SPORTS
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Saturday, December 8, 2018 3B
COLLEGE FOOTBALL I Heisman trophy
Three first-year starters
made most of moments
RALPH RUSSO I Associated Press
Heisman Trophy finalists, from left, Dwayne Haskins, from Ohio State, Kyler
Murray, of Oklahoma, and Tua Tagovailoa, from Alabama, pose with the
Heisman Trophy at the New York Stock Exchange on Friday in New York.
Finalists were all
thrust into the
limelight in 2018
Associated Press
Tua Tagovailoa rolled across the
floor of the New York Stock Exchange
on a black scooter with a little Ala
bama sticker on the front, his sprained
left ankle in a gray plastic boot, safely
propped up as he pushed off with his
right foot.
The Crimson Tide quarterback and
fellow Heisman Trophy finalists Kyler
Murray of Oklahoma and Dwayne
Haskins of Ohio State were on Wall
Street on Friday to ring the closing
bell on a day the Dow Jones Industrial
Average closed down 558 points.
Stock for the three first-year start
ers has been soaring this season. A
year ago they were second on their
team’s depth chart. On Saturday, one
of them will win the Heisman Trophy.
Tagovailoa picked up where he left
off in the second half of last season’s
national championship game victory
against Georgia to lead the top-ranked
Crimson Tide back to the playoff as a
sophomore.
Haskins, a third-year sophomore,
stepped in after the departure of a
four-year starter and smashed Ohio
State and Big Ten passing records.
Murray, a fourth-year junior,
replaced last season’s Heisman win
ner and had an even better season
than his predecessor. Murray waited
the longest to finally take over a team,
transferring from Texas A&M after a
rocky freshman season, taking a red-
shirt year to satisfy NCAA transfer
rules and then backing up Baker May-
field in 2017.
“I think sitting down and watching
is kind of important,” Murray said. “I
know Dwayne got to sit and watch. Tua
obviously got to sit and watch. I think
it just helps you with your growth and
maturing on and off the field. I think
that’s a big part.”
For the 16th time in the last 19
years, a quarterback will win college
football’s most coveted individual
award and that should not be a sur
prise this season.
This has been the year of the
quarterback, with FBS records for
completion percentage, yards per
pass and yards passing per game all
within range as bowl season arrives.
For the first time since 2008, when
Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford, Texas’
Colt McCoy and Florida’s Tim Tebow
were the Heisman finalists, only quar
terbacks were invited to New York for
the trophy presentation.
That season, the Heisman finalists
combined to pass for 9,726 yards and
100 touchdowns, completing 70.9 per
cent of their passes at 9.1 yards per
attempt. This season’s finalists, each
still with at least one more game,
have passed for 11,986 yards and 124
touchdowns, completing 69.7 per
cent of their passes at 10.6 yards per
attempt.
There is also a good chance that for
just the second time in the 83-year his
tory of the Heisman, the top-five vote-
getters will be quarterbacks, too. West
Virginia’s Will Grier and Washington
State’s Gardner Minshew II were the
other contenders, but neither drew
enough support to earn a trip to New
York. In 2001, when Nebraska’s Eric
Crouch won the Heisman, the top six
in the voting were quarterbacks.
During a 30-minute interview
session with reporters at the Stock
Exchange, Tagovailoa was asked a
lot about his health. He sprained his
ankle in the Southeastern Conference
championship game last week and
said he expects to be fine for the play
off, when No. 1 Alabama faces No. 4
Oklahoma and Murray in the Orange
Bowl on Dec. 29. Alabama trainer Jeff
Allen is traveling with Tagovailoa on
the awards circuit this week.
“Life throws problems at you some
time and it’s how you deal with it,”
Tagovailoa said. “Just trying to get
better.”
Murray fielded numerous questions
about his future in baseball. He was a
On TV
When: 8 p.m. tonight
TV: ESPN
first-round draft pick by the Oakland
Athletics in June and has already
signed $4.66 million contract. This will
be his one and only season as a college
starting quarterback.
“My future’s already kind of been
decided as of right now,” Murray said.
Asked if he could see himself trying
to play both sports, Murray said: “I
would love to do be able to do both if
that was possible. I don’t know how
possible that is.”
The question Haskins will face
is whether to return to college for
another season or enter the NFL
draft. He could be a first-round pick.
“After the bowl game I’ll sit down
with my family and talk about it,”
Haskins said. The sixth-ranked
Buckeyes face No. 9 Washington in
the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 in what will
be coach Urban Meyer’s last game
before retirement.
Tagovailoa spent most of the sea
son as the Heisman front-runner, but
Murray kept bailing out Oklahoma’s
faulty defense and gaining ground in
the race. It seems Murray might have
taken the lead last weekend, when
Tagovailoa threw two interceptions
against Georgia and could not finish
the game.
“If I win it that’s awesome,” Tago
vailoa said. “If not, it’s not the end of
the world.”
JOHN BAZEMORE I Associated Press
Newly hired Georgia Tech football coach Geoff Collins,
right, and athletic director Todd Stansbury pose with
a school jersey during a news conference Friday in
Atlanta.
President Trump
to give coin toss
for Army-Navy
A general’s pep talk about
actual life-and-death battles
emerged as a driving force
this season for the Army
football team. In the Army,
the general said, you win
or you die. Far more conse
quential than bragging rights
on the football field, but use
ful for a team that no longer
ends its season against Navy.
“It is dramatic,” team
captain Cole Christiansen
said.
Christiansen has been
part of Army’s turnaround
from perennial losing pro
gram to its lofty status today:
ranked in the AP Top 25 for
the first time since 1996, on a
seven-game winning streak,
headed to a bowl game and a
7-point favorite in Saturday’s
119th meeting against Navy.
The Army-Navy rivalry
has often been known as
patriotic — and for years,
one of the most lopsided
in sports. Navy hooked an
anchor to the Commander-
in-Chief’s Trophy with a
series-best 14-game winning
streak from 2002-2015.
The No. 22 Black Knights
(9-2) are on top these days,
winners of two straight in
the series headed into Satur
day’s game at Lincoln Finan
cial Field, home of the Super
Bowl champion Philadel
phia Eagles. Last season’s
game was an instant classic:
Bennett Moehring narrowly
missed a 48-yard field goal
in the snow on the final play
and Army held off Navy
14-13 to win the CIC Trophy
for the first time since 1996.
Navy leads 60-51-7.
President Donald Trump
will officiate the coin toss
Saturday in his first Army-
Navy game as president,
where he’s also expected
to make an announcement
concerning the Joint Chiefs
of Staff.
Associated Press
TECH
■ Continued from 1B
returned to serve as
recruiting coordinator at
Tech under coach Chan
Gailey in 2006.
A native of Conyers,
Georgia, Collins said he
began dreaming about
eventually becoming
Georgia Tech’s coach
during his two stints as an
assistant.
He said the opportunity,
which developed quickly
when Johnson stepped
down on Nov. 28, was not
expected.
“I formed a vision in
my head in multiple stops
I’ve been here of what this
place can be, what this
place should be,” he said.
He spoke of empha
sizing the Georgia Tech
brand and culture.
“Recruits choose
brands and our brand
should be as strong as any
where in the country and
it’s going to be,” Collins
said.
He said he would take
advantage of the school’s
tough academic require
ments as a selling point
in recruiting “to come to
a place where education
matters.”
Collins also spent a sea
son as director of player
personal at Alabama in
2007, Nick Saban’s first
season leading the Crim
son Tide.
Temple athletic direc
tor Patrick Kraft said
assistant coach Ed Foley
will serve as interim
coach for the Indepen
dence Bowl against Duke
on Dec. 27.
“While it is always dif
ficult to lose a head coach,
it is a testament to what
we have built at Temple
through our students, our
fans, our alumni and our
donors that we can con
tinue to have success,”
Kraft said in a statement
released by the school.
“We have a world-class
university, strong support
staff, excellent facilities,
passionate supporters and
a very healthy culture and
I am confident that there
will be great interest in
our job yet again.”
Collins had an 8-4
record with a 7-1 mark
in the American Athletic
Conference this season.
He said his farewell
meeting with his Temple
players on Friday was
“heart-wrenching.”
Collins took over for his
close friend Matt Rhule
last year, when Rhule left
for Baylor.
Foley also was interim
coach for the Military
Bowl in 2016 following
Rhule’s departure. Foley
will become the first
coach in Temple history
to coach two bowl games.
Collins said he is looking
forward to being a “spec
tator” for Georgia Tech’s
bowl game. Johnson will
coach the team against
Minnesota in the Quick
Lane Bowl in Detroit on
Dec. 26.
Georgia Tech finished
7-5 in the regular sea
son. Johnson compiled a
record of 82-59 at Georgia
Tech with three appear
ances in the Atlantic Coast
Conference championship
game.
Collins met with Geor
gia Tech athletic director
Todd Stansbury in New
York earlier this week
and with the university
president G.P. “Bud”
Peterson in Atlanta on
Thursday. An agreement
was reached on the deal,
expected to be for seven
years, late Thursday.
Stansbury said Collins
fit every requirement he
sought in a coach, includ
ing “somebody who would
embrace Georgia Tech
and would look at the chal
lenge and the uniqueness
of Georgia Tech and that
would actually be part of
the lure.”
Collins’ flight from
Philadelphia on Friday
was delayed by weather
and problems with his pri
vate plane, pushing back
the scheduled time for
the news conference two
hours.
Freeze hired to
coach Liberty
Former Ole Miss coach
fired after conduct issues
Associated Press
Hugh Freeze has enjoyed
the highs of football, such as
winning the Sugar Bowl and
beating mighty Alabama.
He’s also known embarrass
ment and shame following
a personal scandal
that cost him his job
at Mississippi.
The 49-year-old
Freeze believes
those experiences
will serve him well
as the head coach at
Liberty, where he’s
been given a second
chance.
“I believe in
teaching young men on our
team all of the lessons of
when I got it right and when
I got it wrong and what the
consequences are,” Freeze
said.
He was introduced as
Liberty’s football coach on
campus Friday, calling the
opportunity an “unbeliev
able day for me and my
family.” He was emotional
at times during a press con
ference, thanking his family
and calling them his heroes.
“I’ve made decisions that
have hurt a lot of people,”
Freeze said. “I don’t ever
want to experience that
again.”
Freeze will replace
Turner Gill, who resigned
after his seventh season to
spend more time with his
ailing wife. The Flames fin
ished 6-6 this season, their
first competing at the Foot
ball Bowl Subdivision level,
and were 47-35 under Gill.
Liberty will have full sta
tus for FBS bowl eligibility
in 2019. The Flames are not
part of a conference and are
playing as an independent.
Freeze spent five years at
Mississippi and led the Reb
els to a 39-25 record and four
bowl games. He resigned in
the summer of 2017 amid
a scandal in which school
officials discovered a “pat
tern of personal miscon
duct” starting with a call
to an escort service from a
university-issued cellphone.
Ole Miss was also mired
in an NCAA rules investi
gation during much of his
tenure that eventu
ally resulted in a
two-year postseason
ban.
Now Freeze gets
a chance to rebuild
his career less than
18 months after his
stunning downfall
in Oxford, where his
abrupt resignation
marked the end to a
volatile tenure.
Ole Miss enjoyed a quick
rise under Freeze, who
came to the school before
the 2012 season and imme
diately started recruiting
at a high level. The Rebels
quickly developed into a
Southeastern Conference
contender, beating Alabama
two seasons in a row and
reaching an apex when they
won the Sugar Bowl over
Oklahoma State following
the 2015 season.
But an NCAA investiga
tion that found 21 violations
of academic, booster, and
recruiting misconduct over
shadowed much of that suc
cess. Most of the 21 charges
happened during Freeze’s
tenure.
The Rebels were eventu
ally hit with a two-year post
season ban, probation and
recruiting restrictions.
From a personal stand
point, Freeze received a
light punishment in the case.
He would have been sus
pended two conference
games in 2018 if he had been
a head coach, but he did not
take a job last year.
The NCAA’s ruling said
Freeze promoted an atmo
sphere of rules compliance,
but he failed to monitor his
staff.
Freeze
Bowl schedule
Saturday, Dec. 15
Celebration Bowl
At Atlanta
NC A&T (9-2) vs. Alcorn State (9-3), Noon
(ABC)
Cure Bowl
Orlando, Fla.
Tulane (6-6) vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (7-6),
1:30 p.m. (CBSSN)
New Mexico Bowl
Albuquerque
North Texas (9-3) vs. Utah State (10-2),
2 p.m. (ESPN)
Las Vegas Bowl
Fresno State (11-2) vs. Arizona State (7-5),
3:30 p.m. (ABC)
Camellia Bowl
Montgomery, Ala.
Georgia Southern (9-3) vs. Eastern Michigan
(7-5), 5:30 p.m. (ESPN)
New Orleans Bowl
Middle Tennessee (8-5) vs. Appalachian State
(10-2), 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Tuesday, Dec. 18
Boca Raton (Fla.) Bowl
UAB (10-3) vs. North Illinois (8-5), 7 p.m.
(ESPN)
Wednesday, Dec. 19
Frisco (Texas) Bowl
San Diego State (7-5) vs. Ohio (8-4), 8 p.m.
(ESPN)
Thursday, Dec. 20
Gasparilla Bowl
Marshall (8-4) vs. South Florida (7-5),
8 p.m. (ESPN)
Friday, Dec. 21
Bahamas Bowl
Nassau
Toledo (7-5) vs. FIU (8-4), 12:30 p.m (ESPN)
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Boise
Western Michigan (7-5) vs. BYU (6-6),
4 p.m. (ESPN)
Saturday, Dec. 22
Birmingham (Ala.) Bowl
Memphis (8-5) vs. Wake Forest (6-6), Noon
(ESPN)
Armed Forces Bowl
Fort Worth, Texas
Houston (8-4) vs. Army (9-2), 3:30 p.m.
(ESPN)
Dollar General Bowl
Mobile, Ala.
Buffalo (10-3) vs. Troy (9-3), 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Hawaii Bowl
Honolulu
Louisiana Tech (7-5) vs. Hawaii (8-5), 10:30
p.m. (ESPN)
Wednesday, Dec. 26
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl
Dallas
Boston College (7-5) vs. Boise State (10-3),
1:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Quick Lane Bowl
Detroit
Minnesota (6-6) vs. Georgia Tech (7-5),
5:15 p.m. (ESPN)
Cheez-lt Bowl
Phoenix
California (7-5) vs. TCU (6-6), 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Thursday, Dec. 27
Independence Bowl
Shreveport, La.
Temple (8-4) vs. Duke (7-5), 1:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Pinstripe Bowl
Bronx, N.Y.
Miami (7-5) vs. Wisconsin (7-5), 5:15 p.m.
(ESPN)
Texas Bowl
Houston
Baylor (6-6) vs. Vanderbilt (6-6), 9 p.m.
(ESPN)
Friday, Dec. 28
Music City Bowl
Nashville, Tenn.
Purdue (6-6) vs. Auburn (7-5), 1:30 p.m.
(ESPN)
Camping World Bowl
Orlando, Fla.
West Virginia (8-3) vs. Syracuse (9-3),
5:15 p.m. (ESPN)
Alamo Bowl
San Antonio
Iowa State (8-4) vs. Washington State (10-2),
9 p.m. (ESPN)
Saturday, Dec. 29
Peach Bowl
Atlanta
Florida (9-3) vs. Michigan (10-2),
Noon (ESPN)
Belk Bowl
Charlotte, N.C.
South Carolina (7-5) vs. Virginia (7-5), Noon
(ABC)
Arizona Bowl
TUcson, Ariz.
Arkansas State (8-4) vs. Nevada (7-5),
1:15 p.m. (CBSSN)
Cotton Bowl Classic
Arlington, Texas
CFP Semifinal, Notre Dame (12-0) vs.
Clemson (13-0), 4 p.m. (ESPN)
Orange Bowl
Miami Gardens, Fla.
CFP Semifinal, Oklahoma (12-1) vs. Alabama
(13-0), 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Monday, Dec. 31
Military Bowl
Annapolis, Md.
Cincinnati (10-2) vs. Virginia Tech (6-6), Noon
(ESPN)
Sun Bowl
El Paso,Texas
Stanford (8-4) vs. Pittsburgh (7-6), 2 p.m.
(CBS)
Redbox Bowl
Santa Clara, Calif.
Michigan State (7-5) vs. Oregon (8-4),
3 p.m. (FOX)
Liberty Bowl
Memphis, Tenn.
Missouri (8-4) vs. Oklahoma State (6-6),
3:45 p.m. (ESPN)
Holiday Bowl
San Diego
Northwestern (8-5) vs. Utah (9-4), 7 p.m.
(FS1)
Gator Bowl
Jacksonville, Fla.
NC State (9-3) vs. Texas A&M (8-4),
7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Tuesday, Jan. 1
Outback Bowl
Tampa, Fla.
Mississippi State (8-4) vs. Iowa (8-4),
Noon (ESPN2)
Citrus Bowl
Orlando, Fla.
Kentucky (9-3) vs. Penn State (9-3), 1 p.m.
(ABC)
Fiesta Bowl
Glendale, Ariz.
LSU (9-3) vs. UCF (12-0), 1 p.m. (ESPN)
Rose Bowl
Pasadena, Calif.
Washington (10-3) vs. Ohio State (12-1),
5 p.m. (ESPN)
Sugar Bowl
New Orleans
Texas (9-4) vs. Georgia (11-2), 8:45 p.m.
(ESPN)
Monday, Jan. 7
College Football Championship
Santa Clara, Calif.
Cotton Bowl winner vs. Orange Bowl winner,
8 p.m. (ESPN)
Saturday, Jan. 19
East-West Shrine Classic
East vs. West, 3 p.m. (NFLN)
NFLPA Collegiate Bowl
At Pasadena, Calif.
American vs. National, TBA (NFLN)
Saturday, Jan. 26
Senior Bowl
At Mobile, Ala.
North vs. South, 2:30 p.m. (NFLN)
Associated Press
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