One of the most memorable stats of the 2012 college football preseason is this one:
Georgia Tech doesn't have a receiver on the roster who's caught a pass in a game.
Two obvious extenuating factors: 1) Georgia Tech doesn't pass the ball much in Paul Johnson's offense, and 2) The A-backs usually catch a lot of balls.
But still, when is the last time you remember a team returning zero catches from the previous year at the receiver position?
Our Rivals friends in Atlanta covered the receiving situation in this August camp primer:
Orwin Smith at A-back has probably been the most consistent receiver since Demaryius Thomas left for the NFL for the Jackets. Heading into the 2012 season the Jackets have zero wide receivers with a catch in a game and only two players, Jeff Greene and Chris Jackson who have played meaningful snaps at the position in games. Coach Johnson talked up Jeremy Moore and Darren Waller at the ACC Kickoff and the Jackets have three talented true freshmen, Anthony Autry, Travin Henry and Mike Summers all vying for playing time so there are plenty of bodies. It will be interesting to see who rises up and becomes the next go-to receiver for the Jackets.
The AJC has a Q&A with Paul Johnson, and it looks like he thinks a lot of Waller.
"I think he’s like a lot of young guys. He just has to mature. Physically, he’s got all the tools."
Waller played safety at North Cobb High and was a three-star guy according to Rivals, but you look at his frame (6-foot-5, 220) and he seems a logical candidate to be the target who can go up and get balls in one-on-one coverage that receivers see a lot of in Johnson's offense.
Georgia Tech is one of four ACC teams that begin camp today, including Clemson of course. The others are Miami and North Carolina.
Our Rivals friends in Miami have a story on quarterback Stephen Morris, who says it's his team now.
Quarterback Stephen Morris missed spring practice due to back surgery, but he spent the summer regaining his strength and throwing in 7-on7's.
Asked today how the off-season went coming off the injury, Morris said, "It was important for me to get my strength back. When I had surgery I lost a lot of strength. My bench press went up (this summer), my 225 went up by five reps or so. I'm really impressed how my body responded."
On the field, Morris says his body has responded well.
"I knew 7 on 7, throwing the football would come back naturally," Morris said.
He says he has "no worries" about being hit for the first time since the injury.
"The doctors cleared me for everything," Morris said. "The next time I get hit will be hopefully Boston College. Going into camp my mindset is just getting the job done, helping the team win."
You look at the forecasts that have the Hurricanes fifth in the Coastal and you do a double-take, but then you see that they have to replace their leading rusher from a year ago, starting quarterback, two leading receivers and three starters on the offensive line, and it begins to make more sense.
In Chapel Hill, ranking the Tar Heels' opponents by difficulty.
New Tar Heels coach Larry Fedora is an upbeat dude ... a necessity given the embarrassing scandal unfolding with his school and program.
“He’s enthused, he’s going to keep us pumped up no matter what,” senior linebacker Kevin Reddick said.
It didn’t take much in the interview session to get Fedora fired up, as was evidenced when he answered a question about how his team was prepared to handle adversity this season.
“Why does our society dread adversity? It’s what brings out the best in you,” Fedora said. “When your back is against the wall, that’s what brings out the best in you. I’m teaching them, adversity is going to hit, it’s coming, it’s waiting around the corner so when it does, look it in the eye, grab it by the throat, choke it and just move on. Let’s go.”
And his sense humor doesn’t stop when he steps onto the field.
”He comes into team meeting rooms yelling just to catch you off guard and to see who’s paying attention,” Reddick said. “He’s a serious guy but he’ll make you laugh. You always see him and he’s always energetic and he’ll throw something in there funny, but nobody will laugh. They want to laugh, he’ll be like ‘why no laughing?’ and then they’ll laugh.”
“In practice, he walks around with that Red Bull, talking trash.”
Red Bull seems to be a trademark of Fedora’s.
Reddick put the number at three Red Bulls per practice for the coach. Junior quarterback Bryn Renner said he couldn’t understand how his coach could still be chugging the energy drink at night and get any sleep.
LW
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