Despite Loss, Force Still Alright
Matt Eichenblatt
Tuesday April 3, 2007
Sure, losing to 62-61 to former Georgia Force starting quarterback Matt Nagy and the Columbus Destroyers is difficult to stomach, but to be quite honest, it was kind of expected. The brain trust in the Arena Football offices in New York decided that facing him twice would be a good idea, maybe more appealing than the obvious matchup with the nearby Nashville Kats. Oh well, maybe someday.
Despite 334 yards passing by Chris Greisen and a whopping 173 yard and 3 touchdowns by Chris Jackson, the Force figured out in the worst way, that playing from behind is never the recipe for success—something they should have learned last year. Down 41-27 at halftime, the Force roared back with 34 points in the second half, but to the credit of the Columbus offense, they did what was necessary to win the game, by playing mistake free.
Well, the past is the past. Georgia lost by a point to a rather underrated Columbus team and fell to 4-1 on the 2007 campaign. To all the fans that are worrying about losing to Columbus, calm down, there is plenty of football left in the season.
The 2007 Georgia Force have all the ingredients that it takes to be a championship team, and have the intangibles that they lacked in last year’s disappointing season; mainly discipline and poise. The discipline of course is coming from their hard-nosed leader, head coach Doug Plank. I know nothing killed Plank last year more than seeing penalties and careless errors lead to an alarming six halftime leads being blown. In what seemed to be a ‘must-win’ game against the New York Dragons last year in Week 15, the Force literally blew up. After storming out to a convincing 14 point lead, the Force ensued to commit 98 yards in penalties and commit numerous turnovers as they saw a once promising season, take a turn for the worse.
Thankfully this year, those worries are gone.
There is a lot to be positive about when it comes to this year’s team. First of all, quarterback Chris Greisen is surpassing everyone’s expectations as a first year starter in the Arena Football League. I for one will offer my apologies to Greisen, for doubting him to the point in a previous article written in support of signing Joe Hamilton; ‘a crippling mistake to the franchise,’ he is not. The offense is really clicking under Greisen, and after five games this year, the offense is averaging a clean 63 points a game. Never has a Force team come anywhere close to that number, five games into a season. A lot of credit needs to be given to Steve Thonn and the rest of the offensive staff for getting Greisen so acclimated to the system. Of course, having standout receivers like Derek Lee, Chris Jackson, and Troy Bergeron helps too.
Along with a juggernaut offense, the Force also boast an incredible defensive line, one that stacks up against the AFL’s best this season. The offensive acquisitions of OL/DL Ernest Allen and OL/DL Mike Sutton have made a world of difference to this team. With these two pass rushers on the line, it has helped free up pass rusher extraordinaire Jermaine Smith amass 4 sacks in the early season. Currently, the trio have totaled 8 sacks in all, and are on pace to shatter the team record for the season, and maybe the AFL’s as well.
But the constant every successful team must have is good coaching; thankfully, Georgia has that. After 2 ¼ years as Georgia’s coach, Doug Plank owns a 26-16 record, a .620 winning percentage overall. But the value of a coach cannot be measured strictly in winning percentage alone; it must be measured in player development, scouting, and the installment of a winning attitude. The immeasurable value of Plank since his debut as the Force head coach can be seen when you see players like Chris Greisen and Troy Bergeron come out of nowhere, and become AFL superstars. His team’s winning percentage is almost 200 points higher than it was prior to his arrival and the players will swear by his attitude. Not bad eh?
Sure there are a few holes like the inexperienced secondary on this year’s team, but the ‘it’ factor is there, more-so than last year’s talent laden team. Time after time in 2006, Plank would say, “this isn’t last year’s Georgia Force team.” Well, no kidding. The 2006 Force did not have half the desire of discipline of the Arena Bowl participants the year before.
But this year’s team isn’t last year’s team either; this team is built to win this July.
Matt Eichenblatt is a free-lance writer from the Atlanta area. He has followed Arena Football since 1999 and has been attending Georgia Force games since they moved from Nashville five years ago. As well as being a football enthusiast, he is also looking forward to graduating from the University of Alabama with a degree in Finance and Communications.
