Q&A: UGA freshman TB Keith Marshall says ‘competition is a good thing’
Georgia coach Mark Richt and recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner introduce the Bulldogs' early enrolles (L-R) Keith Marshall, Faton Bauta and Mark Beard. (AP photo)
Q&A WITH KEITH MARSHALL
Lost in all the craziness of last week’s national signing day drama and shocking player dismissals was the introduction of Georgia’s three early enrollees. Quarterback Faton Bauta, offensive lineman Mark Beard and tailback Keith Marshall had been shielded from interviews by UGA since arriving in Athens to begin spring semester in early January. But the three players were made available on the afternoon of national signing day. I’ll be sharing a little about each of them in a story that will run in Tuesday’s printed edition. In the meantime, I don’t think there is any question that Marshall, the five-star tailback from Raleigh, N.C. , is one of the most anticipated addition of the early enrollees and really of the entire 2012 class. So here’s some of what I heard from him this past Wednesday.
Q: What are some of the advantages of early enrollment?
A: “I get to acclimate to college life before the season and physically I can get myself ready to compete. . . . I’ve never had to block that much so I’m glad I got here early so I can learn that. I’ve already learned the basic schemes, but that’s different than actually going out there and doing it live. It’s something I’ll have to work on for sure.”
Q: Obviously fellow North Carolina tailback Todd Gurley signed with the Bulldogs. What’s your thoughts on that?
A: “I think he’s a great player. He’s going to make me better and hopefully I can make him better. Hopefully we’ll feed off each other and the other running backs, too. We have plenty of good running backs here. We can all make each other better. It’s like Coach Richt says, you have to have more than one good running back.”
Q: It’s unusual for two running back prospects as highly touted as you two to sign at the same school. What kind of relationship do you have with him and what was the thinking behind going to the same school?
A: “Me and Todd are both from North Carolina. I met him through track, actually. But through recruiting I got to know him real well. He’s probably one of the closest people I met during recruiting. Playing with him is going to be great. He’s somebody I know and we’re from the same city and all that. We’re going to help each other get better.”
Q: Did Isaiah Crowell send you a bouquet of flowers or an email message or anything upon the news of your plans to join the team?
A: “No, no. I talked to him the day before I committed just to find out what he thought about everything. He was supportive.”
Q: With you and Gurley and Crowell and all the other backs Georgia has coming back, tailback is suddenly a pretty crowded position. Does that concern you?
A: “I’m not worried about competition. People say ‘competition’ like it’s a bad thing. Competition is not a bad thing; it’s a good thing.”
Q: You and offensive tackle John Theus are the only 5-star prospects in this class. Was his commitment an incentive to join the Bulldogs?
A: “I’m excited about running behind him. We went through recruiting together. We were looking at some of the same schools, so he didn’t really have to recruit me that much. He knew this was one of my main schools. I’m looking forward to playing with him.”
Q: You’re from the middle of ACC country. Were you lured by the opportunity to play SEC football?
A: “It wasn’t so much the SEC. I’ve just liked Georgia since I was younger. Coach [Mark] Richt, of course I wanted to play for him. And I’ve always liked Knowshon Moreno, since I was in like middle school. Whenever it was he played against Hawaii (January 2008) in that game, ever since then I wanted to come here.”
Q: How aware are you of the tailback tradition at UGA?
A: “I know a lot about the history of running backs, not just here, but everywhere. Obviously there’s Herschel, but I can name a lot of the running backs that went here. I have the Herschel documentary in my room.”
Q: You have achieved an almost a mythical status because of the stories of your academic and athletic achievements. Can you validate the legend of possessing the rare combination of a grade-point average that exceeds your 40-yard-dash time?
A: “The fastest I’ve ever timed in the 40 was a 4.22 at my school; I ran a 4.25 at a college camp. My GPA I graduated with was a 4.31, somewhere right in there.”
Q: Tell me about the 40-yard dash challenge between you and wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell in which you beat him two of three times. How’d that come about?
A: “Actually it was his idea. I’ve seen people say I challenged him; it wasn’t anything like that. We were working out and running routes or whatever and we got to talking about who was faster, so we went outside and raced. . . . All the guys thought he was going to win, so it was kind of a cool feeling. My teammates liked it but it wasn’t that big of a deal to me.”
Q: You were a champion sprinter in high school. Do you plan to run track while at Georgia?
A: “Maybe in the future. Not this year. I want to get established in football first.”
– Chip Towers
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202 comments Add your comment
ESPN David
February 6th, 2012
10:39 pm
FLA DAWG: If Dawgs stunk the place up with an SEC Title shot hate to see what ya think when your’e positive bout em.
CJ
February 6th, 2012
10:47 pm
Boykin he won’t last. He will be out of the league faster than David green.
boykin
February 6th, 2012
10:54 pm
We’ll see..experience is there..but put Wilfork in his face and truth will be told.
William
February 6th, 2012
10:54 pm
On the 4.31 average. Some schools give a 5.0 for an A in AP, honors and advanced classes. So if you made all A’s in Honors classes you would have a 5.0. Obviously he didn’t have all A’s in honors classes or he took some regular classes, like P.E., Art, etc. where an A is a 4.0. He is obviously a smart kid and I welcome him to Athens and the Dog nation.
GulfShoresDawg
February 6th, 2012
11:00 pm
Keith, you make me proud to be a Dawg! Keep up the great work and bring the Heisman Trophy back to Athens! That’s right, the Heisman baby!
boykin
February 6th, 2012
11:12 pm
CJ: Just showed your ignorance…Greene held clipboard sure….but got paid..and left under his own terms after at least 5 yrs
Troup Co. Dawg
February 6th, 2012
11:45 pm
This offense needs a double–shot Expresso to be better this year…Bobo has so much talent, we should be averaging 38 pts a game with this weak schedule. I would love to see something different out of this backfield, with the line being fresh this year, some misdirection with our tide ends in the slot containing the DE and then flip it to a 5-stars and let them do the nasty.
Reddog
February 6th, 2012
11:55 pm
4.22!! Is that fast?
duronimo
February 7th, 2012
12:30 am
Marshall will likely kick Crowell to the curb pretty quickly. It’s the quarterback I feel sorry for. No
matter how great he may be, the really weird loyalty deal with Richt will never allow him to get on the field.Richt sticks with under-performing coaches until they almost get him fired. It’s the same thing for quarterbacks. Murray does ok against bad teams but comes apart at the seams when faced with adversity. So his good stats don’t tell the story. But no matter what, he’ll play.
Flounder
February 7th, 2012
12:36 am
‘SAUCED’ … seriously, you can’t make this stuff up. What a Maroon … what a gulla-bull … what a nin-cow-poop [as bugs bunny would say].
Vince Dooley says he would fire Michael F. Adam$
February 7th, 2012
4:00 am
Flounder, exactly.
_________________________________________________________
BMDPD February 6th, 2012 1:45 pm
“KM is the next KM (Knowshon). ”
__________________________________________________________
Maybe you would do yourself a favor BMDPD to read, instead of rushing in here to blog, sir. Keith Marshall is going to get arrested going 30 mph over the speed limit, drunk, – and as Flounder says, with a SAUCED license plate, like Knowshon Moreno ?
_________
And, as for GTBoob, who hasn’t come in here and taken you to the cleaners, fan of a team who is on NCAA PROBATION in FOOTBALL back-to-back repeat offenders, acting like Georgia tek is RELEVANT with your 1-10 record vs Mark Richt and your total inability to recruit any of these type recruits with Paul Johnson’s recruiting ranking of # 58 by Scout.com this year and # 52 EVERY other year. And with your “recruits” not only not suited for the purpose for which they are intended by YOUR DEFINITION of what is and what is NOT a Georgia tek fan at 1-10 vs our coach, but also your football players do NOT graduate like our football players do – like Keith Marshall will in 3 years, as I myself.
4.22 at my school and 4.25 at college camp and 4.31 GPA # 1 RB in the nation. Who does Georgia tek have like that GTBoob ?
I see no statement here by Keith Marshall about he does not want to get injured. What I see clearly is that he does not shy away from competition, and neither does Todd Gurley. And, that is very obvious, both signing here and not for Georgia tek with your high school offense.
Pretty funny stuff 3 Georgia tek fans taking themselves on on the UGA beat blog. And, the loser ? GTBoob.
Vince says he'd fire Adam$
February 7th, 2012
4:39 am
Did you’ll see this ?
“Source: 3 UGA Players Kicked Off Football Team For Stealing
Updated: Friday, 03 Feb 2012, 7:00 PM EST
Published : Thursday, 02 Feb 2012, 11:48 PM EST
By MYFOXATLANTA STAFF/myfoxatlanta
ATHENS, Ga. – Three University of Georgia football players were kicked off the team for stealing from a teammate, according to a source.
Nick Marshall, Chris Sanders and Sanford Seay were dismissed after allegedly taking around $500 in money and valuables, the source said.”
___________________________________________________________
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/sports/Source-2-UGA-Players-Kicked-Off-Football-Team-For-Stealing-20120202-pm-pk
There have been posts here on the UGA blog saying this is is not presented anywhere, when it is according to this source to My Fox Atlanta.
TheAntiMe
February 7th, 2012
5:09 am
If both Isiah Crowell and Keith Marshall can produce in the backfield up to their potential then it’s going to be a great upcoming season and Aaron Murray should benefit with some very open receivers to throw to, as well.
Vince says he'd fire Adam$
February 7th, 2012
5:48 am
Very open receivers have not been Aaron Murray’s problem. It’s hitting the very open receivers, that has been. That and his 22 interceptions in just 27 games, his very poor footwork, his holding on to the football too long, his poor reads of defenses, his just cruddy check-offs at the line of scrimmage typically into a play that is for his own number as a ballhog trying to do too much himself, his inability to ever let his back-up play one snap in any game, his inability to go through his progressions, he staring down his very open receivers, his just pitiful rushing numbers to compared to every other college quarterback with his 7 carries a game like he thinks he is a running back with this now stable of running back he has to give the ball to instead of his 1 yard a carry for his entire career not to mention his 21 fumbles in 27 games, his 11 losses out of 27 games for 41 percent of his starts lost, his off-field embarrassing moments to go along with all his on-field embarrassing moments – all against the very best opponents he has faced – all this with extremely poor play against teams you and I both know are ending up the season in the top 25 at 0-9 as our Starting Quarterback.
Vince says he'd fire Adam$
February 7th, 2012
5:51 am
It will be Todd Gurley who will team-up with Keith Marshall to provide us a consistent running game, and they will do it behind a worse OL this season than Isaiah Crowell was afforded last season.
DawgSTILE
February 7th, 2012
7:40 am
Great news these three enroLLed early. That means they can get their first arrest out of the way before spring practice starts and be ahead of the game. Often, bloggers like dawginLEX beat me to the punch with witty comments like this. Not this time.
Vince says he'd fire Adam$
February 7th, 2012
7:42 am
Tim Tebow 6′3″ 236 lb14 games 1,729 yards, 12 TD Pass, 660 rush
Eli Manning 6′4″ 218 lb 16 games 4,933 yards, 29 TD Pass, 15 rush
I believe they both to be good Christian men, 1 who forces the others at the Wonderlic Test to stop and Pray before taking the test, the other Super Bowl MVP.
Mauree
February 7th, 2012
8:07 am
It’s interesting to note that Knowshon Moreno is his hero, especially since Moreno was arrested yesterday for DUI in Denver.
Once a lowlife UGA goon, always a goon.
UGA fan...not fanatic
February 7th, 2012
8:09 am
how big is ken malcome? he mite make a good fullback…he will never see the field as a tailback for UGA again
Qwerty
February 7th, 2012
8:12 am
Missouri 34, UGA 13
Vince says he'd fire Adam$
February 7th, 2012
8:15 am
No way Mizzou is 34-13 over UGA. Do you have any knowledge of their players who just graduated ? Obviously, not. All they have left is a running QB and running backs. All else is GONE.
UGA fan...not fanatic
February 7th, 2012
8:16 am
@ Tony
The great Vince Lombardi said: There’s no second place in football…..either you’re first or last.
I thought Ricky Bobbie’s Dad said that…..
CJ
February 7th, 2012
8:19 am
Boykin if being on a team for one year, and being cut from 3 different nfl practice squads is having a good nfl career then yeah David green had a good nfl career.
Vince says he'd fire Adam$
February 7th, 2012
8:30 am
David Greene had a good NFL career ? He never played one down.
In the SEC to win big
February 7th, 2012
8:44 am
SEC is not the old, stoggy ACC of the early 90s when FSU could dominate with skilled, fast athletes and a slick passing game. This is Richt’s style of play.
UGA is in the very, very, very rugged SEC and to win BIG, you need two O lines of QUALITY biguns and 2 D lines of quality big uns. On D we are pretty much there but on O, we are lacking the depth of QUALITY linemen and it will be here, where the tale of 2012 is told.
2012 ……………….we will see if UGA got their “needs” with this class, I am fearful that we fell about 3 or 4 QUALITY O linemen short and with the sudden departure of 3 men, possibly a 4th with Cummings, we had just a so so recruiting year and last summer’s rumors did not help.
2012 will be the year to turn this ship around or not. Time will tell. If we win big we will sign in 2013 a fabulous class. Time will tell. TIme will tell.
PS: Most HS kids from the state of Georgia cannot gain admittance to UGA or to GT in all honesty and that is why AU and Alabama, SC and UT can come in and grab some great kids. MUCH HIGHER Academic Standards now and for 20 years has been UGA’s adversary within the old SEC.
UGA man, class of 71 & 73
Vince says he'd fire Adam$
February 7th, 2012
9:04 am
No, it was not a so-so recruiting year 2012 for Mark Richt, who is a World-Class Recruiter. It is a great class, and meets our needs across the board with big help to the Secondary and to the Offensive Line – however, I would agree with you that Mark Richt has remained behind the 8-ball from his very 1st Recruiting Class of 2001 to this very day, and even more so the last 6 seasons than in the first seasons here when at least then Jim Donnan left the cupboard stocked at both. We just haven’t had the type of Secondary that we should have had here at Georgia and what we were used to having all the seasons that led to us being # 11 in all-time 1-A wins as a football program. And, the last 6 seasons of 25 Losses are in STARK CONTRAST to what we are used to here at UGa.
class of 71 & 73
It’s not anything but a huge recruiting class meeting our needs this season, far better than any and all previous 12 years’ worth of recruiting classes of Mark Richt – but do agree we could have and should have recruited MORE Secondary and more OL.
DIT
February 7th, 2012
9:07 am
This is just my opinion so obviously take it for what it’s worth, but I would not be so quickly to kick Crowell to the curb like some of you are. Hopefully, time will tell, this is just what he needed. Some really tight competition to bring out his “potential.”
Those 3 running backs, if we find an O-line, could be incredible! This would take so much pressure of Murray or Lemay, that it could lead to better decisions.
Can’t wait for fall already!
Vince says he'd fire Adam$
February 7th, 2012
9:14 am
If competition would be good for Isaiah Crowell, then by God, competition would be good for Aaron Murray, too, darn it all.
DawginLex
February 7th, 2012
9:37 am
We need a roster full of Keith Marshalls and Richard Samuels.
These young men are student-athletes.
GTBob
February 7th, 2012
9:56 am
Does anybody really think that Crowell is all of the sudden going to turn into a good hard working young man just because he has more competition? That ship has sailed. Forget about him.
DawginLex
February 7th, 2012
10:03 am
Hearing Nick Marshall may go to GMC and possibly be allowed to return to UGA after a year.
also hearing GMC has a RB/DB with 3 years eligibility left that UGA may sign now.
AltamahaDawg
February 7th, 2012
10:06 am
It’s a lot deeper. When we say “competition” makes somebody better, it tend to sound like, they are afraid to lose thier spot so they TRY a lot harder. Perhaps some of that, but what it really does is sets up a better situation in practice rotations, It lets everybody go at a better pace, and gametime, one guy’s success paves the way for the other guy. Its not just an attitude adjustment. It’s a valid structural issue. Obviously there are some variations in all that.
What will make Crowell much better is a year of training, irrespective of the “competition”. Rerun this past year with no other changes but him as a year more advanced college football player, and I think we won 2 more game. The “competition” on top of that will set up a much better situation for the running game as a whole.
Boomer
February 7th, 2012
10:09 am
Since Michael “THE UGA SHILL” and “UGA Propogandist” blogger keeps blocking my post I will post what I wrote on The UGA blog…sorry UGA followers.
Boomer Your comment is awaiting moderation.
February 7th, 2012
10:06 am
Michael,
We all know you are a UGA propoganda writer. We all know that you write any and every article negatively about Other schools to promote UGA. Be honest with the readers and fess up your main goal is to please the UGA staff by writing hit pieces like you have done for the past 6 weeks.
Just be honest and stop faking it.
DawginLex
February 7th, 2012
10:32 am
The competition also makes you make a personal decision.
When you screw up and the next guy goes in, do you support him even thought you want his spot? Do you try harder to get your spot back, therefore making him and you better?
Competition is a good thing. Keith Marshall is a smart young man.
We need competition at QB too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Vince says he'd fire Adam$
February 7th, 2012
10:49 am
“What will make Crowell much better is a year of training, irrespective of the “competition”. Rerun this past year with no other changes but him as a year more advanced college football player, and I think we won 2 more games”
__________________________________________________
The other quarterback, besides Aaron Murray, was the Better Quarterback last season in All Four (4) Losses. It wasn’t Isaiah Crowell who Lost those Four (4) games again 2011. It was Aaron Murray. This is why the discussion is that Competition is Good for both running backs and for the quarterback Aaron Murray. When he gets the Heebie-Jeebie Yips like he had against South Carolina (both seasons), bowl game (both seasons), Boise State and LSU, then let him Stand on the Sidelines, be yanked early enough so that someone might be able to effect a change in the game positively, and when he is over his Yips, you can put him Back into That Game, sir. Throwing him right back into the Fire when he cannot handle the pressure already as has been proven in his Eleven (11) Losses over his 2 years (to-date), then has been the Wrong Decision for Mark Richt and Mike Bobo, and it has been wrong for the Back-ups at QB behind Aaron Murray.
If it is right to have competition at RB, then it is right to have competition at Quarterback (and every other position.)
Competition is indeed good and for all the reasons you list and more. There are times when a QB, for example, just is trying to do too much. Yes, practice rotations go better. At the end of games, we have fallen Way Off both seasons. You can blame that on depth because we have 77 scholarships and years before we get back to 85 from 26 transfers out in the last 12 months. You can also blame that for the same reason that the QB is tired, as he has failed to bring us to wins at 0-9 in all 9 games both seasons against teams who finished in the top 25.
There are times at every position, where the back-up needs to be out there.
Take the Buffalo bills, game 1 for example, Christian LeMay needs to go in for 1 series in series number two.
Vince says he'd fire Adam$
February 7th, 2012
11:03 am
DawginLex, you are right -again. You’ve been right a lot.
Boomer, Michael Carvell is a Drill Instructor who wants to control, and is not a reporter. Chip Towers continuously does a better job of recruiting information than the come-ons by Michael Carvell. Admittedly, some of his come-ons have gotten to me. Like 2 in the last year. Which is about how many of the come-ons from Bluto at Get The Picture have gotten to me, about 2 in the last year. I will not post my posts to blogs which want to CENSORSHIP the internet when, as your post here, sir, there is nothing there to CENSOR. You will do yourself well to keep tabs of sites where only positive posts can be posted. I firmly believe and will not post there much because of it, that Michael Carvell CENSORSHIP posts to his blog to please not UGA coaching staff (which he does do too) but to please the RECRUITS whom he is trying to pay homage to by then making his blog better for THEM – the recruits. Recruits need to know that if they are choosing a bad fit that someone like yourself, might point it out to him.
The world does not revolve around Michael Carvell.
Nor does a recruit gain by having only positive posts about him. Take Isaiah Crowell for example. He has heard an ear full. And, well he should have, had to, sir. Where are we today, as a direct result ?
I haven’t seen Isaiah Crowell make a North End of a Southbound Horse out of himself in a while now. That’s good. Someone should have done it to him at Carver before he got here so full of himself. I want him to have a great year 2012. That does not equate to him jawing at lousy opponents after a 5-yard gain. Nor telling me that he wouldn’t change anything about 2011 where he was suspended on multiple occasions and for the most part played half a season and them all in games decided before he ran the 1st run.
If Michael Carvell does not like that, all my response can possibly be to him that on the Internet, we allow all UNCENSORSHIP posts when there is nothing there to CENSOR as your post Boomer.
flo-ri-duh
February 7th, 2012
11:07 am
The key to the running game starts with the OL and that is a BIG question mark at UGA Auburn got two 5 star OT’s and two other 4 stars. UGA needs to recruit OL better.
DawginLex
February 7th, 2012
11:26 am
We have 17 scholarship OL for 2012 including several who are very athletic, young and raw but have frames that can add weight.
I will look forward to actually running sweeps behind these big guys who can move.
We will have more who can play and we will be fresher in the 4th quarter. You can directly equate losing leads in the 4th quarter to ZERO DEPTH ON THE OL. (Along with boneheaded decisions by Murray, Richt and Bobo)
once a dawg, always a dawg
February 7th, 2012
11:52 am
Knowshon representing UGA style! Rocky Mountain High indeed!
Vince says he'd fire Adam$
February 7th, 2012
12:15 pm
Bonehead Decision-Making by Aaron Murray, Mark Richt and Mike Bobo. I heard that.
Lost 4 Senior Starting Offensive Linemen from 2011 team. Also ran off 6 OL who should have been playing last season to transfers. Recruited one 5-Star and one juco player plus a serviceable guy about 3 years from now. How does this give us More OL for 4th quarters when the QB is always making so many just plain stupid plays ?
True Tech
February 7th, 2012
12:17 pm
Sounds like a great kid. Congrats on your education and 3-4 years of College Football. Put the Lord first and everything else will fall into place. See you end of November.
AltamahaDawg
February 7th, 2012
1:00 pm
I guess a better QB might have won more games. Too bad we didn’t have any. You have some Qb on our roster that nobody knows about? Not sure what that has to do with my point, however. The discussion was about RB competition (which is really more about being able to rotate, not winning a leading role as it is with QBs) A better conditioned, more realible RB would have won more games despite QB mistakes. In fact to your point would have reduced the impact that any QB would need to have in the game.
G-Dawg
February 7th, 2012
1:52 pm
Crowell have a better 2012 season. No longer being in the spotlight, and year of S/C will only help his mental and physical development. Too much weight was thrust upon his shoulders his freshman year….KM and TG will help carry that weight!!
When you build someone up, instead of constantly tearing them down…you’ll see more productive results in the end. Its a win-win situation for everyone involved. Crowell was never set up for success for those moments last year…based upon everything you read about his life. We all make bad choices from time to time, but learning from them and learning something about ourselves are part of humbling experience. Some of us learn the hard way…some learn by the footprint set forth by others in our lives. But we all dont walk the same path. Show a lil support instead of constantly breaking down everyone around you…and you might learn something new about yourself as well!! Forgiveness and Understanding is Divine!!
AltamahaDawg
February 7th, 2012
4:00 pm
Uh oh. Bob’s gonna come in here and tell True Tech he is not a true tech fan now. (after the cut and paste of cource).
Disgusted Dawg
February 7th, 2012
11:25 pm
Tailback position crowded? Please, retard. We have 5-star gimpy Crowell and, and NOBODY. Let’s see if 5-star #2 can play in the SEC before we get all giddy.
▀▄▀▄▀▄█▓▒░ GO DAWGS ░▒▓█▀▄▀▄▀▄█▓▒░ sic ‘em!! ░▒▓█▀▄▀▄▀▄
tidog
February 8th, 2012
5:30 pm
These young guys are exactly where Crowell was last year. Crowell had a very good rookie campaign in the SEC. If the next group can step up to SEC competition then Fear the Dog.
SouthGaDawg
February 8th, 2012
5:46 pm
Faster than Malcolm? Wow!
RxDawg
February 10th, 2012
1:01 am
I love this kid. Obviously has great parents too. This is so refreshing. Can you say Academic All American! Welcome to UGA, damn good pup. Go Dogs!!!!
Addresses
February 11th, 2012
2:35 pm
202nd
WelcomeComittee
February 12th, 2012
5:26 pm
@GTBob do you not have a life? All I see you do on these blogs is spin words to make UGA’s players and coaches look dumb, when in actuality you are embarrassing your school and yourself. Marshall is a great kid who will have an impact on the players around him for sure. So lay-off and go back to praying for some talent to fall into GTs lap so it can be wasted.