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12B ♦ SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2007 Collier a standout at WDfford By MATTHEW BROWN Journal Sports Writer No more “deer in the head lights” looks from Wofford College quarterback Josh Collier. Five years at this Spartanburg, S.C., school, and this former Houston County High School Bear is looking towards a share of the Southern Conference championship and a long run in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. Collier and the Wofford Terriers are set to host the Georgia Southern Eagles for Homecoming on Saturday. The 7-2 Terriers are ranked No. 10 in the FCS (formerly known as Division I-AA) and stand tied for first in the Southern Conference with Elon at 4-1. In facing Georgia Southern, it’s the only time in the sea son Collier gets to face a team from his home state, “I always look forward to it in a way,” said Collier during a telephone interview with the Houston Home Journal. “Not only that they are from my home state, but they have so many national champion ships. They’re good every year, and if you can compete with them you feel you can compete with anybody.” Collier admitted that, as a youngster, he didn’t follow the Eagles as much as the state’s bigger schools like the University of Georgia. He said he did attend some Georgia Southern football camps and that the Eagles recruited him early in his high school career. He said that interest fell off as he neared gradua tion, but he found a better fit with Wofford. In 2003, Collier redshirted. His real playing career for Wofford began as a sopho more in 2005, and that’s when the “deer in the head lights” feelings started com ing over him. But he shook that off and had a string of 22 straight starts at quarter back going into his current senior season. Coming into 2007, Collier had career numbers of nine touchdown passes and 1,187 passing yards (90-for-207) in addition to 17 rushing touchdowns and 1,095 yards gained on the ground. This year he has so far account ed for 260 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground with 706 passing yards and n,^ 5-h A»n - 1 Mile Beqlrh Mfc ** Same route as the Dogwood 5K ** Saturday, December 1 Registration: 9:30 a.m. Race starts: 10 a.m. Downtown Perry at the New Perry Hotel (Corner of Main & Ball Streets) Fun for the Whole Family! $lO pre-registration fee (sls day of race) For an application, call 988-1827 or visit www.hhc.org. Houston Healthcare lUp f three touch downs. “I was eager to learn,” said Collier, who first gained 100 yards in a game when he tallied 101 COLLIER against Furman in 2005. “I learned how to manage the game and became more of a leader.” With learning leadership, Collier said he also learned trust; trust not only in him self but also in his team mates. Wofford runs an option offense out of the shotgun, and he said it takes a lot of trust to execute it. “We accomplished that this year,” said Collier. “I’ve improved on making reads, getting in good situations and depending more on the passing game. We are not a one-dimensional offense.” Collier in fact had a string earlier in his career of throw ing 92 straight passes with out an interception. His career high in passing yards came this season in a 45-20 win against Furman. There, he threw for 187 yards with a touchdown. For the past two seasons, Collier hasn’t had to shoul der the entire quarterback load for the Terriers. Wofford rotates two quarterbacks, the second being Idaho junior Ben Widmyer. “He’s a good player,” said Collier. “You will see him in the games. (The rotation) works fine. It keeps a fresh quarterback in the game. When you run the option, you are going to take a lot of hits, so it’s good to have someone fresh in there.” Collier is still looking for that “perfect game” from the Terriers, even though the 2007 results would look good for any school. Wofford did have the slip up against Elon and took a loss to Division I foe North Carolina State despite having more total yards than the Wolfpak. That game had 15 penalties and three turnovers against Wofford. The football world had to take notice of the Terriers when they beat two time defending FCS cham pion and Michigan Wolverine slayers Appalachian State. In that game, Collier was 7-for at Houston Healthcare 9 passing for 110 yards and a career-best 49-yard touch down throw. “That was big for our pro gram,” he said. “That gave us confidence.” In another stretch of games this year, Wofford beat The Citadel 28-7 as Collier snuck in a late touchdown run but had an intercepted pass returned for a score. Against Gardner-Webb, his team won again as he again snuck for a touchdown but also had a pass picked off. “We have to take care of our own business ... play well and win out,” said Collier about the drive towards a share of the SoCon title. “That was our goal from Day 1. This being my senior year, it will be a good feeling. “We have a unique offense. Not a lot of people have seen it,” he added about the upcoming postseason. “Plus, we play in the Southern Conference, which has the toughest competition in the nation.” Collier has been able to learn from some veterans in the coaching profession, and some coaches responsible for keeping Wofford football alive when the program was in dire straits as a Division II school after the 1987 sea son. Mike Ayers became head coach in 1988 and has stayed there since; Wofford moving up to the FCS level in 2002. Wade Lang has been the Wofford offensive coordina tor and quarterbacks coach for those same 18 years (24 overall at the school). Collier said he is probably the smart est football person he’s been around. Collier did feel “a little sad” when learning that his high school coach, Doug Johnson, retired from Houston County High during the summer. Like several others, Collier said it caught him by sur prise, especially since he said he saw Johnson a few times during the summer and the subject never came up. In addition to his football playing accomplishments, Collier can also be proud of making the Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll. Sometime next spring, he plans to start therapy school. If sometime next year an opportunity comes up to continue playing football, he said he would love to take it. SPORTS LET'S CREATE A l rj J-,// ■f X J 'FUTURE jUVITH CLEANER AIR AND RENEWABLE ENERGY! NOWvdu'dflNTOi'O' '-wjtamm. Hi.M. fsi< mJTiTIJ. o - yellow C*o% Available. 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