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SPORTS
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Wednesday, November 21,2018 3B
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Tech aims to be spoiler
MIKE STEWART I Associated Press
Georgia Tech running back Jerry Howard (15) runs into the end zone for a
touchdown against Virginia during the second half of Saturday’s game in Atlanta.
Jackets carry four
game win streak
into Georgia game
Associated Press
Following an ugly loss to Clemson
on Sept. 22, Georgia Tech was 1-3 with
three straight losses and appeared
bound for a second straight losing
season.
“The sky was falling after that
game,” coach Paul Johnson recalled
on Tuesday.
Somehow, Georgia Tech’s season
never hit bottom.
Since the 49-21 loss to No. 2 Clem
son , the Yellow Jackets (7-4) have
enjoyed a dramatic turnaround, win
ning six of seven. They will take a
four-game winning streak into Satur
day’s game at No. 5 Georgia.
Running back Clinton Lynch said
the winning streak has the Yellow
Jackets “playing with pretty good con
fidence” at a good time.
“You always need that confidence
to go up to Athens and get the W,”
Lynch said.
If Georgia Tech could pull off its
third straight win in Athens, a sea
son already revived would become
special.
“I just think guys are always
pumped to play up there,” said run
ning back Qua Searcy, who had the
game-winning touchdown run with 30
second remaining in the Yellow Jack
ets’ 28-27 win at Georgia in 2016. “It’s
a great atmosphere. There’s no better
feeling than winning in Athens, which
we’ve experienced twice. I just feel
like the guys are always excited to win
in Athens.”
Johnson said his players ignored
doomsday predictions and kept their
focus following the 1-3 start.
“There’s a lot of noise,” he said.
“Everybody has got an answer. Every
body knows what’s wrong. Everybody
knows that you’re not going to win any
more games.”
Johnson said there was panic out
side the program because the loss to
Clemson revealed the Yellow Jackets
could not compete with the Atlantic
Coast Conference’s top team.
He said critics concluded “we’d
fallen below Clemson.”
“Hello? Everybody they play has,”
Johnson said. “I noticed this week,
for what it’s worth, South Carolina is
a 26-point underdog going to Clemson.
.. They’re probably one of the two
best teams in the country.”
Georgia Tech finished 5-3 in the
ACC, behind only Pittsburgh in the
Coastal Division. After the Clemson
game, Georgia Tech’s only other loss
was against Duke.
“I think toward the last half of the
year these kids have done a really
good job of just trying to focus on what
they can control,” Johnson said.
Georgia Tech’s recovery has come
with senior quarterback TaQuon Mar
shall’s improved health. An undis
closed injury forced Marshall to miss
a 49-28 win at Virginia Tech on Oct. 25.
Marshall reclaimed the starting job
from Tobias Oliver and ran for 107
yards in last week’s 30-27 overtime
win over Virginia.
As always, ball security is crucial
in Johnson’s spread-option offense.
Marshall has been accurate with his
option pitches and has made good
decisions on when to keep the ball.
“He’s taken care of the ball,” John
son said, rapping his knuckles on the
table in front of him for good luck.
Marshall is the only quarterback
Georgia vs.
Georgia Tech
When: Noon Saturday
Where: Athens
TV: SEC Network
in Georgia Tech history to run for at
least 100 yards in 10 career games.
He leads the Yellow Jackets with 857
yards rushing and is second with 11
touchdown runs.
Georgia shut down Marshall and
the option attack last season, holding
the Yellow Jackets to 188 yards rush
ing in a 38-7 win.
Marshall noted this year’s Bull
dogs defense lost some of its top play
ers, including first-round draft pick
Roquan Smith, to the NFL.
“I don’t think they’re as good as
they were last year defensively,”
Marshall said Monday. “I think they
had a lot of guys that went to the next
level that contributed a lot last year. I
mean, I still think they have a pretty
good defense but I don’t think they’re
as stacked on defense as they were
last year.”
No changes in top
four of football
playoff poll
Alabama, Clemson, Notre
Dame and Michigan were at
the top of the College Foot
ball Playoff rankings Tues
day night, marking the first
time in the five-year history
of the postseason system
that the same teams held
the first four spots for three
straight weeks.
Unlike last week, there
was a little movement in
the top 10. Central Florida
moved up two spots to No.
9. The Knights became the
first team from outside the
Power Five conference to
be ranked in the selection
committee’s top 10.
Georgia remained No. 5,
followed by Oklahoma at
sixth. LSU remained sev
enth, Washington State held
at 8 and Ohio State stayed
at 10th. No. 11 was Florida,
which could help the Gators
secure a New Year’s Six
bowl bid. Penn State is 12th.
UCF’S LONG SHOT
There does not seem to
be a realistic path to the
playoff for UCF. What about
an unrealistic one? Maybe.
Imbalanced conferences
have set traps for playoff
contenders that UCF ath
letic director Danny White
could not have laid out any
better.
There is a case to be made
that there is literally no way
UCF would be allowed in the
playoff. The conspiracy the
orist would say the selection
committee has been given
their Power Five marching
orders and that’s that. There
is a glass ceiling over UCF
no matter the chaos in the
other conferences. The less
cynical would say UCF’s
schedule, not as rigorous as
the other top teams, would
deservedly keep the Knights
out even if the alternative is
teams that have lost two or
even three games.
CFP executive director
Bill Hancock has often said
there is no glass ceiling on
the Group of Five teams.
They just need aggressive
and fortuitous nonconfer
ence scheduling. The exam
ple often give is Houston
of the American Athletic
Conference in 2016. The
Cougars, coming off a Peach
Playoff rankings
Record
1. Alabama
11-0
2. Clemson
11-0
3. Notre Dame
11-0
4. Michigan
10-1
5. Georgia
10-1
6. Oklahoma
10-1
7. LSU
9-2
8. Washington St.
10-1
9. UCF
10-0
10. Ohio St.
10-1
11. Florida
8-3
12. Penn St.
8-3
13. West Virginia
8-2
14. Texas
8-3
15. Kentucky
8-3
14. Washington
8-3
17. Utah
8-3
18. Mississippi St.
7-4
19. Northwestern
7-4
20. Syracuse
8-3
21. Utah St.
10-1
22. Texas A&M
7-4
23. Boise St.
9-2
24. Pittsburgh
7-4
25. Iowa St.
6-4
Associated Press
Bowl victory like UCF this
season, beat two highly
ranked Power Five teams
with star quarterback that
season — Oklahoma with
Baker Mayfield and Louis
ville with Lamar Jackson.
But they lost three confer
ence games and didn’t even
earn a major bowl bid.
But a Group of Five team
with those types of noncon
ference victories, plus a
strong conference record
and league title, would have
a chance to make the final
four.
UCF doesn’t have those
victories this season. Its
game against North Caro
lina was cancelled by a hur
ricane, and the Tar Heels
aren’t any good, anyway.
UCF did play and pound
Pittsburgh in September and
the Panthers have turned
out to be a good enough to
reach the Atlantic Coast
Conference championship
game against Clemson in
two weeks.
The Panthers (7-4) are
one of the keys that could
help UCF pick the lock on
the playoff.
Northwestern (7-4) of the
Big Ten and Utah (8-3) of the
Pac-12 have also clinched
spots in their respective
conference championship
game, and Texas (8-3) could
do the same in the Big 12 on
Friday by beating Kansas.
UCF needs all these teams
to win their conference titles
and Alabama to win the
Southeastern Conference at
13-0.
At that point Notre Dame
would likely reach the play
off no matter what it does
against Southern California
this weekend.
Associated Press
NBA
LeBron to be recognized in
first game back in Cleveland
Associated Press
The air was heavy, heav
ing with hatred.
And when LeBron James
skipped onto the Quicken
Loans Arena floor on Dec. 2,
2010, with his Miami team
mates, scorned
Cleveland fans
aimed their fury at
one of their own, the
kid from Akron who
was shaken by the
experience.
James was pro
fanely taunted,
booed and mocked.
It was vile. It was
personal.
Eight years later, he’ll
feel loved.
James returns to Cleve
land on Wednesday night
for the first time since leav
ing as a free agent last sum
mer and signing with the Los
Angeles Lakers. He’s coming
back to a city still grappling
with losing him again and
wondering what might have
been had the world’s best all-
around player stayed.
But unlike his previous
comeback, the 33-year-old is
coming home to be saluted
for what he did during 11
years with the Cavaliers.
He revived a franchise,
lifted an entire region and
brought a championship.
“It’s going to be fun,” said
Cavs forward Kyle Korver,
who spent two seasons with
James. “LeBron had an
incredible run in Cleveland.
He touched Cleveland. He
touched Akron. Us as indi
viduals, we were all fortu
nate to get some time with
him. I think hopefully he
feels that. I think it’s going
to be positive overall, and it
should be.”
Early in the game, the
Cavs will show a video trib
ute of the franchise’s career
leader in virtually every sta
tistical category.
The images will capture
his stirring run in
Cleveland — the
buzzer-beating
shots, the iconic
chase-down block
on Golden State’s
Andre Iguodala in
Game 7 of the 2016
NBA Finals, James’
teary reaction to
winning an NBA
title and the parade
celebrating the city’s first
sports championship in 52
years.
There will also be remind
ers of his immense impact
off the court, including the
opening of his I Promise
School in Akron, an elemen
tary school for at-risk kids.
But he’s keeping his per
spective on this Thanksgiv
ing week homecoming.
“I don’t try to put too much
into it,” he said Sunday night
in Miami after scoring 51 in
a win over the Heat. “I will
see some familiar faces.
I’ll think about some of the
good. I’ll think about some of
the bad. I’ll think about some
of the great times that I had
with the franchise, obvi
ously. And then once the tip-
ball gets going, it’ll be time to
go to work.
“It’ll be good to see some
of my family that’s going to
come to the game, see some
of my friends as well, and
get the thing going.”
On that cold December
night in 2010, James wasn’t
Standings
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
W
L
Pet
GB
Toronto
14
4
.778
—
Philadelphia
12
7
.632
2/z
Boston
9
8
.529
4 1 /2
Brooklyn
7
10
.412
6 1 /2
New York
4
13
.235
9 1 /2
Southeast Division
W
L
Pet
GB
Charlotte
8
8
.500
—
Orlando
9
9
.500
—
Miami
6
10
.375
2
Washington
5
11
.313
3
Atlanta
3
14
.176
5 1 /2
Central Division
W
L
Pet
GB
Milwaukee
12
4
.750
—
Indiana
11
6
.647
1 1 / 2
Detroit
8
6
.571
3
Chicago
4
13
.235
8 1 /2
Cleveland
2
13
.133
9 1 /2
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Southwest Division
W
L
Pet
GB
Memphis
11
5
.688
—
New Orleans
10
7
.588
1 1 / 2
Houston
8
7
.533
2 1 /2
San Antonio
8
8
.500
3
Dallas
7
9
.438
4
Northwest Division
W
L
Pet
GB
Portland
11
5
.688
—
Oklahoma City
10
6
.625
1
Denver
10
7
.588
1/2
Utah
8
9
.471
3/2
Minnesota
7
10
.412
4/2
Pacific Division
W
L
Pet
GB
L.A. Clippers
11
5
.688
—
Golden State
12
6
.667
—
L.A. Lakers
9
7
.563
2
Sacramento
9
8
.529
2 1 /2
Phoenix
3
13
.188
8
Tuesday's Games
L.A. Clippers at Washington, late
Toronto 93, Orlando 91
Brooklyn at Miami, late
Portland at New York, late
Today’s Games
Indiana at Charlotte, 7 p.m.
New Orleans at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
New York at Boston, 7:30 p.m.
Toronto at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m.
Denver at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Detroit at Houston, 8 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Cleveland, 8 p.m.
Phoenix at Chicago, 8 p.m.
Portland at Milwaukee, 8 p.m.
Brooklyn at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.
Memphis at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m.
Sacramento at Utah, 9 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Golden State, 10:30 p.m.
Associated Press
sure what to expect months
after his “taking my talents
to South Beach” announce
ment had incensed Cleve
land fans, driving some to
burn his jersey.
James
NEVILLE
■ Continued from 1B
always thankful for my
teammates.”
While applauding Neville
for his efforts, Wood indi
cated others who chipped in
some big minutes too. Point
guard Bosko Norman (19
points) and shooting guard
Palmer Weaver (14) were
the other two to score in
double figures for the Bears
(1-1) in Monday’s high-scor
ing affair.
Wood pointed to the
defensive side as the area
to address before Cherokee
Bluff hosts Monroe Area
next Tuesday night in Flow
ery Branch. Tipoff for the
girls game will be at 6 p.m.,
with the boy game immedi
ately following at 7:30 p.m.
“We just gotta work on
getting a better start and
coming out, being ready to
play,” Neville said. “Once
we do that, we’ll be better
off.”
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