Family over football: Why Kyle Williams is choosing to end his career in Buffalo

He admitted he was torn. Kyle Williams retirement announcement wasn't an easy decision for him. He can still play NFL football at a high level. He loves the only other city he's ever lived in besides where he grew up in Louisiana. But the tug on his heart for his family was something he could no longer put to the side.

The father of five came to a realization this past spring that he's simply missing too many of his kids' milestones, and his professional career was the main culprit.

"I've watched way too many T-ball and soccer games over FaceTime,"he said. "This past spring more than ever. I think at the end of the day, it came down to the things that I say are most important to me, are they really the most important things, or do I just say that because that's what everybody else says?

"I don't know if there's ever a good time, whether it's now or whether it's two years from now, it's going to hurt walking away. There's going to be a void in my life because of how much this game, obviously this organization, and this team has meant to me in general. Those were all things that I'm going to have to work through and process. It's never easy."

Williams has not only been committed to pro football the past 13 years, he genuinely loves it. He loves the preparation, the competition and the grind.

What made his decision all the more difficult is a relationship he's built in the only NFL city he's known. Buffalo took Kyle Williams in as their adopted son. They loved him, because they saw a lot of themselves in him. A prideful person, who puts in an honest day's work every day, even when things don't always go the way you want them to.

"The city here, if you commit yourself to it, you commit yourself to the community, there's such a different vibe," he said. "There's such a different feeling. We've had guys come in and out of this organization, obviously, tons for my years here. These guys either didn't want to come here because of what they had heard or maybe people make a funny face when you say 'Buffalo.'

"They didn't want to be drafted here, they didn't want to come here in free agency, they had no other choice, whatever the things may be. When it was time for leaving, nobody wanted to leave. There's something about (Buffalo) that gets inside of you and takes hold if you commit yourself to it and you let it in."

Despite all the seasons where the playoffs weren't part of the equation, and the better part of two seasons were lost to injury, Williams said he wished he was 22 again so he could do it all over.

That's the level of competitor Williams was for the Bills, and it was why he remains so revered in Buffalo's locker room. He was the ultimate competitor.

Williams hinted at being involved in helping to push coach McDermott's process along. Whether that's from afar or making his way back to Buffalo now and again, the details will likely be ironed out in the offseason.

For now, Williams is looking forward to Sunday's season finale when he buckles his chin strap at New Era Field, one last time. It'll be his last taste of the competition that drove him to be one of the most successful defensive lineman in team history.

"It'll be a fun experience," said Williams. "I'm excited about it, obviously. I don't know that a place has ever meant more to anybody. I'm excited for the weekend."

From Neymar, Mbappe and Cavani to Messi, Coutinho and Suarez: the best attacking trios in football

"Two's company, three's a crowd" is the cliché, but when it comes to football, three might be the magic number. We look at the game's most potent trios and what makes each of them so brilliant.

This terrific threesome thrives on open space and they are at their peak when afforded room to run and attack in behind a hastily retreating defence. They fit the high-press ideals of their boss, Jurgen Klopp, and are equipped to exploit even the most innocuous change of possession.

What makes Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane so deadly is their blistering pace and conviction when in possession. They rarely get in each other's way, stretching opponents to a breaking point by their full use of the pitch. Firmino is arguably the game's sharpest target man up front despite lacking the natural size and strength of a big centre-forward; his hold-up play, off-the-ball running and distribution creates room for his strike partners to exploit.

Salah's a classic inverted winger, drifting in from the right side with ease to create shooting opportunities. Mane is more of a natural winger, hugging his touchline and beating his man with pace on the outside or foot skill to the inside. They thrive off service from midfield, too, catching teams in transition and beating offside traps for simple finishes.

Last season saw Salah compile a career year and a Ballon d'Or nomination, the main beneficiary of Liverpool's aggression in winning back possession and quickly shunting it to the front three, who rarely spurned a scoring chance. That said, they do have a weakness, as breaking masses' defences isn't their strong suit. The trio need room to operate; teams that dig in and sit deep in the final third forces other Liverpool players to be decisive from midfield. But in open play, this front three is unparalleled.

It almost feels unfair to single out the trio of Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and Sergio Aguero given how brilliant Pep Guardiola's entire squad is at breaking down opponents. But the truth is these three in particular are the most adept at applying the finishing touch. Their strength isn't so much in the creation of chances, but the conversion.

Raheem Sterling's progression to becoming one of the best forwards in the world has been undeniable, especially under Guardiola. Whether dropping deep to link play or applying his pace to crack a rigid offside trap, his power derives from his speed of thought and execution. Whether playing the first pass in an attacking move or applying the simple finish, Sterling's understanding of the game is excellent, especially when you consider he's only 23 years old.

Leroy Sane's pace and power gives opponents a torrid time. Though he's drifted in and out of the lineup at times over the past 12 months, his ability to create chances no matter the scenario makes him difficult to handle. Witness his goal against Liverpool in January 2018: Isolated on the left wing and with little time to control a long, lofted pass, a clever bit of chest control bought him time to dart into the box, cut back onto his left foot and finish from an impossibly narrow angle. Receiving the ball far from goal isn't a problem for Sane given his skill and confidence to get into the box.

Then there's Sergio Aguero, one of the game's purest finishers and the punctuation on many of Manchester City's flowing sentences. His constant movement makes him impossible to mark out of a game; he'll drift all over the attacking third to open space for others or create an angle for himself. That, combined with his canny knack of being where the ball will eventually end up, has seen him become the club's record goal scorer and the ninth person in Premier League history to notch 150 goals. Oh, and he did it in record time compared to legends like Wayne Rooney, Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry, hitting the milestone in 218 games.

UT-Arlington is considering reviving its football program more than 30 years after it was disbanded

For the first time in 14 years, UT-Arlington is seriously considering the revival of its dormant football program.

UTA president Vistasp Karbhari and athletic director Jim Baker have examined the costs of adding a football team within the next 10 years, according to documents obtained through an open records request. In addition to football, the Mavericks have also looked at adding women's soccer and beach volleyball.

In 1985, the university disbanded its football program because of budget constraints. In a statement provided Thursday, Baker said the university is seeking an additional feasibility study from a third party. Baker also said the football program "must be exclusively funded by private, philanthropic resources" and exclude any additional money from student fees.

Through school spokespersons, Baker and Karbhari declined interview requests Thursday. Karbhari also cited Baker's statement when asked for a comment.

In September, the state's attorney general ruled UTA had to release selected emails and documents about UTA's football program. Those materials were released earlier this week after The News filed a complaint to the state's attorney general office.

According to an internal budget projection, adding those three sports could cost UTA $146.7 million over 10 years. During the 2017 fiscal year, UTA reported $530,067 in athletic donations and $14.1 million in total operating athletic revenue.

Adding women's soccer and beach volleyball brings an estimated combined cost of $10 million over 10 years, with volleyball starting in Year 2 and soccer in Year 3. The two sports would have 20 combined full scholarships, which would help UTA fulfill the Title IX obligations that come with adding 85 football scholarships.

In April, Baker and Karbhari reviewed a document that featured a 10-year projection for the football program. By the sixth year, the Mavericks would have a team competing in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the NCAA's highest level.

According to internal emails, the projection was compiled by Steven Biter, a former volunteer operations assistant at Austin Peay. Biter also examined a 2004 feasibility report about restarting UTA football and a similar one conducted by Wichita State in 2016.

The 10-year projection anticipated spending $1.5 million annually on a head football coach and two coordinator salaries of $417,918 each by the tenth year. The salaries for off-field football staff positions totaled $18.3 million during that span, according to the report. The budget calls for $17.3 million in football related facility expenses.

In 2004, UTA hired former Big Eight commissioner Chuck Neinas to conduct a similar study about bringing back the football team.

"Generally speaking, most of those with whom I spoke indicated varying interest in intercollegiate football," Neinas wrote in 2004. "Some expressed the opinion that it would have been less difficult to maintain the football program through the last century than to reinstate the sport today."

Neinas said UTA needed to either upgrade Maverick Stadium, which Arlington ISD currently uses for some of its football games, or build a new facility to accommodate the new sports. Including facility expenses, adding football and two women's sports would have cost $17.5 million over five years, according to the 2004 report.

That included a salary of $90,000 for a head football coach. In a recent survey conducted by USA Today, no FBS coach makes less than $390,000 annually.

At the time, a football team would have participated in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Nine years later, UTA joined the Sun Belt Conference, which plays football at the FBS level. Recently added footnotes indicate playing at the FBS level is the best option given the university's enrollment of 42,496, current television contracts and the potential hire of a "very prominent head coach."

The potential addition of a football program would be the latest move by the university to field a top-tier athletics program. In March, UTA fired Scott Cross, the winningest men's basketball coach in school history, after the Mavericks failed to make the NCAA tournament.

Baker received national backlash for the decision. In emails sent by Karbhari in March, the school president was supportive of Baker and his vision of the athletic program, one that could potentially include football.

San Jose State football meets SJPD for bridge building

SAN JOSE — Before the entire San Jose State University football team made its way to the Simpkins Stadium Center Monday morning to meet with San Jose police, some players said they were expecting a routine talk about staying safe and out of trouble.

What they got was a police chief and a crew of officers — many of them former college athletes themselves — looking to hear from them.

"We wanted to have a real discussion about people's perception of law enforcement," head coach Brent Brennan said. "Our football team is a really unique group of people that is so diverse, and comes from different parts of California. It's just a really healthy conversation to have."

For a couple of hours, the Spartans heard from Chief Eddie Garcia and participated in an anonymous text-based survey of the players' attitudes toward police, and their thoughts of their own roles as student-athletes in driving the public discourse.

Of the 100-plus players who participated, more than three-quarters indicated that athletes should have a prominent role in discussions about policing issues, and several acknowledged how the football field has become a centerpiece of the national conversation about police and communities of color, catalyzed largely by the protests of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

"Athletes have a platform that can help them go in the direction they want, and change the dynamic of people's perspective of police," said Owen "Boogie" Roberts, a graduate student and defensive tackle from Los Angeles. "But we have to find a balanced way to do it, and conversation is the best way to open up someone's eyes to what's going on."

Garcia said he and his officers relished the face-to-face contact and deeper talks with the players, many of whom either had infrequent encounters with police in the past, or adverse ones.

"A great majority said they had trust in police, but I'm more interested in the percentage that didn't. That's why we're here," he said. "We want to let these young men vent negative situations that occurred to them, and have a dialogue about that. For coach Brennan to open up his football team to allow us to have that dialogue, that's teaching way beyond X's and O's."

Roberts counted himself among those, recalling growing up in what was commonly known as South Central Los Angeles amid a mutual wariness between residents and police.

"People tied into it and already had an attitude, which makes the situation worse," he said.

Dakari Monroe, a senior cornerback who attended Archbishop Mitty in San Jose, described having mixed emotions about police based on his reading of news and social media. But sitting down with officers, he said, put him and his teammates more at ease.

"After the presentation, I can see SJPD is trying to get more involved in the community," he said. "I saw their point of view, which is something people lack. If all police departments did this, we would get along much smoother."

Freshman wide receiver Steven Houston, from Dublin, said being exposed to police officers in the casual setting was helpful to him, particularly as a friend of a current SJPD academy cadet.

"It turned out to be a better conversation," he said. "When we're out there, we can have a relationship with authorities and can communicate with them, since now they know us personally."

Garcia said he was impressed, and somewhat surprised, by how receptive the players were to his officers, regardless of their past experiences.

"One of the things I discovered is that with these young men, their heels weren't dug in. They were willing to listen," he said. "They were willing to hear us out, and that's all I've been asking for."

Brennan said he was encouraged by the positive response from his players, and said this kind of exposure is key to his goal of preparing them for life outside of football.

"Every (football) program has police come talk to the team, but this was different," he said. "This was about education and communication and understanding, and finding a way to understand where everyone is coming from. We want to do everything we can to help these young men grow to become future leaders, and this was a really great day for that."

Usain Bolt admits he's struggling in chasing his football dream

SPRINT superstar Usain Bolt admitted Tuesday he was struggling with the tempo of professional football but is working hard to raise his fitness levels ahead of his first trial match this week.

The eight-time Olympic champion has been given an opportunity by Australia's Central Coast Mariners to fulfil his dream ofa soccer career and has stepped up his training regimen since hooking up with the A-League club last week.

He was put through his paces with the rest of the squad at a more intensive session at the team's base in the town of Gosford, 75 kilometres north of Sydney, on Tuesday.

After some warming up and a jog around the pitch, he took part in ball drills and while his passing was fine, he was slowto get the hang of the movement required.

The 32-year-old's lack of football fitness was also evident and he appeared to tire quickly, resting more than his teammates.

Bolt admitted to struggling with the constant stop-start of football, more used to a quick fire sprint on the athletics trackbefore winding down.

"The most challenging thing for me is the stop and go because I'm not used to picking up speed, going back down, then backagain," he said.

"It's all about practising and getting used to the system. I have time so will just learn the ways and keep pushing."

The Mariners hope to turn Bolt into A-League material in time for the start of the 2018/19 season in late October, with the club saying he can stay indefinitely to prove his credentials and earn a playing contract.

They have a pre-season friendly on Friday against an amateur side and Bolt is expected to get his first taste of a competitive game, but only as a substitute.

"I imagine he'll get some minutes on Friday," said club coach Mike Mulvey, conscious that thousands of fans are set to turn up and with the match due to be broadcast live on pay-TV.

He said the Jamaican was "doing OK".

"The things we are asking him to do are things that he hasn't done for quite some years," he added.

"He has played football as an athlete in between athletic meets so he has rudimentary skills. There's no problem about that. It's about being able to do it at the speed that we do it. It takes time to adjust." Bolt dominated sprinting since takingdouble individual gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

He went on to win a further six Olympic golds and pick up 11 world titles before retiring last year and pursing his real passion — football. He remains the world record holder for 100 metres.

Bolt said he was seeing slow improvements in his game.

"For me it's about just getting fit and as many touches of the ball that I can. The more I play the more comfortable I get," he said.

"It's all about being focused, taking my time and being smart and pushing myself to get to the level I need to be at to be in the starting XI."

Mesut Özil quits international football citing racism

Mesut Özil has announced his retirement from international football with immediate effect, the midfielder hitting out at what he perceived to be unfair discrimination surrounding his meeting with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in May.

Özil was a member of the Germany squad that went out of the World Cup finals in Russia at the group stage and was the target of criticism for his performances as well as his meeting with Erdogan, who has been accused of human rights abuses.

The Arsenal midfielder has Turkish ancestry and defended his actions in a lengthy statement and one in which he launched a scathing attack on the German football federation (DFB). "For me, having a picture with President Erdogan wasn't about politics or elections, it was about me respecting the highest office of my family's country," Özil wrote on Twitter.

"My job is a football player and not a politician, and our meeting was not an endorsement of any policies. The treatment I have received from the DFB and many others makes me no longer want to wear the German national team shirt. I feel unwanted and think what I have achieved since my international debut in 2009 has been forgotten."

Making direct reference to Reinhard Grindel, president of the DFB, Özil added: "People with racially discriminative backgrounds should not be allowed to work in the largest football federation in the world that has players from dual-heritage families. Attitudes like theirs simply do not reflect the players they supposedly represent. In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters, I am German when we win but I am an immigrant when we lose.

"It is with a heavy heart and after much consideration that because of recent events I will no longer be playing for Germany at international level whilst I have this feeling of racism and disrespect. I used to wear the German shirt with such pride and excitement, but now I don't. I feel unwanted and think that what I have achieved since my international debut in 2009 has been forgotten."

In a three-part statement posted on Sunday evening, Özil was scathing in his criticism of Grindel. "I will no longer stand for being a scapegoat for his incompetence and inability to do his job properly," Özil wrote.

"I am disappointed but not surprised by [Grindel's]actions," the 29-year-old added. "But when high-ranking DFB officials disrespect my Turkish roots and selfishly turn me into political propaganda, then enough is enough."

The 29-year-old added that he had received abuse online, and claimed he was racially abused by a supporter after the match against Sweden.

"A German fan told me after the game, ‘Özil, fuck off you Turkish shit, piss off you Turkish pig.' I don't want to even discuss the hate mail, threatening phone calls and comments on social media that my family and I have received.

"They all represent a Germany of the past, a Germany that I am not proud of. I am confident that many proud Germans who embrace an open society would agree with me." – Guardian service

World Cup teams support FIFA's integrity initiative

The best way to safeguard the integrity of football is for all stakeholders to work together. In recent weeks, FIFA has been impressed with the level of support shown by the participating member associations (MAs) in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ to help raise awareness about potential threats to the game.

Leading up to the tournament, FIFA, in collaboration with the respective confederations, organised regional integrity workshops with the individuals who have been appointed by each MA to be their single point of contact for integrity matters, which includes match manipulation.

The objective of the workshops was to provide information about FIFA’s specific preventive measures for protecting the integrity of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The MA representatives were also given tips, tools and templates for running their own briefings with their respective teams, while at the same time being encouraged to tailor these briefings based on the specificities of their region.

The MA-led integrity briefings that followed served to remind all players and officials that they might be potential targets of match fixers during the World Cup, and that they are required to report any potential breaches that may jeopardise the integrity of a match directly to FIFA. The briefings also provided an opportunity to raise awareness about FIFA’s zero tolerance approach as well as the relevant FIFA regulations.

Real world impact
FIFA provides a dedicated confidential reporting platform, BKMS, where individuals can report any form or knowledge of potential match manipulation or corruption. Reports can be submitted anonymously and the mechanism is administered by an external provider specialising in secure and confidential handling of sensitive information.

A new FIFA Integrity App is also available via the Apple and Google Play stores. The mobile app provides another confidential reporting platform to help fight against match manipulation and corruption.

FIFA’s integrity initiative focusses on five main areas: prevention, detection, intelligence-gathering, investigation and sanctions. The focus in 2018 and beyond is on further strengthening a global integrity initiative helping confederations and member associations to gain the necessary knowledge and capabilities to fight match manipulation at national level and to support the implementation of a range of preventive measures as well as to adopt long-term, sustainable approaches on ethics and integrity matters.

Recognise, resist, report is the anti-match manipulation protocol that FIFA promotes worldwide, with the continued support of football stakeholders.

Football opens hearts

Every month, as part of its EqualGame campaign, UEFA is focusing on a person from one of its 55 member associations. This person will be an example of how football promotes inclusion, accessibility and diversity; his or her story will exemplify how disability, religion, sexuality, ethnicity and social background are no barriers to playing and enjoying football.

"I am a coach, but football has become more than a game to me," says Oleksandr Fomichov, who is using "the power of football" to improve the lives of people in his community. "It's an education, a philosophy and a phenomenon."

A lawyer and businessman by profession, the 32-year-old, who is originally from Donetsk, moved from the eastern Ukrainian city following the outbreak of unrest in 2014. He left behind his business, while some family members were unable to follow him. However, he has succeeded in creating a new life for himself in the western Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk.

He now works for the League of Tolerance charity, whose goal is to teach people about common values and the importance of inclusion, enabling them to look at life from a different perspective, which ultimately leads to positive change.

In a compelling analogy, Oleksandr explains: "Football pitches mirror society as a whole. We use football to show that we all should be involved in the game, and that in the same way we should all be involved in society.

"I see how people change when they start working together, they forget about stereotypes and prejudices," he reflects. "They simply meet and want to find out a lot more about each other. They become friends and then change their own lives and include others in their hobbies."

In 2016, Oleksandr noticed there were a number of different organisations in Ukraine helping those who were internally displaced. He decided to try something similar, and so the League of Tolerance was born.

"We are always looking for ideas," he says. "We are always ready to improve our projects, and we want to try and spark a response in the hearts of other people." Aside from promoting the need for inclusion, the programme is having a wider footballing benefit by helping to give quality training sessions to those involved.

"In the first year we held eight training sessions around Ukraine and produced 97 coaches," he said. "They are the graduates of our programmes, and each one has contributed to the communities in which they live."

Oleksandr has also realised that football is "a phenomenon" which can be used as a tool to draw children into education. He believes any subject at school can be related to the game, thus making it more interesting for youngsters to learn.

The same criteria apply on the football field. For him, it is vitally important that "everybody is included and nobody is excluded", with these rules relevant not just to football but to society in general.

"In life, if we show that we are all equal and that we are all included, then social life becomes brighter and helps us to all open up," he explains.

This ethos is shared by one of Ukraine's greatest-ever sportsmen – former multiple world heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, who insists that everyone has the right to achieve the goals they set in life.

"Every person can play football. We must deliver the message to every person that nothing is impossible. Everything is possible if you have the will, the fire and an understanding that you can achieve new goals," says Klitschko, now the mayor of Kyiv.

"The most interesting and important thing is that everybody has a dream. It's important to dream, but it's more important to do everything to make this dream come true."

Oleksandr's love of the game shines through in all he does. A decent footballer in his youth, he is now showing through his role as a coach that the sport has the unique power to foster inclusion.

"We invite people from the whole of Ukraine, irrespective of their background: some may have disabilities, some may be from ethnic minorities and some might be internally displaced," he says. "Thanks to our work, we can get all these groups together and show that, on the training ground, people communicate with each other and realise there is actually no difference between us at all."

Andriy Shevchenko, one of Ukraine's best-ever footballers, is also of the opinion that everyone should have the right to play football, adding that it is of paramount importance to have "respect for everyone".

"Football is an international game. It has nothing to do with politics or religion. It's a game that's accessible to all and it should be pure, not only in the top competitions but also among children," says Shevchenko, currently the head coach of Ukraine's national team.

A modest and articulate man, Oleksandr Fomichov pours his heart into what he fiercely believes will result in a better future for his community and country.

"Keeping faith in people is the most important factor for the development of every country and the world as a whole. We can build a sustainable society and use football as one of the tools that brings us together."

4 takeaways from Penn State football’s Blue-White game

While coach James Franklin likes to use the Blue-White game as a recruiting tool and to give back to the fans, there is still plenty of value for the coaching staff, especially with a young team full of position battles.

The White squad scored for the first time since 2015 and even got into the endzone. With so much change over from last year's team, there were plenty of storylines to watch for on the field.

Here are my four observations:

Lamont Wade's role

One of the more surprising things I heard after the game yesterday came from defensive coordinator Brent Pry. While Lamont Wade was moved to safety this spring, Pry said that it wasn't decided if he would play safety or cornerback in the fall. Wade spent his entire true freshman season playing corner with limited snaps. I originally thought he would be best suited to play safety when he got to Penn State, but it looks like Nick Scott and Garrett Taylor have the two starting spots locked up as of right now. Wade was put on the White squad on Saturday in order for him to get plenty of snaps at safety, but that doesn't mean he won't be sliding down to play as a slot corner in certain nickel packages. Pry is certainly going to want to utilize Wade's ability, but it might take some creativity.

McSorley's Heisman campaign is underway

Penn State was in a relatively new situation last season with two legitimate Heisman Trophy candidates in Saquon Barkley, who went on to finish fourth, and Trace McSorley. With Barkley headed to the NFL, McSorley has the spotlight to himself now in Happy Valley. Barkley isn't the only talented offensive weapon that is not back from last year's team, leaving McSorley to shoulder the load on offense in the fall. McSorley played a lot more than a typical third-year starting quarterback would in his last spring game, but a lot of that was due to Tommy Stevens' injury. Still, we got a glimpse of all that McSorley is going to be asked to do in the fall. And he was up to the challenge on Saturday. McSorley was as sharp as he needed to be, completing 10-of-14 passes for over 100 yards and a touchdown.

Don't expect an answer soon at linebacker

One of the biggest questions heading into the summer is at the middle linebacker spot. Jason Cabinda's departure has created a major void in the middle and it's still unclear who will replace him. Koa Farmer and Cam Brown appear to be the guys on the outside and Micah Parsons was moved outside midway through the spring. Jan Johnson started at the mike linebacker spot for the Blue squad on Saturday and looked pretty good. But the battle will continue to go on throughout the summer when Jake Cooper returns from his injury. Pry is going to continue to experiment in an attempt to find an answer at one of the most important positions on the field. The Nittany Lions will hope someone separates himself from the pack when training camp rolls around, but it's more likely that the starter won't be decided until the defense heads out onto the field against Appalachian State.

Mark Allen's impressive day

Just about every Penn State running back has been talked about this spring — except Mark Allen. Everyone is talking about Miles Sanders as the new starter, Journey Brown's potential and if Ricky Slade will play or not as a true freshman. But Allen is a nice change of pace for this offense and he showed that on Saturday. While Sanders only got three carries on the day, Allen was able to display that he could have a role in Ricky Rahne's offense. Allen ran for 30 yards on five carries, including a long run of 19 yards. Rahne debuted two running back sets with Sanders and Allen lined up on either side of McSorley. With the running ability of all three of those guys, Rahne has plenty of options in that formation and gives Allen value that not many people expected he could have.

Springing forward: Georgia football welcomes early enrollees to practice

Nine new faces joined the Georgia football team as spring football practice began March 20 for the Bulldogs.

One early enrollee, five-star running back Zamir White, suffered an ACL injury on Nov. 17. He underwent surgery, but will not be in full-contact drills with the team yet. White was seen on the first day of spring practice.

The other eight—Justin Fields, Warren Ericson, Cade Mays, Brenton Cox, Trey Hill, Kearis Jackson, Divaad Wilson and Devonte Wyatt—suited up and began practicing and competing for their positions.

 The loss of key players at the end of the 2017 season opens up spaces at different positions, offering some of the new recruits a chance to showcase their skills and compete for a starting or secondary position.

"I'm super excited about every one of those players," head coach Kirby Smart said. "There is a competition at every single position out there."

Of the nine early enrolled players, four are five-star athletes according to the 247Sports Composite. 

 The spring offers this group of newly enrolled athletes the opportunity to not only grow accustomed to college, but also to get a jump start on learning what is required of them. Junior tight end Issac Nauta said it offers them time to learn the playbook and how the game is played on the college level.

Nauta was an early enrollee himself, and said the fifteen extra practices and a G-Day game offers extra time to acclimate. Nauta said he thinks his time during spring practice factored into him playing during his freshman year.

The team's veteran players also recognize the importance of spring practices.

Senior defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter sees the talent the early enrollees are bringing to the table.

He said the spring offers them and the team a time to put the necessary pieces together as a unit.

"Those guys work hard, they have a good mentality," Nauta said. "Coming in early you are able to learn quicker from the older guys...I like the way that they work, they all got a good head on their shoulders." 

As veteran teammates, redshirt junior J.R. Reed said they each have a role to help coach and acclimate the new group of athletes to Georgia football.

The safety said he emphasizes to the new players that watching extra film and critiquing their performance every day is an important aspect.

Reed's main goal is to help mold the new players to prepare them for the 2018 football season.

In the 2017 season, Georgia went 13-1, and the team wants to see success again in 2018.

While last year's success looms over the team, Smart said this year's roster is distinctly different.

Smart's focus is on the identity this new group of athletes will create for themselves.

"Change is inevitable, but growth is optional," Smart. "That's a great mantra for this team."

UVA Scores in Football’s GameDay Recycling Challenge

The University of Virginia placed third nationwide in the 2017 GameDay Recycling Challenge.

The contest was held Oct. 21, when the Cavaliers suffered an otherwise forgettable 41-10 loss to Boston College at Scott Stadium.

UVA took third nationwide in the total recycling category, while coming in 10th nationwide in the total diversion category. Overall, fans, student volunteers and UVA staffers halved the amount of waste headed to the landfill compared to last year's challenge results.

"In an effort to make recycling easier and more accessible to fans, UVA Sustainability partnered with Aramark and the Athletics Department to provide more composting and recycling bins at waste stations across the stadium," said Nina Morris, sustainability outreach and engagement manager in UVA's Office for Sustainability. "With the help of more than 100 volunteers, UVA collected and sorted materials from tailgaters and fans, and diverted more than 45,000 pounds of materials from the landfill, making the 2017 GDRC the largest recycling effort since UVA joined the competition in 2010."

The GameDay Recycling Challenge is a waste-reduction competition among colleges and universities around the nation that seeks to increase recycling and composting efforts and spread sustainability awareness at football games. Sponsored by a partnership of the College & University Recycling Coalition, RecycleMania Inc., Keep America Beautiful and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's WasteWise program, the 2017 competition reached around 8.7 million fans at 181 games, according to reported stadium attendance numbers.

Participating schools recycled or composted 2.06 million pounds of game-day waste during the fall season, which broke down to recycling more than 1.5 million pounds of bottles, cans, paper, cardboard and other materials. In addition, more than 540,000 pounds of organic materials were composted or recovered, including pre- and post-consumer food waste and compostable service ware.

These collective efforts prevented the emission of 2,410 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gases – equivalent to removing more than 500 cars from the road for a year.

"Placing as well as we did on a nationwide level in this competition shows UVA's unwavering commitment to recycling and waste reduction," Morris said.

This is the eighth year that the University has competed in the GameDay Challenge.