John Clay's Sidelines

SEC links for Tuesday:

• Tennessee marketing hits a closed door, writes Matt Hinton of Dr. Saturday.
• It’ll take more than a bar fight to kill LSU, writes Holly Anderson for SI.com.
• Charges have been filed, reports Jim Kleinpeter of Times-Picayune.
• Liberty Bowl will try to silence cowbells, reports Brad Locke of Daily Journal.
• Clowney improving daily at USC, reports Charleston Post and Courier.
• China behind, work ahead for UT basketball, reports Mike Griffith of KNS.
• Maye looking to cook for MSU, reports Brandon Marcello of Clarion-Ledger.
• Freshman backers in Ole Miss spotlight, reports C-L’s Hugh Kellenberger.
• Rebel defense seeking true identity, reports Parrish Alford of Daily Journal.
• Linebackers make Alabama mighty, writes Michael Casagrande for the Advertiser.

Continue reading ‘SEC: Tennessee runs into a door; LSU fight charges filed’

By Monday, Rick Minter had gone over the film of Saturday’s scrimmage. He talks about that with the media after today’s practice.

Joker Phillips talked to the media after this afternoon’s practice. He said that he did see some separation at some positions in the video of Saturday’s scrimmage. He said that a couple of freshmen had made their way on the “two-deep” roster at wide receiver and at the skill positions on defense.

Whom might they be?

“We’re not going to talk about them until they play,” Phillips said. “We’ve made that mistake, made the mistake of talking about freshman.”

The coach talked like Jordan Aumiller would be the starting tight end.

Jordan Aumiller has been consistent at tight end. He described running back “as a solid group,” and said that CoShik Williams had a chance to help the team.  He again praised Billy Joe Murphy, the lone starter on the offensive line who has remained healthy. Phillips said Murphy has improved thanks to the added reps.

Will Cauley

After news that Georgia big man Robert Carter has Kentucky in his final seven, Kansas big man Willie Cauley has UK in his final five.

Rivals reports that the 7-footer is down to Alabama, Florida, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and the Cats.

Cauley is ranked 41st by Rivals, and Alabama is believed to be the favorite.

Excerpt:

Alabama has made the Kansas native a priority for its 2012 recruiting class, and it showed over the summer when the UA coaching staff attended every single one of Cauley’s AAU games.

“They went to every game,” Cauley said. “It means a lot. From looking at that, it shows that they’re real. A lot of coaches will come and watch every once in a while, but when you get the ones that are there every game, you know it’s not a fluke.

“You can play outstanding one game, but they’re not there the next so you don’t play as hard. With them, you’re playing hard all the time. It’s a good feeling.”

We start the second week of spotlighting UK fans on twitter with Mack Perkins.

You can find him @MackSmacks.

Recent tweet: “Remember when we ripped TJ last year? He played out his mind in the beginning, UK fans then expected it everytime out.”

Mack is a contributor to Nation of Blue, and it should be pointed out that he helped me with a column I did on the tragic death of his online friend Jonathan McIntyre. As of earlier this morning, he was credited with 7,536 tweets.

And some submitted bio info:

I was born in Knoxville, TN then my family quickly moved my infant person to Monticello, KY. 12 years later, my family moved my middle school person to the western part of the state, Hopkinsville, KY. Hoptown is where I learned how to get beat up on a regular basis without doing anything to anyone. Ah, those were the days. As I started high school we moved one final time to London, KY. There I played ball (not very well) and recorded music (also not very well). I currently reside in Clarksville, Indiana with my very attractive wife and our 2 awesome kids.

Continue reading ‘Spotlighting UK fans on twitter: @MackSmacks’

In this morning’s Herald-Leader, Jennifer Smith’s position series focuses on the Kentucky tight ends. As far as pass receptions, the production has plummeted since Jacob Tamme graduated. In fact, UK tight ends have caught 19 less passes than Tamme did in just the 2007 season. Here’s a graph featuring UK’s top pass-catcher at tight end over each of the last five seasons.

Saturday night against Detroit, a little-known running back named Armond Smith broke free for an 81-yard touchdown run. But Smith is well-known at Union College in Barbourville, where the running back from Stone Mountain, Georgia earned first-team All-NAIA honors.

Unfortunately, Smith lost a pair of fumbles on Saturday as Cleveland blew a 28-13 lead and lost 30-28 to the Lions. But the speed Smith showed on that touchdown run may have been enough to impress head coach Pat Shurmur and land the former Union star a roster spot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2BSjArUkUE

The U.S. team bounced back from its quarterfinal loss to beat Romania in consolation round. Darius Miller scored seven points and grabbed three rebounds. For the full box, click here.

Big Blue Links for Monday:

• Enes Kanter says he is the unluckiest guy ever, reports Wendell Maxey of the Deseret News. The Turkish star has gone from being ineligible at Kentucky to the NBA lockout.
• Ricardo Ledo enjoyed his visit to Syracuse over the weekend, reports Zagsblog. The 6-foot-7 star is still considering Kentucky.
• UK makes the cut for Kasey Hill, reports Nation of Blue. The 2013 guard carved his list down to seven.
• Kentucky is waiting for a tight end to emerge, writes Jen Smith of the Herald-Leader. There are plenty of candidates. Seven are competing for playing time.
• Ronnie Sneed is Kentucky’s old man, reports Kyle Tucker of the Courier-Journal. It’s the position series on the linebackers.
• Inspirational story of 14-year-old touches Kentucky football team, writes Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• The times are changing for UK football, writes Glenn Logan of A Sea of Blue.

SEC links for Monday:

• Vanderbilt football players have formed their own scooter club, reports Jeff Lockridge of the Tennessean. As many as a dozen Commodores find it the most efficient way to commute.
• Baton Rouge attorney to defend Jordan Jefferson and three other LSU players, reports Glenn Guilbeau of the Shreveport Times. This stems from that Friday night fight in Baton Rouge.
• Ole Miss faces an important and difficult first game, writes Rick Cleveland of the Clarion-Ledger. The Rebels open with newly-minted independent BYU.
• Rebels’ punter Tyler Campbell works on improving, reports Hugh Kallenberger of the Clarion-Ledger. That may be difficult considering Campbell’s 46.1-yard average was best in the nation.
• Nick Saban shrugs off Alabama’s No. 2 ranking in AP poll, reports Don Kausler of the Birmingham News. Oklahoma is No. 1.

Continue reading ‘SEC: Vanderbilt knows how to scoot around campus’