SEC links for Wednesday:
Brandon Marcello of the Clarion-Ledger: “(Nick) Bell, 20, died at the University of Alabama-Birmingham Hospital a day after undergoing emergency surgery. The redshirt sophomore was diagnosed with a form of skin cancer after a tumor was removed from his brain on Oct. 1. He had recovered enough by Oct. 23 to attend the Bulldogs’ home victory over UAB, but last week he learned the cancer had spread, said family friend Moreland Smith.”
Brad Locke of the NE Mississippi Daily Journal: “This is not a subject that you normally have to deal with on a college beat. I’m covering young men in their physical primes, their futures wide open before them. Less than two months ago, the 20-year-old Bell was a key part of MSU’s defensive line, rotating at the right end spot, making tackles and making an impact.”
Tim Tucker of the AJC: “Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, caught on camera making a choking gesture toward Florida’s kicker near the end of last Saturday’s game, expressed regret about the incident Tuesday. “As a competitor, sometimes you get caught up in the heat of the moment,” Grantham said. “I wish the situation hadn’t happened. It was a tough, hard-fought game. They won it, and I’m ready to move forward and finish out the year strong.”
Mark Bradley of the AJC: “I know, I know. In Richt’s first five seasons he took Georgia to the SEC title game three times, which Donnan didn’t manage once, and won it twice. In those five seasons Richt bought the kind of good will Donnan never could. But Georgia, which has the same president now as then, has had essentially the same record the past five years as in Donnan’s tenure, and it has had many more off-the-field embarrassments.”
Doug Segrest of the Birmingham News: “Seemingly overnight, defense has gone out the window and the SEC has become an outdoor version of the Arena Football League. Auburn scored 65 points against Arkansas and 51 at Ole Miss. Kentucky averaged nearly 33 points in a four-game span — and lost three times. Even the best-regarded defenses in the league have been chewed up and spit out. South Carolina put 35 points on the board against defending national champion Alabama. LSU did everything but raise a white flag in surrendering 440 yards on the ground to Auburn, including 217 to quarterback Cam Newton.”
Continue reading ‘SEC: A death at MSU; Grantham’s choke sign’
