Archive for April, 2012

Greetings-

I spoke Monday with B-back David Sims for a story that will run later this week, mostly about his progress since last season. A couple highlights from the interview:

1. Sims believes a big reason he didn’t produce more was that he wasn’t trusting in the creases to be there.

“Most of the times when I don’t trust or I’m not being certain, it shows,” he said, “because I’d be slow to the ball or I’m looking.”

Quarterbacks and B-backs coach Brian Bohannon put it another way.

“I think what he’s saying by that is he was always looking and seeing where to go instead of just saying, ‘Hey, I see what’s in front of me, I’m going to go, I’m going to play fast,’” he said. “With those guys at B-back, it’s been, keeping your pads down and playing fast and just let the rest of it unfold.”

2. Bohannon acknowledged that, with that mindset, there still will be times when the holes actually won’t be there. But Sims still has to keep his pads down.

“That’s part of playing running back,” …

Continue reading Tech’s Sims learning to trust »

Greetings-

A couple notes from Georgia Tech spring practice

1. B-back Charles Perkins and quarterback Synjyn Days took reps at A-back in practice Monday. Perkins has done it previously; it was Days’ first time there. It’s not a permanent move.

“It’s just a question of, when it’s all said and done, we want to try to get our best 11 players on the field,” coach Paul Johnson said.

It’s hard to say what it means, exactly. Quarterbacks and B-backs coach Brian Bohannon noted that B-backs David Sims and Zach Laskey have had practice time at A-back, also. As an example, he said that sometimes he’ll work separately with the quarterbacks and let the B-backs go work with the A-backs under the supervision of assistant coach Lamar Owens.

“It’s a cross-train, so those guys can learn a little bit about both positions,” he said. “We’ll see how it unfolds.”

Both did fine, according to Johnson. He brought up the matter in response to a question about A-backs, first noting that Robert Godhigh, …

Continue reading Perkins, Days take reps at A-back »

Former Georgia Tech golfer Matt Kuchar had his career-best finish at the Masters, finishing in a tie for third. His previous best was his memorable 21st-place finish as an amateur in 1998. A double-bogey on the ninth hole Sunday derailed his attempt at the title. He finished at 8 under, two shots out of the playoff.

“We thought we were going to grab a green jacket,” Matt’s father Peter Kuchar told my colleague Doug Roberson. “He played so well from Thursday to Sunday. He made that double at 9 and he just fought back like a champ. He’s got so much heart.”

If you’re wondering, Kuchar and champion Bubba Watson from Georgia overlapped one season, 2000.

Making his first Masters cut since 2008, Stewart Cink finished in a tie for 50th, recovering from an 81 on Saturday with a five-birdie 69 on Sunday. Augusta hasn’t been kind to Cink over the years. In 15 starts, he has two top-10 finishes. Cink will have two more exemptions into the Masters via his 2009 British Open championship.

On …

Continue reading Kuchar ties for 3rd at Masters, Cink 50th »

The Tech baseball team was swept in three games by No. 2 Florida State over the weekend at Russ Chandler Stadium. It was a rough result for Tech, which had chances to win the first two games. The Jackets lost the opener 2-1 in 10 innings, voiding eight innings of one-run ball from starter Buck Farmer. Brandon Thomas tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a one-out double to score Kyle Wren, but Tech failed to bring Thomas around. FSU scored the game-winning run in the top of the 10th with a single, walk and single, all with two outs.

Saturday, Tech took a 6-1 lead before the Seminoles scored nine in the fifth inning on their way to a 12-7 win. They completed the sweep with an 8-4 win Sunday.

The Jackets’ ability to hang around games with the No. 2 team in the country demonstrated that they’re a capable team. A beat-up pitching staff, though, has been their undoing.

Tech is now 19-14 overall and 6-9 in the ACC and is running out of highway, as I once heard Bill Parcells …

Continue reading Tech baseball swept by FSU »

Greetings-

A couple notes from spring practice.

1. B-back David Sims was one of the more notable players in Saturday’s scrimmage, particularly for his ability to break tackles. (As is always the case in an intra-squad scrimmage, one could also cast a critical eye on the other side of the ball.  Coach Paul Johnson and defensive coordinator Al Groh both were critical of the tackling.)

Still, Sims unofficially had an 18-yard run on the first offensive series of the game and about a 20-yarder the next time he was on the field. You may well remember that Sims had trouble breaking off big plays last season, his first at B-back. Early on in the scrimmage, Johnson was on Sims after going down more easily than Johnson would have liked and for apparently fussing at A-back Robert Godhigh for getting in his way.

“I’m like, if he knocked you down bumping into you, that’s (on) you,” Johnson said. “I think he got a little [vexed] at me, so he played pretty good after that.”

Said quarterbacks …

Continue reading Sims impresses in Tech scrimmage »

Greetings-

Still working on the notebook for Sunday’s paper off of Saturday’s scrimmage. Here’s the start.

1. The first public competition between Georgia Tech backup quarterbacks Synjyn Days and Vad Lee provided evidence of both players’ potential. It also showed there’s still distance between them and starter Tevin Washington.

“He’s in a place where he makes pretty good decisions, and that’s where I’d like to get the next two, in that same spot,” quarterbacks and B-backs coach Brian Bohannon said of Washington following the Yellow Jackets’ Saturday morning scrimmage at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Washington opened the scrimmage by leading the first-team offense on a 10-play, 70-yard drive against the first-string defense, punctuated by A-back Robert Godhigh’s 8-yard touchdown run. As planned, he played sparingly for the remainder of the roughly 100-play scrimmage. Days and Lee split about 70 of the snaps.

Days showed toughness running for hard yards, generally made good decisions …

Continue reading Tech scrimmage report »

Greetings-

I’ve got a few items from Georgia Tech’s spring sports.

1. Typically, when Tech’s softball team raises money for breast cancer awareness, the proceeds are donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Coach Sharon Perkins and her team had little difficulty choosing to re-direct their fund-raising this season.

Amy Hosier, a 28-year-old former team member, is fighting breast cancer. Money raised by Saturday’s pink game will go to support Hosier through Amy’s Angels, established as part of a non-profit organization.

“Now it’s kind of like you can have an actual name and face with somebody,” Perkins said. “It’s kind of more of an impact on the Georgia Tech community.”

Hosier played for Tech from 2003 to 2006, earning first-team All-ACC honors as a junior and senior. She returned to her native Colorado after graduating with a management degree. Perkins and the team learned about Hosier’s diagnosis through assistant coach Aileen Morales, a teammate of Hosier’s.

“We’re just …

Continue reading Tech spring sports update »

Georgia Tech assistant men’s tennis coach Conor Pollock resigned his position Wednesday after he was released from Fulton County jail on bond the same day.

Pollock was charged with rape March 24. A 23-year-old woman told Atlanta police that Pollock raped her early that day after meeting her at a Buckhead bar and inviting her and a friend back to his apartment.

“While this investigation is going on, I need his full attention, so it was just better that he resign,” said J. Tom Morgan, Pollock’s attorney and the former DeKalb County district attorney.

Pollock, who was also charged with possession of cocaine and marijuana, was released on $37,000 bond. Morgan, who has asserted Pollock’s innocence, remained hopeful that the rape charge will be dismissed.

Pollock was hired by Tech last August after an All-American career at Texas A&M.

Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog

Continue reading Tech tennis assistant resigns »

The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team earned one more distinction in its history-making season. The Yellow Jackets finished 10th in the final ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, their highest-ever finish.

“To finish the season as one of the top 10 teams in the country is a huge accomplishment for all the hard work we put in,” coach MaChelle Joseph said in a statement.”The future is bright for Georgia Tech women’s basketball.”

The Jackets earned that spot, third among ACC teams, by reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history and setting a school record for wins with a 26-9 record. Tech was ranked 36th in the coaches poll and 30th in the Associated Press media poll in the preseason.

Continue reading Tech women 10th in season-ending poll »

Greetings-

Sorry for the delay. I encountered laptop trouble Tuesday, got it fixed Wednesday morning and then spent most of the rest of the day on the notebook that ran in Thursday’s paper. If you’re wondering, and I know you’re not, it had something to do with the security software locking me out of my laptop.

Anyway, onto some notes.

1. Center Jay Finch said his knee is 100 percent after suffering an injury in the Miami game last year that forced him out of the Clemson game. One of his goals for the spring and summer is to add about 10 pounds of muscle. Coaches had previously set a weight limit of 280 for him, but his cap was raised to 290. He said that at the end of last season, because of a sickness, he got down close to 250 pounds.

Finch also knew the exact number of days to the Virginia Tech game.

2. As I mentioned in the notebook, offensive line coach Mike Sewak is moving guys around a good bit, cross-training and trying to develop depth. Right now, it looks like Ray …

Continue reading Updating Georgia Tech position competitions »