Football Notes

MISTAKES LAST YEAR DRIVING JAMES BUTLER
AJC - MIKE KNOBLER
Two plays are driving him to be better - getting duped on a play fake from David Greene, and losing the TE against BYU, resulting in a TD. I like his attitude. But the most telling line in that article is that Butler is the only senior starter on the team at the moment. That keeps things in a little perspective, no matter how good the defense will be.

FRESHMAN RECEIVER CATCHING ATTENTION
AJC - RANA CASH
Calvin Johnson - so what should our expectations be with him? I don't think there has been this much excitement around a player coming to campus sinse maybe Kenny Anderson in hoops. I was there - there was huge buzz. We just have to remember that CJ is a freshman and give him some leeway.

OFFENSIVE LINE KEY FOR TECH
RAMBLINWRECK.COM
Well, we have to break in 2 new guys on the O-line. GT always seems to find a way to fill those holes successfully, so we will see if they can do it again.

EDDIE LEE IVERY TO HAVE HIGH SCHOOL JERSEY RETIRED
RAMBLINWRECK.COM
Congrats to ELI !! He ranks 3rd all-time on the GT rushing list with 3517 yards.

TECH CONFIDENT ENTERING NEW SEASON
MACON TELEGRAPH - MICHAEL LOUGH
More on the funny story of Ball pointing out our last Final Four hoops trip was followed by a football NC and Gailey's reaction.

COMMON GROUND FOR TECH DB'S
MACON TELEGRAPH - BRIAN MURPHY
Dennis Davis and Reuben Houston are rommates, both are GT cornerbacks, both had shoulder surgury on the same day, both recovered together, both are back to 100% and both are ready to play. The Bob-sy twins..... Also note the key competition where starting roles are up in the air - punter, kicker, outside LB, TE.

HOUSTON, DAVIS READY TO FLY AGAIN ON GT CORNERS
Adam Van Brimmer - Morris News Service
I guess the media picked up on this story more than once. Here's a different version than the one above. Boy, if Houston and Davis have had these nagging injuries for as long as the article says, and they are both truly now 100% - wow, that would be great.

JACKETS DEDICATE HABITAT HOME
RAMBLINWRECK.COM
This is what it's all about. Involvement in the community, helping people out, learning to sacrifice for others. Nice going team.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW - MARCO COLEMAN
Coleman and a Q&A session. In it, he has this to say about GT:

Richard, Atlanta, GA:
This is a fellow Yellow Jacket. I was wondering if you still follow your old college team at all and if so what do you think of the upcoming season and Eric Henderson, the guy in your old position?

Marco Coleman:
I think the team will be really good. The maturity of the quarterback they had last year will be very important. They've had a really good recruiting class over the last few years, and I think they'll be extremely competitive.

Hey, I didn't know that Marco was in the movie "Ace Ventura - Pet Detective". Learn something new everyday.

COACHES DISLIKE NEW RECRUITING POLICY
Adam Van Brimmer - Morris News Service
Interesting article, but it really paints an incorrect picture. It clearly paints Coach Gailey into the anti-legislation crowd, when honestly his comments have been mixed. Along with the quotes in the article, he also said that he liked the no private jet rule, since kids should have a realistic view of travel to the campus.

PRACTICE REPORTS
First, here is a report from from JTS at StingTalk - link here. Key notes include:
- Calvin Johnson very impressive physically
- Rashan Grant practiced again
- Leon Robinson is really in good shape. A big boost if he's ready to play
- Daryl Richard's knee injury might only be a minor deal, which would be good news
- Newberry looks to be healthy again after recovering from a knee injury last year.

Here's another practice report from Saturday. Link here. Key notes:
- C.Johnson continues to impress
- Taylor Bennett looked strong at QB
- Henderson/Parker/Anoai really stand out on the D-Line
- D-Backs had a nice day - Houston/Scott/Davis
- D-Bilbo had mixed results, but kept after it.
- Patrick Clark looks fast.

GSU COORDINATOR PLAYS IT STRAIGHT
Wendy Parker - AJC
Georgia Southern's defensive coordinator cites his major influence as our own Jon Tenuta. I have to be honest. I think we will be lucky to keep Tenuta for more than another three years. The guy is going to get a shot at a head coaching position. We can only hope it is later than sooner.

AROUND THE ACC
Is Clemson overrated? The folks over at collegefootballnews think so - link here.

Clemson (preseason coaches poll #16) – Good lord, this team just screams “Overrated!” The Tigers played much better in their final four games (convincing wins over Florida State, Duke, South Carolina, and Tennessee) than they did over the first nine (a 30-0 home loss to Georgia and a 45-17 loss to Wake Forest stand out.) All anyone can talk about is Charlie Whitehurst, but they replace both of their offensive tackles (always a big issue for a passing team) and almost the entire defensive line. If Clemson’s season goes to pot, there will be some who will blame the schedule, but they might want to consider the fact that the team simply isn’t as good as the preseason hype.

Meanwhile, they have the "yellow flag" ready for Virginia:

Virginia (preseason coaches poll #19) – Virginia went 9-5 in 2002, winning three of its last four games including the Continental Tire Bowl. Hype ensued and the Cavs were ranked #18 in the preseason 2003 poll. Ultimately, UVA finished unranked. However, they did win their last three games, including the Continental Tire Bowl, so hype has ensued yet again, including a #19 preseason ranking. What reason is there to think that they won’t poop out in 2004 just like they did in 2003? They do return a lot of offensive and defensive linemen, so the Theorem doesn’t fit snugly, but still, Virginia has consistently had issues stopping the run under Al Groh and they out-gained their opponents by a whopping one yard per game. Charlotte, here we come again.

Maryland, on the other hand, gets some love:

Maryland (preseason coaches poll #20) – This is a personal beef of mine; it has nothing to do with the Charles Rogers Theorem. For the past several years, NC State and Virginia have been sexier picks than the Terps, even though Maryland has won ten games in each of the past three seasons, while the Wolfpack and Wahoos have combined for one ten-win season. Ralph Friedgen isn’t exactly an energetic ball of charisma like Al Groh or Chuck Amato, but he’s a better coach than either of them and his teams consistently overachieve. Would you people just fear the turtle for once?