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SPORTS / ENTERTAINMENT
Hastings’ prime talent
not called on by Dogs
Key to
the
Game
By GENE WILLIAMS
Sports Writer
An Analysis
The freshman who merely months
ago was at the center of a fierce re
cruiting battle between Georgia,
Notre Dame and Florida State al
most has become a forgotten man
in the Bulldog offensive attack.
Wide receiver Andre Hastings
was all-everything at Morrow High
School, but has not been given
many opportunities yet in his
oung career at Georgia to show ofT
is immense skills.
“We are trying to pass the ball
more,” Hastings said. “I’ve got con
fidence in my ability and I will get
the opportunity as soon as the
coaches feel that I am ready,”
At Morrow, Hastings’ career to
tals are mind boggling. He made
184 receptions for 3,132 yards and
41 touchdowns and in his senior
season alone. He hauled in 59
passes for 1,038 yards and 15
touchdowns in his junior year. He
was the USA Today Offensive
Player of the Year and was rated as
the nation’s best prep wide receiver
in the country by SUPERPREP
magazine.
Hastings’ immense resume has
made him the saviour in the eyes of
many Georgia fans. Hastings, how
ever, said the pressure was not
overwhelming.
“Everyone wants us freshman -
Garrison Hearst, Frank Harvey
and the rest of us - to win, but it
takes time to learn the college
game,” Hastings said. “As time
goes on, we will improve and I’m
just hoping for the opportunity to
go out and show the fans what I
can do.”
Unfortunately, he has started
slowly for the Bulldogs. In three
games, Hastings has caught three
passes for 16 yards and no touch
downs. According to offensive coor-
diantor George HafTner, Hastings
still has a lot to learn about the
complex college game.
“It takes a while to learn all of
the college defensive schemes and
multiple coverage that will be
thrown at a wide receiver during
the course of a game,” HafTner
said. “Hastings is progressing fine
and he will become a bigger part of
our offense as the year continues.”
Part of the expanded role of Has
tings has come with him returning
kickoffs for the Bulldogs. Aganist
Southern Mississippi, Hastings re
turned two kicks for a total of 35
yards, but he did fumble on one of
his returns which eventually re
sulted in a Golden Eagle touch
down.
“I was second on the depth chart
behind Arthur Marshall, but when
had the injury (a broken suffered
in the LSU game) I was one the re
turners,” Hastings said. “I was just
trying to gain some extra yards
when I fumbled.”
It is apparent that all of the pre
season hype which surrounded
Hastings is valid. He is a swivel
hipped receiver, with soft hands
and quick feet. Each of the passes
he has caught have been flat
passes, passes thrown to the side
lines a yard or two past the line of
scrimmage with very little
blocking, and he has turned them
in to nice gains.
“Andre gives us some additional
quickness at wide reciever.”
Haffner said. “His biggest
strengths is that he does a good job
in running the ball after the catch.”
“Right now, I think I possess
some tools that our offense can uti
lize. We’ve just had some bad
timing between the quarterbacks
and the wide receivers,” Hastings
said. “When we were open, the
quarterbacks had pressure and
vice versa. Our timing is off a bit,
but that will end in time.”
Despite his current lack of op
portunities, Hastings enjoys
playing for Georgia and does not
regret his decision to come to
Athens.
“I’m not disappointed.” Hastings
said. “I have no problems with the
system but I just think we’re
having some bad luck right now.
We’ve had some tough injuries and
some distractions but we will over
come them and pull together.”
Andre Hastings: The highly-touted receiver says
Dogs weak passing offense will improve with age
Injured Marshall at
home, frustrated
Arthur Marshall: Injured receiver relegated to watching
Dog friends on TV, playing scrabble and monopoly
By ERIC GARBER
Sports Writer
Many people think watching
Georgia and Alabama play in a
nationally televised football
game on a Saturday afternoon
would be an ideal experience.
But not Arthur Marshall. If
he had it his way, the Georgia
wide receiver who broke his left
leg two weeks ago against LSU
would throw down his crutches
and hobble into pass coverage to
pull in passes.
However, Marshall’s injury,
which has the junior out of ac
tion for the entire season, has
forced him to watch his fellow
Dogs play the Tide on the tube.
“Sure I want to be there,”
Marshall said in a phone inter
view from his home in Heph-
zibah, Ga. “When I first went
down, I thought I would never
get over it. It’s still tough, but
I’ve been keeping in touch with
some of the guys on the team.”
Marshall is at home liecause
his limited mobility j revents
him from attending claf s at the
University. Though he’s not on
campus, Marshall is still en
rolled in school and is working
on his studies.
He did not indicate when he
will return to the University but
is scheduled to have his leg ex
amined in three weeks at
Athens Regional Hospital.
“The only thing I can really
say right now is that it appears
to be a week to week thing,”
Marshall said of his progress.
“At times my leg feels OK but
sometimes 1 can really feel it.
Well just have to see in three
weeks.”
Before his injury, Marshall’s
intensity and big-play ability
was considered one of Georgia’s
biggest offensive assets.
“He would really like to be out
there with us,” quarterback
Greg Talley said. “When you
lose a player of Arthur’s caliber,
you really miss it.”
Georgia wide receiver Kevin
Maxwell had a chance to spend
time with the SEC’s 1989 leader
in kickoff returns (27.8 yard av
erage) the first few days after
the injury.
“Marshall is part of our
family,” Maxwell said. “He was
pretty down to begin with be
cause he is such a dedicated
player. The biggest thing is that
he was the catalyst of our of
fense and he liked it that way.
It’s tough for him to not be out
there.”
Marshall’s injury has also
been felt on the coaches side of
the squad.
“Arthur is our finest big-play
receiver and it will be a real
task to compensate,” Georgia of
fensive coordinator George
Haffner said. ‘We do have a
bunch of good receivers but we
can’t help but be hurt with him
out of there.”
Because Marshall was al
ready redshirted after missing
the entire 1987 season with a
broken arm, he will lose his eli
gibility this year.
"That’s hard to deal with,”
Marshall said. “But I still have
next year to play and now I have
more time to study and work to
ward my (Business/Real Estate)
degree.”
However, it’s virtually as-
surred that Marshall won’t be
studying Saturday afternoon.
“Naturally, we’re all ready to
watch the game,” said Rose
mary Marshall, Arthur’s
mother. “Now Arthur and I have
a chance to watch Georgia play
together.”
In a little more than two sea
sons at Georgia, Marshall
racked up 662 receiving yards
and averaged 24 yards a catch,
both team-best marks for that
span. On a team that is ranked
last in total passing offense so
far this season, Marshall’s loss
is crucial.
“He’s another leader we’ve
lost this year,” said comerback
Chuck Carswell, Marshall’s
roommate at McWhorter Hall.
‘We lost a leader vocally as well
as a leader through his actions.
When he was out here, he was
an important person to talk to
and always willing to help.”
To help ease Marshall’s emo
tional stress, his family is
taking measures to comfort him.
“Oh we’ve done all sorts of
stuff,” said Rosemary Marshall.
'We’re a close-knit family.
We’ve got Arthur playing
scrabble and monopoly to keep
him cheered up.”
But there is another game Ar
thur Marshall wants to be in
volved in.
UF escapes death penalty
By RANDY WALKER
Sports Editor
The University of Florida foot
ball and basketball programs es
caped the death penalty
yesterday, but the NCAA Com
mittee on Infractions committee
didn’t let the Gators slip away
without a scratch.
The NCAA banned the Gator
football program from a post
season bowl appearence this year
while still allowing the Gators to
play on television. The NCAA
took away two scholarships away
from the men’s basketball pro
gram for the 1991-92 season and
one scholarship for the 1992-93
season. Because former basket
ball player Vernon Maxwell had
hired a professional agent prior
to the 1988 NCAA Basketball
Tournament, the University also
must return at least a share of
net receipts during the 1988
NCAAs after distributions to the
Southeastern Conference and the
other institutions in that confer
ence. The records and perfor
mances from the 1988 NCAA
Tournament are also deleted.
In May, Florida was charged
with 10 NCAA violations in
cluding cash payments to
players, salary additions to two
assistant football coaches and a
lack of institutional control over
the athletics program.
Steve Spurier: already
cleaning Gator image
University officials tried to
soften an NCAA blow by quicklv
firing football coach Galen Hall
and basketball coach Norm
Sloan.
The Florida football program
was previously put on probation
in 1984. The Gators would have
faced the death penalty if the
second major infraction had oc-
cured within a five-year time pe
riod.
New Gator football coach Steve
Spurrier has shined a new light
in the Florida football program.
Bulldogs in dire situation
as Crimson Tide rolls in
By ERIK SCHMIDT
Sports Writer
The Alabama Crimson Tide will
be facing a sorely depleted Bulldog
lineup when they roll in to Sanford
Stadium on Saturday, but head
coach Ray Goff remains optimistic.
“I always think I’ve got a
chance,” Goff said. “I’ve never gone
into a game thinking I was going to
lose. If I did, I’d be in the wrong
profession."
The Bulldogs, who have already
lost wide receiver Arthur Marshall
and strong safety David Hargett to
broken legs this season, were in
jeopardy of seeing tight end Chris
Broom, flanker Kevin Maxwell,
and center Jack Swan all go down
with a variety of injuries.
After practice yesterday, Goff
said that all three players were
healthy and would see playing
time against Alabama on Sat
urday.
Goff also said that outside line
backer Bryant Gantt would start in
place of the suspended Norman
Cowins. Gantt had a big game
against Southern Mississippi last
week as he was in on six tackles,
more than doubling Cowins total
output.
Either red-shirt freshman Earl
Fouch or sophomore Dawayne
Grace will start in place of the in
jured Hargett, he said. Grace is
generally used as a special teams
player.
The defense is especially hard
hit by a depletion of key personnel,
including the loss of five starters.
Curt Douglas, George Brewer,
Casey Barnum, and Clay Ware are
all academic casualties while
Cross Country Dogs face Alabama
By ERIK SCHMIDT
Sports Writer
The University men’s and
women’s cross country teams will
be competing in the Alabama Invi
tational this weekend where they
will meet a field of eight to 12
schools.
Head coach John Mitchell said
he is really unsure of how the
teams will perform in the meet, but
is really not concerned with the
competition.
“I have no idea scoring-wise of
how we’ll finish,” he said. “I’m not
concerned with other teams. I’m
worried about the team im
proving.”
The improvement seems to be
coming along just fine, at least on
the women’s side, as the Lady Bull
dogs captured first place in the
Western Kentucky Invitational
last weekend. Junior Keli Butler
was the top finisher for the Lady
Bulldogs running the five-kilo
meter race in 17:51 to take second
place.
The men’s team finished fifth
out of a 12-team field as the host
Hilltoppers took home first place
Eric Tyson paced the men with a
26:5 run to finish in a tie for sev-
I’m not concerned with
other teams. I’m
worried about our team
improving
enth.
Tyson, however, is currently out
due to a groin injury and may miss
the upcoming meet. The Bulldog
senior injured himself running
down a hill too fast, Mitchell said.
Tyson and freshman Terry Reed
have been finishing first and
second for the Bulldogs this
season.
The only other mentionable in
jury on the men’s side belongs to
junior Pat Cunniff who rolled an
ankle. The women have been rela
tively ir\jury free, Mitchell said.
Georgia’s training has been
coming along fine, he said. Right
now the team is doing high-
mileage training, which entails
running 90 miles per week.
“We’re working very, very hard
right now,” he said. “It’s a tough
time for the kids.”
The Tale of the Tape
OFFENSE
GEORGIA
SEC RANK
ALABAMA
SEC RANK
Avg. Points Per Game
15 5
9th
185
5th
Rushing Yards
249
6th
319
4th
Avg. Rushing Per Game
124 5
159 5
Passing Yards
223
10th
427
4th
Avg. Passing Per Game
111 5
2135
Total Offensive Yardage
472
10th
746
4th
Avg. Yards Per Game
236
373
Turnover Ratio
•1
7th
-2 5
10th
DEFENSE
Avg Points Per Game
17.5
5th
22
6th
Rushing Yards Allowed
313
6th
132
1st
Avg. Rushing Per Game Allowed
156 5
66
Passing Yards Allowed
291
3rd
396
5th
Avg Passing Per Game Allowed
145 5
198
Opp. Total OfTense
604
6th
528
3rd
Opp. Total OfTense Avg
302
264
Stephan Moroekl/The Red and Black
Bulldog, Tide stats and rankings: Dogs rank near
bottom of SEC in many offensive categories
Cowins is currently facing drug
charges.
Defensive coach Dicky Clark
said the injuries will play a fairly
big role, but that so far the replace
ments have been up to the task.
“Certain people will have to step
forward and play hard,” he
said.“So far, they’ve been doing
well.”
Goff dismissed any ideas that
Alabama’s winless slate would ei
ther be a boon or obstacle to his
team.
“Bama’s always a good football
team,” he said.