A dose of reality

Sporting News, The, Sept 19, 1994 by Michael Bradley

This was the scenario that had snuck past reality and into the wildest imaginations of every Georgia Southern player since the 1994 schedule was announced: Fourth-and-goal from the Miami 5, 1:15 remaining, and the crowd in the west end zone of the Orange Bowl in utter delirium. "Fifty-eight straight! Fifty-eight straight!" the fans shouted, a reminder that a Hurricanes victory would shatter the NCAA mark for consecutive home victories. On the Miami sideline, players and coaches exhorted the crowd, and Georgia Southern's offense searched for composure. Dreams come true after all.

So do nightmares. The Eagles were driving, all right, but not for a winning touchdown and a mad, improbable upset. "We can make this a day of infamy in college football history," GSU Coach Tim Stowers told his players before the game. This drive was for a sliver of dignity. The fans weren't cheering for their heroes to preserve victory; they wanted the shutout. GSU, the defending Southern Conference champion and the team dubbed the "Miami of Division I-AA" for its four national titles and 98 victories from 1985 to '93, had met the real thing. Miami 56, Georgia Southern 0. The Eagles would go for it on fourth down. "Fifty-six-to-nothing or 56-3; it really doesn't make much difference," Stowers said later. They didn't make it.

Across football America, Miami's opener September 3 with Georgia Southern was considered a glorified scrimmage for the 'Canes, who were back in business after a "dismal" 9-3 season in 1993. They would stomp the visiting Eagles and then concern themselves with chasing another national title. In Statesboro, about 45 miles from the South Carolina border in southeastern Georgia, the point of view was a little different. GSU had scared the Hurricanes in 1993, trailing only 16-7 late in the third quarter of a 30-7 loss, and considered the rematch anything but a visit to the slaughterhouse.

"I dream about beating them, and so do the other guys on this team," linebacker Paul Carroll said two days before the game. "This is a great opportunity for us. We weren't recruited by anybody, and we're playing a bunch of guys who will be in the NFL."

Following is an inside look at that opportunity and a school that lives only in the small type scores of most sports pages. A team with 5-foot-11 tackles and 204-pound defensive ends that dreamed its dream but couldn't overcome talent with heartspeed, a plastic jug of ditch water and a smooth stone.

Of the 25 All-Americans Georgia Southern has had during its nine years of I-AA play, 12 have been walk-ons. "We're the Horatio Alger of college football," Stowers says. Paul Carroll embodies the GSU underdog spirit. He made 119 tackles last season and should receive all-conference honors this year, but he came to Statesboro, Ga., from Columbus, Ga., without a scholarship. "They're famous for giving non-athletes a chance to play football," says Carroll, who is 6 feet, 228 pounds. "They go by heartspeed, and that's how I play."

Though Georgia Southern played football from 1924 to '41 (when the school was called Georgia Teachers College), the program laid dormant until 1981, when Athletic Director David (Bucky) Wagner lured University of Georgia defensive coordinator Erk Russell to resurrect the program. During 17 years in Athens, Russell had become famous for his dynamic personality and devotion to his players. When he retired in 1989 after a 15-0 season and his third title, Russell and his cleanshaven head were emblematic of GSU's football dominance and the school's growth. From 1985 to '94, the school's enrollment rose from 6,935 to nearly 14,500, stressing Southern's physical plant so severely that the number of students has been capped.

"Coach Russell's mere presence had a charismatic effect on a football team," Stowers says. "Coach Bryant could do that, and I imagine Coach Paterno and Coach Bowden are like that. Coach Russell's basic philosophy was that the only thing better than a simple idea is a simpler idea. He could explain complicated things in the simplest manner and get everyone to understand him."

After five years as an assistant with the Eagles, including two as offensive coordinator, Stowers took over as head coach after the 1989 season. At 31, he was the youngest head coach in Division I, and his Eagles started 1990 1-3. Eleven consecutive victories later, Stowers had a national title of his own.

Russell's shadow still looms in Statesboro -- locals can find him breakfasting at Snooky's Restaurant on the edge of campus, talking about the Four Fs: football, fishing, fighting and figure the other one out. But Stowers is clearly in charge. And on this oppressive Thursday afternoon, he is running Georgia Southern's final practice before the team leaves for Miami. It's a pads-and-shorts affair, with no real hitting. The coaches teach and don't yell much, and the pace is much less intense than the previous three weeks of two-a-days. The offense and defense practice against scout teams, and kicker Reed Haley tries to boot footballs into a vacant coaching tower.