Former UGA football walk-on safety has posted impressive tackle numbers at Jacksonville State
Former Georgia Bulldogs walk-on safety Patrick Taylor has been very productive for the Jacksonville State Gamecocks through two games. Taylor has 24 total tackles to start the season, which is the No. 11 most tackles of any player in the country.
Unfortunately for Taylor and fellow Georgia transfers Clay Webb and Andrew Paul, Jacksonville State is 0-2 to start the season. The Gamecocks have a porous defense that has allowed over 50 points per game of the first two games of the season.
Patrick Taylor joined the Bulldogs as a preferred walk-on in 2020. He is listed at 5-foot-11, 170 pounds and played high school football at Johns Creek in Alpharetta, Georgia. Taylor played in three games and recorded three tackles in 2023 with Georgia, so he is being much more productive with Jacksonville State.
Former Georgia running back Andrew Paul has five carries for seven yards through two games with Jacksonville State, who will look to get back on track in Week 3 against Eastern Michigan.
Former Michigan State football DB transferring to Jacksonville State
Malcolm Jones, a former 3-star recruit in Michigan State football’s 2022 recruiting class, has found a new home. Jones announced on social media on Monday that he is committed to transfer to Jacksonville State.
Jones played in eight games last season as a redshirt freshman.
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It had been a long day in the desert, and Jinger Heath probably had more golf to play. Heath was hitting a few putts, in case a playoff was on the horizon for the individual trophy at the National Golf Invitational. Her Jacksonville State teammates suggested she have a seat in the shade instead.
Heath, the freshman from Hartselle, Alabama, who is famous for needing little (if any) time to warm up, suggested they worry about head coach Robbie Fields instead. Normally she only hits a few drives on the range before going to the first tee, but, āat this one I didnāt want Robbie to freak out on me,ā Heath joked.
āSo I made sure to get an hour in of warming up.ā
Hence her decision to roll a few putts while she waited for her chasers.
Heath posted rounds of 70-72-71 at the National Golf Invitational at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona, to reach 3 under. When she came off the golf course Sunday afternoon, Victoria Levy from North Carolina-Wilmington and Kelsey Kim from Santa Clara still had two or three holes to left, and both were hovering around 3 under, too.
Levy, a UNCW who transferred from Central Florida, had been even par through 13 holes before making three birdies and a bogey in her closing hole. Her final-round of 70 left her tied with Heath.
āAfter the round, Robbie was like, āOK, Jinger, if youāre going into a playoff, you need to be prepared,āā Heath said. āIām like, I am prepared. What have I been doing all semester? He said you need to stay loose. I said Iāve hit 71 shots today, I think Iām loose enough.ā
As Fields joked, āI think her lack of stress stressed me out more.ā
Coach and player strode to the No. 18 together, the first playoff hole, where Heath drew honors off the tee. Heath aimed for a particular bunker in the background, just like she had all week, and hit the fairway. Her second shot landed a couple feet off the green and she lined up the birdie putt at the left edge.
āEvery putt I get over, I tell myself to make it,ā she said. āSo I was like, make it.ā
Remarkably, it hung on the edge before taking āone tumbleā into the hole and giving Heath a postseason individual title in her first year of college golf. And in her mind, thereās no better way to win a tournament than with a playoff birdie.
Jacksonville State’s Jinger Heath won the NGI individual title. (Photo by Landon Ringler)
Heath proudly noted that she won the first tournament of her spring season, the North Carolina-Greensboro-hosted Advance Golf Partners Collegiate, and now the last. Itās just some of the middle that didnāt sit so well.
āI definitely didnāt play to my potential,ā she said. āI wasnāt very happy.ā
Heath had two other top-7 finishes in the spring, but at the Conference USA Championship, she felt like she put two good rounds together before struggling to finish it off. She finished 12th.
An NGI title will make the start of the summer much sweeter, and Heath will go on to play a full schedule of Alabama Golf Association events, a U.S. Womenās Amateur qualifier, the Tennessee Womenās Open and maybe even a few more amateur events.
Heath knows she couldnāt have a better team around her, notably Fields and swing coach Colby Odom, who teaches out of Burningtree Country Club in Decatur, Alabama. When she called Odom before the playoff at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes, he told her, āYouāre ready, you just need to walk slow.ā
As for Fields, he was walking, maybe not so slowly, right beside Heath for much of the day. He had to take a break after seven holes to bring his own stress levels down, but picked up Heath again on No. 13 and walked the rest of the way with her.
Fields spent three seasons as the womenās golf assistant at East Carolina University before taking over at Jacksonville State in the summer of 2022. He and Heath both attended Hartselle (Alabama) High School, and Heath had been playing out of the same club as a kid where Fieldsā dad plays. Thus, Fields had an early scouting report on Heath.
Fields knew he wouldnāt have a spot for her at ECU, so he offered instead to help her get wherever she wanted to go. The summer before her senior year, Fields ended up watching Heath play a tournament at Pinehurst because she was right in the middle of two players he was recruiting. By that time, he had applied for the job at Jacksonville State. He had no interview, but rumors were already swirling.
āShe spent about an hour after the round recruiting me,ā he said. āShe hadnāt committed yet, but she was recruiting hard.ā
Fields was hired shortly after and Heath became his first commitment. Sheās been a great one, racking up Conference USA Freshman of the Year honors and now an NGI title.
āSeeing her grow up from a little rugrat on the golf course being in everybodyās way to doing something like this and being there with her has been a little extra sentimental, I guess, for some of those reasons,ā Fields said.
Heath led her Jacksonville State team to a seventh-place finish in the 10-team NGI field. At the top of the team leaderboard, Rutgers increased its one-shot second-round lead to a three-shot victory over UNCW. Rutgers, which finished the tournament at 13 over, became the second consecutive Big 10 team to win the NGI after Penn State won the inaugural tournament in 2023.
Rutgers head coach Kari Williams couldnāt think of a better way to cap a solid spring than with a postseason victory. Even better, she watched three freshmen fearlessly take the baton from three seniors who have played their last round in the block R.
āOnly a couple of teams get to do that all year, get to finish with a win,ā Williams said. āItās really good for us.ā
The Badgers remain 7-3 (1-0 Big Ten) on the season and ranked No. 23 in the AP Poll. And the team now gets a few easier matchups before Big Ten play heats up after the New Year.
Up next is a Jacksonville State team ranked No. 214 in KenPom. The ranking service has the Gamecocks ranked as the No. 284 offense and No. 124 defense, both tallies far, far behind Wisconsin’s No. 12 and No. 28 rank respectively.
It’s a good bounce-back opportunity for the Badgers.
Here is how to watch Wisconsin vs Jacksonville State:
Pitcher AJ Causey transfers to Tennessee baseball.
Jacksonville State pitcher AJ Causey announced he will transfer to Tennessee.
“I want to thank the Lord for the opportunity and memories Iāve made over the past two years at JSU,” Causey announced. “Iām grateful for my teammates and friends along with the coaches that helped me along the way. I am very excited and incredibly grateful to announce that I am transferring to the University of Tennessee!”
Causey (9-6) appeared in 40 games, including 15 starts, at Jacksonville State from 2022-23. He recorded nine saves, one complete game, 147 strikeouts, a 4.11 ERA in 124.2 innings pitched with the Gamecocks.
Causey is from Sparkman High School in Harvest, Alabama.
Tennessee Classic: Lady Vols softball wins two games on final day
No. 7 Tennessee (16-1) ended play in the Tennessee Classic with two wins Sunday at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
Tennessee opened the day with a 2-0 victory against Jacksonville State. The contest was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Lady Vols scored two runs.
McKenna Gibson hit an RBI double before being replaced by pinch runner Brylee Mesusan, who stole home.
Ashley Rogers (5-0) pitched four innings of scoreless relief, allowing one hit and one walk. She recorded nine strikeouts.
Nicola Simpson started for the Lady Vols, pitching three innings and surrendering two hits.
Tennessee defeated Belmont, 7-1, in game No. 2.
Shortstop and leadoff hitter Mackenzie Donihoo hit a home run in the first inning.
In the third inning, Kiki Milloy hit an RBI double. Jamison Brockenbrough hit a two-run single and Gibson recorded a scoring hit, extending Tennessee’s lead to 5-0.
Milloy produced Tennessee’s final two runs, hitting a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning and a solo home run in the sixth inning.
Tulsa vs Jacksonville State game preview, prediction, and breakdown for the Week 3 game on Saturday, September 17
Tulsa vs Jacksonville State prediction, game preview, how to watch. Week 3, Saturday, September 17
Tulsa vs Jacksonville State How To Watch
Date: Saturday, September 17
Game Time: 7:00Ā ET
Venue: Chapman Stadium, Tulsa, OK
How To Watch: ESPN+
Record: Tulsa (1-1), Jacksonville State (3-0)
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The running game is averaging seven yards per pop with four different Gamecocks hitting the 100-yard mark on the season so far, and now it gets to show off against a Tulsa defense that’s been solid, but hasn’t seen anything that’s going to move this fast.
There have been mistakes, and there have been too many turnovers, but the defense has been fantastic – it’s been great against the pass so far – the six takeaways have made up for the problems, and overall, the team will be more than happy to get in an up-and-down shootout.
So Jacksonville State wants to get into an offensive fight, okay.
Brin is one of the nation’s leading passers with 782 yards in Tulsa’s first two games. He’s not all that accurate, but he’s pushing the ball down the field, he’s averaging over nine yards per throw, and he’s been able to make up for the problems on the defensive side.
Jacksonville State is playing well, but QB Zion Webb is giving the ball away too much. In a game like this – like in Tulsa’s first two games – one slip, and one break of serve might be enough.
The Jacksonville State offense will take over in a hurry.
Tulsa was able to hold up against Wyoming and Northern Illinois on the ground, but the Gamecock offense will be too consistent, and the defense will come up with just enough pressure and plays behind the line to get by.
It’s Jacksonville State’s first team title since the Bash at the Beach 18 months ago.
A picture still lives on Robbie Fieldsā phone in which Fields, the head womenās golf coach and acting menās coach at Jacksonville State University, stands behind a middle-school version of one of his current menās players. The 26-year-old coach was a senior on the Hartselle (Alabama) High School golf team when senior Ross Napier was an eighth grader. The top of Napierās head didnāt even reach Fieldsā chin back then.
Needless to say, Fields is familiar with Napierās game (and his family in general ā Napierās mother was Fieldsā AP Environmental Science teacher). It seemed pretty poetic that Tuesday, in the final round of the 2022 Golfweek Fall Challenge at True Blue Golf Club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Napier broke 70 for the first time as a collegian.
āHeās a guy who plays consistent golf, his short game is unbelievable and now heās starting to strike the ball really well,ā Fields noted.
For the most part, Fields was across the street at Caledonia Golf Club coaching the Gamecock womenās team (the menās and womenās events run concurrently during the Golfweek Fall Challenge). He walked the par-5 ninth hole with Napier in the second round and watched Napier make double-bogey there.
āI told him Iād take the blame for messing him up,ā Fields laughed.
It was a minor blip, though, because Jacksonville State won the event by two strokes over Wright State after reaching 28 under for 54 holes. Napier tied for seventh with teammate Eric Jansson when both finished the tournament at 7 under. Ultimately, Ryley Heath, a transfer from Calhoun Community College, dropped 30-foot birdie putts on Nos. 16 and 17 in the fall round to help the Gamecocks stay two shots about Wright State. Heath was T-3 individually at 11 under.
Coastal Carolinaās Trey Crenshaw won the individual title at 18 under, five shots better than Wright Stateās Tyler Goecke.
Coastal Carolina’s Trey Crenshaw holds the trophy after winning the individual title at the 2022 Golfweek Fall Challenge at True Blue Golf Club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
There are old ties there for Fields, too. Heath also attended Hartselle High School, and Fields has known him since he was 8 years old. The clutch performance came as no surprise.
āItās not that he was a surprise because he had a great summer, heās playing some really great golf and itās almost like heās unphased,ā Fields said. āI wouldnāt always tell somebody at that moment where we stood as a team ā¦ but heās one where nothing really bothers him.ā
Despite the familiar faces, Fields is very much in new territory. Three weeks into his new job as head womenās golf coach, he was promoted to acting menās coach, replacing James Hobbs, a Gamecock institution. Now heās juggling two rosters and 20 players. Patricio Freundt-Thurne, who graduated last season after four years playing for the now-retired Hobbs, stayed on as a menās assistant and helped the Gamecocks navigate True Blue.
Asked what he expects his future holds at Jacksonville State, Fields says he is sticking with the women ā despite the fact that the menās team is advocating for him to remain in their orbit, too.
āThe way that I want to do things and the attention that I want to show the players, itās just not really easy to do with 20 players,ā Fields said. āIāve told them Iām happy to be helping them. The guys have made it really hard to not give them as much attention as Iām trying to give the girls because theyāve been so awesome. I told them Iām going to do everything I can for you now but I really want them to be able to have somebody to give them a lot of attention.ā
Despite feeling as if his attention is split in too many directions, Fields can talk in-depth about every player in his lineup at True Blue. Jansson, he explains, they call The Machine for his day-in, day-out work ethic. Gabriel Restrepo, who finished T-25 individually and was the fourth counting Gamecock score, played through illness the first two rounds before breaking 70 on the final day.
āWeāve got seven guys at home that at any given day could step into the lineup and do the same thing we did this week,ā he said. āThat kind of competition is good for the team. The lineup, because Iām not with them as much for their qualifying, the lineup is pretty much going to be based on scores and qualifying. The lineup is probably going to be pretty different throughout the year just because thereās so much competition. I think any given day theyāre going to go out and compete.ā
Before winning the Golfweek Fall Challenge, Jacksonville State hadnāt won a team title since the Bash at the Beach in March 2021. Runner-up Wright State couldnāt have a different story, however.
After winning their season opener at Ball State, their 10th team title in their last 14 starts, the Raiders came up two shots short at True Blue. Wright State led the field in birdies but ultimately, head coach Conner Lash said, the tournament came down to True Blueās closing gauntlet. The Raiders made too many big numbers on 16, 17 and 18.
It can be tough to battle big expectations, Lash said, but the team is pretty good at taking things one shot at a time.
āYou take the positives from the year before, we had a lot of success and I think we had a lot of confidence coming into this year and the guys were playing good golf over the summer so I think we just kind of rode the momentum and the confidence,ā he said. āWe won last week, got second this week so thereās still a lot of positives, lot of momentum we can take.ā
Get to know the Irish’s 2023 home opener opponent a bit.
Notre Dame has announced that its 2023 home opener will be played against Tennessee State, a Historically Black College and University. On the surface, it’s a great opportunity for a lesser-known program to receive national exposure. However, it also will be the first time the Irish have played a Football Championship Subdivision opponent. The reaction to this news within the fan base mostly has been lukewarm at best and outright negative at worst.
Notre Dame presently is the only Football Bowl Subdivision opponent the Tigers have scheduled for the future. That makes the decision either more of a headscratcher from the Irish’s point of view or it merely makes the Irish an outlier. Either way, the Tigers don’t get to play FBS schools very much, so you better believe they will be hyped for the opportunity. In the spirit of that, let’s take a look at how they have done against teams from college football’s top level:
