Georgia
Georgia father, son dead after tree hits their golf cart during a Sunday storm: Coroner
A Georgia father and son who sought refuge under a tree during a storm Sunday evening were killed when the tree fell on their golf cart, according to officials.
Matthew Terrell Collins Sr., 58, and Matthew Terrell Collins Jr., 29, were at the Bull Creek Golf Course in Columbus when they were hit and killed, Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan confirmed to USA TODAY Monday morning.
They were pronounced dead at 6:06 p.m. on Sunday, Bryan said.
A “violent storm” passed through the area between 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. or so that afternoon, Bryan said. The men were seeking refuge under the tree when it snapped and fell down on their golf cart.
Bryan said his team has ruled the death accidental, due to blunt force trauma or “crushed trauma.”
The coroner’s office investigates over 1,200 deaths a year. The ones that take place on golf courses are mostly due to lightning hitting trees, then traveling to the ground and hitting people.
“It’s extremely rare as far as being crushed like that,” Bryan said.
What was the weather like that day?
According to Bryan, the golf course was open because it’s normal for people to golf on Sundays.
“We knew that storms were going to be coming in and it was forecast that day, but this one came out of nowhere,” he told USA TODAY. “It was a little sprinkle and then within one minute it became extremely violent.’
Meredith Wyatt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, said Monday morning that Sunday was “quite an active day” weather-wise. Weather officials called for severe weather such as a “strong line of thunderstorms associated with a cold front moving through” the area.
“The cold front stalled, or as it was moving through, it just kind of stopped, and there wasn’t really anything to progress that system completely through our area,” Wyatt told USA TODAY. “Many locations in North and central Georgia experienced waves of heavy rainfall … frequent lightning, heavy downpours and things of that nature.”
When asked what kind of reports the weather service has received so far due to the storm, she said the team is still gathering data as of Monday morning.
Father and son close with each other, loved ones say
GoFundMe fundraiser organizer Dustin Longnion shared online that Matthew Jr. was close to his father.
“They were spending time together when the storm struck—sharing a moment between father and son that would unknowingly become their last,” Longnion wrote, adding that Matthew Jr. was “a loyal friend, a kindhearted soul, and someone who always showed up for the people in his life.”
“He shared a deep bond with his father, and losing both of them so suddenly is a devastating blow to everyone who knew and loved them,” wrote Longnion.
As of Monday afternoon, the fundraiser has garnered over $13,000 of its $20,000 goal.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp offered condolences to the family Sunday evening on social media.
“Marty, the girls, and I are saddened by the tragic deaths of two Georgians in Muscogee County today as a result of the severe weather,” he wrote on Facebook. “We ask that you join us in keeping their loved ones in our thoughts and prayers, along with all those responding to storm damage.”
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY’s NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech’s offensive line has been named a semifinalist for the 2025 Joe Moore Award. The Joe Moore Award is presented to college football’s best offensive front.
Tech is among the 10 semifinalists for the first time in the 11-year history of the Joe Moore Award.
The Yellow Jackets’ offensive line has paved the way for Georgia Tech’s offense to rank among the nation’s top 25 in 12 different official statistical categories, including fewest sacks allowed (sixth – 0.67/gm), total offense (ninth – 482.1 ypg) and rushing (13th – 221.0 ypg). The Jackets have not surrendered a sack in 5-of-9 games this season, have rushed for 200 yards or more five times and have had at least two rushing touchdowns in every game. They’re one of only 12 teams that have multiple 300-yard rushing performances against NCAA Division I FBS competition this season (320 at Colorado and 307 vs. Temple).
The Jackets’ line has been an integral part of quarterback Haynes King’s Heisman Trophy candidacy, as Tech’s signal-caller ranks No. 3 nationally in total offense (330.3 ypg) and No. 6 in points responsible for (17.5 ppg) behind his offensive front.
In addition to being one of the nation’s most talented offensive lines, Tech’s is also one of the most durable, as four linemen have made every start for the Jackets this season – LT Ethan Mackenny (Marietta, Ga./Lassiter), LG Joe Fusile (Richmond Hill, Ga./Richmond Hill H.S.), RG Keyland Rutledge (Royston, Ga./Franklin County H.S.) and RT Malachi Carney (Pleasant Grove, Ala./Pleasant Grove H.S.). Harrison Moore (Southlake, Texas/Carroll H.S.) and Tana Alo-Tupuola (Brownsburg, Ind./IMG Academy) have split the nine starts at center.
Leading the way is Rutledge, a midseason all-American and one of only three offensive linemen among the 13 semifinalists for the Lombardi Award (nation’s best lineman/linebacker). Rutledge, who has allowed no sacks and just one hurry all season, ranks among the nation’s top 10 guards in both run blocking (fourth) and pass blocking (10th), according to Pro Football Focus.
Georgia Tech is joined on the 2025 Joe Moore Award semifinalists list by Cincinnati, Duke, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Oregon, Texas A&M, Utah and Vanderbilt. The semifinalists were announced live on Wednesday evening on “Trench Life” with Joe Moore Award voting committee members Aaron Taylor, Cole Cubelic, Geoff Schwartz and Mike Golic, Jr. and hosted by Jenny Dell. Click HERE to watch the full show.
No. 14/12 Georgia Tech (8-1, 5-1 ACC) returns to action on Saturday when it visits Boston College. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on ACC Network.
2025 GEORGIA TECH FOOTBALL TICKETS
With a fanbase that has been reenergized by the Yellow Jackets’ success, attendance at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field is up 29% over this time in 2024. Fans can still be a part of the excitement on The Flats, as tickets remain for the Yellow Jackets’ final regular-season home game of 2025 at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field:
Saturday, Nov. 22 vs. No. 23 Pitt (Senior Day/Military Appreciation Day/Michael Isenhour Toy Drive-25th Anniversary) – Click HERE for tickets.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on X, Facebook, Instagram and at www.ramblinwreck.com.
Most of the biggest brands in college football have never lined up against Georgia football inside Sanford Stadium.
Alabama, of course, is an exception, as an SEC program that first played between the hedges in 1935.
Notre Dame made its only visit to Athens in 2019 in a game deemed so big extra seating was brought in to accommodate a record crowd.
These top 10 winningest FBS programs of all-time have never been on the visitor’s sideline: Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Nebraska and USC.
Texas is on that list, too, but won’t be after it plays Georgia for the first time in Athens on Saturday, Nov. 15.
The Longhorns were scheduled to do that on Sept. 21, 1957, but the game was moved to Georgia Tech’s Grant Field in Atlanta.
But why?
According to the Feb. 7, 1957, edition of the Red & Black student newspaper, the game was shifted to the second of a doubleheader with Georgia Tech and Kentucky playing at 2 p.m. and Georgia and Texas at 8 p.m.
“The Texas tilt was scheduled for Athens, but the Georgia student body does not return until Sept. 23, the first day of registration,” the story said.
Georgia and Georgia Tech had played a doubleheader in 1955 in Atlanta as well: Georgia-Ole Miss and Georgia Tech-Miami.
Moving the 1957 game was “financially necessary,” according to Dan Magill’s “The Georgia Bulldog” newsletter from Feb. 18, 1957, provided to the Athens Banner-Herald by Jason Hasty, a UGA athletics history specialist with the UGA’s Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Magill was secretary of the Georgia Bulldog Club, which he founded in 1953.
That 1955 Georgia-Ole Miss game in Atlanta drew 33,400 — more than three times the average paid attendance for games in Athens in recent years, other than games against rivals Georgia Tech and Alabama, Magill wrote.
Coach Wally Butts cited conflicts with Georgia Tech home games as a “major factor,” in moving the games from Athens, according to the Red & Black.
“Whenever these conflicts exist, it hurts the gate receipts at both schools, particularly Georgia, which is located in a sparsely populated area,” Magill wrote.
The game in Atlanta — just the second against Texas after a 41-28 Orange Bowl Longhorns win on Jan. 1, 1949 — was considered a Georgia home game and students were admitted free with an ID card.
Loran Smith, a Georgia historian who has been associated with UGA athletics for more than 60 years, said Magill complained, “Tech plays the afternoon and we’re the damn sideshow.”
Smith said Georgia Tech coach Bobby Dodd convinced Butts it would be a good move to play the game in Atlanta.
The game in 1957 was the season opener and marked the debut of Texas coach of Darrell Royal, who is the namesake of Texas football’s Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium. He took over a program coming off a 1-9 season.
Texas won 26-7 before a “sweltering short sleeved crowd of 33,000,” according to an AP report.
Georgia trailed 13-7 in the third quarter after sophomore quarterback Charley Britt threw a 5-yard touchdown to Jimmy Orr, but Texas scored 13 in the fourth quarter.
Georgia finished the season 3-7. Texas went 6-4-1 and ranked No. 11.
Georgia played Texas A&M in Athens in 1954 and went to Michigan in 1957 and 1965.
Butts was on a football rules committee with Michigan AD Fritz Crisler which led to the games in Ann Arbor, Smith said.
“Both on the road,” Smith said. “We were like one of the directional schools playing for a check.”
Saturday will be the eighth all-time meeting between the Longhorns, who are No. 5 in all-time wins with 968, and Georgia which is No. 9 with 900.
Texas was scheduled to play at Georgia on Sept. 1, 2029, as part of the second game of a home-and-home series set up in 2018, but then the Longhorns joined the SEC.
Georgia won twice last season, 30-15 in Austin and 22-19 in overtime in Atlanta in the SEC championship game.
The teams have also played in Miami, Dallas and New Orleans.
And now in Athens.
“It’s huge,” Georgia tight end Oscar Delp said. “It’s going to be super fun. I know the city is going to be rocking. Our fans are going to show up. We’re going to show up. We know what kind of game it’s going to be. It’s going to be like the last two. It’s going to be a physical game, who can run the ball, who can stop the run. We’re excited for that.”
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said he will take a moment to soak in the atmosphere of what will be his first game in Athens, too.
“I definitely will appreciate it and I hope our players do, too,” he said. “One of the beauties of going into this conference is the opportunity to play in some of these stadiums around the Southeastern Conference. …I’d be remised if I didn’t take it in, if our players didn’t take it in because that’s when teams can get overwhelmed. You’ve got to embrace the moment, embrace the environment you’re in and then you’ve got to go fight.”
The Texas Longhorns continue to be in control of their own destiny, needing to win out to secure a spot in the College Football Playoff, but that is a task easier said than done. Fresh off a bye week and looking healthy, they hit the road to take on the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs.
What has been viewed as a “monkey on their back” opponent, after going 0-2 against Kirby Smart and his team, including the SEC Championship loss that left a sour taste in their mouth, the rematch comes at a pivotal time for both teams. Can the Longhorns continue rolling and get their first win over the Bulldogs since joining the SEC last season?
Here’s how to watch one of week 12’s most exciting matchups.
The Bulldogs this season aren’t the same team they have been this decade. While generally known for their toughness and ability to defeat, this season they have shown that they do have chinks in their armor, especially on the defensive side of the ball, which is unlike what fans are accustomed to from them.
They are fourth in the conference in opponent yards per game, allowing 310.78, while being seventh in the SEC on the offensive side, averaging 436.33 yards per game. However, the biggest defense is what used to be the best defensive front in the conference, which ranks dead last in sacks this season with only 11, compared to the Longhorns, who are tied in first with 36.
The Bulldogs only have one loss this season, a 24-21 loss to the red-hot Alabama Crimson Tide. Still, they have played close games against other teams in the conference, including wins against the Florida Gators, Tennessee Volunteers, and the Ole Miss Rebels by a combined 15 points.
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