Archive for September, 2011

Here’s a partial transcript of what Georgia State coach Bill Curry said on Tuesday at his press conference:

On Jacksonville State’s head coach…

“Jack Crowe is a good friend and has done a fantastic job wherever he has been, as an offensive coordinator at the really big schools, as the head coach at a big school for a brief time, and the last twelve years at Jacksonville State. There is something in our business about a veteran mind. He thinks of things that other people do not. He’s creative. Most of us are not as creative as Jack. By that, I mean he makes us defend a variety of unusual things in virtually every facet of the game. You have to think and practice different things. It is all designed in a clever way.”

On playing Jacksonville State…

“I counted 22 players on their roster from the state of Georgia, there might be more than that. What that means is there will be a lot of emotion with playing us because we’re a school that’s in-state. That’s just something that guys …

Continue reading What’d Curry say at his press conference? »

Georgia State will get its first taste of Rocky Top in 2012.

That’s right, the Panthers will play at Tennessee in college football in 2012.

The game will be played Sept. 8 and Georgia State will receive $500,000. The Panthers received more than $425,000 for their trip to play Alabama in 2010.

The game will be another in a challenging schedule for GSU. The Panthers will begin CAA play in 2012 as well.

The Volunteers will play N.C. State in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff game at the Georgia Dome to open the 2012 season, and will face the Bulldogs later in the season.

– Doug Roberson, AJC. Follow me on twitter @ajcgsu

Continue reading Georgia State will play Tennessee in college football »

Diving right in:

• Center Ben Jacoby will miss this week’s game because of a sprained MCL in his knee. He injured the knee during the third quarter of Saturday’s 40-17 loss to Old Dominion. Jacoby will be missed badly by the Panthers’ offensive line. If memory serves, on the very next play after he left, Old Dominion came right up the middle and sacked Bo Schlechter.
• Speaking of Schlechter, Curry said Schlechter will start this weekend’s game against Jacksonville State. However, Curry said the decision is based upon performance in games and practice. Schlechter hit nine of his 27 passes for 147 yards in the loss. He threw one interception, but ODU could have had a few more pickoffs. He was sacked four times. Drew Little, last year’s starter, came in with a few minutes left in the third and finished the game. However, he threw two interceptions. Both quarterbacks had issues locking onto receivers and trying to force throws into tight coverages. To borrow something esteemed …

Continue reading Practice updates for Georgia State »

Georgia State Head Coach Bill Curry

It’s obvious that what happened today was a failure of leadership by all of us. I’ve seldom felt better about preparation, and I’ve seldom been more disappointed with a result. I don’t have to tell you about the turnovers and allowing them to run through us the times we couldn’t afford that and the incredible foolish penalties. I would love to play a good game against ODU someday, but we seem to save our worst for ODU. So hat’s off to a good job by that team. We didn’t find out today just how good they are because we really didn’t test them. We gave them opportunities at every turn and they took advantage. So we go back to work and correct the foolish penalties, the turnovers, the tackling, the blocking, and the lack of attention to detail and get ready for the next one. That’s what football teaches you.

Can you talk about the decision to wait to bring in Little until the fourth quarter?

We talked about it all along, and Bo …

Continue reading Quotes after the loss »

Georgia State learned an important lesson in its win against Clark Atlanta: its kicking game is as good as it was last year.

True freshman Christian Benvenuto proved himself a good replacement for  Iain Vance by kicking field goals of 44 and 45 yards in his first game. Benvenuto beat Matt Ehasz, another freshman, for the job during August’s practices. Despite good competition, coach Bill Curry admitted they didn’t know what would happen once one of them tried to kick in a game. However, Benvenuto showed poise, even overcoming a bad snap on one of the field goals.

“It’s just what we’ve been working on,” Benvenuto said.

Benvenuto grew up in Florida playing soccer. He was recruited to try out for the football team on Labor Day of his freshman year at Matanzas High after its kicker missed a few extra points. He played in the last four games, liked it and kept improving.

He has been comfortably hitting field goals up to 47 yards during practice. The hardest part of the …

Continue reading Kickin’ it with the kickers »

Here’s a feature about Georgia State running back Donald Russell and the added dimension he gives the Panthers’ offense.

Here are three things about Russell that you may not know.

1. He’s a shy guy. “I wouldn’t say I don’t like attention, but I’m more of a family person.”

2. He likes to eat. “My favorite is mom’s spaghetti.”

3. He likes to rollerskate, something he learned to do growing up in Florida. “I might regret saying that, but I love to rollerskate. I did it a lot at Kentucky with my teammates.”

–

Georgia State will have three quarterbacks available for Saturday’s game against Old Dominion. Bo Schlechter will start, with Drew Little and Kelton Hill (one-game suspension) backing him up. Little still hasn’t been allowed to speak to the media.

“We have all hands on deck,” coach Bill Curry said.

Schlechter, who passed for 196 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 27 more yards, impressed Monarchs coach Bobby Wilder, who said it’s rare to see a college quarterback in his …

Continue reading 3 things about Donald Russell and other news »

Georgia State will play Murray State at noon on Oct. 8 at the Georgia Dome. The game will be televised on GPTV.

The game was originally scheduled for 1 p.m. With the change, the Panthers will now have four TV games this season, including Saturday’s noon kickoff against Old Dominion.

Other televised games include Sept. 17 vs. Jacksonville State and Sept. 24 at Houston. Those two games and this week’s game will be televised on CSS.

– Doug Roberson, AJC. Follow me on twitter @ajcgsu

Continue reading Kickoff for Murray State moved to noon to accommodate TV »

Here is a transcript of Georgia State coach Bill Curry’s press conference today, courtesy of the sports information department. The Panthers will host Old Dominion at noon on Saturday at the Georgia Dome:

On Emmanuel Ogbuehi and Brandon Jones

Emmanuel was so mature when we first got him, I thought he was a senior then and every year I think he’s a senior. I could say the same thing about Brandon and as I say so often it’s a lot more interesting to speak to these two young men than it is to talk to me because they’ve had first-hand experience of what we’ve been through. It’s been a wonderful trip. I’m sure someone is going to write a book about it, several I hope, because everything we do is the first time.

On Old Dominion

This week, for the first time we play a repeat opponent who beat us physically, forced errors and forced fumbles last year. We obliged by fumbling on our own and committed some of the dumbest penalties since we’ve been here. I’m not sure why …

Continue reading What did Curry say today? »

Quarterback Drew Little never thought about transferring when he was suspended from Georgia State’s spring practices after violating undisclosed team rules.

In his first interview with the AJC since Bill Curry announced during the offseason that Little couldn’t participate in spring practices and would be suspended for the first four games of the season, he said he felt that leaving school would be the same as quitting, and he wasn’t raised to be a quitter.

Instead, Little attended study halls and conditioning drills, determined to make it back into Curry’s good graces and reclaim his starting position.

“I felt like I let some people down, let my teammates down, let my coaches down,” Little, a redshirt sophomore, said. “But all that’s over with now, I’m starting over and we are preparing for ODU.”

The hardest part of the past months wasn’t all the extra studying or conditioning. The hardest part was sitting and watching while his teammates practiced.

“… I love this game so …

Continue reading Little says he’s learned to be accountable »

Georgia State quarterback Bo Schlechter was named FCS Independent Player of the Week by College Sports Madness after leading the Panthers to a 41-7 win over Clark Atlanta on Friday at the Georgia Dome.

Schlechter completed 13 of 18 passes for 196 yards and three touchdowns in his first start as a quarterback. He had scoring passes of 30 and 48 yards to Albert Wilson and a 12-yard touchdown to Jordan Giles.

The Panthers also showed some option, with Schlechter rushing nine times for 27 yards.

Georgia State (1-0) will host Old Dominion at noon Saturday at the Georgia Dome.

Schlechter wasn’t the only Georgia State player honored.

True freshman Christian Benvenuto was named placekicker performer of the week by the College Football Performance Awards. He hit field goals of 44 and 45 yards against Clark Atlanta.

On his first collegiate field goal try, Benvenuto booted a 44-yard field goal on GSU’s first possession. He added a 45-yard field goal and was a perfect 4-for-4 …

Continue reading Schlechter named player of the week »