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SPORTS
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Thursday, November 1,2018 3B
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
MLB
Freshmen
SEC players filling breakout
roles for all the league’s teams
Associated Press
in big roles
BUTCH DILL I Associated Press
Alabama wide receiver Jaylen Waddle (17) catches a pass
for a touchdown against Louisiana-Lafayette during the
first half of the game Sept. 29 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Alabama receiver Jaylen
Waddle is the Southeastern
Conference’s top freshman,
and it’s not really even
close.
Waddle has 21 catches
for 457 yards and three
touchdowns and has been
equally valuable as a punt
returner, averaging 16
yards and taking one back
for a score. He’s turning in
the kind of performances
coaches, players and
fans envision annually on
national signing day.
Nearly every SEC signee
enrolls with high expecta
tions, some more realistic
than others.
Reaching those is a some
times-daunting task. The
talent-rich league is filled
with future first-round draft
picks, often making it diffi
cult for first-year guys to get
on the field, let alone break
into the starting lineup.
But a deeper look reveals
a number of youngsters
carving out roles, making
plays and setting them
selves up to be the SEC’s
next wave of stars.
Waddle heads the list.
He caught four passes for
117 yards and a touchdown
in Alabama’s last game, a
58-21 victory at Tennessee.
“If you’re going to play
young guys, they’ve got to
be mature,” Volunteers
coach Jeremy Pruitt said.
“They’ve got to know how
to prepare. Lots of times
the guys can start off really
well early, but because of
the grind of the season, the
academic part, sometimes
sustaining throughout the
year (can be difficult).
“You look at it all over
the country. There are
teams that play with lots
of freshmen, but probably
more times than not, the
teams that have experi
ence, it probably shows on
Saturday. There’s nothing
more valuable you can get
than just going out there
and playing and kind of get
ting used to it.”
Although injuries often
thrust freshmen onto the
field — like Florida corner-
back Trey Dean and Missis
sippi linebacker Kevontae’
Ruggs — a number of new
comers earn playing time
without any assistance:
■ Alabama cornerback
Patrick Surtain Jr. has
started the last five games
and has 16 tackles, four
pass breakups, an intercep
tion, a quarterback hurry
and a forced fumble.
■ Auburn running back
Shaun Shivers had 10 car
ries for 45 yards two weeks
ago at Mississippi, getting
more snaps behind redshirt
freshman tailback JaTarvi-
ous Whitlow.
■ Auburn receivers
Seth Williams and Anthony
Schwartz rank third and
fourth, respectively, in
yards and catches while
averaging 22 yards a
reception.
■ Florida place-kicker
Evan McPherson had made
12 of 13 field goals and all
27 extra points.
■ Georgia quarterback
Justin Fields appeared to
have a growing role before
not playing last weekend
against the Gators.
■ Missouri receiver
Jalen Knox has 23 catches
for 396 yards and three
scores, including one
against the Crimson Tide.
■ South Carolina cor
nerback Jaycee Horn has
started six of seven games
and has 30 tackles, a team-
high six pass breakups and
one sack.
■ Tennessee corner-
back Alontae Taylor has
started five games, includ
ing the season opener, and
has 25 tackles, two forced
fumbles and a touchdown.
■ Tennessee corner-
back Bryce Thompson
has six starts, 23 tackles, a
team-high two interceptions
and a forced fumble.
■ Vanderbilt receiver
C. J. Bolar has 20 catches for
281 yards and a touchdown.
“You start out, you’ve
got your freshmen and you
know they’re talented,”
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn
said. “There’s a period of
time that they get their feet
wet and you get to evaluate
them and see what they can
do. Then, there’s a point
that you see the guys that
are comfortable making
plays and can execute and
everything that goes with
it.”
Making plays in Year 1 in
the SEC is usually a sign of
bigger things to come.
Alabama offensive line
man Jonah Williams, LSU
linebacker Devin White,
LSU cornerback Greedy
Williams, Mississippi offen
sive tackle Greg Little and
Mississippi State defensive
lineman Jeffery Simmons
are projected first-round
picks in the 2019 NFL draft
. Each of them made the
SEC’s All-Freshman Team
in the last two years.
Getting on the field is
relatively easy compared
to standing out.
“A lot of guys, you try to
keep the package somewhat
simple,” Florida coach Dan
Mullen said. “Look at this
freshman, what are his
strengths? Tim Tebow as a
freshman, maybe he’s the
easiest explanation for you.
When we put him in, we’re
going to put in plays that
highlight his strengths and
his strengths only. .. That
allows them to do things
well on the field that builds
up their confidence, even
though they don’t have a big
menu of things. ‘Hey, here
the couple things I need you
to know. Go do them really
well.’”
Then it’s typically only
a matter of time before
experience turns freshmen
into, well, no longer fresh
men. Just look at last year’s
national championship
game, which ended up fea
turing a pair of freshmen
quarterbacks — Alabama’s
Tua Tagovailoa and Geor
gia’s Jake Fromm.
“All of a sudden, they’re
very confident in what
they’re doing,” Mullen said.
“That helps them to go and
you can expand it more and
more.”
Hall of Famer
McCovey dies
Associated Press
Willie McCovey, the
sweet-swinging Hall of
Famer nicknamed “Stretch”
for his 6-foot-4 height and
those long arms, died
Wednesday. He was 80.
The San Francisco Giants
announced McCovey’s
death, saying the
fearsome hitter
passed “peacefully”
on Wednesday after
noon “after losing
his battle with ongo
ing health issues.”
A first baseman
and left fielder,
McCovey was a
.270 career hitter
with 521 home runs
and 1,555 RBIs in 22 major
league seasons, 19 of them
with the Giants. He also
played for the Athletics and
Padres.
McCovey made his major
league debut at age 21 on
July 30, 1959, and played
alongside the other Wil
lie — Hall of Famer Willie
Mays — into the 1972 sea
son before Mays was traded
to the New York Mets that
May.
McCovey batted .354
with 13 homers and 38 RBIs
on the way to winning the
1959 NL Rookie of the Year
award. The six-time All-Star
also won the 1969 NL MVP
and was inducted into the
Hall of Fame in 1986 after
his first time on the ballot.
“You knew right away
he wasn’t an ordinary ball
player,” Hall of Famer Hank
Aaron said, courtesy of the
Hall of Fame. “He was so
strong, and he had the gift
of knowing the strike zone.
There’s no telling how many
home runs he would have hit
if those knees weren’t both
ering him all the time and
if he played in a park other
than Candlestick.”
McCovey had been get
ting around in a wheelchair
in recent years because he
could no longer rely on his
once-dependable legs, yet
was still regularly seen at
the ballpark in his private
suite. McCovey had attended
games at AT&T Park as
recently as the season finale.
“I love him so much. It’s
a very sad day for me. We
were very close,” Hall of
Famer Orlando Cepeda said
in a telephone interview.
“Willie McCovey
was not only a great
ballplayer but a
great teammate.
He didn’t have any
fear. He never com
plained. I remem
ber one time in 1960
they sent him down
to the minor leagues
after being Rookie
of the Year the year
before. He didn’t complain.
He was very polite, he was
very quiet. He was a great
man, a great friend. I’m
going to miss him so much.
He didn’t say a bad word
about anybody.”
While the Giants captured
their third World Series
title of the decade in 2014,
McCovey returned to watch
them play while still recov
ering from an infection that
hospitalized him that Sep
tember for about a month.
He attended one game at
AT&T Park during both the
NL Championship Series
and World Series. He even
waited for the team at the
end of the parade route
inside San Francisco’s Civic
Center.
“It was touch and go for
a while,” McCovey said at
the time. “They pulled me
through, and I’ve come a
long way.”
McCovey had been
thrilled the Giants accom
plished something he didn’t
during a decorated career in
the major leagues.
Even four-plus decades
later, it still stung for the
left-handed slugging “Big
Mac” that he never won a
World Series after coming so
close. He lined out to end the
Giants’ 1962 World Series
loss to the Yankees.
McCovey
Maryland fires
Durkin after his
reinstatement
DJ Durkin’s return as
Maryland’s football coach
lasted one day.
Durkin was fired Wednes
day evening, just over 24
hours after being reinstated
by the school.
Instead of resolving the
issues facing the flawed
program, the decision by
the University System of
Maryland board of regents
on Tuesday to retain Dur
kin and athletic director
Damon Evans created a
different set of problems in
the wake of a player’s death
and discontent engulfing the
football team.
Several state offi
cials called for Dur
kin to be fired, and
one called the deci
sion to retain him an
“embarrassment.”
Maryland Presi
dent Wallace Loh
fired Durkin after
conferring with
the leadership of the Stu
dent Government Associa
tion, the Senate Executive
Committee, deans, depart
ment chairs and campus
leadership.
“The overwhelming
majority of stakeholders
expressed serious concerns
about Coach DJ Durkin
returning to the campus,”
Loh wrote in a statement.
“The chair
of the Board of
Regents has pub
licly acknowledged
that I had previ
ously raised seri
ous concerns about
Coach Durkin’s
return. This is not
at all a reflection
of my opinion of
Coach Durkin as a person.
However, a departure is in
the best interest of the Uni
versity, and this afternoon
Coach Durkin was informed
that the University will part
ways,” Loh wrote.
Loh’s action was imme
diately met with approval
by Maryland Congressman
Anthony G. Brown.
Associated Press
Durkin
PREVOST
■ Continued from 1B
But the balance then
shifts, as it tends to, back to
the other team, returning
the rivalry to its competitive
state.
Such is not the modern
case with LSU vs. Alabama.
LSU’s last win over Ala
bama seems like a distant,
fleeting memory, because
that’s what that long-ago day
is — distant and fleeting.
I know it happened, that
last win, because I was
there in Tuscaloosa in 2011
to witness it: the 9-6 epic
grudge match between No.
1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama
dubbed the “Game of the
Century.”
I know that last win hap
pened, but time’s passage
makes it almost an enigma
because, since LSU’s win
back in 2011, Alabama has
beaten LSU seven straight
times.
The teams met in early
2012 for the national title
game, a Bama beat down of
21-0, and though the Tigers
have come oh-so-close a
few times since then, the
fact remains that Alabama
has not lost to LSU since
November 5,2011.
Since that date, LSU vs.
Alabama is the rivalry that
isn’t.
For many, as you might
expect, Alabama beating
LSU is a normal part of
life. It is routine, darn-near
automatic, like sinking
5-foot putts, Chick-fil-A after
a kids’ soccer game, or
church on Sunday.
Consider this: the last
time LSU beat Alabama,
freshmen football play
ers on Saturday’s rosters
were in 6th grade, around
11 years old. The Tide has
not lost to the Tigers since
these players took a serious
interest in playing college
football.
It is the rivalry that isn’t.
It’s little wonder, then,
that the Alabama receiver
who caught the game-win
ning touchdown pass in last
year’s national champion
ship was from Louisiana,
and grew up just miles from
Tiger Stadium, but shunned
LSU for the Tide. Or that
last year’s top-rated cor
nerback recruit, a longtime
LSU commit, flipped to Ala
bama at the last second for
this reason: “I want to win
championships.”
How about this: I have
friends - not casual
acquaintances, but good
buddies - who are hard
core Alabama fans (as if
there’s any another kind).
After I met them, many
have gotten married, had
babies, moved to different
towns, started new jobs and
careers, and experienced
other major life events.
LSU hasn’t beaten Bama
once since I’ve known them.
It is the rivalry that isn’t.
Finally, consider this:
the last time LSU beat
Alabama, the top-rated TV
show was “Dallas,” Hall &
Oates’ hit “Private Eyes”
was the No. 1 single, and the
highest-grossing movie was
“Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
Kidding, as that was for
1981, but you get the point.
Also, Alabama beat LSU
that year.
Will Saturday return this
series to some semblance of
a rivalry? The stars, intan
gible as they are, suggest a
potential restoration.
A true Saturday night in
Death Valley and all the
trappings that accompany
it. The professional tailgat
ing under moss-draped
Oaks and the hundreds of
thousands of Tiger faith
ful and the voodoo and the
magic and the live Bengal
tiger mascot and the rau
cous student section and the
Golden Band from Tiger
Land and the smell of bour
bon wafting through the
south Looziana air.
All of this, along with a
7-1 record and No. 3 rank
ing in the College Football
Playoff, yet the Tigers enter
the contest as 14.5-point
underdogs to the mighty
Crimson Tide, the largest
point spread in Baton Rouge
against LSU in nearly 20
years.
Few give LSU a chance,
and rightfully so, because
they know Alabama has
imposed its will to make this
game what it is: the rivalry
that isn’t.
Ben Prevost writes SEC
Banter for The Times during
college football season.
He can be reached at
SECBanter@hotmail.com
FOR YOUR FAVORITES
10.29.18 - 11.30.18
