College Stuff for Real Men

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Stave to serve as backup QB for Wisconsin

Joel Stave is back in the mix at quarterback for No. 17 Wisconsin after struggling mentally with throwing issues. From ESPN.com - College Football - Stave to serve as backup QB for Wisconsin

Georgia DB Rico Johnson's career is over because of neurological condition

Georgia announced Thursday that DB Rico Johnson would be put on a medical scholarship and his football career was over.

The school said Johnson "experienced some neurological symptoms" at practice on Wednesday and doctors discovered a neurological condition when he was looked at afterwards.

"While we are very disappointed for Rico from a football standpoint, we feel extremely fortunate that he is healthy and that we were able to diagnose his condition and protect him from a possible catastrophic injury," Ron Courson, Georgia's Senior Associate Athletic Director for Sports Medicine, said in a statement. "Although he cannot continue his football career, he should be able to have a normal life."

Johnson has played in every game this season and primarily on special teams. He has five total tackles this year and a forced fumble. Earlier Thursday he tweeted the following:

Why this gotta happen to me??

— Rico Johnson (@Ric_johnson7) October 2, 2014

“I’m thankful we caught this condition when we did,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “Now we can help Rico transition to life after football. He will stay on scholarship through his graduation and we will assist him in finding employment through the P.O. Network.”

Johnson was a three-star recruit in the class of 2013 and played at a prep school that season before going to Georgia. According to UGASports.com, Brendan Langley, a sophomore WR, saw time at CB in practice Wednesday and could move back. He was a CB before he was moved to WR in spring practice.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - Georgia DB Rico Johnson's career is over because of neurological condition

DePaul's Ryckbosch (torn ACL) to miss season

DePaul says forward Peter Ryckbosch will miss the upcoming season because of a torn ACL in his right knee. From ESPN.com - College Basketball - DePaul's Ryckbosch (torn ACL) to miss season

Montclair State's Fiore retiring after 26 years

Ted Fiore is stepping down as Montclair State basketball coach effective Oct.14. From ESPN.com - College Basketball - Montclair State's Fiore retiring after 26 years

Georgia DB Johnson forced to quit football

Georgia freshman cornerback Rico Johnson will have to give up football because of a neurological condition. From ESPN.com - College Football - Georgia DB Johnson forced to quit football

Michigan AD Dave Brandon absolves coach Brady Hoke of wrongdoing in handling of QB Shane Morris

Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon has absolved coach Brady Hoke of any wrongdoing in regards to the handling of quarterback Shane Morris, who suffered both a leg and head injury during the game.

Brandon, who was doing one of his first media interviews since last Saturday’s game, told the Detroit Free Press that the responsibility of diagnosing Morris with any injury that would have prohibited him from staying in the game should have come from the medical training staff.

"I don't think Brady deserves any blame for what happened on the sidelines," Brandon said. "Because Brady is responsible for coaching.

"Our medical staff, which incorporates all of our trainers, our physicians -- it's a rather large complement of people down there -- their job is to notify the coaches if a situation occurs where either somebody needs to come off the field or somebody cannot go back on the field."

Morris took a helmet-to-helmet hit during the fourth quarter against Minnesota and emerged wobbly. He has already been hampered by a leg injury. Despite teammates asking for the training staff to come onto the field and look at Morris, Morris waived them off and he stay in the game one more play before coming off the field. A few plays later, after backup Devin Gardner lost his helmet on an out-of-bounds play, Morris returned to the game to take a handoff.

Morris was later diagnosed with symptoms consistent with a concussion.

When Brandon was asked whether what happened with Morris would affect Hoke’s job status Brandon replied: "No. I just said the problem on the sideline Saturday had nothing to do with the coaches."

Hoke has faced staunch criticism in the past week for the way Morris’ injury was handled but he’s been consistent in saying that he was not responsible for deciding whether Morris should have remained on the field. However, when Morris collapsed into the arms of his offensive lineman, a moment that was caught on camera, someone on the sideline should have had the common sense to pull Morris out of the game despite his insistence that he stay in.

In response to the handling of Morris’ injuries, Michigan announced Thursday that it was putting a member of the athletic training staff in the press box to better spot injuries. The athletic training staff also will use two-way radios to communicate with each other rather than hand signals. The medical staff also will secure the helmets of any player that is deemed unfit to return to the game — a practice most programs have been employing for several years.

Brandon told the Free Press that it was an internal communication error that led to the mishandling of Morris injuries.

"Part of the problem here that we own, that we're apologizing for is a lack of internal communication," Brandon said. "That's part of the problem. There's a lot of voices, a lot of moving parts, a lot of people involved, a lot of people who had opinions and perspectives on what happened and we did a horrible job of gathering all that together and getting everybody on the same page. That's one of the things we have to apologize for, own up to and fix."

For more Michigan news, visit TheWolverine.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday

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From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - Michigan AD Dave Brandon absolves coach Brady Hoke of wrongdoing in handling of QB Shane Morris