SPORTS
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Friday, November 16, 2018 3B
a running threat
GERALD HERBERT I Associated Press
Alabama running back Damien Harris (34) leaps over LSU safety Todd Harris Jr. (33) on
a carry in the first half ofthe game Nov. 3 in Baton Rouge, La.
Standings
Southeastern Conference
Conference
W L PF
East
All
PA
Games
W
L
PF
PA
Georgia
7
1
276
151
9
1
370
158
Florida
5
3
209
205
7
3
310
221
Kentucky
5
3
146
132
7
3
229
162
South Carolina
4
4
230
243
5
4
279
258
Missouri
2
4
159
179
6
4
355
276
Tennessee
2
4
132
201
5
5
243
247
Vanderbilt
1
5
134
193
4
6
258
259
Alabama
7
0
322
West
92
10
0
486
127
LSU
5
2
165
129
8
2
267
167
Texas A&M
4
3
168
179
6
4
301
224
Auburn
3
4
157
145
6
4
265
183
Mississippi St.
2
4
67
106
6
4
262
135
Mississippi
1
5
144
257
5
5
375
363
Arkansas
0
6
132
229
2
8
254
327
Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Division
Conference All Games
W L PF PA W
L
PF
PA
Clemson
7
0
343
87
10
0
457
127
Syracuse
5
2
276
203
8
2
444
276
Boston College
4
2
167
144
7
3
342
244
NC State
3
3
181
191
6
3
283
231
Wake Forest
2
4
161
241
5
5
318
358
Florida St.
2
5
141
229
4
6
227
316
Louisville
0
7
152
346
2
8
217
421
Pittsburgh
5
1
Coastal Division
232 174 6
4
299
296
Virginia
4
2
136
109
7
3
284
197
Georgia Tech
4
3
234
209
6
4
376
275
Duke
3
3
163
174
7
3
313
235
Virginia Tech
3
3
148
168
4
5
268
279
Miami
2
4
135
127
5
5
309
201
North Carolina
1
6
188
255
1
8
224
320
Associated Press
Seminoles’ bowl streak in
jeopardy against No. 22 BC
Florida State is battling recent history as
it looks to extend one of its most cherished
streaks.
The Seminoles (4-6,2-5 Atlantic Coast Confer
ence) must knock off No. 22 Boston College (7-3,
4-2) on Saturday and then No. 15 Florida (7-3) to
extend their bowl streak, which dates to 1982.
While Florida State has dug quite the hole for
itself, the roadblocks ahead are daunting — the
Seminoles are 0-7 against ranked teams since
the start of the 2017 season.
“It’s important to us,” coach Willie Taggart
said. “It’s important to our players, it’s impor
tant to our fan base, it’s impor
tant to the teams that came
before us that we keep it going
and we talked about it as a
team and our guys understand
what’s at stake, it’s important
for our seniors to leave here
and not be that senior class
that didn’t go to a bowl game. ”
The Seminoles’ bowl streak
began in December 1982 when
they were invited to the Gator
Bowl and defeated West Virginia.
They have gone to a bowl in 36 straight sea
sons, including a 14-year run of top-5 finishes in
the Top 25 from 1987-2000 under coach Bobby
Bowden. The streak is so long that it’s older
than current Florida State offensive coordina
tor Walt Bell, who was born in June 1984.
The streak has had some close calls, includ
ing last season as Florida State had to rally in
November to make a run to a bowl game. The
Seminoles were 3-6 before they defeated Dela
ware State, Florida and Louisiana-Monroe to
become bowl-eligible.
That stretch was easier as Florida State didn’t
face a ranked team. This time the Seminoles
have finished with six ranked opponents in their
final seven games.
Bowden said he won’t be disappointed if the
bowl streak is broken.
And this may be the year. The Seminoles
have lost three straight games by a combined
148-51, which is the most points given up by
Florida State in a three-game stretch in pro
gram history.
Associated Press
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Not just
No. 1 Crimson Tide
not relying as heavily
on the ground game
Associated Press
Alabama’s offense can still try to play
the neighborhood bully at times, just not
quite so effectively as in recent seasons.
Tua Tagovailoa and the top-ranked
Crimson Tide’s offense were not as high
flying as they had been when they ran up
against two of the Southeastern Confer
ence’s top defenses. But ‘Bama has proven
it can still overpower with force even if the
running game hasn’t been nearly as domi
nant this season.
The Crimson Tide, which hosts The
Citadel on Saturday, turned to the running
game early and late against No. 25 Missis
sippi State to build and hold onto a lead.
“At the end of that game and at the end
of the LSU game and a couple others this
year, it’s one of the things we’ve gotten
better at, being able to run the ball when
they know you’re running it,” Alabama
left tackle Jonah Williams said. “So I think
being able to do that, we end the game
with it in our control.”
It used to be a foregone conclusion that
defenses would load up against ‘Bama’s
ground game.
There’s no doubt Alabama’s offense is
more diverse this season, but the tailbacks
have heard the criticism about a running
game that’s been the offensive staple
under coach Nick Saban.
The Tide hasn’t really run the ball much
less than last season. The yards just aren’t
coming in quite such big chunks.
Even without a dangerous runner like
Jalen Hurts at quarterback, Alabama has
only run 37 fewer times than through the
first 10 games last season. But the Tide
produced 33 touchdowns and averaged
6.0 yards per carry during that span a year
ago, compared to 25 touchdowns and 5.2
ypc in 2018.
Alabama still has a typically talented
backfield : The veteran Damien Harris,
the versatile Josh Jacobs and the defender
hurdling highlight-reel runner Najee
Harris.
Only Jacobs was anything less than a
five-star recruit.
But Alabama opened against Missis
sippi State with two run-heavy touchdown
drives, totaling 16 rushes and just six
passes. The Tide closed with 10 straight
runs, the first six from Jacobs and the last
four from Damien Harris.
Like Williams, Jacobs relishes those
kind of drives.
“You know that we’re going to run the
ball and you know they’re going to try to
stop the run, so they’re going to overload
the box,” Jacobs said. “And it’s just man
power. Me versus you. That’s what we try
to do, be more physical.”
Damien Harris is trying to become the
first Alabama player to rush for 1,000
yards in three seasons, but ranks 14th in
the Southeastern Conference with a mod
est 595 yards. Najee Harris has run for 588
and Jacobs has 381 yards and nine touch
downs while also returning kicks.
Jacobs insists he doesn’t mind that much
of the attention has gone to Tagovailoa and
the receivers.
“When our name is called, we execute,”
he said. “Maybe we haven’t had as many
opportunities but now we take advantage
of those opportunities.”
Schedule
Today’s games
SOUTHWEST
Memphis (6-4) at SMU (5-5), 9 p.m.
FAR WEST
Boise St. (7-2) at New Mexico (3-7), 9 p.m.
E. Washington (8-2) at Portland St. (4-6), 10:05
p.m.
Saturday’s games
EAST
Colgate (9-0) at Army (8-2), Noon
Fordham (1-9) at Bucknell (1-9), Noon
Duquesne (7-3) at CCSU (6-4), Noon
Villanova (4-6) at Delaware (7-3), Noon
Yale (5-4) at Harvard (5-4), Noon
Elon (6-3) at Maine (7-3), Noon
San Diego (8-2) at Marist (5-5), Noon
New Hampshire (4-6) at Rhode Island (5-5), Noon
Wagner (3-7) at Robert Morris (1-8), Noon
Penn St. (7-3) at Rutgers (1-9), Noon
St. Francis (Pa.) (4-6) at Sacred Heart (6-4), Noon
South Florida (7-3) at Temple (6-4), Noon
Holy Cross (4-6) at Georgetown (5-5), 12:30 p.m.
Lehigh (2-8) at Lafayette (3-7), 12:30 p.m.
Cornell (3-6) at Columbia (5-4), 1 p.m.
Penn (6-3) at Princeton (9-0), 1 p.m.
Brown (1-8) at Dartmouth (8-1), 1:30 p.m.
James Madison (7-3) at Towson (7-3), 2 p.m.
Notre Dame (10-0) vs. Syracuse (8-2) at Bronx,
N.Y., 2:30 p.m.
Stony Brook (7-3) at Albany (NY) (2-8), 3:30 p.m.
Tulsa (2-8) at Navy (2-8), 3:30 p.m.
SOUTH
The Citadel (4-5) at Alabama (10-0), Noon
Idaho (4-6) at Florida (7-3), Noon
Middle Tennessee (7-3) at Kentucky (7-3), Noon
Ohio St. (9-1) at Maryland (5-5), Noon
Arkansas (2-8) at Mississippi St. (6-4), Noon
Pittsburgh (6-4) at Wake Forest (5-5), Noon
NC State (6-3) at Louisville (2-8), 12:20 p.m.
Butler (4-6) at Davidson (5-5), 1 p.m.
Samford (5-5) at ETSU (8-2), 1 p.m.
St. Andrews (2-6) at Hampton (6-3), 1 p.m.
Bryant (5-5) at Howard (4-5), 1 p.m.
Dayton (5-5) at Jacksonville (2-7), 1 p.m.
Drake (6-3) at Morehead St. (3-7), 1 p.m.
Morgan St. (3-7) at Norfolk St. (4-5), 1 p.m.
Valparaiso (2-8) at Stetson (7-2), 1 p.m.
Monmouth (NJ) (7-3) at Gardner-Webb (3-7),
1:30 p.m.
Savannah St. (2-7) at SC State (4-5), 1:30 p.m.
Presbyterian (2-7) at Wofford (7-3), 1:30 p.m.
Florida A&M (6-4) vs. Bethune-Cookman (7-5) at
Orlando, Fla., 2 p.m.
Charleston Southern (4-5) at Campbell (6-4),
2 p.m.
FIU (7-3) at Charlotte (4-6), 2 p.m.
Va. Lynchburg (2-6) at Delaware St. (2-8), 2 p.m.
Alabama A&M (5-5) at MVSU (1-8), 2 p.m.
NC A&T (8-2) at NC Central (4-6), 2 p.m.
VMI (1-9) at Old Dominion (3-7), 2 p.m.
Richmond (3-7) at William & Mary (4-5), 2 p.m.
Georgia St. (2-8) at Appalachian St. (7-2), 2:30
p.m.
UTSA (3-7) at Marshall (6-3), 2:30 p.m.
E. Kentucky (6-4) at Tennessee Tech (1 -9), 2:30
p.m.
Jackson St. (5-4) at Alcorn St. (7-3), 3 p.m.
Jacksonville St. (8-2) at Kennesaw St. (9-1),
3 p.m.
Furman (5-4) at Mercer (5-5), 3 p.m.
W. Carolina (3-7) at North Carolina (1-8), 3 p.m.
UT Martin (2-8) at Tennessee St. (3-5), 3 p.m.
Boston College (7-3) at Florida St. (4-6), 3:30 p.m.
Virginia (7-3) at Georgia Tech (6-4), 3:30 p.m.
Louisiana Tech (7-3) at Southern Miss. (4-5),
3:30 p.m.
Missouri (6-4) at Tennessee (5-5), 3:30 p.m.
Texas St. (3-7) at Troy (8-2), 3:30 p.m.
Miami (5-5) at Virginia Tech (4-5), 3:30 p.m.
Liberty (4-5) at Auburn (6-4), 4 p.m.
UMass (4-7) at Georgia (9-1), 4 p.m.
Lamar (6-4) at McNeese St. (6-4), 4 p.m.
Murray St. (5-5) at Austin Peay (4-6), 5 p.m.
Georgia Southern (7-3) at Coastal Carolina (5-5),
5 p.m.
South Alabama (2-8) at Louisiana-Lafayette (5-6),
5 p.m.
Duke (7-3) at Clemson (10-0), 7 p.m.
UConn (1-9) at East Carolina (2-7), 7 p.m.
Rice (1-10) at LSU (8-2), 7:30 p.m.
Chattanooga (6-4) at South Carolina (5-4), 7:30
p.m.
Mississippi (5-5) at Vanderbilt (4-6), 7:30 p.m.
UTEP (1-9) at W. Kentucky (1-9), 7:30 p.m.
Cincinnati (9-1) at UCF (9-0), 8 p.m.
MIDWEST
Northwestern (6-4) at Minnesota (5-5), Noon
Michigan St. (6-4) at Nebraska (3-7), Noon
Youngstown St. (4-6) at Illinois St. (5-5), 1 p.m.
E. Illinois (3-7) at SE Missouri (7-3), 2 p.m.
Indiana St. (7-3) at W. Illinois (5-5), 2 p.m.
South Dakota (4-6) at S. Dakota St. (6-3), 3 p.m.
Bowling Green (2-8) at Akron (4-5), 3:30 p.m.
Iowa (6-4) at Illinois (4-6), 3:30 p.m.
Texas Tech (5-5) at Kansas St. (4-6), 3:30 p.m.
S. Illinois (2-8) at N. Dakota St. (10-0), 3:30 p.m.
Wisconsin (6-4) at Purdue (5-5), 3:30 p.m.
Indiana (5-5) at Michigan (9-1), 4 p.m.
Missouri St. (3-6) at N. Iowa (5-5), 5 p.m.
SOUTHWEST
TCU (4-6) at Baylor (5-5), Noon
Alabama St. (3-6) at Prairie View (3-6), 2 p.m.
Cent. Arkansas (5-5) at Abilene Christian (6-4),
3 p.m.
Louisiana-Monroe (6-4) at Arkansas St. (6-4),
3 p.m.
Sam Houston St. (5-5) at Houston Baptist (1-9),
3 p.m.
West Virginia (8-1) at Oklahoma St. (5-5), 3:30
p.m.
UAB (9-1) at Texas A&M (6-4), 7 p.m.
Kansas (3-7) at Oklahoma (9-1), 7:30 p.m.
Iowa St. (6-3) at Texas (7-3), 8 p.m.
Ark.-Pine Bluff (1-9) at Texas Southern (2-7),
8:30 p.m.
FAR WEST
Utah (7-3) at Colorado (5-5), 1:30 p.m.
Utah St. (9-1) at Colorado St. (3-7), 2 p.m.
Montana St. (6-4) at Montana (6-4), 2 p.m.
Southern Cal (5-5) at UCLA (2-8), 3:30 p.m.
Sacramento St. (3-6) at UC Davis (8-2), 4 p.m.
Air Force (4-6) at Wyoming (4-6), 4 p.m.
North Dakota (5-5) at N. Arizona (3-6), 4:30 p.m.
Oregon St. (2-8) at Washington (7-3), 4:30 p.m.
Nevada (6-4) at San Jose St. (1-9), 5 p.m.
Weber St. (8-2) at Idaho St. (6-4), 5:30 p.m.
S. Utah (1-9) at Cal Poly (4-6), 7:05 p.m.
Stanford (6-4) at California (6-4), 7:30 p.m.
New Mexico St. (3-7) at BYU (5-5), 10:15 p.m.
San Diego St. (7-3) at Fresno St. (8-1), 10:30 p.m.
Arizona St. (6-4) at Oregon (6-4), 10:30 p.m.
Arizona (5-5) at Washington St. (9-1), 10:30 p.m.
UNLV (3-7) at Hawaii (6-5), 11 p.m.
Associated Press
Taggart
NFL
Jones modest about his milestones
RICK OSTENOSKII Associated Press
Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones (11) runs with the ball after the catch
while being pursued by the Cleveland Browns’ Jamie Collins (51) during the
game Nov. 10 in Cleveland.
Falcons WR feels
records he’s broken
are a team effort
Associated Press
Julio Jones seems to take pleasure
in shutting down questions about his
accomplishments.
It comes to him as naturally as
catching a pass over the middle and
stiff-arming a defender for extra
yards.
Jones, the Atlanta Falcons’ star
wideout, last week became the quick
est player in NFL history to reach
10,000 yards receiving. He accom
plished the feat in 104 games, easily
breaking Calvin Johnson’s mark of
115.
But Jones refuses to take much
credit, pointing out that quarterback
Matt Ryan, his teammate since the
Falcons drafted him
sixth overall in 2011,
and many others
played an equally
big role.
“For me, I’m
never an indi
vidual guy,” Jones
said Thursday. “I
couldn’t have done
it by myself. It was
just like Matt did a great job giving me
opportunities, the offensive line. It’s
like one of those things that I can’t go
out there and play by myself — foot
ball is the ultimate team sport. I don’t
know. I feel regular.”
Falcons offensive coordinator Steve
Sarkisian, in his second season work
ing with Jones, has a pretty good idea
why his big playmaker causes so many
matchup problems even as he’s con
stantly double-teamed. Linebackers
often aren’t fast enough to cover him.
Defensive backs are often too small to
tackle the 6-foot-3,220-pounder.
“It’s incredible how much ground
he can cover,” Sarkisian said. “You
can tell two guys to run a six-step
route. He may get to 20 yards and
another guy might run it at 14 or 15.
He can just cover so much ground, and
then his explosiveness to get in and out
of breaks, for a man that size, is very
impressive.”
Jones is more concerned with help
ing the Falcons (4-5) beat Dallas (4-5)
to stay in the NFC playoff hunt. The
Cowboys’ secondary has only two
interceptions but is still a threat with
cornerbacks Byron Jones, Chidobe
Awuzie and safeties Jeff Heath and
Xavier Woods having combined for 22
pass breakups.
“Cover-three team, mix in a little
man, and they do have cover-two in
there,” Jones said. “But who knows
how they’re going to play us? They’re
going to be who they are, and we can
probably expect them to come in with
one-high (safety).”
In last week’s loss at Cleveland,
the Falcons couldn’t answer quickly
enough when they trailed by 18 points
midway through the third quarter.
Knowing Atlanta was no longer a
threat to run the ball, the Browns
dropped back in coverage and kept
everything in front of them.
Jones wants the Falcons to establish
the run early and maintain it through
out the game. Ryan needs the threat
of play-action to keep the linebackers
up and let his receivers get open for
big gains.
“Not taking anything away from
Cleveland, but there were some
opportunities that we’ve got to take
advantage of,” Jones said. “There are
always things out there that you miss
on the field, but that’s more so on us.
We’ve made the corrections.”
Notes: Thursday marked the first
day that K Matt Bryant was listed as a
full participant in practice since Week
6. Bryant, the career franchise scoring
leader, has been sidelined with a sore
hamstring. If he is able to play, the
Falcons might release Giorgio Tavec-
chio to add depth at other positions. ..
MLB Deion Jones, returning from a
foot injury that’s sidelined him since
Week 1, was a limited participant for
the second straight day. .. Also lim
ited were WR Mohamed Sanu (hip), S
Damontae Kazee (shoulder), DE Der
rick Shelby (groin), LBs De’Vondre
Campbell (calf) and Bruce Carter
(knee).
Ryan
Mayfield taking
time to work with
Special Olympics
Baker Mayfield is making
a handoff from the heart.
The Browns rookie quar
terback has teamed up with
Barstool Sports to raise
money for Special Olympics,
an organization he
first made a per
sonal connection
with while playing
at Oklahoma. May-
field has helped cre
ate a line of clothing
merchandise ,
including T-shirts,
hoodies and a flag
bearing his image,
with 100 percent of the sales
proceeds going to Special
Olympics Ohio.
Mayfield was moved to do
more charitable work after
being involved in college
with “Special Spectators,”
a program that allows seri
ously ill children to have an
all-access, VIP-day at sport
ing events.
“It was a special bond,
and when you do stuff like
that, it makes a huge differ
ence when you can build an
actual relationship instead
of just saying, ‘Hey, I like
this cause I want to throw
money at it’,” Mayfield said
in a phone interview with
The Associated Press.
“But there were rela
tionships throughout that
process that made a huge
impact on me so my love for
inspiring kids and compet
ing in sports made Special
Olympics a very easy choice
to help out.”
Mayfield said being
around children and young
adults with disabilities
and other challenges gives
him perspective — and
appreciation.
“I’m so blessed to be in
the position that I’m in,” he
said. “It makes me think
that there are no bad days. I
need to be thankful for what
I have and when I’m around
kids like that, they always
find a way to put a smile on
my face when they have
absolutely every reason not
to do that. And to me, that’s
inspiring. That’s finding the
good in every situation, the
positives in every situation
that you can and it’s so much
fun to see.”
Mayfield launched the ini
tiative during his bye week
with the Browns,
who selected him
with the No. 1 over
all pick in this year’s
NFL draft. Mayfield
had his best game
as a pro last week,
throwing three
touchdown passes
as Cleveland beat
Atlanta 28-16 to snap
a four-game losing streak.
Former Falcons
star Green has
ALS diagnosis
Former Syracuse and
NFL defensive lineman Tim
Green has revealed he has
Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
Green wrote in a Face-
book post Wednesday night
that for the past five years
he’s been coping with “neu
rological problems” in his
hands. He says doctors first
thought the damage his
elbows had received during
his playing days in the 1980s
and 1990s was the culprit.
But the problems didn’t go
away after surgery and his
voice also began to get weak
before he was diagnosed
with ALS.
The 54-year-old Green,
the Orange All-American
who played eight seasons
in the NFL with the Atlanta
Falcons, writes that the ver
sion of the disease, known
as amyotrophic lateral scle
rosis, that he has is slow-
progressing and that he’s
“extremely grateful” for
that. A best-selling author
since his playing days,
Green will appear on CBS’
“60 Minutes” on Sunday
night to tell his story.
Associated Press
Mayfield
