Georgia Sports Network
Eagles Hard-Court Landing
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
In a back-and-forth ballgame, Georgia Southern rarely had the upper hand and couldn’t find a way to come out on top in the end.
Georgia Southern battled East Tennessee State on Tuesday night at Hanner Fieldhouse. The Buccaneers held a small lead throughout most of the game, but the Eagles fought hard and edged ahead several times down the stretch.
Georgia Southern took a 59-58 lead with 5:17 to play, but East Tennessee powered through the final minutes to claim a 69-64 victory and hand the Eagles their first loss of the season.
“I thought we battled and I thought we showed toughness,” GS coach Mark Byington said. “This will come back and help us later on. We missed some shots late and they made them. We did a lot of things right. The things we did wrong that cost us, I know we can fix.”
Tookie Brown led the way for the Eagles (5-1) with 16 points and Quan Jackson added 13 more in his return from an ankle injury suffered last week, but Georgia Southern was never able to turn the game into the free-flowing and high-scoring contests that it has benefitted from so far this season.
The slower pace was, in part, due to a solid effort from the Buccaneers (6-2), who utilized a big lineup to out-rebound the Eagles on both ends of the floor and prevent Georgia Southern from cranking up its transition game that has been a huge weapon so far this season.
At the same time, an Eagle lineup that saw the return of Jackson and the first minutes of the season from junior forward Simeon Carter may have also played a role in keeping the Eagles from finding their rhythm.
“I like our depth, but that means that we’re having a lot of guys working their way back from injuries and getting everyone involved,” Byington said. “We’re going to be a work in progress for a couple of weeks. We were out of rhythm in spots. We just need to learn what we’re like as a whole team.”
Tray Boyd III led ETSU with 17 points, with Isaiah Tisdale adding 15 and Patrick Good chipping in 13 more.
Neither team led by more than seven points during the game and the lead shifted several times in the middle of the second half.
The Bucs took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Boyd with 4:27 to play.
Brown made a pair of free throws to close within 66-64 with 57 seconds to play. Solid defense by the Eagles appeared to force a few extra steps by Mladen Armus, but no whistle sounded and Armus found Good for a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left that sunk the Eagles’ comeback hopes.
Georgia Southern began Tuesday night as just one of 25 Division I squads that were still undefeated. That lofty title is now gone, but the Eagles still have plenty to prove as they continue a very challenging non-conference schedule.
The Eagles won’t have to worry about Tuesday’s loss for long as travel plans are now in order. Georgia Southern is scheduled to catch a 5 a.m. flight out west as they now look forward to a Thursday night matchup against perennial national power Arizona.
“We want to improve on where we’ve come up short, but we don’t have time to dwell on this loss,” Byington said. “Arizona will be a tough test. East Tennessee will win 20 games and maybe be a tournament team.
“We don’t have a single second to feel sorry for ourselves. The games will keep getting tougher, but we’re going to be battle-tested by the time we get into conference play.”
The Wrong Kind Of Buzz
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
At what point does Georgia Tech (1-3) move on from Paul Johnson? Why do they believe in rewarding mediocrity? These are questions asked by every Tech fan after another loss.
The Yellow Jackets got beat down by Clemson 49-28. The Tigers primarily played true freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence and he tossed 4 touchdown passes.
Tech fumbled 8 times, recovering 7. Clemson’s first touchdown came when Clelin Ferrell recovered a fumble in the end zone.
“Well, we got our tails kicked. We got outplayed, outcoached and we got beat by a really good football team. And we’re not good enough to fumble the ball seven or eight times and jump offsides and take ourselves out of field-goal range to start the game with two sacks in a row. All those things,” Johnson said.
Let’s take a look at Johnson to see what’s going on. On the surface, he seems like he is doing a great job since taking over as head coach in Atlanta back in 2008. His record is 77-56 so he as a 0.579 winning percentage.
He did his best work when he first took over and inherited Chan Gailey’s players. CPJ is notoriously known for his poor recruiting and that is catching up. In 2015, they finished 3-9 with one conference win.
Last season they were 5-6 and had the UCF game cancelled. They would have lost to Central Florida if the game were played. Johnson also led Tech to a losing 6-7 record in 2010 but at least that came from a bowl loss. He had two seven-win seasons in 2012 and 2013.
Since winning the Orange Bowl and finishing No. 8 nationally during the 2014 season, the Yellow Jackets are 18-22 overall and 9-17 in the ACC.
Following last year’s sub-par campaign, his contract was extended for some reason. It was a move as bizarre as Johnson’s play calling. He already had three years remaining on his contract before the extension, now he is signed to remain on The Flats until 2022.
Athletic Director Todd Stansbury had to explain this head-scratching move.
“Aside from Bobby Dodd, no head coach in Georgia Tech football history has won more games in his first 10 seasons than Paul Johnson,” Stansbury said. “By extending Coach Johnson’s contract through 2022, we not only keep one of the most successful coaches in our illustrious history right here on The Flats, but we also ensure continued stability within our coaching staff. Stability is a vital piece in recruiting and student-athlete development, which are key components to any successful college program. I’m excited that Coach Johnson’s extension is officially complete and I’m looking forward to achieving even more success under his leadership in future years.”
The fan base is tired of these results but nobody at Tech seems to care. I thought Johnson should have been fired in 2012 after they lost to Middle Tennessee at home by 21 points. It seems like he will not be going anywhere but it’s time to reevaluate that.
On the bright side, the next game is at home against Bowling Green. This will be an easy win. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if they will win any more games after that. The conference games that looked like easy wins now seem difficult.
Virginia is 3-1. North Carolina started 0-2 but they just beat Pitt. Duke has won three of the last four meetings.
I think the best case scenario this season is 5 wins.
Renaissance Man
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
In the midst of our fandom it’s easy to look at the team name on the front of the jersey, and not the player name on the back.
No matter your feelings towards the Carolina Panthers, it’s hard not admire their current linebacker and former Georgia All-American, Thomas Davis. (I realize Davis will serve a four-game suspension to start the season due to testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, so I understand if that changes your opinion of him. Personally, while it certainly factors in, I view it as merely a footnote as opposed to the main story.)
Normally, when a player like Davis is about to retire- he announced months ago this would be his final season- unless that athlete was a complete malcontent, most of the focus is aimed towards any accomplishments he or she received on the field.
A Super Bowl appearance, 3 Pro Bowls, 1 All-Pro team, and one 2nd team All-Pro tends to lend itself to pats on the back. I’m not quite sure if Davis is Hall of Fame worthy, but you could make an argument in his favor. However, in this particular case his on-field achievements are merely an opening act to a much larger headliner.
For starters, and it has been well documented, are Davis’ return from three ACL tears.
Sports has a history riddled with athletes that couldn’t get over the mental and physical hurdle of one ACL year, let alone three.
Not only did Davis return but he came back better than he was before; all those accolades I just mentioned above, they after took place after those three surgeries.
I’m so mentally fragile, I came across a copperhead walking my dogs the other day and now I’m trying to teach them to use a toilet so I don’t have to take them outside. If I tore my ACL once I just render that leg useless for the rest of my life.
Now the one piece of recognition I didn’t mention and the second piece of Davis’ legacy that will be remembered is his philanthropy.
In 2014 he was awarded the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award, given to a player based on his volunteer and charity work.
There have been numerous instances of Davis’ charitable work around the Charlotte/Mecklenburg area, as well as his hometown of Randolph County. None have been more influential though than his Defending Dreams Foundation.
Through his foundation Thomas has spent an immeasurable amount of time and money giving the youth in his community opportunities they would otherwise never be afforded. As someone who has friends and family in the Charlotte area, the name “Thomas Davis” has become synonymous with giving.
There are better and more athletic players that have come out of the Georgia football program but I’m not sure there has been a more successful one, considering all the different phases of life.
As Davis enters his final season it will be easy to get caught up in his suspension, after all we are a country that seems to feed off negativity. My suggestion though would be to focus on what he has overcome and how incredible it has been for him to actually achieve what he has.
Once the season ends though, there really will be only one question on my mind- “How does Thomas Davis feel about copperheads?” The potty training hasn’t gone according to plan and my dogs really need to go outside.
