Archive for October, 2010

THE TEN AT 10:

Georgia may activate true freshman tailback Ken "Boo" Malcome of Southwest DeKalb this Saturday against Vanderbilt. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)

1. With Tuesday’s decision to suspend tailback Caleb King, there is a good chance the Georgia Bulldogs will have to pull the redshirt off true reshman Kendrun Malcome so he can play this Saturday against Vanderbilt.

King, who has started two games at tailback this season, was arrested earlier this week for not paying a speeding ticket in Walton County. Head coach Mark Richt announced Tuesday King would be suspended for the next two games. Sophomore Washaun Ealey, who started games two through four, will get the nod this week. But backup Carlton Thomas, who has one start under his belt, was sidelined for the Tennessee game with a hamstring injury and remains questionable this week.

“We’ve been getting Ken ready for probably the last month or so,” Richt said Tuesday. “. . . We were watching him in drill work and we …

Continue reading Ten@10: King suspension means Dogs may pull redshirt off Kendrun Malcome (updated) »

THE MONDAY MORNING REWIND

Looking back at the players, plays and games that caught our attention over the weekend. Let is know what you saw and heard.

“Just win, baby. That’s the slogan. Winning solves a lot of problems.”

That’s what Georgia recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner said last week when asked about the problems that the Bulldogs 1-4 start had caused the Bulldogs in recruiting. It’s nothing, he said, that a few victories couldn’t solve.

Both Georgia and Georgia Tech saw that adage come to fruition this past weekend as the Bulldogs throttled Tennessee 41-14 and the Yellow Jackets rolled over Virginia 33-21. Both teams came away with commitments. Tech landed 2011 lineman Tre Jackson of Wayne County. UGA got a pledge from C.J. Curry, a 2012 wide receiver from North Hall High School.

A quick synopsis on each player:

• Jackson (6-4, 290) could play either side of the ball for the Yellow Jackets. He’s generally considered a defensive line prospect but Tech may give him his …

Continue reading Rewind: Tech, Georgia win over commitments »

Georgia Tech landed its 15th commitment of the 2011 class before it even kicked off against Virginia on Saturday.

Wayne County defensive tackle Tre Jackson confirmed via text message Saturday that he gave his pledge to head coach Paul Johnson before the Yellow Jackets’ Homecoming game against Virginia. Jackson decided to visit The Flats after he received a scholarship offer from Tech last Sunday.

Jackson gives Tech the big body for the interior defensive line it covets for defensive coordinator Al Groh. The 6-foot-5, 295-pound entered his junior season with high expectations. But he suffered a torn ACL in the opening game and sat out the rest of the season without any junior highlight video to show recruiters.

But after surgery last fall and six months of rehab, Jackson picked up where he left off this fall. He was attracting recruiting interest from Auburn, Florida State and Georgia before the Jackets beat them all to the punch.

• Georgia gets first commitment of 2012 after …

Continue reading Georgia Tech gets 15th commitment from DT Tre Jackson »

Georgia had a good day on the field on Saturday and, as it turns out, off the field as well.

The Bulldogs landed their first commitment from the Class of 2012 just minutes after whipping Tennessee 41-14. C.J. Curry, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound wide receiver from North Hall High School, was still inside Sanford Stadium when he told his recruiting host he wanted to talk to head coach Mark Richt.

“He told me a couple of weeks ago he thought he wanted to commit,” Felix Curry, Curry’s father and his position coach at North Hall sald. “He said, ‘Dad, I don’t think I need to go to through the whole process. I know I want to go to Georgia.’

“At halftime he whispered to me, ‘I thinkI’m going to commit.’ Before I knew it, we were walking out and he told our hostess, Ebony, he wanted to talk to the coaches. Next thing I knew they snatched him up and took him in there. A few minutes later thay came back for the whole family.’”

Said Curry himself: “I feel good about it; I’m happy with my …

Continue reading Georgia gets first commitment of 2012 after win over Tennessee »

CHANNEL 2 SPORTS ZONE GAME OF THE WEEK: SPRAYBERRY AT HIRAM

Trey Wesley said he’s hearing from a lot of colleges. He’s just not hearing what he wants to hear.

Wesley is a 6-foot-1, 180-pound running back at Hiram High School — and he’s a good one.

Just ask North Paulding, which saw him run up and down the field to the tune of 263 yards rushing last week, including a school record 98-yard run from scrimmage. Wesley also had an 18-yard reception in that game and popped over on defense long enough to help put the clamps on AJC Super 11 wide receiver Chris Conley in a 45-31 victory.

The performance earned Wesley Player of the Week honors in the region.

Tonight, Wesley hopes to put on another show as the Hornets play host to Sprayberry in the Channel 2 Sports Zone Game of the Week. Chuck Dowdle and I will be there to call the action for WSB on Comcast 248 and Charter 126. The game will be replayed at 1 a.m. on WSB Channel 2.

Wesley sees it as another opportunity to impress college …

Continue reading Hiram RB Trey Wesley hopes his versatility gets recruiters’ attention »

THE TEN AT 10:

1. Georgia’s game against Tennessee on Saturday will kickoff a little after noon, same as the last home game against Arkansas and the next one against Vanderbilt. The early starts create more than a few logistical problems for recruiting. Some recruiting activities begin as early as 8:30 a.m. and it can be difficult for prospects from South Georgia and out of state who played Friday night games to get there in time.

“Honestly, it’s a hindrance,” recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner said. “But it’s still self-inflicted. If you don’t want to play at 12 o’clock you should be 4-1 and you’ll be on at 3:30 or 5 o’clock. It is what it is. We’re just glad to be on TV and to get some exposure. It definitely beats the alternative.”

2. While Georgia’s 1-4 start has not exactly bolstered recruiting, Garner does not believe it will derail it. “I still think people appreciate the body of work that has been done here,” he said. “Trust me, this thing is going to get corrected. …

Continue reading Ten@10: Early kickoffs hinder Georgia’s recruiting efforts »

When Tre Jackson went down with a knee injury before the season even started last year, the big defensive lineman has often wondered if his hopes of playing big-time college football went down with him.

Jackson missed all of last season at Wayne County with a torn ACL, and recruiting since then had been excruciatingly quiet.

But as Jackson started making some noise on the football field as a senior, so have the recruiting pitches been turned up. Finally, this week, Jackson heard the sound he wanted to hear. Georgia Tech offered him a scholarship Sunday afternoon.

“I’m really happy about it,” said Jackson, a 6-foot-5, 290-pound senior who plays defensive end in high school. “That’s the first one. It feels good.”

So good that Jackson is going to head up to The Flats this weekend to check it out. The Yellow Jackets are playing host to Virginia for Homecoming. Nevertheless, Jackson said he’s not going to leap at this first offer.

Jackson said he is hearing regularly from Clemson, …

Continue reading DL Tre Jackson lands scholarship offer from Georgia Tech »

Isaiah Crowell now has a favorite school, and it’s not housed in the home state.

The five-star running back from Carver-Columbus confirmed Tuesday that Alabama is now in the lead for his services. Crowell was in Tuscaloosa this past weekend for the No. 1-ranked Crimson Tide’s 31-6 win over Florida. And he was impressed with what he saw.

“It was a great experience,” said Crowell, an AJC Super 11 selection and the No. 1 tailback prospect in state. “It was nice to be around the players and coaches and see how they get focused and prepared for a game. And they played a great game.”

Crowell also confirmed that it’s down to Alabama and Georgia for him. For the longest time many have felt the Bulldogs had the edge because they could offer more playing time earlier.

But the Bulldogs’ 1-4 start compared to Alabama’s current status as defending national champions and the country’s No. 1-ranked team is too stark a contrast to ignore.

“Well, they’re losing a lot of games and have a lot of …

Continue reading RB Isaiah Crowell says Alabama now leads Georgia »

As I said, I’m working on some print stories examining what effect, if any, recruiting had on Georgia’s current predicament. I’ll be parceling out some of that information here over the next couple of days.

Earlier Tuesday, at the Bulldogs’ weekly press conference,  I asked coach Mark Richt how the 1-4 start has affected their day-to-day approach to recruiting.

“I can’t say all the recruits are excited about what’s happening,” he said. “But, you know, most of the guys that we have committed love Georgia and want to be at Georgia. And some of the guys see that maybe this presents an even better opportunity for them to come in and make a difference. I think some guys want to . . . feel like they can come in and make an impact on the team as early as they possibly can. So I would think it’s been good in that regard.”

That said, Richt doesn’t want the Bulldogs to continue to prove they need help.

“The bottom line is we want to show that we’re a good football team,” he said. “I …

Continue reading Richt: 1-4 start tells recruits they can have early impact at UGA »

THE TEN AT 10:

1. I’ve been asked by my editors this week to examine Georgia’s recruiting classes over the last few years and try to determine whether mistakes in that arena are the reason for the Bulldogs’ collapse in 2010.

I’m still early in my research and I don’t want to give away the whole shooting match, but I will share a little with you. The bottom line is either Georgia’s recruiting classes either didn’t live up to their billing or the the Bulldogs’ coaches didn’t get enough out of the talent they brought to Athens.

The average recruiting ranking for Georgia’s classes — taking ratings from Rivals, Scout and ESPN since 2006 — is a little above 8. Now it has definitely been trending upward of late (or should that be downward?). Last year’s class averaged out at No. 16, with a high rating of 21 coming from Scout. 2007 was also a down year by the Bulldogs’ standards with an average ranking of 13. The other three classes were all top-10 ranked.

Meanwhile, many of the …

Continue reading Ten@10: Georgia’s play on field hasn’t lived up to recruiting billing »