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By Jon Sauber and Joe Spears | @JonSauber @joe_spears7 ATLANTA – The fourth championship game of the College Football Playoff era will be the first to feature teams from the same conference. When the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs meet in Mercedes-Benz Stadium Monday night, in the middle of Southeastern Conference territory, a …

By Joe Spears | @joe_spears7 Sports Capital Journalism Program ATLANTA – As Terrell Lewis walked off the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium favoring his right arm, it appeared clear to the followers of Alabama’s Crimson Tide that they had just lost their promising sophomore linebacker for a significant amount of time. Lewis came into the 2017 …

Editor’s note: Sports Capital Journalism Program student Joe Spears, writing for Newsday, sets the stage for the College Football Playoff National Championship that will become a long-awaited celebration for the Georgia Bulldogs or a coronation for the Nick Saban era at the University of Alabama. https://www.newsday.com/sports/college/college-football/alabama-georgia-cfp-kirby-smart-nick-saban-1.15974581?utm_content=buffer145e8&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer    

By Joe Spears | @joe_spears7 Sports Capital Journalism Program ATLANTA – In January, 1996, Grambling State coaching legend Eddie Robinson and his grandson Eddie Robinson III were among those in attendance at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., watching Nebraska produce one of the most overwhelming championship victories in the modern history of major college …

At the end of the fall semester I was turning in a paper for Professor Chris Lamb’s Media and Society Seminar in the Department of Journalism and Public Relations at IUPUI. The paper described how Eddie Robinson changed college football through decades of work molding generations of Grambling State Tigers, and how he continues to …

I knew we were in trouble when the dogs showed up. Several hours before Game 7 of the 1979 World Series, Pirates vs. Orioles at the old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, the word began to spread that President Jimmy Carter was planning to attend the game. The press box was filled with reporters doing early …

Editor’s note: Sports Capital Journalism Program graduate assistant Jon Sauber, writing for Newsday, described how Georgia senior running backs Nick Chubb and Sony Michel became the most prolific duo in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision history as they led the Bulldogs to a Rose Bowl victory and a spot in the College Football Playoff National Championship …

I was giddy. That’s how I was feeling as I walked down Andrew Young International Boulevard from my hotel in downtown Atlanta to the College Football Hall of Fame. The unusual 32-degree weather had the locals bundled up, and the looks I got as I walked down the street were priceless. While they were shivering …

By Jon Sauber | @JonSauber Sports Capital Journalism Program ATLANTA — Thanks to a title game featuring two Southeastern Conference teams, Alabama and Georgia, speculation about an expansion beyond a four-team field has dominated discussion about the College Football Playoff. That speculation was put to rest on Friday by Bill Hancock, its director. “[The current …

“Attention media: This is the first-ever overtime game in Rose Bowl history.” The announcement carried through the Rose Bowl Stadium press box as reporters grabbed stat sheets, refilled coffees and prepared to type like hell as they readied for overtime. After Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield’s first-half marches down the field gashed Georgia to the tune …