The Word

ESPN college football analyst Lee Corso is in town for Rock’s Run this weekend, the charity event to raise money for the Coaches Curing Kids Cancer foundation.

I chatted over the phone with Corso about coming to town and have a story about it up HERE. However, I would be remiss to chat with the top college football personality at ESPN and not talk a little football.

Here is the Q and A as Lee gets into Georgia, Georgia Tech, Auburn and D’Vontrey Richardson and where he thinks College Gameday will be going next season.

Paul Dehner Jr.: Everywhere you go people want to hear your opinions on college football. What is the most common question you hear from people?
Lee Corso: Who’s going to win the national championship.

PD: So, what is the answer to that?
LC: Who do you like. (laughing) Their opinion is as good as mine.

PD: The show has become such a centerpiece of the college football landscape, are you taken aback by how much stock people put in what you say?
LC: I don’t know if people put much stock in it. I take it as aa compliment. People understand, sometimes we are right and sometimes we’re wrong. Sometimes we have too much information. It is a paralysis through analysis. We get a lot of recommendations, though.

PD: Around here everybody wants to talk about Georgia, did you foresee that kind of a disappointing season from them?
LC: The fans expectations were just too high. Georgia is a really good football team, except they played too many darn good teams. You can’t stumble more than once when you play so many good teams.

PD: You were in Athens for the Alabama game and saw firsthand the first-half collapse. Looking back, did you see that as an irreversible moment that was almost impossible to recover from in the course of the season?
LC: No one in the history of football could have ever predicted the way that first half went. It was a real butt-whipping. People underestimated Alabama in the national press. That was a great football team. I saw that when they destroyed a pretty good Clemson team. They just toyed with them. Then they went in to Georgia and played that Georgia team, I thought in that first half they were near perfect in everything they did.

PD: Around here this is a lot of talk about Lee County High graduate D’Vontrey Richardson at your alma mater of Florida State. How do think the Seminoles should fit him into the offense and do you think it will be too difficult to do?

LC: It shouldn’t be as difficult as if he was lousy. As good as he is, I imagine they will find a spot for him. The guy is one of the best all-around atheltes they have.

PD: At Georgia Tech, Paul Johnston really turned that program around this year, is there still any doubt that a coach can win a national title with the triple-option offense?
LC: No doubt. If you get good players you can win with anything. If I am not mistaken, one game, the Georgia victory, they came back and won. That was one of the best seoncd half performances I have seen in years. You check that half and talk about a team coming out and playing with everything on the line. That guy can coach. He did at Georgia Southern and he is there. They had some pretty good football players. Plus, you get good people to go to Georgia Tech. That is not a surprise to me at all.

PD: What was your take on the Tommy Tuberville situation in Auburn? Do you feel that was fair?
LC: That is like talking about a husband-wife divorce across town. You really have no idea what is going on. But I do know this guy Gene Chizik can coach. His major problem is he will be recruiting against Nick Saban.

PD: When you were coaching, how did you try to overcome a situation like that and were there any Saban-esque recruiting wizards like that?
LC: Well, there was a couple guys like Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler. And pretty much everyone else. There were some great coaches in the Big 10 back then.

PD: Every year the show goes to different places, where would like to go this year and where do you think you will go?
LC: A lot depends on who is winning and losing that Saturday. I am almost positive, it will be Alabama and Virginia Tech in Atlanta the first week. The second will be USC at Ohio State in The Horseshoe.

PD: That should be a special atmosphere, is there a place you get more excited to go to?
LC: Once you’re the coach, you never get real excited or down. What has happened, Gameday has turned into an event. We are sitting there with 1,000s of people, tents. At Georgia, that whole area in that quadrangle was packed with people. 

The Lady Trojans’ quest to win their fourth consecutive GHSA Area 1-AAAA crown was thwarted Wednesday when Thomas County Central won, 1-0. The game’s lone goal was an unusual one, kicked in amid a mass of both Lee and TCC defenders near Lady Trojans goaltender Ashley Law. The Lady Yellow Jackets’ Kelsey Terrebrood scored as the ball caromed toward her before the game was two minutes old.

Lee’s top two scorers, Rachel Hatch and Heidi Johnson had near-misses, but the bottom line was that the attempts did not go in and the Lady Trojans are area runners-up.

All is not lost for Lee, however.

The Lady Trojans still advance to state Tuesday and host a first-round match since it is a second seed from 1-AAAA. The Lady Trojans will host Wayne County at an undetertimed time.

Full story in Thursday’s Herald.

came and went. Another close attempt by Hatch sailed just left.

Time’s winding down and TCC still leads 1-0 with the area championship on the line

The Trojans’ Heidi Johnson dribbled down the right side and attempted a shot that went just left of the left sidebar. A scoring attempt by teammate Rachel Hatch bounced off the left sidebar on the other end in the first half.

Not looking good, considering those two goal attempts would likely have gone in on other occasions.

An official told me that the person credited with the goal amid the mass of humanity near the goal was the Lady Yellow Jackets’ Kelsey Terrebrood. Lee County’s best chance to score during the first 40 minutes was Hatch’s near-miss that hit the left post.

 the second half just got underway.

The Lady Trojans’ best chance at a goal was when their leading scorer, Rachel Hatch, attempted a shot from the right side at rather close range and it hit the left side bar and bounced away. The stadium clock is not running so I can only gather that we’re about halfway through the first half. In high school soccer, there are two 40 minute halfs whereas in college, there are two comprising of 45.

We aren’t two minutes into the match. amid a crowd of players near the Lee County goalie, a Lady Jackets kicked the ball into the net. Will look for verificatin as to exactly WHO was the one from that crowd to actually score.

Hey guys, just getting situated in the Central pressbox. The two teams are getting ready to start. Will keep you updated on progress