax and really play the way they’re capable of playing. If they can do that, they’re gonna represent their state and the WAC very well."
Petersen, on whether he has any advice for June Jones:
"Coach Jones has been on many more big stages than I have, so he doesn’t need my help on that."
WAC commissioner Karl Benson, on the upcoming bowls:
"I think that as we go into the 2007 bowl season now, the energy that those two coaches certainly are expressing and the fact that Hawaii has followed up what Boise State did a year ago, there was buzz in early September and there’s buzz now here in mid-December about WAC football. It’s something we were anticipating, hoping that we’d get in this position again. I think we are and now we think we’re in a situation where there’s an expectation that the WAC will once again perform in bowl season."
Benson, on the value of the BCS payday to a small school:
"The team that plays does get a significant windfall. The other schools probably a half-a-million-dollar windfall. Some schools, that’s helped them either balance their budget or they’ve spread it around to some special project. I think more important than the revenue and more important than the money, I think that the credibility, the long-term effect that it has on a Boise State and now a Hawaii and the trickle-down effect that it has on our other member institutions, you can’t buy the exposure that the WAC has received the last two years, and that goes for all of our programs. Not to minimize the financial piece, but I think the credibility and the exposure may be just as valuable."
Benson, on how to decide what to do with the money:
"The decisions that an institution will have to make in terms of how to invest the money and do they invest it back into football entirely, do they spread it around to some of their other sports as June mentioned? The University of Hawaii has other problems and other issues besides within their football program. So on one hand, an athletic director gets handed off the big paycheck, but there are pretty tough decisions as to how to spend it wisely. You look at what Boise State has done in terms of rewarding Chris Petersen. They took from that money last year and put it right into his salary and his coaches’ salaries. To be able to build a program from within that coaching staff is important. If recruiting budgets can be increased and enhanced, then generally speaking, that pays a dividend."
Fresno State coach Pat Hill, on what Hawaii does for the WAC by playing in a BCS game:
"I think it’s great. We’re always competing against the Pac-10 out here in recruiting and it’s difficult for us to recruit. But if you look at the last six years, there’s only one school from that league that’s gone to a BCS game, and we’ve had two from our league go. And in 2001, we got as high as eighth in the nation eight games into the season and we lost a game where we had a chance to go in 2001. So I think non-BCS schools have a great chance of going. You’ve gotta go undefeated just like Hawaii did, Boise did, Utah did. Our choice of scheduling is a little bit different in that we’re gonna play a different non-league schedule every year – like next year, we open up with UCLA and Wisconsin and Kansas State. So if you can go through the season undefeated and play that type of non-league schedule, the rest will take care of itself. I think our chances are just as good as anybody. I think people are starting to see there’s a lot of good football teams in this country. If you take the name off the helmet or off the jersey and just let ‘em play football, I think a lot of people would understand that."
"They’re by far the best team we’ve played since I’ve been here in nine years. They’ve got a lot of great athletes, a lot of team speed and we’ll have to play a perfect game to hang with them. But our kids are excited about going. We’ve had good practices so far and I’m sure that we’ll show up and be respectable."
Jones, on the BCS payout helping Hawaii:
"I think that more than the BCS money, because we have a lot of needs – not just in football, but in the athletic department – I think the season we’ve had has brought attention to the legislators and the people in town that understand how we’ve gotten this thing done and made it visible that we need more help from downtown, and I think that’s taking place. I think the actual check itself will obviously be of help, but at the same time we have big needs. The $4.2 million will probably do some of the things that we need repaired more than anything."
Jones, on how they might spend the money:
"For example, we have new football offices that were halfway built three years ago and they’ve never been completed because they ran out of money. Hopefully the money will go to that and those type of things will be improved. Like I said, we have a lot of things that need to be done and I’m sure this will start the ball rolling anyway."
Jones, on their running game:
"We throw the ball, catch it and then we run after the catch. That’s probably our running game. We have had games, normally our fullback gets somewhere between 15 to 23 touches a game. Some games it just depends on how teams are playing us, the yardage becomes better. I think if you eliminate the negative yards from quarterback sacks and those type of things, I would say our running backs are averaging close to 7 or 8 yards a carry, so we get done what we need to get done."
Jones, on the interest on the Sugar Bowl in Hawaii:
"It is quite an effort. This is a once-in-a-lifetime deal for this whole state. I’ve said this forever, this isn’t really the University of Hawaii, this is the state’s team. We probably have 500 to 1,000 student tickets for every one of our games. It’s basically the cab drivers, the maids, the working guys, the firemen, policemen that come support our team. It’s the only game in town. There is no pro sport here. And the other thing that happens is there’s a tremendous amount of transplanted Hawaiians on mainland U.S. When we went to Louisiana Tech, when we went to Reno, when we went to San Jose, we probably had 20, 25,000 people at the stadium. They’re coming from everywhere to identify back with Hawaii, basically. I would say that if, everything said and done, if there was 50,000 tickets, we would have 50,000 people there."
Boise State coach Chris Petersen, on Hawaii's improved defense:
"They’ve really made some great strides on defense. They play very hard, they’re well-coached, they’re aggressive, they really attack you. I think Hawaii’s always scored a lot of points and I think they’ve probably taken more strides on the defensive side of the ball than anywhere else. They lead the nation in scoring, so they do about as well as they can do there, but that’s where they make it tough. Their defense has tightened up and you’ve got to score with them. So when the defense is playing well and playing their game, they’re tough to beat."
Petersen, on Hawaii playing in the BCS:
"I think it’s good for college football because as we all know, on any given day, strange things happen in college football and I think that’s the beauty of it. I think people appreciate and like it when the so-called underdog wins every now and again. It’s healthy for the whole process."
Petersen, on how the BCS money helped his school:
"I’m sitting here staring at a $38 million pressbox that’s going up outside my window here. We had that in the works and the plans were going, but that certainly helped get that project completed. There’s no question about that. Those BCS games are good for our conference and certainly good for the team that plays in them."
Petersen, more on how the BCS appearance is helpful:
"I think it just gives your university so much more exposure. There’s gonna be a lot of eyes on you and if Hawaii goes over there and represents themselves like they can, a lot of people will be very impressed with what they’ve got going on there."
Petersen, on whether Hawaii feels pressure to play well like Boise did last year:
"I hope they don’t feel pressure because then I don’t think they’ll play their best. I’m hoping they’ll go over there and relax and really play the way they’re capable of playing. If they can do that, they’re gonna represent their state and the WAC very well."
Petersen, on whether he has any advice for June Jones:
"Coach Jones has been on many more big stages than I have, so he doesn’t need my help on that."
WAC commissioner Karl Benson, on the upcoming bowls:
"I think that as we go into the 2007 bowl season now, the energy that those two coaches certainly are expressing and the fact that Hawaii has followed up what Boise State did a year ago, there was buzz in early September and there’s buzz now here in mid-December about WAC football. It’s something we were anticipating, hoping that we’d get in this position again. I think we are and now we think we’re in a situation where there’s an expectation that the WAC will once again perform in bowl season."
Benson, on the value of the BCS payday to a small school:
"The team that plays does get a significant windfall. The other schools probably a half-a-million-dollar windfall. Some schools, that’s helped them either balance their budget or they’ve spread it around to some special project. I think more important than the revenue and more important than the money, I think that the credibility, the long-term effect that it has on a Boise State and now a Hawaii and the trickle-down effect that it has on our other member institutions, you can’t buy the exposure that the WAC has received the last two years, and that goes for all of our programs. Not to minimize the financial piece, but I think the credibility and the exposure may be just as valuable."
Benson, on how to decide what to do with the money:
"The decisions that an institution will have to make in terms of how to invest the money and do they invest it back into football entirely, do they spread it around to some of their other sports as June mentioned? The University of Hawaii has other problems and other issues besides within their football program. So on one hand, an athletic director gets handed off the big paycheck, but there are pretty tough decisions as to how to spend it wisely. You look at what Boise State has done in terms of rewarding Chris Petersen. They took from that money last year and put it right into his salary and his coaches’ salaries. To be able to build a program from within that coaching staff is important. If recruiting budgets can be increased and enhanced, then generally speaking, that pays a dividend."
Fresno State coach Pat Hill, on what Hawaii does for the WAC by playing in a BCS game:
"I think it’s great. We’re always competing against the Pac-10 out here in recruiting and it’s difficult for us to recruit. But if you look at the last six years, there’s only one school from that league that’s gone to a BCS game, and we’ve had two from our league go. And in 2001, we got as high as eighth in the nation eight games into the season and we lost a game where we had a chance to go in 2001. So I think non-BCS schools have a great chance of going. You’ve gotta go undefeated just like Hawaii did, Boise did, Utah did. Our choice of scheduling is a little bit different in that we’re gonna play a different non-league schedule every year – like next year, we open up with UCLA and Wisconsin and Kansas State. So if you can go through the season undefeated and play that type of non-league schedule, the rest will take care of itself. I think our chances are just as good as anybody. I think people are starting to see there’s a lot of good football teams in this country. If you take the name off the helmet or off the jersey and just let ‘em play football, I think a lot of people would understand that."
Monday, December 17, 2007
Quick Monday update
Nothing huge out of today's practice.
*Darius Dewberry practiced in green.
* Again, they don't expect anybody to miss the bowl game because of academic problems.
* There was some post-practice talk about the run-and-shoot offense and why you don't see more of it.
* I've almost finished talking to everyone I needed to speak with for that story on the redshirts that I mentioned. I think that will run in our paper either Wednesday or Thursday. Spoke with Logan Gray, Caleb King and Walter Hill today for it, so I'm getting close. Really the story, to me, is secondary to getting comments from the veterans at the redshirt guys' positions. I think their comments on the young guys' potential is more interesting than anything I'm going to write on the subject.
* Something that I'm sure most of the other beat writers will get into, and I probably will as well, is about how these guys from Hawaii define themselves to a great extent by their Polynesian and Samoan heritage -- and how it crosses over even into how they play. I think it's an interesting angle and I'm enjoying learning a little more about that culture. I can't even properly relay how much better this is than if they'd played Virginia Tech again and how much of a drag it would have been writing more bowl stuff about the Hokies. Thankfully Hawaii's a very interesting team and has lots of interesting stories.
* Speaking of which, Hawaii's Western Athletic Conference hosted a teleconference this afternoon with its coaches whose teams will appear in bowls. There was some fantastic material in that thing about what Boise State and Hawaii's BCS appearances do for the league. I turned that around for my story in tomorrow's paper. I could have written a ton more about it, but reined it in at around 850 words. It's fascinating stuff (the subject matter, not my story. I hesitate to call any copy I turn out "fascinating." Maybe "mildly interesting" on a good day). I'll post a bunch of what I transcribed from it later, or you could listen to the teleconference online here if it interests you that much.
As people who cover/follow a major conference school, we probably don't put as much thought into how far a little school's bowl winnings can go when they hit the BCS jackpot. But I read a story in the Honolulu paper the other day that basically inspired the story I wrote for tomorrow about how badly Hawaii needs the money it will get from this BCS shot. Their athletic director said in May that his department was $2 million in debt. Their dorms and library are in need of repair. The athletic facilities are substandard. June Jones said today that they started building coaching offices a few years ago, but they're still unfinished because they ran out of money. That stuff's in stark contrast to an athletic department like Georgia that has more money than it knows what to do with...Now that's meaty stuff to work a story around. Much better than dredging up more stuff on Bud Foster and the Virginia Tech defense's lunch pail.
*Darius Dewberry practiced in green.
* Again, they don't expect anybody to miss the bowl game because of academic problems.
* There was some post-practice talk about the run-and-shoot offense and why you don't see more of it.
* I've almost finished talking to everyone I needed to speak with for that story on the redshirts that I mentioned. I think that will run in our paper either Wednesday or Thursday. Spoke with Logan Gray, Caleb King and Walter Hill today for it, so I'm getting close. Really the story, to me, is secondary to getting comments from the veterans at the redshirt guys' positions. I think their comments on the young guys' potential is more interesting than anything I'm going to write on the subject.
* Something that I'm sure most of the other beat writers will get into, and I probably will as well, is about how these guys from Hawaii define themselves to a great extent by their Polynesian and Samoan heritage -- and how it crosses over even into how they play. I think it's an interesting angle and I'm enjoying learning a little more about that culture. I can't even properly relay how much better this is than if they'd played Virginia Tech again and how much of a drag it would have been writing more bowl stuff about the Hokies. Thankfully Hawaii's a very interesting team and has lots of interesting stories.
* Speaking of which, Hawaii's Western Athletic Conference hosted a teleconference this afternoon with its coaches whose teams will appear in bowls. There was some fantastic material in that thing about what Boise State and Hawaii's BCS appearances do for the league. I turned that around for my story in tomorrow's paper. I could have written a ton more about it, but reined it in at around 850 words. It's fascinating stuff (the subject matter, not my story. I hesitate to call any copy I turn out "fascinating." Maybe "mildly interesting" on a good day). I'll post a bunch of what I transcribed from it later, or you could listen to the teleconference online here if it interests you that much.
As people who cover/follow a major conference school, we probably don't put as much thought into how far a little school's bowl winnings can go when they hit the BCS jackpot. But I read a story in the Honolulu paper the other day that basically inspired the story I wrote for tomorrow about how badly Hawaii needs the money it will get from this BCS shot. Their athletic director said in May that his department was $2 million in debt. Their dorms and library are in need of repair. The athletic facilities are substandard. June Jones said today that they started building coaching offices a few years ago, but they're still unfinished because they ran out of money. That stuff's in stark contrast to an athletic department like Georgia that has more money than it knows what to do with...Now that's meaty stuff to work a story around. Much better than dredging up more stuff on Bud Foster and the Virginia Tech defense's lunch pail.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Getting back in the swing
Sorry I haven't been updating like I normally would. The team has actually practiced the last two days, but I haven't been there. Went to Athens for media day on Friday, but I skipped practice to get my apartment mostly cleaned out and most of my stuff moved back to Columbus. Then today I went to Cairo to help cover the Class AAA state championship game (Carver-Columbus beat Cairo 16-13. Great game), so I missed that one too.
But I'll be heading back to Athens Sunday for when they start practicing again Monday and will do daily blog updates as necessary for the rest of the week and stories and notebooks each day through next Saturday.
A couple of newsy things, if you haven't seen them already:
* As of now, nobody is expected to be in jeopardy of missing the bowl game with academic problems. The final grades should roll in in the next day or two, and someone could always have blown up at the last minute. But the big cheese said he's not expecting any issues as of now.
* Brannan Southerland, Jeff Owens and Dannell Ellerbe submitted their names to be evaluated as potential early entry candidates. It's a great idea on their parts, simply to see what scouts think of them and what they can work on before next season.
* Marc Weiszer from the Athens paper beat me to including something I would have wanted to get in my Monday notebook -- that Brandon Coutu has a Senior Bowl invite and that Fernando Velasco and Thomas Brown have Shrine Bowl invites.
All right, if I get around to transcribing Mark Richt's Friday media day Q/A, I might post it, but we'll see how late I make it back to Athens Sunday. Otherwise, I'll get to posting some stuff after Monday's practice. It's been a busy week...
But I'll be heading back to Athens Sunday for when they start practicing again Monday and will do daily blog updates as necessary for the rest of the week and stories and notebooks each day through next Saturday.
A couple of newsy things, if you haven't seen them already:
* As of now, nobody is expected to be in jeopardy of missing the bowl game with academic problems. The final grades should roll in in the next day or two, and someone could always have blown up at the last minute. But the big cheese said he's not expecting any issues as of now.
* Brannan Southerland, Jeff Owens and Dannell Ellerbe submitted their names to be evaluated as potential early entry candidates. It's a great idea on their parts, simply to see what scouts think of them and what they can work on before next season.
* Marc Weiszer from the Athens paper beat me to including something I would have wanted to get in my Monday notebook -- that Brandon Coutu has a Senior Bowl invite and that Fernando Velasco and Thomas Brown have Shrine Bowl invites.
All right, if I get around to transcribing Mark Richt's Friday media day Q/A, I might post it, but we'll see how late I make it back to Athens Sunday. Otherwise, I'll get to posting some stuff after Monday's practice. It's been a busy week...
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Georgians on D1-AA, D2 all-America teams
There are several players on the recently announced American Football Coaches Association Division I-AA and Division II all-America teams who either play in Georgia or are from Georgia.
On the Division II team, which was announced today:
WR Cedric Jones, Valdosta State (Waycross - Ware County HS)
LB Eric Rice, Carson-Newman (Thomasville - Thomas County Central)
PK Jared Guberman, West Georgia (Boca Raton, Fla.)
On the Division I-AA team, which was released on Monday:
OL Kerry Brown, Appalachian State (Marietta - Lassiter HS)
DB Tony LeZotte, James Madison (Augusta - Westside)
KR Jayson Foster, Georgia Southern (Canton - Cherokee)
Georgia wasn't represented on the AFCA Division III or NAIA teams.
On the Division II team, which was announced today:
WR Cedric Jones, Valdosta State (Waycross - Ware County HS)
LB Eric Rice, Carson-Newman (Thomasville - Thomas County Central)
PK Jared Guberman, West Georgia (Boca Raton, Fla.)
On the Division I-AA team, which was released on Monday:
OL Kerry Brown, Appalachian State (Marietta - Lassiter HS)
DB Tony LeZotte, James Madison (Augusta - Westside)
KR Jayson Foster, Georgia Southern (Canton - Cherokee)
Georgia wasn't represented on the AFCA Division III or NAIA teams.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Then again, maybe not
Looks like the Muschamp thing didn't happen after all. I should have waited before linking to some online site when nobody else was going with it yet.
So the Falcons are without a head coach, as their pleasant little peach, Bobby Petrino, is bailing after three quarters of a season. Wonder if he'll take Brian VanGorder with him to Fayetteville? They seem to be birds of a feather...
So the Falcons are without a head coach, as their pleasant little peach, Bobby Petrino, is bailing after three quarters of a season. Wonder if he'll take Brian VanGorder with him to Fayetteville? They seem to be birds of a feather...
Muschamp to Arky?
The scuttlebutt among Auburn and Arkansas folks is that Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp -- a Rome, Ga., native and former Georgia defensive back -- may be Houston Nutt's replacement at Arkansas.
At least one online site -- the Arkansas Rivals.com site -- is reporting that it's gonna happen:
"Strong sources are indicating that Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp will be the new head coach at Arkansas to replace Houston Nutt, who is now at Ole Miss."
That's interesting to me. He hasn't been a head coach before and you don't often see a school of Arkansas' caliber hiring first-time head coaches. Muschamp seems to be a rising star in the assistant coaching ranks, though, after successful stints at LSU and Auburn. It'll be interesting to see whether this happens.
If it does, Auburn will yet again be searching for new coordinators. Al Borges made official yesterday what most everyone knew was coming -- he won't be back as the Tigers' offensive coordinator. It looks like they're focusing in on Troy OC Tony Franklin, whose spread attack might work better with most of the young quarterbacks Auburn already has/has coming in next year. You all know I follow Auburn fairly closely -- this will be the Tigers' sixth offensive coordinator since 2000 -- Noel Mazzone, Bobby Petrino, Hugh Nall/Steve Ensminger, Al Borges, ?????? -- and if Muschamp leaves, it would be the fifth defensive coordinator in that span -- John Lovett, Gene Chizik, David Gibbs, Will Muschamp, ??????. Auburn has probably had about as many different offensive/defensive coordinators since 2001 as Mark Richt has had assistant coaches, total. That's pretty impressive stability. Although it will be interesting to see if some of Richt's assistants get some attention for the vacancies that will continue to show up over the next several weeks. There are some deserving candidates in that bunch.
At least one online site -- the Arkansas Rivals.com site -- is reporting that it's gonna happen:
"Strong sources are indicating that Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp will be the new head coach at Arkansas to replace Houston Nutt, who is now at Ole Miss."
That's interesting to me. He hasn't been a head coach before and you don't often see a school of Arkansas' caliber hiring first-time head coaches. Muschamp seems to be a rising star in the assistant coaching ranks, though, after successful stints at LSU and Auburn. It'll be interesting to see whether this happens.
If it does, Auburn will yet again be searching for new coordinators. Al Borges made official yesterday what most everyone knew was coming -- he won't be back as the Tigers' offensive coordinator. It looks like they're focusing in on Troy OC Tony Franklin, whose spread attack might work better with most of the young quarterbacks Auburn already has/has coming in next year. You all know I follow Auburn fairly closely -- this will be the Tigers' sixth offensive coordinator since 2000 -- Noel Mazzone, Bobby Petrino, Hugh Nall/Steve Ensminger, Al Borges, ?????? -- and if Muschamp leaves, it would be the fifth defensive coordinator in that span -- John Lovett, Gene Chizik, David Gibbs, Will Muschamp, ??????. Auburn has probably had about as many different offensive/defensive coordinators since 2001 as Mark Richt has had assistant coaches, total. That's pretty impressive stability. Although it will be interesting to see if some of Richt's assistants get some attention for the vacancies that will continue to show up over the next several weeks. There are some deserving candidates in that bunch.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Georgian wins FWAA/Orange Bowl Courage Award
Navy's Zerbin Singleton was named today as this year's recipient of the Football Writers Association of America/Fed-Ex Orange Bowl Courage Award. He is a former football letterman and state champion wrestler at Columbia High in Decatur, Ga. He also walked onto the Georgia Tech football team for a season while recovering from a near-fatal car accident before transferring to Navy. Now he's on pace to realize his dream of becoming an astronaut, after a childhood full of an great deal of turmoil.
You can read the release about the award here.
I found a couple of stories about the guy that you could read if you're interested here, here and here.
What a great story. Any one of the horrible things he had to deal with before he even started college are worse than the entirety of unfortunate things that I've encountered in 30 years of living. And now he's gonna be an astronaut. Stories like his are the kind that write themselves. You just try to stay out of the way and let the facts and the quotes do the talking.
You can read the release about the award here.
I found a couple of stories about the guy that you could read if you're interested here, here and here.
What a great story. Any one of the horrible things he had to deal with before he even started college are worse than the entirety of unfortunate things that I've encountered in 30 years of living. And now he's gonna be an astronaut. Stories like his are the kind that write themselves. You just try to stay out of the way and let the facts and the quotes do the talking.
Friday, December 07, 2007
Wow, Carver
Holy cow, how about that Carver comeback? They came back from 24-6 with six minutes left to win 26-24. Scored with a daring Deron Furr run up the middle with no timeouts left and 16 seconds to play. If he doesn't score, time probably runs out. Crazy.
Jarmon Fortson, by the way, made almost every big play in the last few minutes -- including a leaping 34-yard catch on fourth-and-14 with 27 seconds left -- and finished with eight catches for 223 yards and two touchdowns. For some reason, Chamblee wasn't double-covering him. That was the focus of my story for tomorrow -- how Carrollton was triple-teaming him last week, but he was only getting one man this week, so they kept throwing it up and letting him go get it. Seemed to work out pretty well for Carver.
Tonight's games have been phenomenal. Really fun to watch and exciting. Tucker blew a huge lead (I think it was 28-7 at one point) in the 6 p.m. game and lost 31-28 on a last-minute field goal by Northside-Warner Robins. You can't hardly beat Georgia high school football when it gets to this point in the playoffs. The Dome games are almost always entertaining.
Jarmon Fortson, by the way, made almost every big play in the last few minutes -- including a leaping 34-yard catch on fourth-and-14 with 27 seconds left -- and finished with eight catches for 223 yards and two touchdowns. For some reason, Chamblee wasn't double-covering him. That was the focus of my story for tomorrow -- how Carrollton was triple-teaming him last week, but he was only getting one man this week, so they kept throwing it up and letting him go get it. Seemed to work out pretty well for Carver.
Tonight's games have been phenomenal. Really fun to watch and exciting. Tucker blew a huge lead (I think it was 28-7 at one point) in the 6 p.m. game and lost 31-28 on a last-minute field goal by Northside-Warner Robins. You can't hardly beat Georgia high school football when it gets to this point in the playoffs. The Dome games are almost always entertaining.
The Jarmon Fortson show
If you didn't understand that recruiting rankings are bogus before today, I'd suggest watching the display that Jarmon Fortson is putting on right now in the Georgia Dome. He's brought Carver back from the dead in the last few minutes. Right now, he's got seven catches for 189 yards and two touchdowns, plus he caught an onside kick, and Carver's back from 24-6 to 24-20 in barely two minutes of elapsed time in the fourth quarter.
Fortson, by the way, is not ranked by Scout.com and is ranked the No. 53 "athlete" in the country by Rivals. Not bad.
Fortson, by the way, is not ranked by Scout.com and is ranked the No. 53 "athlete" in the country by Rivals. Not bad.
Not looking good
Things aren't looking too good for Carver right now. They're still kind of in a funk and Chamblee's taking advantage, because Carver's having difficulty defending their option game. Chamblee drove for two touchdowns in the third quarter and leads 24-6 going into the fourth.
You're looking live...
at the Georgia Dome. And Carver is killing itself with penalties. They had a 93-yard touchdown run called back on a holding call and have generally bumbled and stumbled to a 10-6 halftime deficit. They're clearly the more talented team. Should be interesting to see what happens in the second half. Carver's quarterback, Deron Furr (an Auburn commit) is tough to bring down. He ran for the TD that was called back and threw for a 57-yarder to Auburn commit Jarmon Fortson that counted for Carver's only points. Junior linebacker Jarvis Jones, who's apparently getting a lot of attention from Clemson to play football and basketball, is having a great game thus far. Just registered his eighth tackle on the first play of the third quarter.
If anyone watched the previous game, wow Emanuel County Institute running back Washaun Ealey was awesome. He's just a junior too. It'll be interesting to see what happens with him in the next year. It was a fairly close game when I got here, 21-14, and he slammed the door shut with a couple of long touchdown runs. He had to top the 200-yard mark today in beating Clinch County 35-14.
If anyone watched the previous game, wow Emanuel County Institute running back Washaun Ealey was awesome. He's just a junior too. It'll be interesting to see what happens with him in the next year. It was a fairly close game when I got here, 21-14, and he slammed the door shut with a couple of long touchdown runs. He had to top the 200-yard mark today in beating Clinch County 35-14.
Thursday update
The writers spoke with Mark Richt before practice today (the team's second of bowl practice. They won't practice again until next Friday, and then should practice for a week straight before Christmas break). We watched a little portion of early practice.
Brannan Southerland's left foot is in a walking boot and he's on crutches. Sean Bailey wasn't practicing after a minor surgery on his knee, although Richt said he should be back to practice next week. Kregg Lumpkin's back out there and practicing in a knee brace. I spoke with him for a minute to see how he's feeling and wrote about that for tomorrow's paper. He said he's getting close to 100 percent, but he's still running with a bit of a limp. But it's pretty clear that he's excited to be back out there and happy that he can finish his career in uniform.
Also spoke with some of the starters about the redshirting freshmen for that story I mentioned in the previous post. I only got to about half of the freshmen today, but I would say a couple of the older guys had really positive things to say about Walter Hill and Justin Anderson, especially. Anyway, be looking for that story in a little more than a week.
Here's a good portion of what Mark Richt had to say today. He was already talking about "system quarterbacks" and Colt Brennan and Tim Tebow when I walked in. Here was the first thing he said on the matter when I turned on my tape recorder:
I'm sure that will be Hawaii bulletin board (material). I hope it's not. I have a lot of respect for Colt and what he's done, but I think Tebow is unlike any player I've ever seen.
On the situation at Florida State with Jimbo Fisher in line to succeed Bobby Bowden:
I’ve only halfway tried to figure out what exactly – is there something like etched in stone over there? Are they saying that coach Bowden’s retiring? (No, no, no). Well that’s what it sounded like you were saying. (From what I understand, they signed a one-year agreement and they agreed that the assistant – Jimbo Fisher – would succeed him). But even that wasn’t etched in stone. It’s just if he didn’t, they were gonna pay him and if he left, he had to pay them. So I don’t even know what all that means other than they’re saying they’re very interested in him being the next head coach. But it’s never been an issue for me, it’s been an issue for everybody else.
On Tommy Bowden staying at Clemson (and how that affects things for Clemson commit Jon Richt):
I think that’s great news for Tommy Bowden and Clemson. And I think it’s good news for big Jon too.
On not throwing his name into coaching searches to bump his salary as other coaches may have done recently:
I really am not interested in our players reading about their coach or our coaches reading about the head coach or their wives reading about the head coach, or the Bulldog Nation for that matter. This is just where I want to be.
On whether Scott Haverkamp still plans to transfer to Kansas State (Marc Weiszer from Athens was asking about that for an item in this notebook):
As far as I know, that’s not changed, but I haven’t talked to him lately.
On how Sean Bailey's doing in recovering from his knee procedure:
Good. Ron feels like by Friday, we might have everybody ready to practice, including Coutu possibly.
On how bowl prep will be a good time for the redshirting guys:
I know Saturday for sure we’ll get some things going with them because we have commencement for the guys that are graduating. … It’s 14-15 guys graduating and I let them have the whole day with their families. So we get some work done, but it’s kind of a shortened version with what you’d call the guys that are eligible to play and are playing, I guess, like a normal group. Then we’ll spend some time scrimmaging with those guys on Saturday.
On whether the bowl trip will be business or pleasure:
Bowl game is both. We’re fortunate in that we’re going to be the team – we like to practice in the morning and they’ll probably like practicing in the afternoon. We like getting up, having your breakfast or whatever it is, getting to practice, getting meetings, practice and after practice, we want them to enjoy the bowl, all the things. Even while we’re here, we’re gonna do a few things just for fun, just to break up the monotony of being the only ones on campus and stuff like that. We want to work when it’s time to work and then I want them to have a good time.
On Kregg Lumpkin's return:
If you’re injured you can’t play, if you’re healthy you go. ... I don’t think it was anything more than that. It was, ‘You know what? If I’m injured, I’m working hard to get healthy. When the doctor gives me the OK, I’m going.’ I’m glad he’s able to play this last game. I think it’s probably gonna be valuable for him. If he didn’t play in this game, there’d probably be some questions going into the next phase of his life as a pro athlete. People may wonder, ‘Is he hurt bad?’ and all that. Now if he’s out there and can play full-speed, that’d be one less question he’d have to answer.
On whether Hawaii's receivers are as good as they're made out to be:
People that have played ‘em say their receivers are as good as any you’ll see in the country, and the quarterback. They said the quarterback-receiver situation there, you won’t go to any school in America and find a better bunch. We’ve talked to a couple who have played ‘em, and they’re like, ‘You can count on that.’
On how Hawaii's offense means more DBs are likely to rotate in:
I would think we’re gonna rotate. I’m thankful this year more than ever, we’ve really rotated our defensive personnel. We’ve kept people pretty fresh. I think up front, we’ve always done a pretty good job of rolling personnel, but linebacker and DBs have rolled in and out more than I’ve seen since I’ve been here, and that’s gonna really help us. So to answer your question, we’re gonna play a bunch of people, try to stay fresh. I would think your defensive ends, you’d better have three sets of ‘em or they’re gonna get tired.
On whether he looks back at this season and thinks forward to how well things set up for the future:
I just look at it like, ‘Wow, how did we win 10 games?’ If you’d have seen our first spring practice, you’d have been like, ‘My gosh, we’ve got a long way to go.’ But to answer your question about looking forward, yeah a season like this, I think the formula for most people is how they finished last year, how many guys have they got returning, whether starters, lettermen or marquee player – who people consider a marquee player. And on paper, I think people will say Georgia’s got a chance to be pretty good next year. But I just happened to be somewhere, at a high school the other day recruiting, and I saw an old Sports Illustrated that had the top 25. You can look at that list and just say, ‘On paper, that’s what you thought was gonna happen, but it didn’t quite happen that way, so it doesn’t mean much.’ Matter of fact, the highest preseason rank we’ve had since I’ve been here I think is the David Pollack and David Greene senior year and we didn’t have an awful season by any stretch, but we didn’t win the East that year.
Brannan Southerland's left foot is in a walking boot and he's on crutches. Sean Bailey wasn't practicing after a minor surgery on his knee, although Richt said he should be back to practice next week. Kregg Lumpkin's back out there and practicing in a knee brace. I spoke with him for a minute to see how he's feeling and wrote about that for tomorrow's paper. He said he's getting close to 100 percent, but he's still running with a bit of a limp. But it's pretty clear that he's excited to be back out there and happy that he can finish his career in uniform.
Also spoke with some of the starters about the redshirting freshmen for that story I mentioned in the previous post. I only got to about half of the freshmen today, but I would say a couple of the older guys had really positive things to say about Walter Hill and Justin Anderson, especially. Anyway, be looking for that story in a little more than a week.
Here's a good portion of what Mark Richt had to say today. He was already talking about "system quarterbacks" and Colt Brennan and Tim Tebow when I walked in. Here was the first thing he said on the matter when I turned on my tape recorder:
I'm sure that will be Hawaii bulletin board (material). I hope it's not. I have a lot of respect for Colt and what he's done, but I think Tebow is unlike any player I've ever seen.
On the situation at Florida State with Jimbo Fisher in line to succeed Bobby Bowden:
I’ve only halfway tried to figure out what exactly – is there something like etched in stone over there? Are they saying that coach Bowden’s retiring? (No, no, no). Well that’s what it sounded like you were saying. (From what I understand, they signed a one-year agreement and they agreed that the assistant – Jimbo Fisher – would succeed him). But even that wasn’t etched in stone. It’s just if he didn’t, they were gonna pay him and if he left, he had to pay them. So I don’t even know what all that means other than they’re saying they’re very interested in him being the next head coach. But it’s never been an issue for me, it’s been an issue for everybody else.
On Tommy Bowden staying at Clemson (and how that affects things for Clemson commit Jon Richt):
I think that’s great news for Tommy Bowden and Clemson. And I think it’s good news for big Jon too.
On not throwing his name into coaching searches to bump his salary as other coaches may have done recently:
I really am not interested in our players reading about their coach or our coaches reading about the head coach or their wives reading about the head coach, or the Bulldog Nation for that matter. This is just where I want to be.
On whether Scott Haverkamp still plans to transfer to Kansas State (Marc Weiszer from Athens was asking about that for an item in this notebook):
As far as I know, that’s not changed, but I haven’t talked to him lately.
On how Sean Bailey's doing in recovering from his knee procedure:
Good. Ron feels like by Friday, we might have everybody ready to practice, including Coutu possibly.
On how bowl prep will be a good time for the redshirting guys:
I know Saturday for sure we’ll get some things going with them because we have commencement for the guys that are graduating. … It’s 14-15 guys graduating and I let them have the whole day with their families. So we get some work done, but it’s kind of a shortened version with what you’d call the guys that are eligible to play and are playing, I guess, like a normal group. Then we’ll spend some time scrimmaging with those guys on Saturday.
On whether the bowl trip will be business or pleasure:
Bowl game is both. We’re fortunate in that we’re going to be the team – we like to practice in the morning and they’ll probably like practicing in the afternoon. We like getting up, having your breakfast or whatever it is, getting to practice, getting meetings, practice and after practice, we want them to enjoy the bowl, all the things. Even while we’re here, we’re gonna do a few things just for fun, just to break up the monotony of being the only ones on campus and stuff like that. We want to work when it’s time to work and then I want them to have a good time.
On Kregg Lumpkin's return:
If you’re injured you can’t play, if you’re healthy you go. ... I don’t think it was anything more than that. It was, ‘You know what? If I’m injured, I’m working hard to get healthy. When the doctor gives me the OK, I’m going.’ I’m glad he’s able to play this last game. I think it’s probably gonna be valuable for him. If he didn’t play in this game, there’d probably be some questions going into the next phase of his life as a pro athlete. People may wonder, ‘Is he hurt bad?’ and all that. Now if he’s out there and can play full-speed, that’d be one less question he’d have to answer.
On whether Hawaii's receivers are as good as they're made out to be:
People that have played ‘em say their receivers are as good as any you’ll see in the country, and the quarterback. They said the quarterback-receiver situation there, you won’t go to any school in America and find a better bunch. We’ve talked to a couple who have played ‘em, and they’re like, ‘You can count on that.’
On how Hawaii's offense means more DBs are likely to rotate in:
I would think we’re gonna rotate. I’m thankful this year more than ever, we’ve really rotated our defensive personnel. We’ve kept people pretty fresh. I think up front, we’ve always done a pretty good job of rolling personnel, but linebacker and DBs have rolled in and out more than I’ve seen since I’ve been here, and that’s gonna really help us. So to answer your question, we’re gonna play a bunch of people, try to stay fresh. I would think your defensive ends, you’d better have three sets of ‘em or they’re gonna get tired.
On whether he looks back at this season and thinks forward to how well things set up for the future:
I just look at it like, ‘Wow, how did we win 10 games?’ If you’d have seen our first spring practice, you’d have been like, ‘My gosh, we’ve got a long way to go.’ But to answer your question about looking forward, yeah a season like this, I think the formula for most people is how they finished last year, how many guys have they got returning, whether starters, lettermen or marquee player – who people consider a marquee player. And on paper, I think people will say Georgia’s got a chance to be pretty good next year. But I just happened to be somewhere, at a high school the other day recruiting, and I saw an old Sports Illustrated that had the top 25. You can look at that list and just say, ‘On paper, that’s what you thought was gonna happen, but it didn’t quite happen that way, so it doesn’t mean much.’ Matter of fact, the highest preseason rank we’ve had since I’ve been here I think is the David Pollack and David Greene senior year and we didn’t have an awful season by any stretch, but we didn’t win the East that year.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
FBC winners + Heisman thoughts
We all know the Heisman is going to Mr. Tebow. My paper's two Heisman voters, me and our columnist Troy Johnson, wrote columns in today's paper to explain our votes. It was kind of fun to write an opinion piece for print, although I'm not terribly comfortable doing that as a beat writer (I'll admit that including the occasional opinion in this blog eases some of my discomfort in doing it in print).
I'm sure some of you Georgia folks won't agree with how we both voted for Tebow, but I did a ton of research, and many of you know how big of a stat geek I am. I'll refrain from bludgeoning you with all that...but feel free to let me know if you disagree with my logic. Or Troy's. You'd of course be wrong (kidding, kidding), but you're welcome to your terribly uninformed opinion.
Here's a rundown of this year's national awards, most of which were handed out tonight:
Maxwell Award (outstanding player): Tim Tebow, Florida
Walter Camp Award (player of the year): Darren McFadden, Arkansas
Outland Trophy (interior lineman): Glenn Dorsey
Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player): Dan Connor, Penn State
Davey O'Brien Award (quarterback): Tim Tebow, Florida
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (senior quarterback): Matt Ryan, Boston College
Doak Walker Award (running back): Darren McFadden, Arkansas
Fred Biletnikoff Award (receiver): Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech
Jim Thorpe Award (defensive back): Antoine Cason, Arizona
John Mackey Award (tight end): Fred Davis, USC
Lou Groza Award (kicker): Thomas Weber, Arizona State
Bronko Nagurski Award (defensive player): Glenn Dorsey, LSU
Ray Guy Award (punter): Durant Brooks, Georgia Tech
Vince Lombardi/Rotary Award (lineman): Glenn Dorsey, LSU
Ted Hendricks Award (defensive end): Chris Long, Virginia
Rimington Trophy (center): Jonathan Luigs, Arkansas
I'm sure some of you Georgia folks won't agree with how we both voted for Tebow, but I did a ton of research, and many of you know how big of a stat geek I am. I'll refrain from bludgeoning you with all that...but feel free to let me know if you disagree with my logic. Or Troy's. You'd of course be wrong (kidding, kidding), but you're welcome to your terribly uninformed opinion.
Here's a rundown of this year's national awards, most of which were handed out tonight:
Maxwell Award (outstanding player): Tim Tebow, Florida
Walter Camp Award (player of the year): Darren McFadden, Arkansas
Outland Trophy (interior lineman): Glenn Dorsey
Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player): Dan Connor, Penn State
Davey O'Brien Award (quarterback): Tim Tebow, Florida
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (senior quarterback): Matt Ryan, Boston College
Doak Walker Award (running back): Darren McFadden, Arkansas
Fred Biletnikoff Award (receiver): Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech
Jim Thorpe Award (defensive back): Antoine Cason, Arizona
John Mackey Award (tight end): Fred Davis, USC
Lou Groza Award (kicker): Thomas Weber, Arizona State
Bronko Nagurski Award (defensive player): Glenn Dorsey, LSU
Ray Guy Award (punter): Durant Brooks, Georgia Tech
Vince Lombardi/Rotary Award (lineman): Glenn Dorsey, LSU
Ted Hendricks Award (defensive end): Chris Long, Virginia
Rimington Trophy (center): Jonathan Luigs, Arkansas
This year's redshirt freshmen: A look back
I'm getting started on a story on the kids that redshirted this year, similar to one I did last year, where I talked to the older guys about the kids who are redshirting. I was just talking about last year's version of this story, so I figured I'd dig it up and post what the guys said a year ago about this year's redshirt freshmen...just for fun:
QUINTIN BANKS
Projected 2007 position: Safety
Height/Weight: 6-2/192
Teammate’s comments: “Typical Georgia safety, I guess. The big-hitting safety that everybody says we’re missing this year. He has learned the game extremely fast, the playbook. He can answer the questions that coach asks that most guys at that point don’t usually know. He’s learned the package extremely well.” – Georgia safety Tra Battle
SHAUN CHAPAS
Projected 2007 position: Fullback
Height/Weight: 6-2/237
Teammate’s comments: “Chapas is the tallest of the fullbacks and he’s a little more thinned out because he’s a little taller. They’ve both shown us that they can run the ball, catch the ball and they’ve kept their head down, too. It’s hard to say a difference (between Chapas and Fred Munzenmaier) so far.” – Fullback Brannan Southerland
RICARDO CRAWFORD
Projected 2007 position: Defensive tackle
Height/Weight: 6-1/298
Teammate’s comments: “Ricardo Crawford will be a monster if he can ever learn the plays and stay healthy. The kid, he’s gonna be a little boulder, a road stop.” – Defensive tackle Ray Gant
CHRIS DAVIS
Projected 2007 position: Offensive guard/center
Height/Weight: 6-4/278
Teammate’s comments: “Chris Davis is the kind of player that he can play guard and center, because he’s very agile, very athletic and he can move real well. He’s got a couple of technique problems, but other than that, he’s a very good player.” – Offensive guard Chester Adams
JOSH DAVIS
Projected 2007 position: Offensive tackle
Height/Weight: 6-3/274
Teammate’s comments: “I think Josh has improved the most, I really do. He’s really shown the most of everybody who’s here. Right now, he gets beat every now and then, but he never quits. He’s a hard worker, he’s very enthusiastic, so that brings a lot to the table itself.” – Offensive guard Chester Adams
AKEEM DENT
Projected 2007 position: Strongside linebacker
Height/Weight: 6-2/214
Teammate’s comments: “He’s just a phenomenal guy, strong upper body, probably gonna play a lot next year – he might start. Fast. He’s just a typical sam linebacker, real good.” – Linebacker Danny Verdun Wheeler
DEMARCUS DOBBS
Projected 2007 position: Defensive end
Height/Weight: 6-2/270
Teammate’s comments: “Great upside. A little quiet, needs to get more of a football mentality, a little more toughness. He has it, but he’s a nice guy too, though. When he gets some of that jerk in him, then it’s a wrap.” – Defensive tackle Ray Gant
DARRYL GAMBLE
Projected 2007 position: Middle linebacker
Height/Weight: 6-2/224
Teammate’s comments: “He’s getting a lot of reps now with the twos at mike ‘backer since Marcus Washington got hurt. I’ve been going in with him and helping him out a bit. He really is a good mike linebacker. He’s young and has got great instincts.” – Linebacker Danny Verdun Wheeler
AKEEM HEBRON
Projected 2007 position: Weakside linebacker
Height/Weight: 6-1/214
Teammate’s comments: “He’s the most wise linebacker, the smartest linebacker we’ve got. Everything he does, he thinks before he does it. He doesn’t make many errors at all. He’s gonna be one of those Tony Taylor-type players in the future.” – Linebacker Danny Verdun Wheeler
RESHAD JONES
Projected 2007 position: Safety
Height/Weight: 6-2/188
Teammate’s comments: “Reshad’s just a natural athlete. Anytime the ball’s in the air, he goes up to get it. He may not know the playbook and the scheme as well as (Quintin) Banks, but athletic-wise, he’s with the best of us as far as covering and ball skills. He’s just a natural at it, you can really tell.” – Georgia safety Tra Battle
MICHAEL LEMON
Projected 2007 position: Defensive end
Height/Weight: 6-4/261
Teammate’s comments: “He’s probably the smallest and quickest of the bunch. He’s not the strongest, but he uses other things. He kind of reminds me of myself when I was a redshirt, but he competes probably a little harder than I did at that time.” – Defensive end Quentin Moses
KNOWSHON MORENO
Projected 2007 position: Tailback
Height/Weight: 5-11/205
Teammate’s comments: “Hard-working, determined, he’s fast and he’s strong and I think he’s gonna be a great player. He goes out there every day and gives 100 percent, so I think he’s gonna be nice in the future.” – Tailback Danny Ware
FRED MUNZENMAIER
Projected 2007 position: Fullback
Height/Weight: 6-2/240
Teammate’s comments: “Fred is built a lot more like me. (He and Shaun Chapas have) been working hard in the weight room and they’re gonna pick it up just great this spring. Their athleticism is gonna be big, it’s gonna help them step up to be able to play fullback here.” – Fullback Brannan Southerland
KEVIN PEREZ
Projected 2007 position: Offensive guard/center
Height/Weight: 6-3/274
Teammate’s comments: “He gradually came on during the spring and unfortunately this fall he got a couple of injuries that held him out. But other than that, he’s got great feet, a good personality, he’s willing to work, so he’s going to bring a lot to the table.” – Offensive guard Chester Adams
KIANTE TRIPP
Projected 2007 position: Defensive end
Height/Weight: 6-6/272
Teammate’s comments: “Perfect frame, perfect size. Big, strong, hard worker. He’ll probably be an all-American before he leaves.” – Defensive end Quentin Moses
NADERRIS WARD
Projected 2007 position: Tight end
Height/Weight: 6-5/252
Teammate’s comments: “I expect him to come a long way. He’s very eager to learn, very eager to watch film. He wants to keep the Georgia tradition alive at tight end. He might have to wait a year behind Tripp (Chandler) or whatnot, but I think he’s gonna do a great job.” – Tight end Martrez Milner
TONY WILSON
Projected 2007 position: Wide receiver
Height/Weight: 5-11/196
Teammate’s comments: “You can tell he’s still young, he’s got an attitude sometimes, but I think he’ll be good. As far as his work ethic, he likes to work, he loves to get extra reps. When you try to tell him what to do, he listens and he tries to work at it, so he’s a great cat. I think he’s a playmaker. He makes things happen.” – Receiver A.J. Bryant
BRANDON WOOD
Projected 2007 position: Defensive end/defensive tackle
Height/Weight: 6-1/275
Teammate’s comments: “I probably like Wood the best. He’s an athlete and he’s big. But I think Wood is like a biscuit away from being a D-tackle, so put that in there to give Wood some motivation.” – Defensive tackle Ray Gant
QUINTIN BANKS
Projected 2007 position: Safety
Height/Weight: 6-2/192
Teammate’s comments: “Typical Georgia safety, I guess. The big-hitting safety that everybody says we’re missing this year. He has learned the game extremely fast, the playbook. He can answer the questions that coach asks that most guys at that point don’t usually know. He’s learned the package extremely well.” – Georgia safety Tra Battle
SHAUN CHAPAS
Projected 2007 position: Fullback
Height/Weight: 6-2/237
Teammate’s comments: “Chapas is the tallest of the fullbacks and he’s a little more thinned out because he’s a little taller. They’ve both shown us that they can run the ball, catch the ball and they’ve kept their head down, too. It’s hard to say a difference (between Chapas and Fred Munzenmaier) so far.” – Fullback Brannan Southerland
RICARDO CRAWFORD
Projected 2007 position: Defensive tackle
Height/Weight: 6-1/298
Teammate’s comments: “Ricardo Crawford will be a monster if he can ever learn the plays and stay healthy. The kid, he’s gonna be a little boulder, a road stop.” – Defensive tackle Ray Gant
CHRIS DAVIS
Projected 2007 position: Offensive guard/center
Height/Weight: 6-4/278
Teammate’s comments: “Chris Davis is the kind of player that he can play guard and center, because he’s very agile, very athletic and he can move real well. He’s got a couple of technique problems, but other than that, he’s a very good player.” – Offensive guard Chester Adams
JOSH DAVIS
Projected 2007 position: Offensive tackle
Height/Weight: 6-3/274
Teammate’s comments: “I think Josh has improved the most, I really do. He’s really shown the most of everybody who’s here. Right now, he gets beat every now and then, but he never quits. He’s a hard worker, he’s very enthusiastic, so that brings a lot to the table itself.” – Offensive guard Chester Adams
AKEEM DENT
Projected 2007 position: Strongside linebacker
Height/Weight: 6-2/214
Teammate’s comments: “He’s just a phenomenal guy, strong upper body, probably gonna play a lot next year – he might start. Fast. He’s just a typical sam linebacker, real good.” – Linebacker Danny Verdun Wheeler
DEMARCUS DOBBS
Projected 2007 position: Defensive end
Height/Weight: 6-2/270
Teammate’s comments: “Great upside. A little quiet, needs to get more of a football mentality, a little more toughness. He has it, but he’s a nice guy too, though. When he gets some of that jerk in him, then it’s a wrap.” – Defensive tackle Ray Gant
DARRYL GAMBLE
Projected 2007 position: Middle linebacker
Height/Weight: 6-2/224
Teammate’s comments: “He’s getting a lot of reps now with the twos at mike ‘backer since Marcus Washington got hurt. I’ve been going in with him and helping him out a bit. He really is a good mike linebacker. He’s young and has got great instincts.” – Linebacker Danny Verdun Wheeler
AKEEM HEBRON
Projected 2007 position: Weakside linebacker
Height/Weight: 6-1/214
Teammate’s comments: “He’s the most wise linebacker, the smartest linebacker we’ve got. Everything he does, he thinks before he does it. He doesn’t make many errors at all. He’s gonna be one of those Tony Taylor-type players in the future.” – Linebacker Danny Verdun Wheeler
RESHAD JONES
Projected 2007 position: Safety
Height/Weight: 6-2/188
Teammate’s comments: “Reshad’s just a natural athlete. Anytime the ball’s in the air, he goes up to get it. He may not know the playbook and the scheme as well as (Quintin) Banks, but athletic-wise, he’s with the best of us as far as covering and ball skills. He’s just a natural at it, you can really tell.” – Georgia safety Tra Battle
MICHAEL LEMON
Projected 2007 position: Defensive end
Height/Weight: 6-4/261
Teammate’s comments: “He’s probably the smallest and quickest of the bunch. He’s not the strongest, but he uses other things. He kind of reminds me of myself when I was a redshirt, but he competes probably a little harder than I did at that time.” – Defensive end Quentin Moses
KNOWSHON MORENO
Projected 2007 position: Tailback
Height/Weight: 5-11/205
Teammate’s comments: “Hard-working, determined, he’s fast and he’s strong and I think he’s gonna be a great player. He goes out there every day and gives 100 percent, so I think he’s gonna be nice in the future.” – Tailback Danny Ware
FRED MUNZENMAIER
Projected 2007 position: Fullback
Height/Weight: 6-2/240
Teammate’s comments: “Fred is built a lot more like me. (He and Shaun Chapas have) been working hard in the weight room and they’re gonna pick it up just great this spring. Their athleticism is gonna be big, it’s gonna help them step up to be able to play fullback here.” – Fullback Brannan Southerland
KEVIN PEREZ
Projected 2007 position: Offensive guard/center
Height/Weight: 6-3/274
Teammate’s comments: “He gradually came on during the spring and unfortunately this fall he got a couple of injuries that held him out. But other than that, he’s got great feet, a good personality, he’s willing to work, so he’s going to bring a lot to the table.” – Offensive guard Chester Adams
KIANTE TRIPP
Projected 2007 position: Defensive end
Height/Weight: 6-6/272
Teammate’s comments: “Perfect frame, perfect size. Big, strong, hard worker. He’ll probably be an all-American before he leaves.” – Defensive end Quentin Moses
NADERRIS WARD
Projected 2007 position: Tight end
Height/Weight: 6-5/252
Teammate’s comments: “I expect him to come a long way. He’s very eager to learn, very eager to watch film. He wants to keep the Georgia tradition alive at tight end. He might have to wait a year behind Tripp (Chandler) or whatnot, but I think he’s gonna do a great job.” – Tight end Martrez Milner
TONY WILSON
Projected 2007 position: Wide receiver
Height/Weight: 5-11/196
Teammate’s comments: “You can tell he’s still young, he’s got an attitude sometimes, but I think he’ll be good. As far as his work ethic, he likes to work, he loves to get extra reps. When you try to tell him what to do, he listens and he tries to work at it, so he’s a great cat. I think he’s a playmaker. He makes things happen.” – Receiver A.J. Bryant
BRANDON WOOD
Projected 2007 position: Defensive end/defensive tackle
Height/Weight: 6-1/275
Teammate’s comments: “I probably like Wood the best. He’s an athlete and he’s big. But I think Wood is like a biscuit away from being a D-tackle, so put that in there to give Wood some motivation.” – Defensive tackle Ray Gant
Three Georgia players on AP SEC All-Freshman team
2007 FRESHMAN ALL-SEC FOOTBALL TEAM
(*-Ties / #-Unanimous Selection / Coaches could not vote for their own players)
FRESHMAN ALL-SEC -- OFFENSE
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Hometown
TE D.J. Williams Arkansas 6-2 250 Little Rock, Ark.
OL Ryan Pugh Auburn 6-4 282 Hoover, Ala.
OL Trinton Sturdivant Georgia 6-5 293 Wadesboro, N.C.
OL Lee Ziemba Auburn 6-8 297 Rogers, Ark.
OL *Clint Boling Georgia 6-5 290 Alpharetta, Ga.
OL *Maurkice Pouncey Florida 6-4 311 Lakeland, Fla.
OL *Chaz Ramsey Auburn 6-4 284 Madison, Miss.
WR # Terrance Toliver LSU 6-5 190 Hempstead, Texas
WR Denarius Moore Tennessee 6-1 285 Tatum, Texas
QB Wesley Carroll Mississippi State 6-3 190 Parkland, Fla.
RB # Knowshon Moreno Georgia 5-11 207 Belford, N.J.
RB Terry Grant Alabama 5-9 184 Lumberton, Miss.
FRESHMAN ALL-SEC -- DEFENSE
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Hometown
DL Ladi Ajiboye South Carolina 6-1 291 Greenville, S.C.
DL Damario Ambrose Arkansas 6-5 245 Mobile, Ala.
DL Antoine Carter Auburn 6-4 226 Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
LB # Rolando McClain Alabama 6-4 255 Decatur, Ala.
LB Freddy Burton Arkansas 6-2 202 Morrilton, Ark.
LB Cliff Matthews South Carolina 6-4 239 Cheraw, S.C.
LB A.J. Jones Florida 6-1 211 Tampa, Fla.
DB Eric Berry Tennessee 5-11 195 Fairburn, Ga.
DB Joe Haden Florida 5-11 181 Ft. Washington, Md.
DB Major Wright Florida 6-1 204 Miramar, Fla.
DB *Zac Etheridge Auburn 5-11 200 Troy, Ala.
DB *Kareem Jackson Alabama 5-11 185 Macon, Ga.
DB *Chad Jones LSU 6-3 218 Baton Rouge, La.
FRESHMAN ALL-SEC -- SPECIAL TEAMS
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Hometown
PK *Daniel Lincoln Tennessee 6-4 204 Ocala, Fla.
PK *Alex Tejada Arkansas 6-1 202 Springdale, Ark.
P Ryan Shoemaker Auburn 6-0 188 Birmingham, Ala.
RS Chad Jones LSU 6-3 218 Baton Rouge, La.
(*-Ties / #-Unanimous Selection / Coaches could not vote for their own players)
FRESHMAN ALL-SEC -- OFFENSE
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Hometown
TE D.J. Williams Arkansas 6-2 250 Little Rock, Ark.
OL Ryan Pugh Auburn 6-4 282 Hoover, Ala.
OL Trinton Sturdivant Georgia 6-5 293 Wadesboro, N.C.
OL Lee Ziemba Auburn 6-8 297 Rogers, Ark.
OL *Clint Boling Georgia 6-5 290 Alpharetta, Ga.
OL *Maurkice Pouncey Florida 6-4 311 Lakeland, Fla.
OL *Chaz Ramsey Auburn 6-4 284 Madison, Miss.
WR # Terrance Toliver LSU 6-5 190 Hempstead, Texas
WR Denarius Moore Tennessee 6-1 285 Tatum, Texas
QB Wesley Carroll Mississippi State 6-3 190 Parkland, Fla.
RB # Knowshon Moreno Georgia 5-11 207 Belford, N.J.
RB Terry Grant Alabama 5-9 184 Lumberton, Miss.
FRESHMAN ALL-SEC -- DEFENSE
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Hometown
DL Ladi Ajiboye South Carolina 6-1 291 Greenville, S.C.
DL Damario Ambrose Arkansas 6-5 245 Mobile, Ala.
DL Antoine Carter Auburn 6-4 226 Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
LB # Rolando McClain Alabama 6-4 255 Decatur, Ala.
LB Freddy Burton Arkansas 6-2 202 Morrilton, Ark.
LB Cliff Matthews South Carolina 6-4 239 Cheraw, S.C.
LB A.J. Jones Florida 6-1 211 Tampa, Fla.
DB Eric Berry Tennessee 5-11 195 Fairburn, Ga.
DB Joe Haden Florida 5-11 181 Ft. Washington, Md.
DB Major Wright Florida 6-1 204 Miramar, Fla.
DB *Zac Etheridge Auburn 5-11 200 Troy, Ala.
DB *Kareem Jackson Alabama 5-11 185 Macon, Ga.
DB *Chad Jones LSU 6-3 218 Baton Rouge, La.
FRESHMAN ALL-SEC -- SPECIAL TEAMS
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Hometown
PK *Daniel Lincoln Tennessee 6-4 204 Ocala, Fla.
PK *Alex Tejada Arkansas 6-1 202 Springdale, Ark.
P Ryan Shoemaker Auburn 6-0 188 Birmingham, Ala.
RS Chad Jones LSU 6-3 218 Baton Rouge, La.
Six Bulldogs on CFN All-Freshman team
A whopping six Georgia players made the College Football News freshman all-America team. Of course, it helped that they did a first, second and third team, as well as an honorable mention.
On the list are first-teamers Knowshon Moreno and Trinton Sturdivant, second-teamers Clint Boling and Rennie Curran, third-teamer Chris Davis and honorable mention Reshad Jones.
2007 CollegeFootballNews.com Freshman All-America Team
Offensive Freshman of the Year: QB Sam Bradford, Oklahoma
Defensive Freshman of the Year: S Eric Berry, Tennessee
*Indicates player is a true freshman
First Team
Offense
QB Sam Bradford, Oklahoma
RB Knowshon Moreno, Georgia
*RB LeSean McCoy, Pittsburgh
WR Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech
WR Jeremy Maclin, Missouri
*TE Rob Gronkowski, Arizona
*OT Trinton Sturdivant, Georgia
*OG Maurkice Pouncey, Florida
C Ryan McMahon, Florida State
*OG Rodney Hudson, Florida State
*OT Lee Ziemba, Auburn
Defense
*DE Cameron Heyward, Ohio State
DT Gerald McCoy, Oklahoma
*DT Marvin Austin, North Carolina
DE Greg Romeus, Pittsburgh
*LB Greg Jones, Michigan State
LB Obi Ezeh, Michigan
LB Lawrence Wilson, Connecticut
*CB Joe Haden, Florida
*S Eric Berry, Tennessee
*S Major Wright, Florida
*CB Donovan Warren, Michigan
Special Teams
K Thomas Weber, Arizona State
P Keenyn Crier, Arizona
Second Team
Offense
QB Jake Locker, Washington
RB DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma
RB Harvey Unga, BYU
WR Marcus Barnett, Cincinnati
*WR Trae Johnson, Tulsa
*TE James Casey, Rice
*OT Anthony Castonzo, Boston College
*OG Clint Boling, Georgia
*C Kristofer O’Dowd, USC
*OG Anthony Davis, Rutgers
*OT Ryan Pugh, Auburn
Defense
*DE Everson Griffen, USC
DT Scooter Berry, West Virginia
*DT Colby Whitlock, Texas Tech
DE Kirk DeCremer, Wisconsin
*LB Rolando McClain, Alabama
LB Scott Lutrus, Connecticut
*LB Rennie Curran, Georgia
*CB Carl Gettis, Missouri
*S Davonte Shannon, Buffalo
S Deunta Williams, North Carolina
*CB Omar Bolden, Arizona State
Special Teams
K Kai Forbath, UCLA
P Ryan Shoemaker, Auburn
Third Team
Offense
QB Adam Weber, Minnesota
*RB Mike Ford, South Florida
RB Josh Adams, Wake Forest
*WR Arrelious Benn, Illinois
*WR Dezmon Briscoe, Kansas
*TE Weslye Saunders, South Carolina
*OT Ryan Miller, Colorado
OG Colin Baxter, Arizona
C Colin Miller, Central Michigan
OG Chris Davis, Georgia
OT Stephen Schilling, Michigan
Defense
DE Paul Kruger, Utah
*DT Ian Williams, Notre Dame
*DT Ladi Ajiboye , South Carolina
*DE Scott Solomon, Rice
*LB Martez Wilson, Illinois
LB Brian Duncan, Texas Tech
*LB Chike Amajoyi, Stanford
*CB Kareem Jackson, Alabama
*S Morgan Burnett, Georgia Tech
S Zac Etheridge, Auburn
CB Tavious Polo, Florida Atlantic
Special Teams
*K Wes Byrum, Auburn
*P Rob Long, Syracuse
Honorable Mention
QB: Trevor Vittatoe (UTEP), Colin Kaepernick (Nevada), Case Keenum (Houston)
RB: *Noel Devine (West Virginia), *Charles Clay (Tulsa), *Ryan Mathews (Fresno State), Terry Grant (Alabama), *Nic Grigsby (Arizona), *Kendall Hunter (Oklahoma State), *Graig Cooper (Miami), Jeremy Avery (Boise State)
WR: *Antonio Brown (Central Michigan), *Dez Bryant (Oklahoma State), Carlton Mitchell (South Florida), Scotty McKnight (Colorado)
TE: *Aaron Hernandez (Florida), *Zack Pianalto (North Carolina)
OL: *Chaz Ramsey (Auburn), *Kai Maiava (Colorado), D.J. Burris (Minnesota), Butch Lewis (USC), Gabe Carimi (Wisconsin)
DL: Bruce Miller (UCF), Ollie Ogbu (Penn State), Malo Taumua (UNLV)
LB: *Quan Sturdivant (North Carolina), Ben Jacobs (Fresno State), Andrew Preston (San Diego State), Nick Bellore (Central Michigan)
DB: Reshad Jones (Georgia), *Chad Jones (LSU), Brett Greenwood (Iowa), Chimdi Chekwa (Ohio State), C.J. Bailey (Southern Miss), *Charles Brown (North Carolina), *Chima Nwachukwu (Washington State), *Mike Holmes (Syracuse), *Ras-I Dowling (Virginia),
K: Daniel Lincoln (Tennessee), *Alex Tejada (Arkansas)
P: Ryan Donahue (Iowa)
On the list are first-teamers Knowshon Moreno and Trinton Sturdivant, second-teamers Clint Boling and Rennie Curran, third-teamer Chris Davis and honorable mention Reshad Jones.
2007 CollegeFootballNews.com Freshman All-America Team
Offensive Freshman of the Year: QB Sam Bradford, Oklahoma
Defensive Freshman of the Year: S Eric Berry, Tennessee
*Indicates player is a true freshman
First Team
Offense
QB Sam Bradford, Oklahoma
RB Knowshon Moreno, Georgia
*RB LeSean McCoy, Pittsburgh
WR Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech
WR Jeremy Maclin, Missouri
*TE Rob Gronkowski, Arizona
*OT Trinton Sturdivant, Georgia
*OG Maurkice Pouncey, Florida
C Ryan McMahon, Florida State
*OG Rodney Hudson, Florida State
*OT Lee Ziemba, Auburn
Defense
*DE Cameron Heyward, Ohio State
DT Gerald McCoy, Oklahoma
*DT Marvin Austin, North Carolina
DE Greg Romeus, Pittsburgh
*LB Greg Jones, Michigan State
LB Obi Ezeh, Michigan
LB Lawrence Wilson, Connecticut
*CB Joe Haden, Florida
*S Eric Berry, Tennessee
*S Major Wright, Florida
*CB Donovan Warren, Michigan
Special Teams
K Thomas Weber, Arizona State
P Keenyn Crier, Arizona
Second Team
Offense
QB Jake Locker, Washington
RB DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma
RB Harvey Unga, BYU
WR Marcus Barnett, Cincinnati
*WR Trae Johnson, Tulsa
*TE James Casey, Rice
*OT Anthony Castonzo, Boston College
*OG Clint Boling, Georgia
*C Kristofer O’Dowd, USC
*OG Anthony Davis, Rutgers
*OT Ryan Pugh, Auburn
Defense
*DE Everson Griffen, USC
DT Scooter Berry, West Virginia
*DT Colby Whitlock, Texas Tech
DE Kirk DeCremer, Wisconsin
*LB Rolando McClain, Alabama
LB Scott Lutrus, Connecticut
*LB Rennie Curran, Georgia
*CB Carl Gettis, Missouri
*S Davonte Shannon, Buffalo
S Deunta Williams, North Carolina
*CB Omar Bolden, Arizona State
Special Teams
K Kai Forbath, UCLA
P Ryan Shoemaker, Auburn
Third Team
Offense
QB Adam Weber, Minnesota
*RB Mike Ford, South Florida
RB Josh Adams, Wake Forest
*WR Arrelious Benn, Illinois
*WR Dezmon Briscoe, Kansas
*TE Weslye Saunders, South Carolina
*OT Ryan Miller, Colorado
OG Colin Baxter, Arizona
C Colin Miller, Central Michigan
OG Chris Davis, Georgia
OT Stephen Schilling, Michigan
Defense
DE Paul Kruger, Utah
*DT Ian Williams, Notre Dame
*DT Ladi Ajiboye , South Carolina
*DE Scott Solomon, Rice
*LB Martez Wilson, Illinois
LB Brian Duncan, Texas Tech
*LB Chike Amajoyi, Stanford
*CB Kareem Jackson, Alabama
*S Morgan Burnett, Georgia Tech
S Zac Etheridge, Auburn
CB Tavious Polo, Florida Atlantic
Special Teams
*K Wes Byrum, Auburn
*P Rob Long, Syracuse
Honorable Mention
QB: Trevor Vittatoe (UTEP), Colin Kaepernick (Nevada), Case Keenum (Houston)
RB: *Noel Devine (West Virginia), *Charles Clay (Tulsa), *Ryan Mathews (Fresno State), Terry Grant (Alabama), *Nic Grigsby (Arizona), *Kendall Hunter (Oklahoma State), *Graig Cooper (Miami), Jeremy Avery (Boise State)
WR: *Antonio Brown (Central Michigan), *Dez Bryant (Oklahoma State), Carlton Mitchell (South Florida), Scotty McKnight (Colorado)
TE: *Aaron Hernandez (Florida), *Zack Pianalto (North Carolina)
OL: *Chaz Ramsey (Auburn), *Kai Maiava (Colorado), D.J. Burris (Minnesota), Butch Lewis (USC), Gabe Carimi (Wisconsin)
DL: Bruce Miller (UCF), Ollie Ogbu (Penn State), Malo Taumua (UNLV)
LB: *Quan Sturdivant (North Carolina), Ben Jacobs (Fresno State), Andrew Preston (San Diego State), Nick Bellore (Central Michigan)
DB: Reshad Jones (Georgia), *Chad Jones (LSU), Brett Greenwood (Iowa), Chimdi Chekwa (Ohio State), C.J. Bailey (Southern Miss), *Charles Brown (North Carolina), *Chima Nwachukwu (Washington State), *Mike Holmes (Syracuse), *Ras-I Dowling (Virginia),
K: Daniel Lincoln (Tennessee), *Alex Tejada (Arkansas)
P: Ryan Donahue (Iowa)
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Atkins, Moreno named to AP's first-team All-SEC
Georgia tailback Knowshon Moreno and defensive tackle Geno Atkins were both named to the Associated Press first-team All-SEC team on Wednesday. Moreno was also named the conference's freshman of the year.
Center Fernando Velasco and linebacker Dannell Ellerbe were named to the second team and kicker Brandon Coutu was an honorable mention honoree.
I thought it was good to see Atkins get some attention. He's kind of flown under the radar this season, probably because of the position he plays, but he's been a force. He's constantly bulldozing his way into opponents' backfields -- plus he made three sacks in the win over Georgia Tech and led the team with eight tackles in the win over Vanderbilt, which was the first time in forever (I don't remember the exact time, but it had been at least 10 years) that a defensive tackle led Georgia in tackles in a game.
FIRST TEAM - OFFENSE
WR Kenny McKinley South Carolina 6-0 177 Jr.
WR Earl Bennett Vanderbilt 6-1 202 Jr.
L Michael Oher Mississippi 6-5 325 Jr.
L Chris Williams Vanderbilt 6-6 320 Sr.
L Andre Smith Alabama 6-4 348 So.
L Anthony Parker Tennessee 6-3 305 Jr.
L Robert Felton Arkansas 6-4 320 Sr.
C Jonathan Luigs Arkansas 6-4 315 Jr.
TE u-Jacob Tamme Kentucky 6-5 240 Sr.
QB u-Tim Tebow Florida 6-3 235 So.
RB u-Darren McFadden Arkansas 6-2 215 Jr.
RB Knowshon Moreno Georgia 5-11 207 Fr.
K Colt David LSU 5-9 173 Jr.
All-Purpose Percy Harvin Florida 5-11 187 So.
All-Purpose Felix Jones Arkansas 6-0 207 Jr.
FIRST TEAM - DEFENSE
E Greg Hardy Mississippi 6-5 255 So.
E Wallace Gilberry Alabama 6-4 264 Sr.
T u-Glenn Dorsey LSU 6-2 303 Sr.
T Geno Atkins Georgia 6-1 290 So.
T Pat Sims Auburn 6-4 316 Jr.
LB Wesley Woodyard Kentucky 6-1 212 Sr.
LB Jerod Mayo Tennessee 6-2 230 Jr.
LB Brandon Spikes Florida 6-3 243 So.
LB Ali Highsmith LSU 6-1 225 Sr.
CB Chevis Jackson LSU 6-0 184 Sr.
CB D.J. Moore Vanderbilt 5-10 180 So.
S Craig Steltz LSU 6-2 209 Sr.
S Derek Pegues Mississippi St. 5-10 196 Jr.
S Rashad Johnson Alabama 6-0 186 Jr.
P Patrick Fisher LSU 6-5 238 Sr.
SECOND TEAM - OFFENSE
WR Lucas Taylor Tennessee 6-0 185 Jr.
WR Percy Harvin Florida 5-11 187 So.
L Herman Johnson LSU 6-7 356 Jr.
L Nate Garner Arkansas 6-7 318 Sr.
L Jason Leger Tennessee 6-1 287 Sr.
L Eric Young Tennessee 6-4 305 Sr.
C Fernando Velasco Georgia 6-4 318 Sr.
TE Cornelius Ingram Florida 6-4 230 Jr.
QB Andre Woodson Kentucky 6-5 230 Sr.
RB Felix Jones Arkansas 6-0 207 Jr.
RB Arian Foster Tennessee 6-1 225 Jr.
K Daniel Lincoln Tennessee 6-0 204 Fr.
All-Purpose Brandon James Florida 6-0 207 Jr.
SECOND TEAM - DEFENSE
E Titus Brown Mississippi St. 6-3 250 Sr.
E Quentin Groves Auburn 6-3 254 Sr.
E Eric Norwood South Carolina 6-0 258 So.
T Marcus Harrison Arkansas 6-3 305 Sr.
T Peria Jerry Mississippi 6-2 310 Sr.
LB Jonathan Goff Vanderbilt 6-4 235 Sr.
LB Dannell Ellerbe Georgia 6-1 232 Jr.
LB Rico McCoy Tennessee 6-1 215 So.
CB Captain Munnerlyn South Carolina 5-9 180 So.
CB Michael Grant Arkansas 5-11 186 Sr.
CB Patrick Lee Auburn 6-0 201 Sr.
S Eric Berry Tennessee 5-11 195 Fr.
S Emanuel Cook South Carolina 5-11 211 So.
S Matt Hewitt Arkansas 6-3 211 Sr.
P Britton Colquitt Tennessee 6-3 205 Jr.
P Ryan Shoemaker Auburn 6-0 188 Fr.
HONORABLE MENTION
Offense
Erik Ainge, QB, Tennessee, 6-6, 220, Sr.; Ciron Black, L, LSU, 6-5, 320, So.; Royce Blackledge, C, Mississippi St., 6-4, 293, Sr.; Michael Brown, L, Mississippi St., 6-5, 300, Jr.; Keenan Burton, WR, Kentucky, 6-2, 203, Sr.; Brandon Coutu, K, Georgia, 6-0, 188, Sr.; BenJarvus Green-Ellis, RB, Mississippi, 5-11, 225, Sr.; Brett Helms, C, LSU, 6-2, 270, Jr.; Jacob Hester, RB, LSU 6-0 228 Sr.; Steve Johnson, WR, Kentucky, 6-3, 198, Sr.; Josh McNeil, C, Tennessee, 6-4, 280, So.; Drew Miller, C, Florida, 6-5, 304, Sr.
Defense
Simeon Castille, CB, Alabama, 6-1, 189, Sr.; Derrick Harvey, E, Florida, 6-4, 262, Jr.; Jeremy Jarmon, E, Kentucky, 6-3, 268, So.; Trevard Lindley, CB, Kentucky, 6-0, 175, So.; Jerell Norton, CB, Arkansas, 6-0, 188, So.; Kirston Pittman, E, LSU, 6-4, 252, Sr.; Ryan Succop, P-K, South Carolina, 6-2, 214, Jr.
Center Fernando Velasco and linebacker Dannell Ellerbe were named to the second team and kicker Brandon Coutu was an honorable mention honoree.
I thought it was good to see Atkins get some attention. He's kind of flown under the radar this season, probably because of the position he plays, but he's been a force. He's constantly bulldozing his way into opponents' backfields -- plus he made three sacks in the win over Georgia Tech and led the team with eight tackles in the win over Vanderbilt, which was the first time in forever (I don't remember the exact time, but it had been at least 10 years) that a defensive tackle led Georgia in tackles in a game.
FIRST TEAM - OFFENSE
WR Kenny McKinley South Carolina 6-0 177 Jr.
WR Earl Bennett Vanderbilt 6-1 202 Jr.
L Michael Oher Mississippi 6-5 325 Jr.
L Chris Williams Vanderbilt 6-6 320 Sr.
L Andre Smith Alabama 6-4 348 So.
L Anthony Parker Tennessee 6-3 305 Jr.
L Robert Felton Arkansas 6-4 320 Sr.
C Jonathan Luigs Arkansas 6-4 315 Jr.
TE u-Jacob Tamme Kentucky 6-5 240 Sr.
QB u-Tim Tebow Florida 6-3 235 So.
RB u-Darren McFadden Arkansas 6-2 215 Jr.
RB Knowshon Moreno Georgia 5-11 207 Fr.
K Colt David LSU 5-9 173 Jr.
All-Purpose Percy Harvin Florida 5-11 187 So.
All-Purpose Felix Jones Arkansas 6-0 207 Jr.
FIRST TEAM - DEFENSE
E Greg Hardy Mississippi 6-5 255 So.
E Wallace Gilberry Alabama 6-4 264 Sr.
T u-Glenn Dorsey LSU 6-2 303 Sr.
T Geno Atkins Georgia 6-1 290 So.
T Pat Sims Auburn 6-4 316 Jr.
LB Wesley Woodyard Kentucky 6-1 212 Sr.
LB Jerod Mayo Tennessee 6-2 230 Jr.
LB Brandon Spikes Florida 6-3 243 So.
LB Ali Highsmith LSU 6-1 225 Sr.
CB Chevis Jackson LSU 6-0 184 Sr.
CB D.J. Moore Vanderbilt 5-10 180 So.
S Craig Steltz LSU 6-2 209 Sr.
S Derek Pegues Mississippi St. 5-10 196 Jr.
S Rashad Johnson Alabama 6-0 186 Jr.
P Patrick Fisher LSU 6-5 238 Sr.
SECOND TEAM - OFFENSE
WR Lucas Taylor Tennessee 6-0 185 Jr.
WR Percy Harvin Florida 5-11 187 So.
L Herman Johnson LSU 6-7 356 Jr.
L Nate Garner Arkansas 6-7 318 Sr.
L Jason Leger Tennessee 6-1 287 Sr.
L Eric Young Tennessee 6-4 305 Sr.
C Fernando Velasco Georgia 6-4 318 Sr.
TE Cornelius Ingram Florida 6-4 230 Jr.
QB Andre Woodson Kentucky 6-5 230 Sr.
RB Felix Jones Arkansas 6-0 207 Jr.
RB Arian Foster Tennessee 6-1 225 Jr.
K Daniel Lincoln Tennessee 6-0 204 Fr.
All-Purpose Brandon James Florida 6-0 207 Jr.
SECOND TEAM - DEFENSE
E Titus Brown Mississippi St. 6-3 250 Sr.
E Quentin Groves Auburn 6-3 254 Sr.
E Eric Norwood South Carolina 6-0 258 So.
T Marcus Harrison Arkansas 6-3 305 Sr.
T Peria Jerry Mississippi 6-2 310 Sr.
LB Jonathan Goff Vanderbilt 6-4 235 Sr.
LB Dannell Ellerbe Georgia 6-1 232 Jr.
LB Rico McCoy Tennessee 6-1 215 So.
CB Captain Munnerlyn South Carolina 5-9 180 So.
CB Michael Grant Arkansas 5-11 186 Sr.
CB Patrick Lee Auburn 6-0 201 Sr.
S Eric Berry Tennessee 5-11 195 Fr.
S Emanuel Cook South Carolina 5-11 211 So.
S Matt Hewitt Arkansas 6-3 211 Sr.
P Britton Colquitt Tennessee 6-3 205 Jr.
P Ryan Shoemaker Auburn 6-0 188 Fr.
HONORABLE MENTION
Offense
Erik Ainge, QB, Tennessee, 6-6, 220, Sr.; Ciron Black, L, LSU, 6-5, 320, So.; Royce Blackledge, C, Mississippi St., 6-4, 293, Sr.; Michael Brown, L, Mississippi St., 6-5, 300, Jr.; Keenan Burton, WR, Kentucky, 6-2, 203, Sr.; Brandon Coutu, K, Georgia, 6-0, 188, Sr.; BenJarvus Green-Ellis, RB, Mississippi, 5-11, 225, Sr.; Brett Helms, C, LSU, 6-2, 270, Jr.; Jacob Hester, RB, LSU 6-0 228 Sr.; Steve Johnson, WR, Kentucky, 6-3, 198, Sr.; Josh McNeil, C, Tennessee, 6-4, 280, So.; Drew Miller, C, Florida, 6-5, 304, Sr.
Defense
Simeon Castille, CB, Alabama, 6-1, 189, Sr.; Derrick Harvey, E, Florida, 6-4, 262, Jr.; Jeremy Jarmon, E, Kentucky, 6-3, 268, So.; Trevard Lindley, CB, Kentucky, 6-0, 175, So.; Jerell Norton, CB, Arkansas, 6-0, 188, So.; Kirston Pittman, E, LSU, 6-4, 252, Sr.; Ryan Succop, P-K, South Carolina, 6-2, 214, Jr.
Heisman finalists
No surprises here. The four Heisman Trophy finalists are:
Tim Tebow, Florida
Darren McFadden, Arkansas
Chase Daniel, Missouri
Colt Brennan, Hawaii
Tim Tebow, Florida
Darren McFadden, Arkansas
Chase Daniel, Missouri
Colt Brennan, Hawaii
Coach of the Year Ballot
The Football Writers Association sent out the ballot for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award today.
Here's the significant portion of the release:
"With the 2007 regular season completed, the FWAA, in conjunction with the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, has tabbed the following finalists: Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer, Air Force's Troy Calhoun, Arizona State's Dennis Erickson, Hawaii's June Jones, Kansas' Mark Mangino, Missouri's Gary Pinkel, Ohio State's Jim Tressel and Illinois' Ron Zook.
The finalists will be placed on a ballot which will be sent out to the entire FWAA membership. FWAA members will be asked to vote for their top three choices.
The FWAA coaching award is named after the late Robinson, a coaching legend at Grambling State University for 55 years. He has more Division I victories (408) than any other coach.
The winner of the FWAA/Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award will be announced and honored at a reception on Jan. 4 in New Orleans in conjunction with the BCS Championship Game."
I almost went ahead and voted right away, so as not to forget to submit my ballot. But I decided, what the heck, I'd see what some of the readers thought before I do it...so what say you folks? I'd say my first instinct is to go with some combination of Frank Beamer, Gary Pinkel and...I never thought I'd type this, but...Ron Zook as my top three. I'll give it a little more thought before I vote, but I think those guys have probably done the best jobs under a variety of interesting circumstances, whether it's that their programs have rarely been very good or that VT's campus needed the pick-me-up that Beamer's team provided after the school shootings last spring.
You can read the entire press release about the nominees here.
Here's the significant portion of the release:
"With the 2007 regular season completed, the FWAA, in conjunction with the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, has tabbed the following finalists: Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer, Air Force's Troy Calhoun, Arizona State's Dennis Erickson, Hawaii's June Jones, Kansas' Mark Mangino, Missouri's Gary Pinkel, Ohio State's Jim Tressel and Illinois' Ron Zook.
The finalists will be placed on a ballot which will be sent out to the entire FWAA membership. FWAA members will be asked to vote for their top three choices.
The FWAA coaching award is named after the late Robinson, a coaching legend at Grambling State University for 55 years. He has more Division I victories (408) than any other coach.
The winner of the FWAA/Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award will be announced and honored at a reception on Jan. 4 in New Orleans in conjunction with the BCS Championship Game."
I almost went ahead and voted right away, so as not to forget to submit my ballot. But I decided, what the heck, I'd see what some of the readers thought before I do it...so what say you folks? I'd say my first instinct is to go with some combination of Frank Beamer, Gary Pinkel and...I never thought I'd type this, but...Ron Zook as my top three. I'll give it a little more thought before I vote, but I think those guys have probably done the best jobs under a variety of interesting circumstances, whether it's that their programs have rarely been very good or that VT's campus needed the pick-me-up that Beamer's team provided after the school shootings last spring.
You can read the entire press release about the nominees here.
Moreno SEC Freshman of the Year
The league's coaches just announced their picks for the SEC yearly awards. Georgia tailback Knowshon Moreno was a unanimous choice as the league's top freshman. Not surprisingly, LSU's Glenn Dorsey was named Defensive Player of the Year and Arkansas' Darren McFadden won Offensive Player of the Year. Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom was named Coach of the Year.
Here's the full list:
2007 SEC FOOTBALL INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Jacob Tamme, TE, Kentucky
Offensive Player of the Year
Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas
Defensive Player of the Year
Glenn Dorsey, DL, LSU
Special Teams Player of the Year
Felix Jones, RS, Arkansas
Freshman of the Year
# Knowshon Moreno, RB, Georgia
Jacobs Blocking Trophy
*Jonathan Luigs, C, Arkansas
*Andre Smith, OL, Alabama
Coach of the Year
Sylvester Croom, Mississippi State
# - Unanimous Selection
* - Ties
Here's the full list:
2007 SEC FOOTBALL INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Jacob Tamme, TE, Kentucky
Offensive Player of the Year
Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas
Defensive Player of the Year
Glenn Dorsey, DL, LSU
Special Teams Player of the Year
Felix Jones, RS, Arkansas
Freshman of the Year
# Knowshon Moreno, RB, Georgia
Jacobs Blocking Trophy
*Jonathan Luigs, C, Arkansas
*Andre Smith, OL, Alabama
Coach of the Year
Sylvester Croom, Mississippi State
# - Unanimous Selection
* - Ties
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Overall season awards
I was sick on Sunday when a lot of this stuff started being released, so I didn't post it yet. But today's trio of players named to the coaches all-SEC team adds to the players who've received postseason recognition thus far. Here's a rundown:
SCOUT.COM FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICANS
First team
TB Knowshon Moreno
OL Clint Boling
OL Trinton Sturdivant
Second team
LB Rennie Curran
Honorable mention
OL Chris Davis
RIVALS.COM FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICANS
First team
TB Knowshon Moreno
OL Trinton Sturdivant
LB Rennie Curran
Second Team
OL Clint Boling
SPORTING NEWS ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
TB Knowshon Moreno (Sporting News Offensive Freshman of the Year)
OL Trinton Sturdivant
OL Clint Boling
COACHES ALL-SEC TEAM
First Team
TB Knowshon Moreno
Second Team
OL Fernando Velasco
LB Dannell Ellerbe
You can read a full list of this season's awards and weekly honors here.
SCOUT.COM FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICANS
First team
TB Knowshon Moreno
OL Clint Boling
OL Trinton Sturdivant
Second team
LB Rennie Curran
Honorable mention
OL Chris Davis
RIVALS.COM FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICANS
First team
TB Knowshon Moreno
OL Trinton Sturdivant
LB Rennie Curran
Second Team
OL Clint Boling
SPORTING NEWS ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
TB Knowshon Moreno (Sporting News Offensive Freshman of the Year)
OL Trinton Sturdivant
OL Clint Boling
COACHES ALL-SEC TEAM
First Team
TB Knowshon Moreno
Second Team
OL Fernando Velasco
LB Dannell Ellerbe
You can read a full list of this season's awards and weekly honors here.
Richt among finalists for coaching award
From the UGA release:
University of Georgia head coach Mark Richt is among the 10 finalists for the 2007 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award, which honors the college football men who best exemplify responsibility and excellence on and off the field of play.
The Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A) candidates are, in alphabetical order: Rich Brooks, Kentucky; Sylvester Croom, Mississippi State; Paul Johnson, Navy; Mark Mangino, Kansas; Joe Paterno, Penn State; Mark Richt, Georgia; Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia; Jim Tressel, Ohio State; Tommy Tuberville, Auburn; and Ron Zook, Illinois.
The fourth-ranked Bulldogs are headed to the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans following a 10-2 regular season where they will face 10th-ranked and undefeated Hawaii (12-0). Richt is in his seventh season at Georgia with a record of 71-19. His .789 winning percentage ranks fourth best in the country among active coaches.
From December 5-15, fans can visit www.coachoftheyear.com to review bios and fan testimonials supporting each candidate and vote for their selection. Fan votes in this second phase account for 20 percent of each coach’s final score, with a voting committee of college football media (25 percent) and College Football Hall of Fame coaches and players (55 percent) contributing the remainder.
The winner receives $50,000 from Liberty Mutual to support his civic and charitable activities, $20,000 in scholarship to his school’s alumni association, and is recognized in the permanent Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year display at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.
You can read the whole thing at georgiadogs.com
University of Georgia head coach Mark Richt is among the 10 finalists for the 2007 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award, which honors the college football men who best exemplify responsibility and excellence on and off the field of play.
The Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A) candidates are, in alphabetical order: Rich Brooks, Kentucky; Sylvester Croom, Mississippi State; Paul Johnson, Navy; Mark Mangino, Kansas; Joe Paterno, Penn State; Mark Richt, Georgia; Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia; Jim Tressel, Ohio State; Tommy Tuberville, Auburn; and Ron Zook, Illinois.
The fourth-ranked Bulldogs are headed to the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans following a 10-2 regular season where they will face 10th-ranked and undefeated Hawaii (12-0). Richt is in his seventh season at Georgia with a record of 71-19. His .789 winning percentage ranks fourth best in the country among active coaches.
From December 5-15, fans can visit www.coachoftheyear.com to review bios and fan testimonials supporting each candidate and vote for their selection. Fan votes in this second phase account for 20 percent of each coach’s final score, with a voting committee of college football media (25 percent) and College Football Hall of Fame coaches and players (55 percent) contributing the remainder.
The winner receives $50,000 from Liberty Mutual to support his civic and charitable activities, $20,000 in scholarship to his school’s alumni association, and is recognized in the permanent Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year display at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.
You can read the whole thing at georgiadogs.com
Three Bulldogs on Coaches All-SEC team
Knowshon Moreno is Georgia's only first-team Coaches All-SEC selection, while center Fernando Velasco and linebacker Dannell Ellerbe made the second team.
2007 ALL-SEC FOOTBALL TEAM
(*-Ties / #-Unanimous Selection) (Coaches could not vote for their own players)
FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC -- OFFENSE
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown
TE Jacob Tamme Kentucky 6-5 240 Sr. Danville, Ky.
OL Robert Felton Arkansas 6-4 320 Sr. Houston, Texas
OL Andre Smith Alabama 6-4 348 So. Birmingham, Ala.
OL Anthony Parker Tennessee 6-3 305 Jr. Jonesboro, Ga.
OL *Herman Johnson LSU 6-7 356 Jr. Olla, La.
OL *Michael Oher Ole Miss 6-5 325 Jr. Memphis, Tenn.
OL *Chris Williams Vanderbilt 6-6 320 Sr. Glynn, La.
C Jonathan Luigs Arkansas 6-4 315 Jr. Little Rock, Ark.
WR Kenny McKinley South Carolina 6-0 177 Jr. Mableton, Ga.
WR Earl Bennett Vanderbilt 6-1 202 Jr. Birmingham, Ala.
QB Tim Tebow Florida 6-3 235 So. Jacksonville, Fla.
RB # Darren McFadden Arkansas 6-2 215 Jr. Little Rock, Ark.
RB Knowshon Moreno Georgia 5-11 207 Fr. Belford, N.J.
SECOND-TEAM ALL-SEC -- OFFENSE
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown
TE Cornelius Ingram Florida 6-4 230 Jr. Hawthorne, Fla.
OL Carlton Medder Florida 6-5 319 Sr. Clermont, Fla.
OL Michael Brown Mississippi State 6-5 300 Jr. College Park, Ga.
OL *Ciron Black LSU 6-5 320 So. Tyler, Texas
OL *Antoine Caldwell Alabama 6-4 288 Jr. Montgomery, Ala.
OL *Nate Garner Arkansas 6-7 318 Sr. Roland, Ark.
OL *Mitch Petrus Arkansas 6-4 300 Jr. Carlisle, Ark.
OL *Jim Tartt Florida 6-3 316 Jr. Sopchoppy, Fla.
OL *Garry Williams Kentucky 6-4 325 Jr. Louisville, Ky.
C Fernando Velasco Georgia 6-4 318 Sr. Wrens, Ga.
WR Percy Harvin Florida 5-11 187 So. Virginia Beach, Va.
WR DJ Hall Alabama 6-3 186 Sr. Ft. Walton Beach, Fla.
QB Andre’ Woodson Kentucky 6-5 230 Sr. Radcliff, Ky.
RB Felix Jones Arkansas 6-0 207 Jr. Tulsa, Okla.
RB Jacob Hester LSU 6-0 228 Sr. Shreveport, La.
FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC -- DEFENSE
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown
DL # Glenn Dorsey LSU 6-2 303 Sr. Gonzales, La.
DL Wallace Gilberry Alabama 6-4 264 Sr. Bay Minette, Ala.
DL *Quentin Groves Auburn 6-3 254 Sr. Greenville, Miss.
DL *Greg Hardy Ole Miss 6-5 255 So. Millington, Tenn.
DL *Eric Norwood South Carolina 6-0 258 So. Acworth, Ga.
LB # Ali Highsmith LSU 6-1 225 Sr. Miami, Fla.
LB # Wesley Woodyard Kentucky 6-1 212 Sr. LaGrange, Ga.
LB Jerod Mayo Tennessee 6-2 230 Jr. Hampton, Va.
LB Brandon Spikes Florida 6-3 243 So. Shelby, N.C.
DB # Craig Steltz LSU 6-2 209 Sr. New Orleans, La.
DB Chevis Jackson LSU 6-0 184 Sr. Mobile, Ala.
DB * Simeon Castille Alabama 6-1 189 Sr. Birmingham, Ala.
DB * Rashad Johnson Alabama 6-0 186 Jr. Sulligent, Ala.
DB * Jonathan Hefney Tennessee 5-9 185 Sr. Rock Hill, S.C.
DB * Captain Munnerlyn South Carolina 5-9 180 So. Mobile, Ala.
SECOND-TEAM ALL-SEC -- DEFENSE
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown
DL Titus Brown Mississippi State 6-3 250 Sr. Tuscaloosa, Ala.
DL Derrick Harvey Florida 6-4 262 Jr. Greenbelt, Md.
DL Jeremy Jarmon Kentucky 6-3 268 So. Collierville, Tenn.
LB Jonathan Goff Vanderbilt 6-4 235 Sr. Lynn, Mass.
LB Rico McCoy Tennessee 6-1 215 So. Washington, D.C.
LB Darry Beckwith LSU 6-1 230 Jr. Baton Rouge, La.
LB *Jamar Chaney Mississippi State 6-1 236 Jr. Fort Pierce, Fla.
LB *Dannell Ellerbe Georgia 6-1 232 Jr. Hamlet, N.C.
DB D.J. Moore Vanderbilt 5-10 180 So. Spartanburg, S.C.
DB Emanuel Cook South Carolina 5-11 211 So. Riviera Beach, Fla.
DB Michael Grant Arkansas 5-11 186 Sr. Stone Mountain, Ga.
DB *Eric Berry Tennessee 5-11 195 Fr. Fairburn, Ga.
DB *Derek Pegues Mississippi State 5-10 196 Jr. Batesville, Miss.
FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC -- SPECIAL TEAMS
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown
PK Colt David LSU 5-9 173 Jr. Grapevine, Texas
P Patrick Fisher LSU 6-5 238 Sr. Hyattsville, Md.
RS Felix Jones Arkansas 6-0 207 Jr. Tulsa, Okla.
SECOND-TEAM ALL-SEC -- SPECIAL TEAMS
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown
PK Daniel Lincoln Tennessee 6-0 204 Fr. Ocala, Fla.
P *Britton Colquitt Tennessee 6-3 205 Jr. Knoxville, Tenn.
P *Ryan Shoemaker Auburn 6-0 188 Fr. Birmingham, Ala.
RS Brandon James Florida 5-6 181 So. St. Augustine, Fla.
2007 ALL-SEC FOOTBALL TEAM
(*-Ties / #-Unanimous Selection) (Coaches could not vote for their own players)
FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC -- OFFENSE
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown
TE Jacob Tamme Kentucky 6-5 240 Sr. Danville, Ky.
OL Robert Felton Arkansas 6-4 320 Sr. Houston, Texas
OL Andre Smith Alabama 6-4 348 So. Birmingham, Ala.
OL Anthony Parker Tennessee 6-3 305 Jr. Jonesboro, Ga.
OL *Herman Johnson LSU 6-7 356 Jr. Olla, La.
OL *Michael Oher Ole Miss 6-5 325 Jr. Memphis, Tenn.
OL *Chris Williams Vanderbilt 6-6 320 Sr. Glynn, La.
C Jonathan Luigs Arkansas 6-4 315 Jr. Little Rock, Ark.
WR Kenny McKinley South Carolina 6-0 177 Jr. Mableton, Ga.
WR Earl Bennett Vanderbilt 6-1 202 Jr. Birmingham, Ala.
QB Tim Tebow Florida 6-3 235 So. Jacksonville, Fla.
RB # Darren McFadden Arkansas 6-2 215 Jr. Little Rock, Ark.
RB Knowshon Moreno Georgia 5-11 207 Fr. Belford, N.J.
SECOND-TEAM ALL-SEC -- OFFENSE
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown
TE Cornelius Ingram Florida 6-4 230 Jr. Hawthorne, Fla.
OL Carlton Medder Florida 6-5 319 Sr. Clermont, Fla.
OL Michael Brown Mississippi State 6-5 300 Jr. College Park, Ga.
OL *Ciron Black LSU 6-5 320 So. Tyler, Texas
OL *Antoine Caldwell Alabama 6-4 288 Jr. Montgomery, Ala.
OL *Nate Garner Arkansas 6-7 318 Sr. Roland, Ark.
OL *Mitch Petrus Arkansas 6-4 300 Jr. Carlisle, Ark.
OL *Jim Tartt Florida 6-3 316 Jr. Sopchoppy, Fla.
OL *Garry Williams Kentucky 6-4 325 Jr. Louisville, Ky.
C Fernando Velasco Georgia 6-4 318 Sr. Wrens, Ga.
WR Percy Harvin Florida 5-11 187 So. Virginia Beach, Va.
WR DJ Hall Alabama 6-3 186 Sr. Ft. Walton Beach, Fla.
QB Andre’ Woodson Kentucky 6-5 230 Sr. Radcliff, Ky.
RB Felix Jones Arkansas 6-0 207 Jr. Tulsa, Okla.
RB Jacob Hester LSU 6-0 228 Sr. Shreveport, La.
FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC -- DEFENSE
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown
DL # Glenn Dorsey LSU 6-2 303 Sr. Gonzales, La.
DL Wallace Gilberry Alabama 6-4 264 Sr. Bay Minette, Ala.
DL *Quentin Groves Auburn 6-3 254 Sr. Greenville, Miss.
DL *Greg Hardy Ole Miss 6-5 255 So. Millington, Tenn.
DL *Eric Norwood South Carolina 6-0 258 So. Acworth, Ga.
LB # Ali Highsmith LSU 6-1 225 Sr. Miami, Fla.
LB # Wesley Woodyard Kentucky 6-1 212 Sr. LaGrange, Ga.
LB Jerod Mayo Tennessee 6-2 230 Jr. Hampton, Va.
LB Brandon Spikes Florida 6-3 243 So. Shelby, N.C.
DB # Craig Steltz LSU 6-2 209 Sr. New Orleans, La.
DB Chevis Jackson LSU 6-0 184 Sr. Mobile, Ala.
DB * Simeon Castille Alabama 6-1 189 Sr. Birmingham, Ala.
DB * Rashad Johnson Alabama 6-0 186 Jr. Sulligent, Ala.
DB * Jonathan Hefney Tennessee 5-9 185 Sr. Rock Hill, S.C.
DB * Captain Munnerlyn South Carolina 5-9 180 So. Mobile, Ala.
SECOND-TEAM ALL-SEC -- DEFENSE
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown
DL Titus Brown Mississippi State 6-3 250 Sr. Tuscaloosa, Ala.
DL Derrick Harvey Florida 6-4 262 Jr. Greenbelt, Md.
DL Jeremy Jarmon Kentucky 6-3 268 So. Collierville, Tenn.
LB Jonathan Goff Vanderbilt 6-4 235 Sr. Lynn, Mass.
LB Rico McCoy Tennessee 6-1 215 So. Washington, D.C.
LB Darry Beckwith LSU 6-1 230 Jr. Baton Rouge, La.
LB *Jamar Chaney Mississippi State 6-1 236 Jr. Fort Pierce, Fla.
LB *Dannell Ellerbe Georgia 6-1 232 Jr. Hamlet, N.C.
DB D.J. Moore Vanderbilt 5-10 180 So. Spartanburg, S.C.
DB Emanuel Cook South Carolina 5-11 211 So. Riviera Beach, Fla.
DB Michael Grant Arkansas 5-11 186 Sr. Stone Mountain, Ga.
DB *Eric Berry Tennessee 5-11 195 Fr. Fairburn, Ga.
DB *Derek Pegues Mississippi State 5-10 196 Jr. Batesville, Miss.
FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC -- SPECIAL TEAMS
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown
PK Colt David LSU 5-9 173 Jr. Grapevine, Texas
P Patrick Fisher LSU 6-5 238 Sr. Hyattsville, Md.
RS Felix Jones Arkansas 6-0 207 Jr. Tulsa, Okla.
SECOND-TEAM ALL-SEC -- SPECIAL TEAMS
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown
PK Daniel Lincoln Tennessee 6-0 204 Fr. Ocala, Fla.
P *Britton Colquitt Tennessee 6-3 205 Jr. Knoxville, Tenn.
P *Ryan Shoemaker Auburn 6-0 188 Fr. Birmingham, Ala.
RS Brandon James Florida 5-6 181 So. St. Augustine, Fla.
15 players to graduate
Among the 43 UGA athletes expected to graduate on Dec. 15 are 15 football players. Of special note is Mitch Davis from my hometown, a four-year starter at linebacker from 1990-93. He was a bad mother. That's pretty cool that he's finishing up 14 years after his career ended.
Andy Bailey (Housing, Athens, Tenn.)
Sean Bailey (Real Estate, Alpharetta, Ga,)
Thomas Brown (Speech Communication, Tucker, Ga.)
A.J. Bryant (Housing, Fort Valley, Ga.)
Brandon Coutu (Sociology, Lawrenceville, Ga.)
Mitch Davis (Consumer Economics, Mobile, Ala.)
Thomas Flowers (Sport Studies, Austell, Ga.)
T.J. Gartrell (Consumer Economics, Lithonia, Ga.)
Chris Gaunder (Cellular Biology, Acworth, Ga.)
Mikey Henderson (Housing, Buford, Ga.)
Marcus Howard (Housing, Huger, S.C.)
Jason Johnson (Sociology, Chicago, Ill.)
Justin Lyles (Consumer Economics, Macon, Ga.)
Drew Williams (Agribusiness, Blairsville, Ga.)
Ben Wilson (Risk Management & Insurance, Lilburn, Ga.)
Andy Bailey (Housing, Athens, Tenn.)
Sean Bailey (Real Estate, Alpharetta, Ga,)
Thomas Brown (Speech Communication, Tucker, Ga.)
A.J. Bryant (Housing, Fort Valley, Ga.)
Brandon Coutu (Sociology, Lawrenceville, Ga.)
Mitch Davis (Consumer Economics, Mobile, Ala.)
Thomas Flowers (Sport Studies, Austell, Ga.)
T.J. Gartrell (Consumer Economics, Lithonia, Ga.)
Chris Gaunder (Cellular Biology, Acworth, Ga.)
Mikey Henderson (Housing, Buford, Ga.)
Marcus Howard (Housing, Huger, S.C.)
Jason Johnson (Sociology, Chicago, Ill.)
Justin Lyles (Consumer Economics, Macon, Ga.)
Drew Williams (Agribusiness, Blairsville, Ga.)
Ben Wilson (Risk Management & Insurance, Lilburn, Ga.)
Monday, December 03, 2007
Colt Brennan talks Sugar Bowl
As I mentioned in my previous post, I listened in on a Colt Brennan teleconference today. He had some interesting things to say. The Sugar Bowl's an interesting matchup to me. I don't think Hawaii has the horses to hang with Georgia, but their unconventional offense will give Georgia trouble. I've watched a lot of Hawaii this year and Georgia's secondary had better put its big boy pants on for this game. They're gonna be busy. Brennan can chuck it and he's got three receivers with more than 1,000 yards:
Ryan Grice-Mullen 100 catches for 1,335 yards, 12 TDs (fourth in the nation in receiving yards)
Davone Bess 101-1,213-12 (9th)
Jason Rivers 82-1,069-13 (19th)
And Brennan holds 20 NCAA records, ranks second in the nation in passing yards per game and total offense this year, along with third in pass efficiency. That's pretty impressive stuff.
Here is a good portion of the Brennan teleconference from today:
On Hawaii's offense:
I was blessed to have by far the best receiving corps in the nation. They have really elevated my confidence in my game. When you mix talent with a very effective, productive offense, you get something really explosive – and that’s something this offense has been the last two years.
On the schedule strength affecting perception of his numbers:
I think it definitely hurts my Heisman Trophy candidacy, but all I can is go out and play. Last year, I had the best statistical (season) in the history of college football and I played against Alabama, Oregon State, Arizona State, Purdue and an undefeated Boise State football team and that wasn’t good enough for me to get any recognition or be invited to the Heisman Trophy. This year, we tried to play everyone, but no one would play us and the only thing we could get was Washington at the end of the year. We have to play who we have to play and I understand if what I’ve done in some eyes doesn’t really gain the same respect of what other people have done in better conferences. That’s just the way it is and I can’t really control that.
On this matchup and playing in New Orleans:
I’ve always loved watching the SEC games growing up. I’ve been down to play Alabama. It was a great experience. We’ve been down to play Louisiana Tech. So what’s great is that if there’s really one place I haven’t been that much in my life, it’s the South and I’m excited to get back down there and spend a week and really kind of soak in the culture and the atmosphere and I’m obviously excited for the biggest football game of my life.
On what he knows about Georgia:
I know that they were in contention for a national championship this year, so already we know how good of a football team we’re going up against. I’ve watched their defense just a little bit on TV, and what I see on TV isn’t the same as watching film, but it’s an extremely talented defense, and extremely talented football team. Obviously the SEC talent, across the board on every team, is superb. It’s what they consider the best in all of college football. So we’re coming up against a monster and we’re just really grateful for the opportunity and really grateful to get out there and represent Hawaii. Hopefully, I can tell you this, we’re preparing to win a football game.
On how Boise State's bowl win last year opened the door for Hawaii this year:
What they did, no doubt, was the biggest stepping stone for the mid-majors and all the smaller schools out there. Really, there’s no doubt in my mind that if they didn’t do what they did last year, because of our schedule, there’s a good chance we may not have the respect to be allowed into a BCS game. And because they went to that BCS game and won that BCS game, and in the fashion they did, I think now people are all right with letting one mid-major get a chance to go play with the big boys. I think that’s how it should be. What makes a good football is not the athletes, it’s how you play together as a team. Obviously the Pac-10s and the SECs of the nation are the best talent, but some of the best football is played in the WAC, there’s no doubt about that.
On how they're playing to win respect:
No doubt. There’s no doubt we’ve heard it all this year and we’ve fought through a lot of negative criticism. We really want to make a statement and get some respect. We’re really grateful to go, but we’re really gonna work hard and show up to win a football game. We realize the team we’re playing, we realize the monster that’s in front of us, but we couldn’t be more excited and more thrilled for the opportunity.
On his relationship with June Jones:
Coach Jones, he couldn’t have been more of a better catalyst for me, helping me elevate myself in football and in life. He gave me a great opportunity out here in Hawaii. Basically our relationship this year – this past three years – has been always business, it’s always been about winning football games. But what’s great is that through the success, we’ve really opened up and it’s become more than a coach and a player. It’s a relationship that I’m sure will stand for a long time.
On whether he was surprised by Jones' disparaging comments about Tim Tebow (he said Tebow's a system QB who isn't accurate enough to run Hawaii's offense and that Brennan could run any offense):
I was a little surprised, but I think you have to know coach Jones to know what he meant. I know how it was perceived by a lot of people. You just have to know coach Jones’ personality to know what he really meant. Trust me, I’ve heard coach Jones say a lot of great things about Tim Tebow. He’s got a ton of respect for Tim Tebow. I think what he was trying to say is that the type of passes we throw and the type of execution we’re asked to do, Tim Tebow doesn’t have to do that in his offense. But then I’m not asked to run over 225-pound linebackers, either. So I think coach Jones was really trying to make a point and I really think that had he had more time and really went in depth that it really would have made people feel better about what he was trying to say. I know he wasn’t trying to knock Tim Tebow because trust me that guy has got a ton of respect out here and we know how good of a football player he is.
On how Hawaii's fans have embraced the team:
This season has become something bigger than just our football team, it’s captivated the state. It’s not like they’re just showing up to cheer to win a football game. Our motto has been ‘Believe’ all year and I really think the fans have bought into that and when they show up to watch us play, they’re believing with us and they’re really spirited, moreso I think than what you see across the nation.
On facing Georgia's defense:
It’s gonna be a great opportunity for us because there’s no doubt that what we’ve done as an offense the past two years has never really been done before. We’re going up against a great test and a great talent that no one can deny. If we do have success against Georgia, it would be great for us and the respect that we would get. But I’m expecting a dog fight. I’m expecting a great defense to show up and make us earn everything. Basically we just want to show up and get the respect that we’ve been trying to get for a couple years now.
On how difficult their offense is to stop:
If we’re having success and we’re doing things right, it really can put a defense in a bind, no matter who you are. The only thing we’ve learned over the last three years is that we’ve never been stopped, we’ve only stopped ourselves. We know how to limit mistakes, we know how to make the right reads and adjustments, I don’t think people can stop us. But it’s all up to us.
On how Jones' offense suits their talent:
What’s great about this offense is that it’s so true that it takes mediocre talent and it makes it better. When we go back and watch film of the receivers they had four or five years ago, besides the Ashley Lelies and Chad Owens, the other guys that were in the mix, it was surprising to see these guys having the success they were for the athletes that they were. What’s amazing is that coach Jones brought an offense to a school that doesn’t get prime athletes. It’s amazing how well the Samoan kids, in the type of offense that we run, the Samoan o-linemen, they fit perfectly. They’re a little bit shorter, but they’re fast. They can pick up blitzers, really fast linebackers when they’re blitzing. It’s amazing how well the offense fits with the school. As the talent has gotten better over the years with the success, it’s made the offense and the team that much better. And I think that we’re lucky with kids like Devon and Ryan Grice-Mullen and Leon Jackson and Kealoha Pilares. We’ve always had great o-line and d-line and we’ve always had great defensive personnel. We’re putting it together now and now you’re seeing success. It’s easy to see. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s easy to see why we’re successful now.
Ryan Grice-Mullen 100 catches for 1,335 yards, 12 TDs (fourth in the nation in receiving yards)
Davone Bess 101-1,213-12 (9th)
Jason Rivers 82-1,069-13 (19th)
And Brennan holds 20 NCAA records, ranks second in the nation in passing yards per game and total offense this year, along with third in pass efficiency. That's pretty impressive stuff.
Here is a good portion of the Brennan teleconference from today:
On Hawaii's offense:
I was blessed to have by far the best receiving corps in the nation. They have really elevated my confidence in my game. When you mix talent with a very effective, productive offense, you get something really explosive – and that’s something this offense has been the last two years.
On the schedule strength affecting perception of his numbers:
I think it definitely hurts my Heisman Trophy candidacy, but all I can is go out and play. Last year, I had the best statistical (season) in the history of college football and I played against Alabama, Oregon State, Arizona State, Purdue and an undefeated Boise State football team and that wasn’t good enough for me to get any recognition or be invited to the Heisman Trophy. This year, we tried to play everyone, but no one would play us and the only thing we could get was Washington at the end of the year. We have to play who we have to play and I understand if what I’ve done in some eyes doesn’t really gain the same respect of what other people have done in better conferences. That’s just the way it is and I can’t really control that.
On this matchup and playing in New Orleans:
I’ve always loved watching the SEC games growing up. I’ve been down to play Alabama. It was a great experience. We’ve been down to play Louisiana Tech. So what’s great is that if there’s really one place I haven’t been that much in my life, it’s the South and I’m excited to get back down there and spend a week and really kind of soak in the culture and the atmosphere and I’m obviously excited for the biggest football game of my life.
On what he knows about Georgia:
I know that they were in contention for a national championship this year, so already we know how good of a football team we’re going up against. I’ve watched their defense just a little bit on TV, and what I see on TV isn’t the same as watching film, but it’s an extremely talented defense, and extremely talented football team. Obviously the SEC talent, across the board on every team, is superb. It’s what they consider the best in all of college football. So we’re coming up against a monster and we’re just really grateful for the opportunity and really grateful to get out there and represent Hawaii. Hopefully, I can tell you this, we’re preparing to win a football game.
On how Boise State's bowl win last year opened the door for Hawaii this year:
What they did, no doubt, was the biggest stepping stone for the mid-majors and all the smaller schools out there. Really, there’s no doubt in my mind that if they didn’t do what they did last year, because of our schedule, there’s a good chance we may not have the respect to be allowed into a BCS game. And because they went to that BCS game and won that BCS game, and in the fashion they did, I think now people are all right with letting one mid-major get a chance to go play with the big boys. I think that’s how it should be. What makes a good football is not the athletes, it’s how you play together as a team. Obviously the Pac-10s and the SECs of the nation are the best talent, but some of the best football is played in the WAC, there’s no doubt about that.
On how they're playing to win respect:
No doubt. There’s no doubt we’ve heard it all this year and we’ve fought through a lot of negative criticism. We really want to make a statement and get some respect. We’re really grateful to go, but we’re really gonna work hard and show up to win a football game. We realize the team we’re playing, we realize the monster that’s in front of us, but we couldn’t be more excited and more thrilled for the opportunity.
On his relationship with June Jones:
Coach Jones, he couldn’t have been more of a better catalyst for me, helping me elevate myself in football and in life. He gave me a great opportunity out here in Hawaii. Basically our relationship this year – this past three years – has been always business, it’s always been about winning football games. But what’s great is that through the success, we’ve really opened up and it’s become more than a coach and a player. It’s a relationship that I’m sure will stand for a long time.
On whether he was surprised by Jones' disparaging comments about Tim Tebow (he said Tebow's a system QB who isn't accurate enough to run Hawaii's offense and that Brennan could run any offense):
I was a little surprised, but I think you have to know coach Jones to know what he meant. I know how it was perceived by a lot of people. You just have to know coach Jones’ personality to know what he really meant. Trust me, I’ve heard coach Jones say a lot of great things about Tim Tebow. He’s got a ton of respect for Tim Tebow. I think what he was trying to say is that the type of passes we throw and the type of execution we’re asked to do, Tim Tebow doesn’t have to do that in his offense. But then I’m not asked to run over 225-pound linebackers, either. So I think coach Jones was really trying to make a point and I really think that had he had more time and really went in depth that it really would have made people feel better about what he was trying to say. I know he wasn’t trying to knock Tim Tebow because trust me that guy has got a ton of respect out here and we know how good of a football player he is.
On how Hawaii's fans have embraced the team:
This season has become something bigger than just our football team, it’s captivated the state. It’s not like they’re just showing up to cheer to win a football game. Our motto has been ‘Believe’ all year and I really think the fans have bought into that and when they show up to watch us play, they’re believing with us and they’re really spirited, moreso I think than what you see across the nation.
On facing Georgia's defense:
It’s gonna be a great opportunity for us because there’s no doubt that what we’ve done as an offense the past two years has never really been done before. We’re going up against a great test and a great talent that no one can deny. If we do have success against Georgia, it would be great for us and the respect that we would get. But I’m expecting a dog fight. I’m expecting a great defense to show up and make us earn everything. Basically we just want to show up and get the respect that we’ve been trying to get for a couple years now.
On how difficult their offense is to stop:
If we’re having success and we’re doing things right, it really can put a defense in a bind, no matter who you are. The only thing we’ve learned over the last three years is that we’ve never been stopped, we’ve only stopped ourselves. We know how to limit mistakes, we know how to make the right reads and adjustments, I don’t think people can stop us. But it’s all up to us.
On how Jones' offense suits their talent:
What’s great about this offense is that it’s so true that it takes mediocre talent and it makes it better. When we go back and watch film of the receivers they had four or five years ago, besides the Ashley Lelies and Chad Owens, the other guys that were in the mix, it was surprising to see these guys having the success they were for the athletes that they were. What’s amazing is that coach Jones brought an offense to a school that doesn’t get prime athletes. It’s amazing how well the Samoan kids, in the type of offense that we run, the Samoan o-linemen, they fit perfectly. They’re a little bit shorter, but they’re fast. They can pick up blitzers, really fast linebackers when they’re blitzing. It’s amazing how well the offense fits with the school. As the talent has gotten better over the years with the success, it’s made the offense and the team that much better. And I think that we’re lucky with kids like Devon and Ryan Grice-Mullen and Leon Jackson and Kealoha Pilares. We’ve always had great o-line and d-line and we’ve always had great defensive personnel. We’re putting it together now and now you’re seeing success. It’s easy to see. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s easy to see why we’re successful now.
Hawaii's strength of schedule
In the last two days, I've listened to teleconferences with Hawaii coach June Jones and quarterback Colt Brennan. In both calls, the Warriors' strength of schedule came up and they did what they could to defend it. Jones said Michigan State bought its way off the schedule this year and both said they tried to schedule upper-tier opponents for this season and were unable to do so.
As it stands, Hawaii has the weakest schedule of any team in the nation. 119th out of 119. The three teams they've beaten that are .500 or better (6-6 Nevada, 8-4 Fresno State and 10-2 Boise State) have all similarly played a bunch of tomato cans. According to teamrankings.com, Fresno's schedule ranks 109th, Nevada's 115th and Boise's 118th. And that only takes into account the Division I-A opponents they've faced. Hawaii has played two Division I-AA teams, whose combined records are 6-17.
Here's Hawaii's schedule, the score and the teams' records:
Northern Colorado--63-6 (1-11 in I-AA)
Louisiana Tech--45-44 (5-7)
UNLV--49-14 (2-10)
Charleston Southern--66-10 (5-6 in I-AA)
Idaho--48-20 (1-11)
Utah State--52-37 (2-10)
San Jose State--42-35 (5-7)
New Mexico State--50-13 (4-9)
Fresno State--37-30 (8-4)
Nevada--28-26 (6-6)
Boise State--39-27 (10-2)
Washington--35-28 (4-9)
If you're adding it up, that's a combined opponent record of 53-92.
Here's a little tale of the tape:
HAWAII
* 12-0 record
* 22 wins in the last 23 games
* Five wins by a touchdown or less, Five by 25+
* One opponent ranked in BCS top 25 (Boise State, No. 24)
* 3-0 vs. bowl teams
* 119th out of 119 in strength of schedule
GEORGIA
* 10-2 record
* Six-game winning streak, fifth 10-win season in last six years
* Two of 10 wins by TD or less, all five wins since bye week were by 10+
* Three opponents ranked in BCS top 25 (No. 12 Florida, No. 16 Tennessee, No. 23 Auburn -- they're 2-1 against those, with the loss coming to Tennessee)
* 6-1 vs. bowl teams
* 44th out of 119 in strength of schedule
As it stands, Hawaii has the weakest schedule of any team in the nation. 119th out of 119. The three teams they've beaten that are .500 or better (6-6 Nevada, 8-4 Fresno State and 10-2 Boise State) have all similarly played a bunch of tomato cans. According to teamrankings.com, Fresno's schedule ranks 109th, Nevada's 115th and Boise's 118th. And that only takes into account the Division I-A opponents they've faced. Hawaii has played two Division I-AA teams, whose combined records are 6-17.
Here's Hawaii's schedule, the score and the teams' records:
Northern Colorado--63-6 (1-11 in I-AA)
Louisiana Tech--45-44 (5-7)
UNLV--49-14 (2-10)
Charleston Southern--66-10 (5-6 in I-AA)
Idaho--48-20 (1-11)
Utah State--52-37 (2-10)
San Jose State--42-35 (5-7)
New Mexico State--50-13 (4-9)
Fresno State--37-30 (8-4)
Nevada--28-26 (6-6)
Boise State--39-27 (10-2)
Washington--35-28 (4-9)
If you're adding it up, that's a combined opponent record of 53-92.
Here's a little tale of the tape:
HAWAII
* 12-0 record
* 22 wins in the last 23 games
* Five wins by a touchdown or less, Five by 25+
* One opponent ranked in BCS top 25 (Boise State, No. 24)
* 3-0 vs. bowl teams
* 119th out of 119 in strength of schedule
GEORGIA
* 10-2 record
* Six-game winning streak, fifth 10-win season in last six years
* Two of 10 wins by TD or less, all five wins since bye week were by 10+
* Three opponents ranked in BCS top 25 (No. 12 Florida, No. 16 Tennessee, No. 23 Auburn -- they're 2-1 against those, with the loss coming to Tennessee)
* 6-1 vs. bowl teams
* 44th out of 119 in strength of schedule
Near miss
If you went/listened to the Georgia-Augusta State game tonight, you see why a lot of Division-I programs don't really want to face the better teams from the Division II Peach Belt. Augusta led Georgia at halftime and was up with about three minutes left before Georgia closed on a 12-1 run and won 81-74.
Two points, 1) Augusta is far and away the best team in the league and one of the best in all of Division II and 2) Georgia is going to struggle this year, especially early, after losing some of its best players to grades. But there's some good basketball being played in that league. I really enjoy covering Columbus State's team because they get up and down the floor and shoot the 3 and play entertaining basketball. Yeah, nobody's going to mistake it for the SEC, but I truly believe that when the better teams in the Peach Belt are on, they can play with a LOT of Division I teams. I know CSU has tried to get on Auburn's schedule and has been unsuccessful. I can't say I blame Auburn for turning them down. CSU might just beat them.
Two points, 1) Augusta is far and away the best team in the league and one of the best in all of Division II and 2) Georgia is going to struggle this year, especially early, after losing some of its best players to grades. But there's some good basketball being played in that league. I really enjoy covering Columbus State's team because they get up and down the floor and shoot the 3 and play entertaining basketball. Yeah, nobody's going to mistake it for the SEC, but I truly believe that when the better teams in the Peach Belt are on, they can play with a LOT of Division I teams. I know CSU has tried to get on Auburn's schedule and has been unsuccessful. I can't say I blame Auburn for turning them down. CSU might just beat them.
The Haka vs. the Soulja Boy
Thomas Brown was pretty funny yesterday in talking about the upcoming Sugar Bowl. Somebody brought up how Hawaii does its "Haka" before every game and asked him to compare it to Georgia's "Soulja Boy" that they've been doing at home lately.
Here's Thomas' response, which cracked me up:
"We think we have the best dancing team in the nation, so if they want to have a dance-off before the game actually starts, we can go ahead and get that going."
Judge for yourselves. It looks to me like Hawaii put in just a little more time to coordinate everything. Georgia needs to get on the stick:
Here's Thomas' response, which cracked me up:
"We think we have the best dancing team in the nation, so if they want to have a dance-off before the game actually starts, we can go ahead and get that going."
Judge for yourselves. It looks to me like Hawaii put in just a little more time to coordinate everything. Georgia needs to get on the stick:
Heisman vote
I guess it got lost a bit in all the bowl game hoopla, but I submitted my Heisman Trophy vote today. I went with Tim Tebow first, Darren McFadden second and Chase Daniel third.
Really, I wasn't conflicted at all about the top two. I think Tebow will win by a comfortable margin. Didn't know exactly what I wanted to do with the third spot. I decided Missouri wouldn't even have been in the national championship picture without Daniel playing as well as he did, so I settled on him.
Really, I wasn't conflicted at all about the top two. I think Tebow will win by a comfortable margin. Didn't know exactly what I wanted to do with the third spot. I decided Missouri wouldn't even have been in the national championship picture without Daniel playing as well as he did, so I settled on him.
Sunday mayhem
It was a madhouse tonight at Butts-Mehre. TV, radio, print media everywhere. We spoke with coach Richt after the announcement show and then they brought up several of the players to talk about the day and the bowl announcement. They were understandably disappointed and angry about the situation, being dropped a spot in the BCS standings by not even playing. If you couldn't tell before, I think it's a big crock -- not necessarily that Georgia didn't make it in, but that a nonexistent rule was used against Georgia and a team that has so greatly underperformed for the last two months (LSU) made it in, along with a team that also didn't play on Saturday (Ohio State). The system simply doesn't work. Oklahoma, Virginia Tech and USC probably all feel that way today as well.
Georgia's breaking out the black jerseys again for the bowl game, I think as a way to get them up for a game they're not really excited to play. The good thing about this is that they'll put the bowl patch on the jerseys and the players will get to keep them after the bowl game as part of their bowl package. Considering the role those things played in this season, I thought that was an appropriate thing for Georgia to do for the kids.
Anyway, I spoke with Tripp Chandler, Kelin Johnson, Thomas Brown and Fernando Velasco tonight and all of them said similar things. I haven't transcribed all of those interviews yet, but Tripp said some interesting things. Here's that conversation:
On when he knew Georgia was out of the title game picture:
I knew for sure when coach Richt pretty much told us it wasn’t gonna happen before the show came on. The whole day, like last night I couldn’t sleep, I was tossing and turning and thinking we were gonna have the opportunity to hold that crystal ball and kiss it. And poof, it’s gone. There’s nothing we can do about it and we’re just gonna get ready to play against a very strong Hawaii team now.
On whether they need to wear black to get motivated for the bowl game:
It’s the Sugar Bowl. We’re gonna be pumped up whether we’re wearing pink jerseys. The black is just something that we like to wear. It’s not a trick, it’s not a hoax, it’s not something we do to try to screw with our opponents. It’s just something that our team likes to wear. It’s that simple and it’s not anything where we’re trying to screw with anybody. It’s just our black jerseys.
More on that:
Wearing those jerseys for Auburn and the fashion that we came out in them, that whole day was just something special and something we’ll get to keep a part of us forever.
On the disappointment of not playing for the national title:
There’s nothing we can do about it. This bad taste in your mouth will kinda hang out for tonight, but come tomorrow, come workouts, we’re gonna start getting ready for Hawaii.
On playing another unconventional opponent in the Sugar Bowl:
It’s definitely gonna be different. It’s East vs. West, they play football a whole different way than we play it, but their way has obviously been very effective. We’ll have our work cut out for us.
On whether he has seen Hawaii play before:
I watched ‘em last night. When they went down by 21, I was like, ‘Man, I guess they weren’t as good as everyone said they were.’ But then the fashion that they came back showed something that they hadn’t been talking about and that was the poise that their team showed and just how they stuck together. That just really shows our team that even if we get up on them in the beginning, that doesn’t mean anything. They can come back on us just as quick, especially with that high-powered offense that they have.
On how they avoid an emotional letdown after getting their hopes up:
You can’t avoid it. Your hopes have been crushed. The whole day, and even for the past couple weeks, everything’s been happening. Arizona State lost, Oregon went down, LSU lost to an unranked opponent at home. Everything was happening. One and two go down two straight weeks I think. Everything was happening for us to get in there. We’re ranked fourth and 1 and 2 go down, 3 moves up to 1 and 4 goes back one. So we definitely got our hopes crushed, but there’s nothing we can do about it except press on and get ready to play against a very strong Hawaii team and hope we can just keep up with them.
Georgia's breaking out the black jerseys again for the bowl game, I think as a way to get them up for a game they're not really excited to play. The good thing about this is that they'll put the bowl patch on the jerseys and the players will get to keep them after the bowl game as part of their bowl package. Considering the role those things played in this season, I thought that was an appropriate thing for Georgia to do for the kids.
Anyway, I spoke with Tripp Chandler, Kelin Johnson, Thomas Brown and Fernando Velasco tonight and all of them said similar things. I haven't transcribed all of those interviews yet, but Tripp said some interesting things. Here's that conversation:
On when he knew Georgia was out of the title game picture:
I knew for sure when coach Richt pretty much told us it wasn’t gonna happen before the show came on. The whole day, like last night I couldn’t sleep, I was tossing and turning and thinking we were gonna have the opportunity to hold that crystal ball and kiss it. And poof, it’s gone. There’s nothing we can do about it and we’re just gonna get ready to play against a very strong Hawaii team now.
On whether they need to wear black to get motivated for the bowl game:
It’s the Sugar Bowl. We’re gonna be pumped up whether we’re wearing pink jerseys. The black is just something that we like to wear. It’s not a trick, it’s not a hoax, it’s not something we do to try to screw with our opponents. It’s just something that our team likes to wear. It’s that simple and it’s not anything where we’re trying to screw with anybody. It’s just our black jerseys.
More on that:
Wearing those jerseys for Auburn and the fashion that we came out in them, that whole day was just something special and something we’ll get to keep a part of us forever.
On the disappointment of not playing for the national title:
There’s nothing we can do about it. This bad taste in your mouth will kinda hang out for tonight, but come tomorrow, come workouts, we’re gonna start getting ready for Hawaii.
On playing another unconventional opponent in the Sugar Bowl:
It’s definitely gonna be different. It’s East vs. West, they play football a whole different way than we play it, but their way has obviously been very effective. We’ll have our work cut out for us.
On whether he has seen Hawaii play before:
I watched ‘em last night. When they went down by 21, I was like, ‘Man, I guess they weren’t as good as everyone said they were.’ But then the fashion that they came back showed something that they hadn’t been talking about and that was the poise that their team showed and just how they stuck together. That just really shows our team that even if we get up on them in the beginning, that doesn’t mean anything. They can come back on us just as quick, especially with that high-powered offense that they have.
On how they avoid an emotional letdown after getting their hopes up:
You can’t avoid it. Your hopes have been crushed. The whole day, and even for the past couple weeks, everything’s been happening. Arizona State lost, Oregon went down, LSU lost to an unranked opponent at home. Everything was happening. One and two go down two straight weeks I think. Everything was happening for us to get in there. We’re ranked fourth and 1 and 2 go down, 3 moves up to 1 and 4 goes back one. So we definitely got our hopes crushed, but there’s nothing we can do about it except press on and get ready to play against a very strong Hawaii team and hope we can just keep up with them.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Bowl tickets sold out
Georgia sold out its pre-bowl 17,000 allotment of bowl tickets, plus an additional 5,000, bringing the total Georgia amount sold thus far to more than 22,000. All donors will receive the number of tickets they requested and they'll be assigned based on William C. Hartman Jr. Fund cumulative score.
Tickets will be sent out the week of Dec. 10.
UGA site
Tickets will be sent out the week of Dec. 10.
UGA site
no surprises
So it's UGA-Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl. No shocker there. Hawaii's probably a disappointing matchup for Georgia, but they're not a cupcake. It's a tough game for Georgia, I think. What are you guys thinking about this one?
georgia fourth in harris
here's the harris poll top five:
1. ohio state
2. lsu
3. oklahoma
4. georgia
5. southern cal
Here's a voter-by-voter breakdown
Georgia got its only first-place vote from Bob Socci, the announcer from Navy. It received 10 second-place votes (including from former Auburn athletic director David Housel, former SEC commish Harvey Schiller, former NFL quarterback Craig Morton and my buddy David Paschall, the Chattanooga Times-Free Press writer who covers Georgia). The Bulldogs were rated as low as 10th on two ballots -- former Greensboro News and Record sports editor Irwin Smallwood and former Louisiana Tech player Bobby Aillet.
Other voters of interest included former Georgia associate athletic director Dick Bestwick, who voted Georgia fifth, former SEC commish Roy Kramer, who voted Georgia fifth, and Columbus' own Brentson Buckner, a former Clemson and NFL star, who had Georgia third.
In the AP Poll, Georgia got a first-place vote from Scott Wolf of the LA Daily News.
1. ohio state
2. lsu
3. oklahoma
4. georgia
5. southern cal
Here's a voter-by-voter breakdown
Georgia got its only first-place vote from Bob Socci, the announcer from Navy. It received 10 second-place votes (including from former Auburn athletic director David Housel, former SEC commish Harvey Schiller, former NFL quarterback Craig Morton and my buddy David Paschall, the Chattanooga Times-Free Press writer who covers Georgia). The Bulldogs were rated as low as 10th on two ballots -- former Greensboro News and Record sports editor Irwin Smallwood and former Louisiana Tech player Bobby Aillet.
Other voters of interest included former Georgia associate athletic director Dick Bestwick, who voted Georgia fifth, former SEC commish Roy Kramer, who voted Georgia fifth, and Columbus' own Brentson Buckner, a former Clemson and NFL star, who had Georgia third.
In the AP Poll, Georgia got a first-place vote from Scott Wolf of the LA Daily News.
looks like it'll be hawaii
they announced hawaii is playing in the sugar, so it looks like those projections will be correct that uga-hawaii will be the sugar bowl matchup. stay tuned. it's so exciting.
Georgia's done
You Bulldogs will be in New Orleans, but for the Sugar Bowl, not for the national championship game. Georgia is ranked fourth in the just-released coaches poll and in the Associated Press poll (which has no bearing on the BCS standings). The Harris poll has not been released yet. I'm fairly confident it's going to be LSU and Ohio State in the title game.
Coaches Poll
1. Ohio State
2. LSU
3. Oklahoma
4. Georgia
5. Virginia Tech
AP Poll
1. Ohio State
2. LSU
3. Oklahoma
4. Georgia
5. Virginia Tech.
Coaches Poll
1. Ohio State
2. LSU
3. Oklahoma
4. Georgia
5. Virginia Tech
AP Poll
1. Ohio State
2. LSU
3. Oklahoma
4. Georgia
5. Virginia Tech.
Les Miles makes case for LSU
It's going to be utterly ridiculous if LSU plays for the national title (not that it will surprise me if that happens, considering ESPN seems intent on LSU or Virginia Tech leapfrogging into the top two), given that they lost last week and haven't played a complete good game against a quality opponent in a full two months. But here's what Les Miles said tonight after the game when asked to make his case that LSU belongs in the national championship game:
"Well, I don't exactly know how votes will go, but we're the champions of the finest conference in America. We played Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida. I challenge any
other team in America to go through this conference and come out unscathed. You look at the losses, and these were triple-overtime losses in a format that decides a winner, certainly a fair format, but not necessarily the mark of -- you don't necessarily know if you would have redone it that that would have been the turnout. You know, you lose players -- at the beginning of the year we played a very talented Virginia Tech team, we lose Early, and we just keep right on going. We went into an overtime time when we played 95 plays on defense, and about that many on offense, and the next week we played Auburn, and Auburn, a tremendously talented team, finds a way to win. So you're looking at a team that will overcome adversity. Tonight we played without an All-American defensive tackle, we played with our second-team quarterback, and we're a very talented team. We stand at the top of the finest conference in America. I'm prejudiced, but that's how it appears to me. We'd like any opportunity. We'll get a quarterback back that's extremely talented, we'll get a defensive lineman back, and we're going to return to health. I'd line up against anybody and look forward to the opportunity. Anybody that saw this game tonight would certainly understand what this team -- arguably the finest team in the country."
"Well, I don't exactly know how votes will go, but we're the champions of the finest conference in America. We played Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida. I challenge any
other team in America to go through this conference and come out unscathed. You look at the losses, and these were triple-overtime losses in a format that decides a winner, certainly a fair format, but not necessarily the mark of -- you don't necessarily know if you would have redone it that that would have been the turnout. You know, you lose players -- at the beginning of the year we played a very talented Virginia Tech team, we lose Early, and we just keep right on going. We went into an overtime time when we played 95 plays on defense, and about that many on offense, and the next week we played Auburn, and Auburn, a tremendously talented team, finds a way to win. So you're looking at a team that will overcome adversity. Tonight we played without an All-American defensive tackle, we played with our second-team quarterback, and we're a very talented team. We stand at the top of the finest conference in America. I'm prejudiced, but that's how it appears to me. We'd like any opportunity. We'll get a quarterback back that's extremely talented, we'll get a defensive lineman back, and we're going to return to health. I'd line up against anybody and look forward to the opportunity. Anybody that saw this game tonight would certainly understand what this team -- arguably the finest team in the country."
Stop the insanity
Let's start with this premise: no matter what happens Sunday, it's going to be preposterous. Somebody's gonna get screwed. I think it will be Georgia.
I know I've said before that my personal belief is that a team that doesn't win its conference should not be able to play for the national championship. I still believe that. However, my personal belief matters not in this case. It's well within the provisions of the BCS system for such a team to play for the title, as Mark Richt continues to point out.
And here's the thing. Tell me who among the legitimate title game contenders is playing better than Georgia right now. The only team you can convince me on that point over Georgia is USC. And they're probably not getting in, either.
Among the other options:
* LSU? Yeah, they won the SEC, but they would have lost tonight if not for Erik Ainge pooping the bed in the fourth quarter. And they lost LAST WEEK AT HOME for goodness sakes.
* Virginia Tech? They lost by 41 points earlier this season. Yeah, they won the ACC but the ACC is a garbage conference. Plus their quarterback's Sean Glennon and I'd bet all my worldly possessions he throws at least two picks in the national title game.
* Oklahoma? Yeah, they beat Missouri twice, but I'm not sure that means as much as Bob Stoops might have you believe. Plus, they lost two weeks ago to unranked Texas Tech and gave up 473 yards in the process.
* Kansas? They also lost LAST WEEK. And let's be honest, they got fat and happy (yeah, that was a Mangino joke) on a pathetic non-conference schedule before squeaking their way through a soft league schedule full of mediocre Big 12 North teams.
* Ohio State? The only argument I have against them is that they lost two games ago. The Buckeyes' schedule isn't especially strong, but I feel like the Big 10 champs belong in the big game.
* USC? Might have blown its chances by losing to 4-8 Stanford, a 41-point underdog, in one of the biggest upsets in college football history. I think the Trojans are playing as well as or better than anybody right now, though.
* Hawaii? I couldn't even discuss this with a straight face. Let them be in the BCS and that's enough.
Here's the point. I don't think Georgia necessarily deserves to play in the national championship game, but who does? How can you possibly say X team deserves this opportunity over Y? It's completely subjective. This is why I can't understand why people allow this bastardized version of an otherwise great game to continue. You'll never convince me that whoever is eventually named the national champion is a legitimate champion or the absolutely-for-certain best team in the country, just as you couldn't convince me of that in 2004 or 2003 or 1997 or 1994 or 1993 or 1990. It's such a fascinating, great game and then it completely ruins itself with a horrible ending about every other year. It's like the end of The Sopranos. It's great the whole way through and it strings you along waiting for this great ending and then...plop, we're done, no true resolution. Some bowl fatcat might tell you that's what's great about college football, that it creates excitement and discussion. I call bullcrap on that. It's by far the worst thing about an otherwise great sport.
I know I've said before that my personal belief is that a team that doesn't win its conference should not be able to play for the national championship. I still believe that. However, my personal belief matters not in this case. It's well within the provisions of the BCS system for such a team to play for the title, as Mark Richt continues to point out.
And here's the thing. Tell me who among the legitimate title game contenders is playing better than Georgia right now. The only team you can convince me on that point over Georgia is USC. And they're probably not getting in, either.
Among the other options:
* LSU? Yeah, they won the SEC, but they would have lost tonight if not for Erik Ainge pooping the bed in the fourth quarter. And they lost LAST WEEK AT HOME for goodness sakes.
* Virginia Tech? They lost by 41 points earlier this season. Yeah, they won the ACC but the ACC is a garbage conference. Plus their quarterback's Sean Glennon and I'd bet all my worldly possessions he throws at least two picks in the national title game.
* Oklahoma? Yeah, they beat Missouri twice, but I'm not sure that means as much as Bob Stoops might have you believe. Plus, they lost two weeks ago to unranked Texas Tech and gave up 473 yards in the process.
* Kansas? They also lost LAST WEEK. And let's be honest, they got fat and happy (yeah, that was a Mangino joke) on a pathetic non-conference schedule before squeaking their way through a soft league schedule full of mediocre Big 12 North teams.
* Ohio State? The only argument I have against them is that they lost two games ago. The Buckeyes' schedule isn't especially strong, but I feel like the Big 10 champs belong in the big game.
* USC? Might have blown its chances by losing to 4-8 Stanford, a 41-point underdog, in one of the biggest upsets in college football history. I think the Trojans are playing as well as or better than anybody right now, though.
* Hawaii? I couldn't even discuss this with a straight face. Let them be in the BCS and that's enough.
Here's the point. I don't think Georgia necessarily deserves to play in the national championship game, but who does? How can you possibly say X team deserves this opportunity over Y? It's completely subjective. This is why I can't understand why people allow this bastardized version of an otherwise great game to continue. You'll never convince me that whoever is eventually named the national champion is a legitimate champion or the absolutely-for-certain best team in the country, just as you couldn't convince me of that in 2004 or 2003 or 1997 or 1994 or 1993 or 1990. It's such a fascinating, great game and then it completely ruins itself with a horrible ending about every other year. It's like the end of The Sopranos. It's great the whole way through and it strings you along waiting for this great ending and then...plop, we're done, no true resolution. Some bowl fatcat might tell you that's what's great about college football, that it creates excitement and discussion. I call bullcrap on that. It's by far the worst thing about an otherwise great sport.
Richt late Saturday comments
If you read my Sunday story, I mentioned how Mark Richt wasn't going to lobby for a spot if both Missouri and West Virginia lost. Well disregard that. He's in full-on lobby mode, as well he should be. However, I don't think that's going to be enough (and I'll get into that in another post). Georgia's all-star sports communications department got coach Richt on the phone a little after midnight tonight and we spoke with him for a few minutes. I didn't get to tape it and I was sitting in the front seat of a car at the time -- having covered tonight's garbage SEC championship game -- so I didn't get all of it down. But here's some of what I jotted down:
On whether they deserve to move up to the top two:
"You look at us and we are ranked fourth and people when they ranked us fourth, they knew we were not going to win our conference championship. They ranked us 4 for a reason and ranked other teams for a reason and I don’t see why that should change."
"I just believe that we’re one of the two best teams in America right now and deserve the right to play in the game."
"I don’t think anybody has the right to be upset if they don’t win."
"It looks like we’re a lock for a BCS bowl, so that’s fantastic for Georgia. But let’s play for the big prize."
"I just believe we're one of the two best teams in the United States right now and believe we deserve a right to play for the game."
"I had a feeling we might start a little slow, but right now we have hit our stride and are playing extremely well and maybe are playing as good or better than anybody in the nation."
"The bottom line is it is going to come down to what the voters believe and the way the system is set up and the rule states you do not have to be a conference champion. That is something they want to harp on."
"Do I think we can beat LSU? Yes."
On whether they deserve to move up to the top two:
"You look at us and we are ranked fourth and people when they ranked us fourth, they knew we were not going to win our conference championship. They ranked us 4 for a reason and ranked other teams for a reason and I don’t see why that should change."
"I just believe that we’re one of the two best teams in America right now and deserve the right to play in the game."
"I don’t think anybody has the right to be upset if they don’t win."
"It looks like we’re a lock for a BCS bowl, so that’s fantastic for Georgia. But let’s play for the big prize."
"I just believe we're one of the two best teams in the United States right now and believe we deserve a right to play for the game."
"I had a feeling we might start a little slow, but right now we have hit our stride and are playing extremely well and maybe are playing as good or better than anybody in the nation."
"The bottom line is it is going to come down to what the voters believe and the way the system is set up and the rule states you do not have to be a conference champion. That is something they want to harp on."
"Do I think we can beat LSU? Yes."
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Blah
Doesn't this SEC championship game have a blah feel to it? LSU has outgained the third best team in the SEC East 271-93 at halftime (and 271-23 since Tennessee opened the game with a 70-yard touchdown drive) and yet the Vols lead 7-6 at the break. If this regular season that means so much, where "every game is a playoff game," is what gives us crapola like this -- two teams that have been fairly mediocre lately -- what better advertisement could you possibly have for some sort of playoff system?
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