Thursday, November 29th, 2007
UPDATE: It’s now official with Sam Baker’s press release. The Statesboro Herald will run their article in tomorrow’s paper.
Original Story:
I’ve contacted members of the Faculty Senate at Georgia Southern today and have confirmed a number of rumors that the meetings early this week netted a very wonderful development!
At Tuesday’s meeting, Dr. Grube gave a report to the Senate Executive Committee (SEC) on the prospect of hiring an outside firm to conduct a feasibility study. Dr. Grube apparently placed two stipulations on the study, one was that the move could not be done out of existing money and two was that no increases in student fees would be permitted.
So to clarify, Dr. Grube has fully authorized Sam Baker and the athletic department to hire an outside consulting firm to study the feasibility of Georgia Southern moving to I-A / FBS.
The Faculty Athletic Committee approved approaching Dr. Grube about the study at the October meeting, this meeting was to update the SEC as to Dr. Grube’s decision after being approached on the topic.
It appears that Dr. Grube has taken the first step. Kudos to him!
And so it has started … stick with SouthernFACTS.org for more updates.
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007
Most importantly, Jayson Foster was named to the final 3 for the Payton Award. That hasn’t happened to a GSU player since Adrian Peterson was able to do so for four straight years (1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001). When you see names like Steve McNair, Brian Finneran, Tony Romo, Jerry Azumah, and Brian Westbrook … it’s no doubt that you’ve just put Foster in a league of some of the best players to play the game.
Kudos to Jayson and here’s hoping he gets the recognition that he truly deserves.
Speaking of Adrian Peterson, it looks like AP has kept going strong and with the Chicago Bears putting Cedric Benson on the IR, he has finally got his shot at the starting job. Five games remain in the season and the Bears need to win at least four of them.
“I’m very comfortable moving Adrian Peterson into the No. 1 slot,” Lovie Smith said. “You could say that he’s a guy that deserves an opportunity to get more playing time. He’s done everything we’ve always asked him to do.”
It’s great to see AP finally getting a real shot at showing his talents on the field as the #1.
On to another subject, the coaching carousel. As the years go, so do the coaches and this year is no different. Paul Johnson’s name is being discussed again from Nebraska to Georgia Tech to a variety of other schools around the country.
But Chris Hatcher? After only one season here, there’s already rumors of losing Hatcher to Ole Miss, Duke, Southern Mississippi, and even Georgia Tech. These all aren’t your run of the mill rumors either … published in papers like the AJC, Winston-Salem Journal and the Hattiesburg American. Coach Hatcher has already disavowed the idea of leaving, but who knows what money can do to change his mind.
Even with missing out on the playoffs (give ‘em hell App State & Wofford!) it is a great time to be an Eagle no doubt, let’s hope things keep looking up!
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007
The year was 1998, SoCon rival Appalachian State had a “small number of vocal alumni” asking the University to study the feasibility of a move to I-A. Looking back at the Fall 1998 Faculty Senate meeting speeches, you can see that Dr. Howard Neufeld (then chair of the Faculty Senate) made an anti-I-A speech against the idea of App State moving up to I-A.
In it, he used 0-11 seasons at Rutgers (his alma mater), lacking App State facilities, poor finances, and a variety of other points as to why it was a bad idea. Nine years is a long time and so we asked him about whether circumstances have changed after the unprecedented ten football seasons App State has had since his speech.
More…
Thursday, November 15th, 2007
With all the smack talk going on over at the TSC & CSU forums, this is obviously the biggest game of the year for us.
And yet, here we have some stupid mistakes BEFORE the game which may haunt us. It appears that Dakota Walker (c’mon man, you know better!) and Mike Hamilton (skipped how many classes, wtf?!) have both been suspended for the final game of the regular season.
We can only HOPE that they get a chance to redeem themselves THIS YEAR in the playoffs.
Keep your eyes to the sky Eagles, don’t lose focus.
Friday, November 9th, 2007
Welcome to a GSU rivalry game. Furman, after upsetting Elon, has their eyes set on them Southern boys from Statesboro. But the Eagles have their own plans.
GATA Eagles!
