Lambuth Officially Closing June 30th

As I mentioned on Monday, Lambuth was on the verge of closing.  The Jackson Sun has confirmed it.

We'll be very interested to see what the next move is as we will likely have to move on to Open B.

Lambuth University will close June 30, and university officials will work over the next few weeks to try to reach an agreement for another college to take over the campus, President Bill Seymour said in a news conference at 5 p.m. today. He said discussions may take place with three colleges that are interested in the campus, one of which is the University of Memphis. Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist and three state legislators have made statements in support of the University of Memphis taking over the campus in Jackson as a branch of the public university, and U of M appears to be a strong contender to do so.

What happens if Lambuth doesn't field a team in 2011?

As some of the hard core fans know, Lambuth University (who holds the distinguished title of our first ever defeat) has had had tremendous financial struggles since losing accreditation back in 2010.

The stories that came out after last season of employees not receiving checks on time, people wondering if they would have job and the tension of working with clouds of uncertainty surrounding the entire school.

Last week the school did a fundraiser with legendary comedian Bill Cosby to raise money to help keep the school going. 

I reached out to a local contact of mine and he used statements like "I really don't think Lambuth will be open by football season."  That the school was in "financial disrepair", and a shutdown could happen at the end of the semester.

Will we lose a home game (and more importantly a potential win)?  What will be our back up plan?  Will we just go with another Open Date between road games with first year program UTSA and D2 West Alabama?

Photo Courtesy of Victory Sports Network

Tuesday Quick Hitters - 9.21.10

Tuesday practice has just wrapped up and I'm interested to hear CBC's comments on how the team has responded.  Let's hit the Links shall we...

Associate Head Coach/WR Coach/Recruiting Coordinator George Pugh pinch hit for CBC yesterday on his call in show.  He did a great job impressing that with experience, we will continue to learn how to respond to tougher competition.  Mark Hogan came on in the last segment and as CBC and Dave mention often, he doesn't like the spot light.  Had a whale of a game on Saturday though.  Check out my Twitter page for complete run down.

Good preview on Campbell by our guy Ken S of the AJC.  AJC Link

Week 2 Opponent Lambuth getting an early look at the NAIA Playoffs after another good win vs. Division II's West Alabama.  Jackson Sun Link

Checking in on Our Opponents as they went 6-5 this past weekend.  Our own Bob R gives a great run down on the Georgia State Examiner.  Examiner.com Link

Folks in Alabama (specifically at the Birmingham News) taking notice of Bill Curry and believe he's 'Working Magic' at GSU.  AL.com Link

Georgia State vs. Lambuth highlights

Preview & Prediction: GSU vs. Lambuth - 1:00PM

After last Thursday's win, Friday was a relatively easy day for me.  Bragging about my program's first night was awesome.  Now that the first one has been played and won it's time to focus.  Coach Curry and staff have done a great job of letting the team know that Game 1 was "an illusion."  We are not as good as we think we are and it's time to get back to work.  We have a larger task (literally and figuratively, we'll get to that later) this Saturday as Lambuth is better than Shorter.
Let's Dive In Shall We...

Previewing Lambuth's Offense:

This is quite a different task than Shorter's Triple Option.  The Lions run a spread style offense and have decent balance.  I don't take much away from their glorified scrimmage vs. Shephard Film Academy (and it has since been stricken from the record books as just that).  They ran 47 plays vs. Arkansas Tech with 23 of those being passes.  Their primary target is 6'8, 250lbs. WR Rod Jefferson and he's a weapon anywhere on the field.  He had 5 catches, 87 yards and 2 TDs on Thursday night.  RB Marquis Williams is a threat both catching the football and running with it.  At 5'7, 170, he has to be accounted for as he has gamebreaking seed as witness by his 83 yard TD catch and run in their opener. Key matchups will be the inside LBs and the safety help over the top.  Coach Thompson is certain to release the hounds against this balanced attack.

Previewing Lambuth's Defense:

As Coach Bill Curry mentioned in his Coach's Show on Monday, Lambuth is very physical on the defensive line with 4 DT heavier than 285lbs.  CBC said he was impressed with the film on the front 4.  Analyzing their roster though, after this heavy line, their LB corp is very light.  That tells me that if our guards move their DL back our RBs could have a very big game.  They also have short CBs which does not bode well with 6'2 Sidney Haynes and 6'3 Danny Williams on the outside.  Drew may have been given the license to take a few shots down field this game because the pass coverage will give him a lane to throw.

Thursday vs. Arkansas Tech (who is currently ranked outside the latest Division II poll) the Lion  defense gave up 27 points (final TD was a fumble recovery) and 321 yards of offense. They forced 5 turnovers (3 fumbles and 2 INTs). This tells me that we need to raise our level of execution because we have to protect the ball again. 

If you'd follow this blog you know I'm also a big proponent in yards per play. The Lion D had a very good night as they gave up 4.4 yards per play and again this factors in the 5 turnovers. Take those away and the yards per play is still only 4.65.  We will have to execute much better in the first half to jump on them offensively.

My Take: I believe that this may be our toughest task to date.  The first game is over.  Our first victory is long gone and Lambuth is well aware of who we are.  The crowd may not be as loud or as sizeable but I think CBC and his staff have refocused the troops. Lambuth is more talented than Shorter but our overall skill position players are much better.  Watch for the kicking game to again produce a big play or two. 

My prediction: Georgia State 34, Lambuth 17.

Augusta Chronicle Predicts a Win

Lambuth @ Georgia State: After the Panthers remain undefeated all-time, let's hope the players refrain from knockign coach Bill Curry out with the Gatorade bucket this time. Georgia State 41, Lambuth 14.

Augusta Chronicle Link

Thursday Quick Hitters - 9.9.10

2 Days Until Our First Saturday Home Game...Like Coach Curry says: "Be there...and bring your friends!"

Let's hit the Links:

M

Helmet Stickers: From our guy Ken S at the AJC and told to me by our Equipment Manager D Mac, we will have helmet stickers.  One interesting note though: They will be in the shape of an M and will be red. The M stands for CBC's favorite Latin word Magnanimatas meaning "Greatness of Spirit."

Spectacular pictures from GSU-Shorter: A big thank you to my man DSB for taking these. 
GSU Picture Link

Lambuth players are ATL-iens:  Several players from Georgia on the Lambuth roster and our players know them and they know us.  It will be pretty cool to see a step up in competition (no disrespect intended for our folks at Shorter).  Jackson Sun Article

Creative Loafing Starting to Come Around: It seems as if they did an internal U-turn on Georgia State football and the impact on the students.  One quote of interest:

"The world of academic and athletic funding is almost as confusing as trying to read NFL defenses, but in the end, it's important to understand two things: Tuition pays academic affairs, activity fees pay for extracurricular ones. The football program is no more taking from the education of Georgia State students than it is robbing the Falcons of needed Georgia Dome access on Saturdays."  CL Link

Thoughts with Jordan Giles today: He's having surgery this morning and will be a costly loss.  Let's hope for a speedy recovery for the JGiles and that finger he broke.

Tuesday Quick Hitters - 9.7.10

-SI.com Stewart Mandel gives us a look, again:  SI College Football Overtime Link
"More than anything, that's why Curry's program has a chance to be successful in a hurry. There is no larger city in the country more passionate about college football than Atlanta, and clearly the appetite is vast enough to accommodate more than just the Dawgs and Yellow Jackets. Even after the novelty wears off and the crowds dwindle to half that, you'll still be looking at a school with more resources, more support and more fertile recruiting turf than 90 percent of its FCS competitors."-GSU - The Inaugural Season Debuts this Friday @ 2 on CSS.  GSU Sports Link




-Game 1 Video Issues - Had a good conversation with Blake Adams who's in charge of the videos we see during the football games.  He admitted that they had 'a few issues' and is looking forward to debuting some new and improved things this Saturday.  To their credit, I think they did a great job getting the crowd excited.  I just hope our fans understand they need to be quiet when we have the ball!  He is always open to suggestions and comments.  Check out his blog at: http://www.blakegadams.com/blog/

-AJC: 'Immature Practice' - Not shocked by this at all.  When you have as many young people as we do on our roster, the thoughts of 'well, that was easy' can overtake you.  Coach Bill Curry and staff know that Lambuth will be a bigger challenge this week and absolutely worked the players for 2 1/2 hours.  Get 'em Coach!  AJC Link

Our Opponents Impressive this weekend

Gamecock players letting out a Rebel yell in Oxford on Saturday

Photo Courtesy of Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press

Jacksonville State - 1-0 It all starts with our Week 3 home opponent Jacksonville State.  They walked into Ole Miss and capitalized on 3 Rebel turnovers and beat them in 2 OTs 49-48.  A great win for them and I've got to believe they'll be very excited and will have a very large following on Sept. 18th.

Campbell - 1-0 Our Week 4 opponent defeated previously winless UVA-Wise 20-16 for their season opening win.

Morehead State - 0-1 Our Homecoming and Week 5 opponent absolutely got housed vs. James Madison losing 48-7.

Savannah State - 0-1 Our Week 6 opponent headed to Statesboro to face the Georgia Southern Eagles and received a worse beating that Morehead State did, losing 48-3.

North Carolina Central - 1-0 Our Week 7 foe beat Johnson C. Smith 59-0.

Old Dominion - 0-1 Week 8 road opponent ODU had a tough go and lost to non scholarship Jacksonville University 35-25 at home.

South Alabama - 1-0 Week 9 road opponent beats NAIA Pikeville (Ky.) 59-0 in front of 22,376 fans at Ladd Peebles Stadium.

Lamar - 0-1 Week 10 and final home game opponent loses to #11 McNeese State 30-27.

Alabama - 1-0 (0-0 SEC) The defending BCS National Champions defeated San Jose State 49-3 without Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram. 

Through Week 2 our opponents are 6-8 (Lambuth lost on Thursday night to the Wonder Boys of Arkansas Tech.

Question #4 How will our defense look?

We will be running a hybrid 3-4 (as chronicled by the roster and DJ's astute analysis weeks ago watching practice).  We will face a Shorter squad who runs the triple option and throws less than 10 times per game, then a Lambuth team that resembles Texas Tech and then Jacksonville State who runs a spread/pro style combination style.  My question today is how will our defense look?  Who are you most interested in seeing?