Veteran lineman gives Eagles room to run

STATESBORO, Ga. - James McCoy is shooting for the big prize.

So far this season, his deer hunting hasn't produced anything to take home. On the football field, it's a different story.

The senior offensive lineman helped Georgia Southern to its sixth consecutive Southern Conference title. Now, he's two victories from his third Division I-AA championship in four seasons.

Georgia Southern's success can be linked to an option running game that has led Division I-AA in rushing yardage three of the past four years.

McCoy has been a starter for three of those years. This preseason, Street and Smith's magazine projected McCoy as an All-American.

It's heady stuff for guy who cares little about accolades and more about getting the job done.

The 6-foot-3, 250-pounder could have left after last season, but he couldn't imagine himself in corporate America. He earned his bachelor's degree in natural resource management last year but didn't want to leave. To be eligible to play football this season, he stayed in school, working on a minor in graphic information systems.

The Eagles are glad he's still around. McCoy is unique in a world of ferocity and brawn: an offensive lineman who can run a 4.8 40-yard dash and breaks away from the line to make blocks downfield.

"(McCoy's) a guy we're running behind a lot," coach Mike Sewak said. "He gets movement through technique alone."

Against East Tennessee State, Sewak and the offensive coaches saw another chance to utilize McCoy's speed and quickness. They asked McCoy to block a cornerback - often an impossibility for most big men against one of the shiftiest players on the field - to create a seam for an option pitch to slotback Mark Myers. Despite never practicing the play, McCoy blocked the corner and, Myers ran for a 29-yard touchdown.

Myers wasn't the first slotback to get an opening from McCoy. Players filling that spot mostly run around the outside and have accumulated more than 1,700 yards and 14 touchdowns this season.

"(McCoy) has a blend of speed, agility and strength that allows him to do a lot of different things in our offense," said assistant offensive line coach Mark Williams. "I said it before I (graduated after the 1999 season), he has the best feet I've ever seen."

Twice, Georgia Southern has set up plays for McCoy to run the ball. Once, they aligned him to be eligible to throw a pass.

McCoy received a lateral from quarterback Chaz Williams and had wideout Derrick Owens open, but underthrew him.

"If he had completed that pass (against Bethune-Cookman) James McCoy would have been the idol of every lineman in North America," Sewak said.