Antonio Bostick, Savannah State’s starting quarterback a year ago, will miss the Tigers’ first two football games against Georgia Southern and Troy.
Red-shirt freshman Leon Prunty will make his first collegiate start Saturday night at 6 in Paulson Stadium against the Eagles.
Bostick confirmed his status for the first two games after Tuesday’s practice, but didn’t elaborate.
“There were some off field things I didn’t take care of. I’ll be back in two weeks,” Bostick said. “I have a big chip on my shoulder now. When I get back, it’s going to be well worth it.”
SSU coach Earnest Wilson said the NCAA set Bostick’s penalties.
“He’s going to serve the penalty (from) the NCAA,” Wilson said. “He’s a great young man, but unfortunately this had to happen in his senior year.”
Wilson said the Tigers will be without senior wide receiver Dylan Cook, who caught 37 passes for 491 yards and a touchdown, for the first two games as well because of academic issues.
It’s a big blow to Wilson’s “Air Raid” offense. As an offensive coordinator at Jackson State two years ago, Wilson’s quarterback-driven attack led the Football Championship Subdivision in total offense with 490.9 yards a game.
JSU’s quarterback Casey Therriault averaged more than 40 passes a game.
Bostick threw for 1,629 yards and eight touchdowns and rushed for a team-leading 345 yards and five touchdowns last season.
Prunty, a 6-foot-4, 220-pounder, looked sharp in the Tigers’ scrimmage last Friday. He said Wilson’s spread offense fits his game.
“I feel like it’s a huge opportunity,” Prunty said. “If I go out there and ball out, play good, I could be the starter for the rest of the season and the next three years.”
Wilson has confidence in Prunty, who led Stockbridge High to the second round of the state playoffs in 2011.
“Leon is a big-time quarterback,” Wilson said. “He has the capabilities of setting more than just records here and in the MEAC, but in the NCAA. He just has to be a better student of the game.”
Familiar faces
Saturday night’s matchup between Georgia Southern and Savannah State will be a reunion of sorts for Eagles quarterback coach Mitch Ware and SSU’s strength and conditioning coach Ken Coggins.
Ware and Coggins coached together at Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State) from 1995-1998 under head coach Del Miller, who is now the co-offensive coordinator for coach Bill Snyder at Kansas State.
Ware, a four-year starting quarterback at Southwest, worked as an assistant coach for his alma mater for 16 seasons.
Coggins has been at Jackson State, Belhaven College, Arkansas-Little Rock, Delta State, Memphis State, Charleston Southern and Georgia State.
Financial incentive
Henry Nash is giving the Tigers football team some incentive to score points. Nash, a 1974 graduate of SSU, has committed to donating $20 to the athletics department for each point the football team scores this season.
Nash’s incentive is not only a gesture of support for his alma mater, but a “challenge,” a call to arms for all his fellow alumni. Nash hopes the donation will be motivation for other SSU alumni.
The SSU athletics department will accept pledges of $1, $5, $10 or any amount for every point the football squad scores this season. Nash’s “challenge” has already been met by the Grovner family, Arthur and Judy, of the Augusta Alumni Chapter, with a pledge of $4 per point scored.