Georgia’s Columbus connections paying dividends for season opener
There is a very good chance recent Carver-Columbus grad Isaiah Crowell could end up starting on Saturday. (UGA photo by Steve Colquitt)
ATHENS – Georgia’s game against Boise State on Saturday will command attention from a lot of places, but none more than Columbus.
Five players from the southwest Georgia bordertown will represent the Bulldogs during Saturday’s game, four of them with Carver High connections. Three of those guys – tailback Isaiah Crowell, outside linebacker Jarvis Jones and tight end Bruce Figgins – could end up starting in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game on Saturday the Georgia Dome.
Freshman defensive back Quintavious Harrow and walkon quarterback Greg Bingham are also from Columbus.
Needless to say, the Bulldogs are a hot topic this week at Carver.
“The whole school’s excited, not just that they’re playing well but because they’re that doing well,” Carver High principal Christopher Lindsey said. “Especially considering the difficult backgrounds some of them they came from. Jarvis, if you look at his background, his path to success is truly amazing. The way he acts, the way he carries himself, you would never know what he has had to overcome. We’ve really enjoyed watching them come into their own at Georgia.”
Figgins and Jones are definite starters as of Tuesday. Figgins, a fifth-year senior, heads into the game as the No. 1 fullback after playing his first four seasons at tight end. He’s a Shaw graduate but his father, Bruce Figgins Sr., works at Carver as a math teacher. Jones, a sophomore transfer from Southern Cal, will start at “Sam, or strongside outside linebacker, where he has shined in preseason camp.
Crowell, a freshman and the No. 1-rated high school running back prospect in America last year, is currently listed as the No. 2 tailback. But head coach Mark Richt admitted Tuesday that Crowell could end up getting the nod since No. 1 tailback Richard Samuel has been sidelined with a quadriceps injury most of the last two weeks.
“He could,” Richt said of Crowell possibly starting. “The longer Richard doesn’t go. . . it may be that Isaiah gets the nod. Either him or Richard would. It’ll just depend on what Richard can do here in the next couple of days. I think if Richard doesn’t practice in the next day or two, it might be that Isaiah gets the chance to be the starter. So it could be that we have three kids starting from Columbus.”
Samuel practiced full speed and in a regular red jersey on Wednesday.
People from Columbus aren’t surprised that Crowell has made the decision tough on coaches.
“Everybody here knows what an outstanding player Isaiah is,” Lindsey said. “He’s a great athlete but it’s his competitive edge that makes him special. He expects to be great. I have no doubt he’ll do well.”
Re-establishing as a recruiting stronghold has been a priority for Georgia, which had seen a lot of good players from the area go elsewhere in recent years. The city is just a half-hour from Auburn and has sent a lot of players all over.
“There are a lot of talented players that have come from there and a lot more talented players that are going to come from there,” said running backs coach Bryan McClendon, who recruits Columbus for the Bulldogs. “Hopefully players from there will see that you can come to Georgia and succeed both on the field and off of it.”
Crowell, Figgins and Jones and helping spread that message.
“UGA history in regards to outstanding players coming out of Columbus is not all that great,” Lindsey said. “I think these guys are going to break that mold. I sincerely believe that just having dealt with both those young men. I’ve never seen them in any trouble.”
Well, Crowell did have one shortcoming.
“The only time I ever had to deal with Isaiah was being late to school,” Lindsey said with a laugh. “As long as he stays levelheaded, though, he’ll be fine.”
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124 comments Add your comment
Tech Sucks
August 31st, 2011
10:07 am
Gator Chomp. Get ready cause the Dawgs are gonna destroy UF this year.
Greg
August 31st, 2011
10:17 am
I only read the comments to any AJC articles when I want to laugh at all of the pathetic losers who have nothing better to do with their time than troll these articles and criticize. How miserable of a life must you have to want to do that?
Reba
August 31st, 2011
10:30 am
Get ready cause the Dawgs are gonna destroy UF this year.
All that Kool-Aid’s really not good for you, you know. Florida owns UGA, and that’s not going to change while The bumbling Mark Richt is the coach.
Dawg in Milton
August 31st, 2011
10:40 am
It’s about time we used the Leebern ‘Mafia” to our advantage…..Honestly, we have recruited very good in Columbus the last 5-6 years, AU, really hasn’t gotten any of the studs they used to get all the time..Who was the last Columbus stud that went to AU? Pretty amazing, that that they are only 30 minutes away…
Big Albany Dawg
August 31st, 2011
10:48 am
START HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Danah
August 31st, 2011
10:53 am
Crowell will leave when Richt is fired.
Columbus Dawg
August 31st, 2011
10:54 am
The last Columbus “stud” as you call them to go to Auburn was Gabriel Wright Class of 2011. Carver High School.
Dawg in Milton
August 31st, 2011
11:00 am
Columbus Dawg, we didn’t even want Gabriel Wright, correct? I thought only UT and AU really wanted him..
a MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
August 31st, 2011
11:04 am
Dawginlex, it’s so, so, clear, you are in DENIAL, take two “bout dem dawgs’ and get some rest. Once Georgia tennis season starts you’ll be OK.
UGA Alumnus
August 31st, 2011
12:34 pm
@The bitter truth for dawgs to chew on
August 30th, 2011
7:20 pm
The things you’re saying are just untrue. UGA is listed as a Public Ivey League school.
We also graduate a large percentage of our student-athletes. The majority of football players who don’t graduate leave early because they have a job waiting for them in the NFL that pays them millions of dollars.
Numbers came out recently that has UGA student-athletes at the top of SEC schools in grades.
Do a little research before you level false accusations about the University of Georgia. It’s an excellent school and I’m a proud graduate.
JunkyardDawg34
August 31st, 2011
4:19 pm
Columbus is not a southwest Georgia border town. West Georgia, yes. Southwest border town, try Ft. Gaines or Donalsonville.
Brandon
August 31st, 2011
8:40 pm
All the players from Columbus will shine, good seeing Columbus being put out their as having talent… Proud Carver grad… GO DAWGS!!
Gator Hater
August 31st, 2011
11:33 pm
Please ban anybody thats not a UGA fan from this blog especially MR GATORCHOMP ? I’ll book your bet big dog but Im willing to BET that you are somewhat scared….really?
oracle of marietta
September 1st, 2011
6:15 am
Jasper Sanks was from Columbus too. Same high school, same amount of hype. Let’s keep our heads on straight before we anoint IC as the Athens messiah.
DawginLex = Lonely Tech troll
September 1st, 2011
6:33 am
He is no Dawg, just a lonely Tech fan. Look at all his post on the Tech blogs. He post 5-1 more often over there and is more than happy to insult and rip UGA and the fan base.
GATOR CHOMP
September 1st, 2011
8:02 am
Gator Hater,you got a big mouth son,put your money where your mouth is.I’m sick and tired of you losers bragging on a bunch of convicts that should be playing for the Clarke County Jail.Get ready for another long season in your trailer park.You clowns are about to get smoked bigtime.”BOOK IT”
GATOR CHOMP
September 1st, 2011
8:04 am
Tech sucks,put up or shut up.
RedandBlackDAWG
September 1st, 2011
9:31 am
Lets see. A former player from tech. is alleged to have killed a woman on the streets. Using the same criteria as some of you use in rating a school, I guess that means that Tech. graduates and students are all bad people and should be compared to this one man.
How about another example. Hitler was of Polish descent and therefore all people of polish descent are all mass murders and should be eliminated from society. Comparing apples and oranges is easy if you are allowed to group all people into the same background and group based on where they graduated from high school, or the place they lived. Isn’t the inverse also true then. To use a bad example, is to say, Obama became president and he is from Illinois and therefore all people from Illinois should become president. Remember I said a bad example but it does apply, using the reasoning some of you are using.
GO DAWGS and GATA
Toe meets leather
September 1st, 2011
10:22 am
First, that GT = gun toters IS a great line. I wish I had came up with it. After several FUN days of getting under the skin of many dawg fans, dawgfromlex, Redblacknblu, and MANY MORE, how bout this: GO DOGS, kick those potato growing farm boys all the way back to Idaho.
Just let you know I’m really me – You know the old saying – what does a UGA grad call a Tech Grad about 5 years after graduation, that would be BOSS!!
Milton806
September 1st, 2011
2:21 pm
Gator Chump and you Tech fans; please get off your mothers computer. Turn from the sports section and personal ads, to the jobs section. Find a job, stop the hate, get out of the house and TRY to get laid… To attack teenagers and young men who are trying there best to perform for us amazes me. You have a pathetic life my friends. I’ll keep you in my prayers. BTW, the Gators & Tech suck! See no personal attacks on the kids…. Go Dawgs!
Toe meets leather
September 1st, 2011
2:34 pm
Milton806 – what a PRICK, you talk “prayer”, then “suck”. While your praying I hope your neighbors don’t catch you walking out of the Cheetah Club. What a piece of work you are. As far as getting laid, have you talked to your wife lately?
RedandBlackDAWG
September 2nd, 2011
9:46 am
Toe meets leather, should change his handle to “Mouth does not meet brain”, I think. Your only purpose in coming on to a blog about UGA is to insult fans of UGA and try to illicit a response to your poor, childish comments.
GO DAWGS and GATA
No more talk, time to see what 2011 Georgia Bulldogs are made of | UGA sports blog
September 3rd, 2011
2:29 pm
[...] UGA’s Columbus connection paying dividends [...]
derek henderson
September 4th, 2011
12:35 am
I am now an alabama fan after a 54 year career with the Bulldogs YA’LL SUCK Really I think it is the coaching surely you can’t be that BAD