COLLEGE FOOTBALL ROUNDUP BY BRENT BEAIRD
SEC television schedules, spring game results for some teams and spring game previews for others, position moves, signee updates and much more make up this week's edition of the roundup. TENTATIVE CBS COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE (CBSSportsline.com): Sept. 18--LSU At Auburn-3:30 p.m. and Florida at Tennessee-8 p.m. Sept. 25--Alabama at Arkansas or Kentucky at UF-3:30 p.m. Oct. 2--Auburn at Tennessee or Arkansas at UF-noon and LSU at Georgia-3:30 p.m. Oct. 9--Tennessee at Georgia-3:30 p.m. Oct. 16--Notre Dame at Navy-Noon and Tennessee at Ole Miss or Arkansas at Auburn-3:30 p.m. Oct. 23--Alabama at Tennessee or Georgia at Arkansas-3:30 p.m. Oct. 30--Georgia vs. Florida-3:30 p.m. Nov. 6--Notre Dame at Tennessee-3:30 p.m. Nov. 13--Georgia at Auburn or Alabama at LSU-3:30 p.m. Nov. 20--Auburn at Alabama or Ole Miss at LSU-3:30 p.m. Nov. 26--LSU at Arkansas-2:30 p.m. Nov. 27--Georgia Tech at Georgia-3:30 p.m. Dec. 4-Army vs. Navy Dec. 4-SEC title game-6 p.m. GEORGIA: The Red beat the White 21-0 in front of 25,134 fans. The biggest cheer of the day went to tailback Albert Hollis, who has returned from a devastating knee injury. Quentin Moses had three sacks for the Red team. David Greene was 11-of-13 passing for 131 yards. Greene threw one scoring pass of 64-yards to Fred Gibson. Offensive tackle Daniel Inman and defensive end Will Thompson scuffled twice during the game. Andy Bailey and Brandon Coutu will take their kicking battle into the fall drills. Starting outside linebacker Tony Taylor suffered a torn ACL knee injury that will cause him to miss the entire season. Taylor was fifth on the team in tackles last year with 82 and he was tied for second on the team with two interceptions. Sophomore Danny Verdun-Wheeler and junior Derrick White are likely candidates to replace him. The players were given their SEC East co-championship rings after the game. They had to sign forms that they would not sell their rings. Freshman A. J. Bryant, a former quarterback, caught three passes for 22 yards. Blake Barnes, who will likely redshirt, was 6-for-6 for 36 yards. (OnlineAthens.com) Bulldog coach Mark Richt told the media toward the end of practice that he was pleased with the progress of quarterbacks Joe Tereshinski and D. J. Shockley. He was very satisfied with the improvement of lineman Dennis Roland. Cornerback Paul Oliver has made a move at this position. (UGASports.com) KENTUCKY: After being shutdown by the defense in the first scrimmage, the Wildcat offense scored on three of seven drives against the defense. Senior quarterback Shane Boyd was 11-of-18 for 126 yards and a touchdown. (KentuckySportsReport.com) FLORIDA: Only six Gator running backs (Jimmy DuBose, Neal Anderson, Emmitt Smith, Errict Rhett, Fred Taylor and Earnest Graham have cracked the 1,000-yard mark since 1906. Smith and Rhett did it twice. Ciatrick Fason said both he and DeShawn Wynn could crack the elusive barrier this season. Skyler Thornton and freshman Marcus Manson hope to be in the mix. (GatorBait.net) Florida travels to Tennessee for a prime time kickoff at 8 p.m. The last time the two teams met at night was in 1999 when Florida won 23-21 at home. (The Tennessean) LSU: Tailback Alley Broussard rushed for 99 yards and two scores in the Tigers second scrimmage. Defensive end Marcus Spears had two sacks and four tackles. The annual spring game is Saturday at 1 p.m. Shyrone Carey rushed for 61 yards on 13 carries. Skyler Green caught six passes for 64 yards, including a 19-yard scoring catch from Marcus Randall, who was 4-of-7 for 62 yards. JaMarcus Russell was 7-of-13 for 109 yards. Corey Webster had four tackles and a 54-yard interception return for a touchdown. Ronnie Prude and Jonathan Zenon had an interception each. (TheAdvocate.com) Brandon Washington, a former defensive end, was playing first team left guard this week. Claude Wroten was practicing with the first team at left defensive tackle. (Tigerbait.com) MISSISSIPPI STATE: The Bulldogs wrapped up spring practice after their third scrimmage. Omarr Conner was 4-of-8 for 42 yards. Quarterback Kyle York, a junior, will be completely recovered in July from his shoulder surgery. Jerious Norwood led all rushers with seven carries for 27 yards. (Bulldogblitz.com) The home and season opener against Tulane scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 4, might be picked up by ESPN. The school has disputed all but one of 13 major allegations of rules violations by the NCAA. State admitted to 10 violations that it described as secondary and one potentially major violation of allowing two recruits to stay for free at a Starkville hotel for 12 days in January of 2001. (Clarion-Ledger) OLE MISS: A total of 23,175 fans saw the Blue beat the Red 31-6. Quarterback Michael Spurlock held on to the starting quarterback position as he completed 11-of-18 passes for 183 yards. He had a 64-yard scoring pass to receiver Taye Biddle. Tailback Vashon Pearson, who averaged six yards per carry this spring, rushed for 71 yards on 13 carries and scored a touchdown. He might be the spring MVP. The offensive line featuring third-year starting guards Marcus Johnson and Doug Buckles, third-year starting tackle Tre Stallings and center Chris Spencer could be one of the best in the SEC. Safeties Kelvin Robinson and Charles Clark each returned an intercepted pass for a touchdown. Defensive back Eric Oliver received the prestigious Chucky Mullins Courage Award. Oliver will wear the late Mullins' No. 38 jersey. (RebelGrove.com) TENNESSEE: The Orange and the White game ended in a 21-21 tie. Coach Phil Fulmer said if the Vols had to play a game this week, the starting quarterback would probably be C. J. Leak over Rick Clausen, but he added that he was anxious to have freshmen Brent Schaeffer and Erik Ainge in the mix. Offensive coordinator Randy Sanders will meet with Ainge later this week in Oregon and with Schaeffer next month during a recruiting visit to Florida. Leak was 12-of-17 for 178 yards with two scoring passes-35 yards to C. J. Fayton and 69 yards to Chris Hannon led all receivers with 105 yards on four catches. Walk-on David Yancey, who had 78 yards rushing, ended an impressive spring with a 15-yard touchdown run. Receiver Robert Meachem caught two passes for 65 yards. Fulmer wanted to see the ball in his hands more. Florida quarterback Chris Leak, the brother of C. J., was on hand for the game. Linebacker Kevin Simon was ejected from the game for throwing a punch at guard Rob Smith in the third quarter. Senior Jabari Davis led the Vols in rushing with 85 yards on 18 carries. Suspended receiver James Banks was on the sidelines in street clothes. Fulmer said Banks had the chance to return to the team. (Tennessean) Fulmer said he will be on the road recruiting this May, something he has not done since his first two years of being a head coach. One of the reasons Fulmer is on the road is because there are more big-time prospects in the state of Tennessee than usual. Tennessee could end up offering as many as 10 players from the state. They have not signed that many players from the state since 1997. Fulmer has lost 18 pounds and is hoping to add more to it. Defensive coordinator John Chavis said the linebacker corps might be the deepest in years with Kevin Simon at middle linebacker, Kevin Burnett at weak side linebacker, Jason Mitchell and Omar Gaither at the strong side position. (Tennessean) SOUTH CAROLINA: Quarterback Syvelle Newton completed 16-of-27 passes for 277 yards and two scores. He also rushed for 71 yards on 11 carries. The sophomore led all four scoring drives and accounted for 348 of the 515 total yards. Starter Dondrial Pinkins was 4-of-14 for 35 yards. Coach Lou Holtz said Newton showed more spark with the offense. Holtz said Pinkins was not sharp and did not have his mind in the game. Before the spring game, Pinkins drew praise from the offensive coaches for his leadership and his handling of the offense. Pinkins was in on only 30 of the 111 snaps. Still, Holtz said Pinkins remains the starter with Newton as the backup. The running game was not stellar. USC averaged less than three yards per carry and the longest run was 16 yards. (The State) The Gamecocks are going to have an inexperienced secondary with sophomore Fred Bennett and junior college transfer Jonathan Joseph at cornerback. Freshman Ko Simpson could be one safety and either Jermaine Harris or Jamacia Jackson, both seniors, at the other safety spot. (Gamecockcentral.com) ALABAMA: Signee Chris Turner, a two-year starter at Northwest Community College in Mississippi, is graduating in May. Turner has slimmed down from 290 to 271. He claims that he is running a 4.6 in the 40-yard dash. Turner, a Jacksonville, Fla., native, said he bench presses 415-pounds and squats 550-pounds. (Bamaonline.com) SOUTHERN MISS: The Black team beat the Gold team in last Saturday's spring game 30-20. Quarterback Dustin Almond, who has locked down the starting quarterback job going into fall drills, completed 9-of-20 for137 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. Damion Carter threw (5-of-10 for 105 yards) for two touchdowns as a quarterback. He had three catches for 48 yards as a receiver. In all, Carter accounted for 197 total yards and three touchdowns. (Clarion-Ledger) FLORIDA STATE: Signee Emmanuel Dunbar, a defensive lineman from Deerfield Beach (Fla.) High, told Warchant.com that he is making progress to qualify. He said that he has raised his core grades to a 2.5 grade point average, but he still has work to do with his ACT scores. CLEMSON: Coach Tommy Bowden visited coach Bob Stoops last week to view the Oklahoma practices. C. J. Gaddis, who was moved from quarterback to cornerback, will stay at that position this fall. (Tigerillustrated.com) VIRGINIA: The Wahoos beat the Cavaliers 10-7 in front of 8,239 at Scott Stadium. Tailback Wali Lundy threw a 9-yard scoring pass to Ottowa Anderson and Connor Hughes kicked a 27-yard field goal for the only scoring of the game. Lundy carried 23 times for 75 yards. Although he threw two picks, Marques Hagans appears to be the No. 1 quarterback at the end of spring drills. The other quarterbacks to play in the game were Chris Olsen, a Notre Dame transfer, Anthony Martinez and Kevin McCabe. Cornerback Marcus Hamilton and tailback Michael Johnson were named the most improved players of the spring. (Roanoke.com) The Cavs will be able to run the football effectively this season with Lundy, Alvin Pearman, and speedster Michael Johnson. Virginia's defensive line with ends Brennan Schmidt and Chris Canty will cause considerable problems for offenses this season. Andrew Hoffman has a lot of potential on the interior of the line. The linebackers are comparable to anyone in the ACC with Ahmad Brooks, Darryl Blackstock, Kai Parham and Dennis Haley. (Wagononline.com) GEORGIA TECH: A total of 3,000 fans saw tailbacks P. J. Daniels and backup Chris Woods combine for almost 150 yards and two scores. Daniels had 74 yards on 13 carries. Woods, a Morris Brown transfer, rushed for 73 yards on 10 carries. Defensive end Eric Henderson had a sack, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble. (AJC.com) MIAMI: Brock Berlin, who was booed in the early part of the spring game, hit Darnell Jenkins on a 59-yard pass in the fourth quarter for the deciding points in front of 10,000 fans. The offense beat the defense 33-10. Berlin was 10-of-16 for 185 yards. Larry Coker said Berlin remains the starter. Senior backup Derrick Crudup was 7-of-12 for 69 yards and redshirt freshman Kyle Wright was 6-of-13 for 67 yards. Backup strong safety Willie Cooper led all tacklers with eight tacklers. Tight end Buck Ortega led all receivers with six catches for 89 yards. (Miami Herald) During the spring, the Cane offense, under coach Dan Werner, threw the ball down the field more. The secondary manned by safeties Greg Threat and Brandon Meriweather and cornerbacks Antrel Rolle and Kelly Jennings were solid. The personnel questions come in the nickel and dime situations. If he can hang onto the ball, Kevin Everett could be the next great Miami tight end. The coaches believe he could be the best blocking tight end ever. The receivers need to have Roscoe Parrish (knee) and Ryan Moore (shoulder) to come back from surgeries to lead a young, but talented group that includes Sinorice Moss, Akieem Jolla, and Devin Hester. Tailback Frank Gore should be ready for the season, but he needs to lose 15-20 pounds to regain his speed. Orien Harris was a terror on the defensive line. The defensive tackle rotation of Santonio Thomas, Kareem Brown, and Teraz McCray could dominate some opponents. Berlin is clearly the starter. He had outstanding practices, but he also performe d well last year before struggling in games. Freshman Kyle Wright had a good spring, but he did nothing to distinguish himself from the pack. The defense ended up far ahead of where the coaches expected them to be. (Canesport.com) NEBRASKA: The Bill Callahan era started under the watchful eyes of 61, 417 fans. Quarterback Joe Dailey threw four touchdowns on 29-of-49 passing for 241 yards. The school record for pass attempts is 42. (ESPN.com) OKLAHOMA: Over 31,000 fans saw the Red team beat the White team 24-3. Jason White did not play in the game. Quarterback Paul Thompson was 21-of-30 for 311 yards and two touchdowns. (Collegefootballnews.com) TEXAS A & M: A little over 37,000 fans attended the spring game. Quarterback Ty Branyon was 11-of-16 for 119 yards and three touchdowns. (Collegefootballnews.com) TEXAS TECH: In the Red Raider spring game, quarterback Sonny Cumbie completed 17-of-20 passes for 190 yards and two scores. (Collegefootballnews.com) Brent Beaird is a sports writer for The Clay County Line. He also writes for Rivals.com and Samsportsline.com. He can be contacted at [EMAIL PROTECTED] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net
