John Clay's Sidelines

SEC links for Wednesday:

• Ching: Georgia takes care of business, beats Charleston Southern 70-55.
• Veazey: Fate of fighters Sidney, Bailey hangs in balance at Mississippi State.
• Jones: Florida basketball game with Fairfield canceled because of weather.
• Black: Alabama buries Pepperdine 83-60 to give Grant 100th win.
• Tucker: Georgia and Ohio State agree to play home-and-home in football.
• Scarbinsky: It’s only Auburn’s biggest football game ever.
• Adams: What is the name of the new Vanderbilt football coach?
• Tate: Maryland may have reached out to Gus Malzahn.
• George: Urban Meyer says he may work for ESPN next year.
• Lockridge: Vandy doesn’t know if Goulbourne can play against Marquette.
• Woodbery: Auburn basketball meets Georgia Southern tonight.
• Jones: Another Florida football coach is hospitalized.
• Pennington: James Willis’ departure story gets a little weirder.
• Leiser: Meyer exit, Muschamp arrival has everyone at Florida antsy.
• Emerson: Georgia’s Sturdivant talks to media for first time in two years.

Continue reading ‘SEC: Georgia, Alabama win in hoops; Florida canceled’

SEC links for Thursday:

• Georgia will open basketball season without Trey Thompkins, reports Tim Tucker of the AJC.
• Going to a bowl as a 5-7 team is a possibility, writes Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger.
• Florida’s kicker answered Georgia’s taunts with a kiss, reports Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun.
• Florida basketball knocks off Georgetown College, reports Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun.
• Julio Jones and Patrick Peterson are ready for the third round, writes Chase Goodbread of the Tuscaloosa News.
• Trent Richardson’s mother is staying busy, writes Glenn Guilbeau of the Shreveport News.
• Auburn’s Michael Dyer is following Bo Jackson’s lead, writes Charles Goldberg of the Birmingham News.
• Jay G. Tate of the Montgomery Advertiser reports that Auburn says it is more than one player.
• Tennessee won’t change its passing game with Bray at quarterback, reports Andrew Gribble of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• South Carolina leans on Lattimore, writes Robbie Neiswanger of the Arkansas News.

SEC links for Wednesday:

• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel writes that Urban Meyer should have sent a loud message about domestic violence.
• If Chris Rainey is cleared to play, he could be a focal point, writes Mike McCall of the Miami Herald.
• The Rainey situation reveals priorities, writes David Ching of the Athens Banner-Herald.
• Florida tinkering with its struggling offense, reports Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun.
• This is the week Georgia’s defense needs to step up, writes Jeff Schultz of the AJC.
• Derek Dooley was in one foul mood after Tuesday’s practice, reports Andrew Gribble of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• Steve Spurrier has backed off his play-calling duties, writes Travis Haney of the Charleston Post and Courier.
• Alabama’s Julio Jones is not letting pain affect the way he plays, reports Chase Goodbread of the Tuscaloosa News.
• Ole Miss gets the next shot at slowing Cameron Newton, writes Rick Cleveland of the Clarion-Ledger.
• But that will be a tough task for the Rebels, reports Parrish Alford of the NE Mississippi Daily News.

SEC links for Thursday:

• Bruce Pearl aware he’s the “elephant in the room,” reports Mike Strange of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• Urban Meyer defends bringing Chris Rainey back to Florida, reports Chris Low of espn.com.
• In a Q & A with Mike Herndon of the Huntsville Times, SEC commissioner Mike Slive says the NCAA needs a national strategy on dealing with agents.
• College football games taking too long, argues Rick Cleveland of the Clarion-Ledger.
• High drama in the SEC West, writes John Zenor of the AP.
• LSU has gone from the ridiculed to the recognized, writes Scott Rabalais of The Advocate.
• Despite broken hand, Alabama’s Julio Jones could still play against Ole Miss, reports Chase Goodbread of the Tuscaloosa News.
• Close wins building confidence at Auburn, writes Jay G. Tate of the Montgomery Advertiser.
• Vanderbilt basketball will have two scoring threats, reports Jeff Lockridge of the Tennessean.
• At Florida, Steve Addazio says he tunes out the boos, reports Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun.
• Caleb King suspension causes tailback problems at Georgia, reports Tim Tucker of the AJC.

SEC links for Tuesday:

• Billy Donovan talks about Florida basketball’s high expectations for this season, reports Andy Marks of the Gainesville Sun.
• Les Miles and Stephen Garcia will meet in SEC title game, says Clay Travis of AOL FanHouse.
• Arkansas worried about its offensive misfires, reports Robbie Neiswanger of the Arkansas News.
• Caleb King’s status unclear at Georgia after arrest, reports Tim Tucker of the AJC.
• Mullen and Meyer yield to conflicting self interests, reports Brandon Marcello of the Clarion-Ledger.
• John Adams of the Knoxville News-Sentinel thinks SEC could still be in the mix for national title.
• Julio Jones undergoes surgery on broken hand, reports A. Stacy Long of the Montgomery Advertiser.
• Alabama trying to figure out what happened to its running game, writes Chase Goodbread of the Tuscaloosa News.
• Vanderbilt offense has been slow to start, reports Jeff Lockridge of the Tennessean.
• Two-quarterback system working at LSU, writes Randy Rosetta of The Advocate.

SEC links for Monday:

• Randy Rosetta of The Advocate reports that LSU has lost Charles Scott for remainder of regular season.
• Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun writes that Florida is what it is — unbeaten.
• Evan Woodbery of the Huntsville Times writes that Georgia and Auburn are close foes.
• Bill Bryant of the Huntsville Times writes that Julio Jones quickly made a bad Alabama game good.
• David Paschall of the Chattanooga Times Free Press writes that Alabama used passing game to beat LSU.
• Ray Melick of the Birmingham News writes that SEC officials can’t escape the shadow of doubt.
• David Climer of Tennessean says criticizing SEC officials is easy for some.
• Orange and Blue Hue says it will take Florida’s 27-3 win over Vandy.
• Rocky Top Talk hands out awards for Tennessee’s romp over Memphis.
• DawgSports says yes Georgia beat Tennessee Tech 38-0, but . . .

(AP photo/Phil Sandlin)

SEC links for Friday:

• Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun writes that Florida is searching for balance on offense.
• In Florida Today, Phil Kegler reports that Tim Tebow’s status is still unknown.
• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel thinks that John Brantley will start and Tebow will finish.
• Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News reports on SEC commissoner Mike Slive urging no public hangings for officials.
• Charles Goldberg of the Birmingham News previews the Auburn-Arkansas quarterback matchup.
• Jay Tate of the Montgomery Advertiser reports that Auburn’s focus on a fast offense has paid off.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Could Brantley start and Tebow finish?’

(AP Photo/James Crisp)

Three points from Rich Brooks press conference:

• 1. The Kentucky head coach won’t forget Friday’s 31-0 first-quarter deficit in quite awhile. He got upset again just talking about it. The problem is that it happened on the heels of the 28-0 first-quarter fiasco last year at Florida. So over two years, Kentucky has trailed the Gators 59-0 after one quarter. Brooks said he thought his program had moved past such embarrassments. It has not. Of course, Florida is the defending national champ and the top-ranked team in the country. But it was the stupid penalties and tentative play that stuck in Brooks’ craw, and for good reason. Having 48 hours to cool down did not appear to make the head coach any cooler.

• 2. Florida is very good. This week’s foe, Alabama, is very good. But Alabama presents a bit of a different problem. Florida was phyiscal. Alabama is even more physical. Nick Saban wants his teams to be tough, hard-nosed clubs that will smash you in the mouth. Yes, the Tide hit three big plays on Saturday. But it loves to grind it out on both sides of the ball. The one good thing about that is, as Brooks said, it’s a bit easier to prepare for a more conventional-style offense. And Kentucky did hang around with Bama last year. Still, the Crimson Tide has superior athletes.

• 3. Trevard Lindley vs. Julio Jones figures to be Saturday’s marquee matchup. Lindley is an All-American corner. Jones is an All-American receiver. Florida didn’t throw at Lindley the way Louisville challenged UK’s senior corner. But then Florida didn’t have to challenge anyone through the air. The Gators ran the ball so well, they didn’t need to go to the air all that much.

Jonathan Crompton

SEC links for Tuesday:

• Mike Strange of the Knoxville News-Sentinel reports that Jonathan Crompton has been named Tennessee’s starting quarterback, but he may lose his starting center.
• Wes Rucker of the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports on Crompton’s return to No. 1 at UT.
• John Adams of the News-Sentinel writes that handicapping Vols start with their foes.
• Mark Bradley of the AJC gives five reasons Georgia fans should be worried about new starting quarterback Joe Cox.
• Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun lists what was learned at Florida’s fall camp.
• Joe Person of The State reports that South Carolina defensive end Clifton Geathers has been suspended while officials look into weekend fight.
• Jay G. Tate of the Montgomery Advertiser writes that Auburn receivers expect to play a big role.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Crompton named Tennessee’s quarterback’