06-26-2008, 06:49 AM
|
 |
Head Coach
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 10,790
Points: 499,106.05
Bank: 0.00
Total Points: 499,106.05
|
|
Quote:
Henton feels at home at GSU
Donald Heath | Thursday, June 26, 2008 Ohio State transfer could be Eagles' starting quarterback in 2008
STATESBORO - Quarterback Antonio Henton wasn't connecting with his Ohio State teammates. At Peach County High School, he called plays by numbers. In Columbus, it was a lot more complicated.
And when you add in a little Southern drawl...
His Buckeye teammates called him Willie Beamer, a fictional character from Oliver Stone's 1999 movie, "Any Given Sunday."
"I looked at the movie. (Beamer) couldn't call plays, so I was like, 'That's not my name,'" said Henton on Wednesday, now wearing a Georgia Southern jersey while recalling some of the playful ribbing he took at OSU.
It's been a week since Henton finalized his decision to leave the Buckeyes and transfer to Georgia Southern, suddenly giving depth to a position that once was filled with question marks.
In 2005, Henton threw for 2,117 yards and 30 touchdowns while leading Peach County to a Class AAA state championship.
He was the state's player of the pear and after a redshirt season in Columbus, appeared the heir apparent to the OSU starting quarterback job when Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith finished his eligibility.
Things didn't work out that way. He couldn't beat out the backup and four weeks into the season got into legal trouble. He was a long way from home and a longer way from where he wanted to be: behind center and leading a college football team.
So he looked into coming home.
Monday, Henton enrolled at GSU. Tuesday, he competed in the Eagles' 7-on-7 drills.
"I talked to all of (the quarterback hopefuls Tuesday)," Henton said. "They're nice guys. I had a lot of questions my first day and they helped me out. I'm glad they're not looking at me as an enemy or some guy coming over with a big head."
A fresh start
Henton understands he's getting a second chance to make a first impression. He met local media Wednesday. He looked comfortable. He looked big.
At 6-foot-2, 236 pounds, Henton might be bigger than most of GSU's past fullbacks. He said his 40-yard dash time is 4.57 seconds. Only Jayson Foster and Greg Hill might have been faster.
GSU head coach Chris Hatcher and offensive coordinator Rance Gillespie said Henton's a perfect fit for the Eagles' spread offense. They said he has a strong arm and can scramble when a play goes awry.
Gillespie, who coached Peach County in 2005, said Henton is as good a person as he is a player.
So this is where Henton feels comfortable. Ironically, he left because he wanted to get away from Georgia and returned in part because he missed home.
Henton said his parents only visited Columbus once in two years. He has three younger siblings and an older sister.
To come home meant starting at the bottom of the depth chart. He doesn't mind. He'll give up the big-time atmosphere to ride the yellow school buses to the football stadium.
"If I was going to go somewhere, I wanted to be in Georgia," Henton said. "To keep moving from state to state, that's not a good thing. ... I liked the tradition. I learned about the yellow bus situation and there seems to be a lot of great people around.
"It's up to me. If I go out and prove I should be the guy to start, then maybe I'll work my way up. If I go out there and do nothing, I'll stay down."
|
http://savannahnow.com/node/523234
Quote:
Posted on Thu, Jun. 26, 2008 reprint
Henton is happy to be with Eagles
By Mike Brown - sports@macon.com
STATESBORO --Antonio Henton didn't say it, but it was rather obvious Wednesday afternoon that the former Peach County standout did not transfer to Georgia Southern to be a fourth-string quarterback.
For one thing, schools do not hold news conferences to introduce fourth-string quarterbacks who are summer transfers. That's what Georgia Southern did for Henton, who transferred to the school from Ohio State.
Eagles head coach Chris Hatcher was not in attendance, nor were any members of his staff. They were attending an out of town coaching clinic.
Henton, however, did not need any support in explaining his decision to leave one of the top programs in the BCS for one of top teams in the FCS.
Ohio State played for the national championship each of the past two seasons while the Eagles have won a record six FCS national titles.
There has been much speculation that Henton did not see a future with the Buckeyes with last year's All-Big Ten quarterback Todd Boeckman returning and highly touted Terrell Pryor having signed with OSU last spring.
"I didn't look at it that way at all," Henton said. "You've got to earn your spot to be the guy going in.
"Todd is a real good quarterback, and so is Joe Bauserman. Coach (Jim) Tressel is going to give them every opportunity to go in there and earn it. I felt I could compete and earn it, too. Coach Tressel told us all we would have a chance. I'm not shy from competing."
The strongest consideration in going to Georgia Southern, Henton said, was an opportunity to return home where he could be close to family and friends, and they could see him play.
"My parents were able to come to Columbus only once in the two years I was up there," said Henton, who has an older sister and four younger siblings at home. "It was a big adjustment for me going from a small town to a big city like Columbus."
Henton, 6-foot-1, 230 pounds in his No. 17 jersey, said he finally made the decision last week to transfer. He said he went to Tressel to talk to him about it, and the Buckeyes' head coach said if he gave him a list of schools he was interested in, he would help him any way he could.
There was only one school on Henton's list: Georgia Southern. The Ohio State coach had no problem in granting Henton his release when he knew he would not have to face him in the future.
"I could have gone to a lot of Division I schools, but I wanted to come home to Georgia, and I didn't want to sit out a year," Henton said. "That left Georgia Southern, plus Coach (Rance) Gillespie was here."
|
Henton is happy to be with Eagles
|
.
)
Linear Mode
