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PICKS OF THE WEEK
Jason Butt Marshall Duncan Tyler Estep Phillip Kisubika Predicted
Sportswriter Sportswriter Sports Editor F&G Editor Score
£ Miami
@ Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma Miami Oklahoma 24,
IHi Miami 20
Oklahoma
PSI Oregon
@ Oregon Michigan Michigan Michiqan Michigan 27,
M Oregon 21
Michigan
@ Texas Texas TCU Texas Texas 31,
"w" TCU 17
■ Texas
Virginia
▼ / Tech
_ @ LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU 31,
# LSU Virginia Tech ,3
Nebraska
@ Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska 21,
'Wtm Wake Wake Forest 20
TT r Forest
S South
Carolina
@ Georgia Georgia Georgia Georgia Georgia 24,
iEE S. Carolina 14
Georgia
Overall record
this season 3-2 4-1 2-3 3-2
Stafford matures, shines as QB
While all the talk follow
ing last weekend’s sea
son opener centered
around freshman tailback
Knowshon Moreno, who spun
and sped his way into Bulldog
fans’ hearts, it was quarterback
Matthew Stafford’s stat line
that showed me something: 18
for 24, 234 yards and two touch
downs.
It was a performance that
exemplified the evolution of a
signal caller that many, includ
ing myself, have doubted in his
short time wearing red and
black.
“I think experience is the dif
ference. It’s that year under his
belt,” senior linebacker
Brandon Miller said. “He’s
worked hard in the offseason
and watched a lot of film and
has done a good job of making
himself better.”
When Stafford showed up in
Athens in spring 2006, he made
a big impression on anyone
who saw him —and I mean big.
The freshman looked closer to
250 pounds than his advertised
235.
Redshirt sophomore line
backer Dannell Ellerbe said
when he first saw the quarter-
Bulldogs rank 12th in USA Today poll
First-place votes in parentheses
1. USC (49)1-0
2. LSU (4) 1-0
3. Florida (7) 1-0
4. West Virginia 1-0
5. Wisconsin 1-0
6. Oklahoma 1-0
7. Texas 1-0
8. Louisville 1-0
■■ * • . J I jU §•. ft "\ \ \
MOB'L£ USERS fo' ShQwtimwg Ti BALLS wnh jg
Phillip Kisubika
back, he thought Stafford was
Georgia’s new fullback instead
of its savior under center.
It was a rocky road for the
Dallas, Texas, native last sea
son, as he got on the job train
ing in the SEC, throwing
almost twice as many intercep
tions (13) as touchdowns (7).
Amidst all the questions and
doubts, Stafford is now 7-2 as a
starter at Georgia, and this
week, head coach Mark Richt
even told the Atlanta Journal-
Constitution’s Carter
Strickland that Stafford is “the
most talented guy overall I
have been able to coach” and
his performance against OK
State was “the best game of his
career top to bottom.”
Stafford’s response? “Yeah, I
agree. Just the fact that we
never really turned the ball
over, never really threw one up
9. Virginia Tech 1-0
10. California 1-0
11. Ohio State 1-0
12. Georgia 1-0
13. Auburn 1-0
14. UCLA 1-0
15. Penn State 1-0
16. Rutgers 1-0
17. Nebraska 1-0
18. Arkansas 1-0
FIRST & GOAL
for grabs, made it that. I think I
was 100 percent on all my
checks, so I think it probably
was my best one,” he said.
“I think I did a pretty good
job of managing this game. We
did a good job of executing and
it really turned out well for us.”
My response? You’re damn
right he’s the best quarterback
Richt has coached. His two
Heisman trophy-winning quar
terbacks at Florida State were
guys that fit the Seminoles’
system and couldn’t do any
thing outside of it.
Chris “Old Man River”
Weinke holds the NFL record
for most consecutive losses by
a quarterback at 15, and
Charlie Ward thought the NBA
would better suit his skills,
which was probably a good
decision.
Last year, Stafford showed
us he could be a gunslinger.
Now, he’s learning how to man
age games as well as he can win
them.
“There were definitely some
times when I could’ve chunked
them up there but didn’t. We
did a good job of just taking
what the defense gave us and it
made it easy on me,” Stafford
19. TCU 1-0
20. Boise State 1-0
21. Georgia Tech 1-0
22. Hawaii 1-0
23. Texas A&M 1-0
24. Tennessee 0-1
25. Boston College 1-0
Others Receiving Votes:
Clemson 145, Michigan 132, Miami
said.
“He was very much in con
trol. He was smart with the
ball, which we needed him to
be, and it just went out to the
entire offense,” junior fullback
Brannan Southerland said.
Stafford’s control of the
offense, combined with the
intrepid play-calling of new
offensive coordinator Mike
Bobo, should pay big dividends.
“He was a pretty confident
guy coming in last year, but he
is a little more confident this
year. He holds the offense bet
ter and has a better under
standing of the game, and he
also makes less mistakes,”
senior tailback Thomas Brown
said.
“He’s a lot more careful with
the ball. He is going through
the maturation process and will
be good this year. He looked
great on Saturday.”
If Stafford can keep looking
great for a few more Saturdays
this season, the Bulldogs can
expect to ride his maturation
process late into the bowl sea
son.
Phillip Kisubika is the
First & Goal Editor.
(FL) 61, Brigham Young 49, Oregon 41,
South Carolina 34, Missouri 29, Texas
Tech 25, Oregon State 24, Alabama 21,
South Florida 20, Southern Miss 16,
Florida State 14, Kentucky 4, Arizona
State 3, lowa 1, Wake Forest 1,
Washington 1.
Dropped From Rankings:
Michigan 5, Florida State 21.
The Red & Black | Fbiday, September 7, 2007
Young
Curran
fulfills
dream
By MARSHALL DUNCAN
The Red & Black
Freshman linebacker Rennie
Curran was standing on the side
line in Sanford Stadium last week
when the sideline phone rang.
Brandon Miller turned to Curran
and handed him the phone. “Are
you ready to go?” said lineback
ers coach John Jancek from the
coaches’ booth.
In that very second, Curran’s
childhood dreams became a real
ity as he entered the game as a
middle linebacker for the Georgia
Bulldogs. “It felt like a dream,”
said Curran. “The fans were crazy.
I was psyched to get in there.”
Curran grew up in Gwinnett
County and attended Brookwood
High School in Snellville. Left at
that, he would be like most of the
University student
population.
However, Curran's
story starts 5,000
miles away. His V* £ls*
family's roots begin B
in Liberia, from B
which in 1982 his
parents emigrated I
to the United
States for an edu- CURRAN
cation. In 1988,
Curran was bom in Atlanta.
While the family originally had
intended to return to Liberia, a
civil war broke out just a year
after Curran’s birth, preventing
any such return. “We still have a
lot of family there and land and a
house,” said Curran.
Though his roots may be in
Liberia, Curran grew up like any
other suburban Atlanta kid play
ing soccer, piano and the drums.
Curran gave up soccer for foot
ball around the age of 10 but still
plays the drums and piano. “I
play the drums for my church
choir, and I’ve got a keyboard in
my room I still mess around
with,” said Curran.
Throughout high school,
Curran balanced football and
weight-lifting. By the time he
reached his senior year, Curran
had become the state weight-lift
ing champion.
While the weight-lifting was
outside of football, it still aided
his ability. “That really helped for
football because the lifts help
with your explosiveness. Cleans
and bench press helped with
blocking and just better strength
all around,” he said.
Curran recalls doing the same
workout in high school as he now
does with the team. “I was doing
the Georgia workout even before
I got here,” said Curran.
It wasn’t until the recruiting
letters began showing up at his
house his junior year of high
school that Curran began realiz
ing his college football potential.
By the following April, Curran
had received a scholarship offer
from the Bulldogs, his favorite
team since he attended a game at
age 11.
When he arrived on campus,
Miller and senior tailback Thomas
Brown took to him immediately.
“They took me under their wing
and really helped me out. It’s just
a great group with great leader
ship,” said Curran.
By Saturday’s end, Curran had
participated in ten plays, in which
he got one tackle. If Curran’s
work ethic and physical prowess
are any indication, the Bulldog
linebacking corps will be in good
hands for the next four seasons.
5 B