John Clay's Sidelines

The kind folks in UK sports information paid tribute to the late AP photographer Ed Reinke at Saturday’s game. Reinke passed away last week after experiencing a fall at Kentucky Speedway.

How big is Alabama-LSU? So big the powers that be at CBS have decided to pre-empt one of their numerous murder mysteries and insert college football’s marquee matchup in its primetime lineup for Saturday, Nov. 5.

The game will kickoff at 8 p.m. in Tuscaloosa with Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and Tracy Wolfson on hand. Both teams are currently at 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the SEC. More importantly, LSU is No. 1 and Alabama is No. 2 in both polls and the BCS standings.

CBS normally shows one prime time game per year. For several years that game was Florida-Tennessee. In recent years, other matchups were chosen for a Saturday night spot. This year, the network telecast the Oct. 1 Alabama-Florida game in primetime.

But this isn’t a regular year.

After visiting Kentucky this weekend, Amile Jefferson plans to visit Stanford and North Carolina State before making a decision.

“He’s visiting Kentucky this weekend, Stanford next weekend, and North Carolina State the weekend after that,” Allen Rubin, an editor and recruiting analyst for Hoop Scoop recruiting services, told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

A 6-foot-8 forward from the Philadelphia area, Jefferson is considering Temple, Villanova, Kentucky, Stanford, North Carolina State, Maryland, Connecticut, and Ohio State.

Gary Harris, a 6-4 guard from Indianapolis, also visited UK this weekend.

Three quick notes from Joker Phillips day-after teleconference:

• The Kentucky coach said that running back Raymond Sanders does have an ankle sprain, and is “iffy” for Saturday’s game with Mississippi State. Phillips described it as a “high ankle sprain” but not so severe that it would keep him out for a prolonged period of time. The coach said it did not look good right now as far as the team’s No. 1 running back being ready for Saturday.
• True freshman wide receiver Demarco Robinson was suspended for Saturday’s game for a violation of team rules and is back with the team today.
• Phillips said he is aware of internet rumors regarding Josh Clemons being unhappy, but says he has talked to freshman back and everything is fine. “That’s just an unknown rumor started by someone,” said the coach.

Charting UK football in NCAA stats. Bad news, the Cats are still No. 118 in total offense and No. 119 out of 120 in pass efficiency offense. Good news, the Cats are second in the nation in penalty yards per game, and eighth in net punting.

(H-L photo/Pablo Alcala)

Big Blue Links for Sunday:

• Williams helps UK end its four-game skid, says my game story for H-L.
• Does UK victory build belief? asks Mark Story of the Herald-Leader.
• Trevathan delivers a memorable interception, leads the H-L game notes.
• Jerry Tipton of H-L gives his pre-season All-SEC picks.
• Herald-Leader photo gallery from Kentucky win over Jacksonville State.
• Now Kentucky must win the tough ones, writes Rick Bozich of the Courier-Journal.
• UK beats Jacksonville and its losing streak, writes Kyle Tucker of the Courier-Journal.
• Jacksonville State falls to a focused UK, writes Reggie Benson of Huntsville Times.
• No upset, no dishonor for JSU, says Bill Bryant of Huntsville Times.
• JSU comes up empty-handed in Lexington, reports Al Muskewitz of Anniston Star.
• The yards snuck up on CoShik Williams, says Keith Taylor of Winchester Sun.
• Kentucky has a reason to smile again, says Larry Vaught of Advocate-Messenger.
• Anti-Joker crowd probably disappointed, writes Brian Rickerd of State-Journal.
• Cats get it back on track, writes Ethan Levine of the Kentucky Kernel.
• Talent paves way for young UK defense, writes Cody Porter of the Kernel.
• Cats start second season with a win, writes Guy Ramsey of Cat Scratches.
• Ronnie Sneed’s smile said it all, writes Brett Dawson of Cats Illustrated.
• Cuckoo for CoShik, says James Pennington of Cats Pause.
• JSU holds strong early, but Kentucky pulls away, reports AP.
• UK snaps its four-game losing streak, reports Jon Hale of Ky Forward.
• A postmortem on the Kentucky win, from A Sea of Blue.
• DaJuan Coleman’s Ohio State visit will be his last, reports Zagsblog.
• Calipari says UK will see more pick and roll, reports Steve Moss of WKYT.
• Some quick post-game UK football notes, from Bleed Blue Kentucky.
• All Hail King CoShik, says Tyler Montell of KSR.
• Anthony Bennett is coming to Rupp Arena, reports Scott Anderson of Nation of Blue.
• Can’t we all just get along? asks Wildcat Blue Nation.

SEC links for Sunday:

• LSU 45, Auburn 10
• LSU’s beat-down is one for the ages, writes Jon Solomon of Birmingham News.
• LSU cruises past Auburn, reports Charles Bennett for the Anniston Star.
• It was a Baton Rouge blowout, writes Jay Tate of the Montgomery Advertiser.
• Big plays break open a close game, writes Sheldon Mickles of The Advocate.
• Time to bring on Bama, writes Les East of The Advocate.
• LSU smacks Auburn around, writes Roy Lang of the Shreveport Times.
• Tigers dominate Auburn, reports Jim Kleinpeter of Times-Picayune.
• Alabama 37, Tennessee 6
• After dismal half, Alabama responds, writes Mark McCarter of Huntsville Times.
• No chilling out about LSU-Alabama, says Kevin Scarbinsky of Birmingham News.
• Let the LSU hype begin, writes Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News.
• McCarron keys second-half explosion, writes Joe Medley of Anniston Star.
• Tide takes care of Vols, reports Advertiser’s Michael Casagrande.
• Another collapse for UT, reports Andrew Gribble of News-Sentinel.
• Football a foreign object to the Vols, writes John Adams of the News-Sentinel.
• Tennessee takes baby steps, writes David Climer of Tennessean.
• Bama overcomes mental lapse, writes Edward Aschoff of ESPN.
• Arkansas 29, Ole Miss 24
• Ole Miss’ SEC losing streak hits 10, writes Hugh Kellenberger of the C-L.
• Early lead fades for Rebels, writes Parrish Alford of the Daily Journal.
• Nutt takes issue with prediction, reports the Clarion-Ledger.
• Slow start no problem, writes Robbie Neiswanger of Arkansas News.
• Arkansas defense regroups, writes Scott Faldon of Times-Record.
• Johnson sparks Arkansas run game, reports Chris Bahn of Arkansas 360.
• Vanderbilt 44, Army 21
• Vandy beats Army at own game, reports Jeff Lockridge of Tennessee.
• Jordan Rodgers leads Vandy to win, writes Chris Talbott of AP.
• Army loses quarterback in loss to Vandy, reports AP.