Archive for August, 2012

Bill Curry is a coach, but he’s also a walking historian.

One of the more interesting things about covering Georgia State is you never know what story Curry will tell. They are always well told, always interesting, and they always are relevant to whatever question has been asked.

Curry took it a step further at Tuesday’s practice, inviting one of his former teammates, Tom Brown, to practice. I’ll let Curry tell the rest:

Tom Brown.

“Tom Brown was the starting safety for the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl I and II

“When they won three world championships in a row, he played every play in all those seasons.

“Before that, he was a starting first baseman for the Washington Senators. He went from the University of Maryland to starting Opening Day for the Senators.

“I didn’t know this until just a few minutes ago but he went 0-for-15. He said that December – the Packers had already drafted him – [Vince] Lombardi called him and said, ‘Brown, we’ve been looking at your …

Continue reading Bill Curry’s special guest at GSU’s Tuesday practice »

I tweeted a question this morning, asking who you wanted to see a Q&A with on today’s blog. You said running back Donald Russell, or “The Donald,” as some of you call him.

Russell transferred from Kentucky in the summer of 2011. No one was quite sure what he would do at Georgia State. He showed flashes at Lexington, but he didn’t get a lot of playing time. He came to Atlanta slightly overweight (more on that below), but still rushed for 665 yards.

Now slimmer, he’s ready to go.

Q: How fast are you running the 40?

A: In the 40, I run a 4.5. I’d like to say I can beat Albert [Wilson], but I’m just kidding myself.

Q: What were you last year?

A: Last year, I was about a 4.6.

Q: You knocked a tenth off. That’s a good thing.

A: Yeah, I’ve been working with coach Pollard, he’s done a great job with us in the offseason to knock some time off.

Q: A lot of fans have a lot of expectations for you. They think you are going to be THE GUY this year. How do you handle that, or do …

Continue reading Q&A with GSU running back Donald Russell »

Georgia State is waiting to hear from the NCAA if transfers Theo Agnew, Nermin Delic and Ronnie Bell will be allowed to play football this season.

Normally, players that transfer from a FBS school to a FCS school don’t have to sit out a year. However, Georgia State’s transition this year from the Colonial Athletic Association, which plays football on the FCS level, to next year being in the Sun Belt, which plays on the FBS level, has complicated the transition process.

Coach Bill Curry said the NCAA could notify Georgia State of its decision any time. The Panthers open the season Aug. 30 against South Carolina State.

Agnew and Delic are penciled in to start on the defensive line in coordinator Anthony Midget’s 4-2-5 scheme. Agnew, who transferred from Massachusetts, is a 280-pound defensive end.  Delic, a Tunnel Hill native who transferred from Kentucky, is a 280-pound defensive tackle.

Bell, a Sandy Creek High product who transferred from Ohio, is competing at quarterback. …

Continue reading GSU waiting to hear from NCAA on three key transfers »

Ryan Black filling in for Doug Roberson.

How the opening day of football practice at Georgia State went Wednesday depends on who you ask.

Coach Bill Curry was the lone voice in the pessimistic camp, calling it a “ragged” affair and not up to his expectations. And after spending a good portion of his interview session at Tuesday’s media day talking about effort, he thought the Panthers’ practice performance Wednesday was less-than-stellar.

“The effort was reasonable, but not what I had hoped for,” he said. “We need to continue to pick it up so that everybody is 100 percent all the time, but the will is there. The men are trying, but we haven’t gotten our skills anywhere near where they need to be catching the ball, exchanging the ball, those kinds of things.”

Others did not share Curry’s view of the proceedings, a group that included quarterback Ben McLane. He conceded that the team had lapses both physically and mentally, but thought the team had a …

Continue reading Bill Curry not happy with Georgia State’s first practice »

Even Bill Curry didn’t see this coming.
He thought his Georgia State program would ascend to the Football Bowl Subdivision one day, yes. But only four years after the team was first formed? And after only three years of actual play? As crazy as that may sound, that is exactly what’s happening.
“We thought down the road that [FBS] would be in the cards for us, but that it would be five or six years from now, after we had become established as an FCS power,” Curry said of his Panthers, who are competing in the Colonial Athletic Conference this season before moving into the Sun Belt Conference in 2013. “We haven’t established anything like what we want to establish on the field, so hopefully we take the next step while playing the very, very tough CAA this year and then on to the Sun Belt next year.”
As tough as the conference may be, the task is even tougher if you don’t have a top-flight quarterback directing the offense. The Panthers didn’t have one last year, …

Continue reading QB play integral for GSU in tough CAA »

Georgia State’s football team entered the 2011 season with many questions that never got answered.

After a 3-8 record punctuated by another offseason of disciplinary problems, those questions haven’t gone away as the Panthers begin practice today. They have less than four weeks before they open the season hosting S.C. State on Aug. 30 at the Georgia Dome. They will then dive into their first and last Colonial Athletic Association in a schedule that should be much more difficult than last year’s. The Panthers are joining the Sun Belt next year.

Here’s the next part in the five-part look at August’s practices:

Will there be stability at quarterback?

Because of suspensions, injuries or ineffectiveness, Georgia State used three quarterbacks last year: Drew Little, Bo Schlechter and Kelton Hill. Little quit and Schlechter was dismissed after allegedly being involved in a bar fight during the offseason.

Hill seemed to be a lock for the starter’s spot this year.

Surprising …

Continue reading GSU’s 5 things to watch in football, part 5 »