About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2018)
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.” FOR YOUR FAVORITES 10.29.18 - 11.30.18
