Boise State Transfer Mike Tamburo to UGA, Not GSU

According to my man Chip Towers of the AJC, former Boise State and North Gwinnett HS QB Mike Tamburo has been accepted and will walk on at Georgia this summer.


Playing time did not seem to be a concern as a change of scenery:

"I’ve been talking to Georgia and to Coach [Mike] Bobo and I just liked everything about the idea of going that. "There’s the football program, the tradition and all that. I know about the all the guys on the depth chart and all that. But that’s not what this is about. I’m just looking for a fresh start."

Tamburo mentioned that he took a long, hard look at Georgia State who now has an immediate need at QB with starter Drew Little being slapped with a four game suspension and back up Star Jackson leaving the program.

"Yeah, yeah, I talked to them," said Tamburo, who accounted for 8,476 total yards and 90 touchdowns while playing for Bob Sphire at North Gwinnett High. "I’ve got a couple of buddies that play there and my little sister (Kristin Tamburo) is going there to play soccer. But there were a lot of things that went into my decision."

My take: While this seems like another blow in an already tough week for the football program, I do not believe Tamburo will ever take a snap at Georgia with Sophomore QB Aaron Murray and incoming Freshman Christian LeMay on campus. It's very obvious that he would rather move closer to home and is happy to be a part of an FBS program.  What will truly be interesting if there happens to be a coaching staff change this December. Could Tamburo be on the move again?

Addressing the Suspension: Short Term Pain, Long Term Gain

Yesterday, Coach Bill Curry announced the suspensions of 2010 Starting QB Drew Little and SS Fred Barnes for 4 games and 2 games, respectively.  Starting ILB Femi Opanubi was dismissed.  Starting WR Danny Williams and ILB Evan Bostic are suspended for the first week of Spring Practice which starts in 10 days.  Back up QB Star Jackson and CB Justin Hughes have left the team.  While this incited every reaction from disappointment to shock to worry, I'm here to calm the Panther Nation.

Both players were suspended for a violation of team rules and I will not begin to speculate the nature of the rules that they broke but I'll say this: For every current and future player, the line in the sand has been drawn.  Either you are pulling in the same direction or you let go of the rope. 

So why am I so calm?  We will be without our 2010 leader of the offense vs. Clark Atlanta, Old Dominion, at Jacksonville State and at Houston.  This is not good news for the anticipated results in those games.  We then face Murray State at home and then will have an Open date.  If Drew is prepared to resume his role as the Starting QB, he will have 2 weeks of practice time to regain that title.  If not, he'll likely serve as a back up as I believe the plan is to redshirt incoming Freshman Ben McLane, who will arrive in June.  After this 4 game stretch, I believe our schedule breaks slightly with five of the next seven games are very winnable games. 

Also, from a scholarship side of things, losing Star, Femi and Justin Hughes may look like very bad news but I believe that Star had checked out after a disappointing Fall and I wish him well.  Femi's loss hurts but we've added Qwontez Mallory who is likely to step right in and start once he arrives in May.  Hughes likely saw the writing on the wall as we added a very talented CB in D'Mario Gunn who I project as a starter in Spring.

Coach Curry has been described as "Old School." If that means that you set out expectations to your players and then you enforce discipline when those expectations are not met, then I hope our program stays "Old School" for a long, long time.

"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments" - Jim Rohn.

AJC: Star Jackson is Ready To Play

Photo Courtesy of the AJC's Johnny Crawford

Great work by Ken S at the AJC.  AJC Link

My take on Jackson: We won't likely see Star again this weekend unless an injury occurs.  I believe we will likely see Star vs. Savannah State as they are absolutely awful.  Drew has earned the job with his solid play in 3 out of the 4 games.  Leading a game tying and game winning drive in back-to-back games only gives him another edge to keep his job.

AJC: Know Your Panthers - Star Jackson

Love the fact that his nickname is "Self."

AJC Video Link

Question #1: Can Star Jackson Live Up to the Hype?

Photo Courtesy of GSU Sports Communications

I have zero doubt that Star will take the first snap at QB tomorrow night when we take the ball on offense (I hope we defer the toss if we win because Shorter's offense is in awful shape right now, more on that in my game preview).  I believe that he is the most talented QB and the one who can best lead us to victory. 

Those are my thoughts, what are yours?

AJC Stepping Up GSU Coverage

Photo Courtesy of the Atlanta Journal Constitution's Johnny Crawford

Kudos to the Atlanta Journal Constitution stepping up there GSU coverage and overhaul their dedicated page.

Ken Seguira's Article on Practice Day 1: Jackson Impresses

Photos from Practice

Pictures from Fall Practice Day 1

Courtesy of the folks at Sports Dept. at Creative Loafing.  Follow them on Twitter @Sportsloaf.

O-Line Doing Work. Two of the new guys #73 Gabriel Hampton & #76 LeDevon Kirkland.

Photo Courtesy of Georgia State Sports Communications

#2 Star Jackson and #4 Kelton Hill let one fire.

Photo Courtesy of Georgia State Sports Communications

RB Rosevelt Watson gets low while OL Coach Todd Perry looks on