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SPORTS
Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com
Unties
gainesvilletimes.com
Sunday, November 18, 2018
COLLEGE
FOOTBALL
JOHN BAZEMORE I Associated Press
Georgia wide receiver Tyler Simmons
(87) scores a touchdown during the
game against Massachusetts Saturday in
Athens.
Bulldogs
blow by
UMass
BY CHARLES ODUM
Associated Press
ATHENS — Georgia’s playmakers
feasted as if lined up at an all-you-can-eat
buffet.
No worries. There was plenty of offense
for everyone.
Freshman Justin Fields threw two scor
ing passes and ran for another touchdown,
Tyler Simmons had rushing and receiving
scores, and No. 5 Georgia protected its
playoff hopes by overwhelming UMass
66-27 on Saturday in one of the biggest
offensive games in school history.
Another freshman, James Cook ran for
76 yards on only three carries, including
his first two career scoring runs, from 26
and 27 yards.
“Everybody gets equal opportunity,”
Simmons said.
Georgia gained 701 yards, the second-
highest total in school history, including
426 yards on the ground. The Bulldogs
never punted.
Coach Kirby Smart
said the Bulldogs “over
powered a team that’s
smaller than us.”
Fields led the Bull
dogs with 100 yards
rushing, including a
career-long run of 47
yards and a 3-yard scor
ing run. He completed 5
of 8 passes for 121 yards
and two touchdowns, making another step
in shedding his reputation as a run-first
quarterback.
“I’m glad Justin got a chance to show
he can do more than run,” said tailback
Elijah Holyfield, who ran for 50 yards and
had a 5-yard scoring run.
Georgia (10-1) leaned on its quick-
strike offense on six scoring drives
■ Please see GEORGIA, 3B
Jackets take
down Cavs
in overtime
BY PAUL NEWBERRY
Associated Press
ATLANTA — Georgia Tech relied on
an unlikely formula to pull off its fourth
straight victory.
A brilliant catch for its only pass com
pletion of the game.
Four field goals from a freshman who
wasn’t even the No. 1 kicker at the begin
ning of the season.
Wesley Wells booted a 40-yarder in
overtime, the ball barely sliding through
as it skimmed the right upright, and Vir
ginia’s Brian Delaney missed his attempt
from 35 yards to give the Yellow Jackets
a 30-27 victory Saturday.
“Sometimes the nerves get to you a lit
tle bit,” Wells said. “It was a roller-coaster
of emotions while the kick was up and the
ball hitting the post and going in.”
Wells booted the longest field goal of
his career from 48 yards to push Georgia
Tech to a 27-24 lead with 1:04 remaining
in regulation. The Cavaliers drove for the
tying field goal, with Delaney connecting
from 31 yards on a do-over with 1 second
left after Virginia was flagged for a false
start on his first attempt.
Neither team picked up a first down in
overtime, so it came down to the kickers.
Wells made his attempt — “my first
game-winner,” he said, even going back
to high school.
Delaney hooked his badly , his
head dropping as soon as his right foot
■ Please see TECH, 3B
MLB
FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT
AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Flowery Branch High graduate Brad Keller spent the entire 2018 season in the big leagues with the Kansas City Royals.
Flowery Branch grad Brad Keller off to a hot start in MLB career
JOSE JAUREZ I Associated Press
Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Brad Keller delivers a pitch against the Detroit
Tigers on Sept. 23 in Detroit.
BY SARAH WOODALL
swoodall@gainesvilletimes.com
The only work Brad Keller has put in
for the last six weeks has all been on a golf
course.
Shooting in the 70s is typically a rare
feat for the Major League pitcher and
Flowery Branch native, but Keller’s range
from low 80s to upper 90s has been good
enough to just go out and cut loose with
close friends while he enjoys some R & R
back home.
Well earned for a guy who just wrapped
up his first stint in the big leagues.
“It’s just a relaxing time, getting away
from the game and just taking a mental
break,” said the 23-year-old Keller, who
capped off the season with the Kansas City
Royals on Sept. 30.
“(The grind of a major league pitcher)
is insane. It’s tough, but at the same time
it’s everything you’ve dreamed of.”
While admitting it’s a little embarrass
ing to watch his buddies showboat their
lower handicaps over him, Keller has
never been much of a stat guy anyway.
This much was true even when some of
Keller’s rookie numbers surfaced, which
quietly put the Rule-5 acquisition among
some of the top players in baseball in 2018.
Keller’s feel-good rookie season — from a
statistical standpoint — just happened to
be one of the best-ever for a Royal.
From humble beginnings as a long
shot to make the majors, to a reliever in
the Royals bullpen and now being a sure
starter in the Majors — even in some fan
tasy baseball leagues — the name on the
back of Keller’s jersey keeps growing by
the day. But since hitting the ground run
ning on Opening Day, it wasn’t until two
weeks after Keller returned to Flowery
Branch when he had the chance to look
back on his journey.
What a year it’s been.
The right-hander closed out a stellar
2018 with top-five nods in several statis
tical categories. Among rookie starters,
he was fourth in innings pitched (140.1),
fourth in wins with (9) and third for earned
run average (3.08). Only 17 AL rookies
since 1970 finished with a lower ERA than
Keller, including two former Kansas City
players (Per Royals Review).
Although boasting a four-seam fastball
that occasionally registers 97 mph, it was
Keller’s sinker that wound up producing
the second-highest groundout percentage
in the big leagues for 2018.
Keller, named to Baseball America’s
All-Rookie Team last month, took his
numbers a step further in the world of
sabermetrics. For Wins Above Replace
ment (a sabermetric that summarizes
a player’s total contribution to a team in
one statistic), the young hurler was third
behind Joey Wendle (+4.3) and — oh yeah
— AL Rookie of the Year Shohei Ohtani,
per Baseball Reference.
Surprised as he was to learn of those
eye-popping numbers, still, Keller’s true
motivation for the game remains.
“I definitely sit back and reflect on how
awesome the experience was. ... But I
never really cared for those,” Keller said.
I’d much rather the team win .. That’s
how my mentality has always been. ”
Wins were a little hard to come by for
Kansas City (58-104), which finished dead
last in the AL Central but went on a small
tear over the final stretch of the regular
season. The Royals were 20-14 in their
final 34 games, and Keller had a hand in
that late-season success. For the month of
September, Keller went 2-1 with a steady
ERA of 2.33.
Keller garnered praise from
■ Please see KELLER, 2B
NFL
Falcons to focus on run D against Dallas
BY GEORGE HENRY
Associated Press
ATLANTA — The Atlanta
Falcons’ defense has one pri
mary goal entering Sunday’s
game against Dallas: Slow down
Ezekiel Elliott and make Cow
boys quarterback Dak Prescott
try to beat them with his arm.
The Falcons will need all their
resources to corral Elliott, who
leads the NFL with 93 runs of
10 or more yards over the last
three years.
Atlanta coach Dan
Quinn says his defense,
which gave up 211 yards
rushing in last week’s
loss at Cleveland, must
maintain gap control
against a patient, power
ful running back.
“He can wait to set
up a block and stick his
foot in the ground and
really explode,” Quinn
said. “Oftentimes, you can see
Quinn
him take a handoff and see a
read about to happen,
then he can change the
direction and really
explode. I would say the
second piece of that is
he’s really effective as a
pass catcher, too.”
Atlanta’s struggling
defense should get a
boost from the return
of middle linebacker
Deion Jones, who hasn’t
played since breaking his right
Falcons
vs. Cowboys
When: Today, 1 p.m.
TV: Fox
foot in the season opener.
When healthy, Jones is the Fal
cons’ best defender. He calls
the plays, is stout against the
run and is fast enough to cover
running backs and receivers
in coverage. Jones’ injury and
■ Please see FALCONS, 4B
