Around the SEC

Around the SEC
South Carolina looked very good in its win over Southern Miss. You can read a game recap below. A quick summary: Garcia looked good. Lattimore looked good. Scan down below the SEC notes for the promised recap.

Les Miles must be living right
LSU will face a North Carolina team without 12 players. According to the News-Record, “The six ineligible student-athletes are: defensive tackle Marvin Austin, cornerback Charles Brown, cornerback Kendric Burney, wide receiver Greg Little, defensive end Michael McAdoo and defensive end Robert Quinn. Six other student-athletes won’t play Saturday as UNC continues to investigate possible NCAA violations. Those six are: tailback Shaun Draughn, defensive end Linwan Euwell, safety Brian Gupton, tailback Ryan Houston, safety Da’Norris Searcy and safety Jonathan Smith.”

UGA has trouble with police
According to the AJC, “University of Georgia Police took out a warrant Thursday for the arrest of Georgia freshman football player Alec Ogletree on a charge of theft by taking.” Also, “Ogletree would be the ninth Georgia football player arrested this year.”

It is easy to attack Georgia for the player arrests, but every school has them. What should concern Georgia fans is the arrests could indicate a continued lack of discipline. In the Georgia games I’ve watched over the last few years, the Bulldogs commit too many penalties and almost always at the worst possible times. Penalties are often an indicator of poor mental focus—in other words, the team lacked discipline. It was hoped with the change of defensive coordinator that the team would become tougher and more focused. Do these arrests indicate something else?

What is Derek Dooley thinking?
Sports By Brooks reports that Derek Dooley has taken on the role of rewarding and punishing reporters. Yep. Apparently, he is that stupid. Sports By Brooks posits the media can help or harm Dooley’s tenure. Perhaps. However, winning is the only thing that really matters to fans. If Dooley loses then nothing nice that the media writes or broadcasts will save the Tennessee Volunteer coach. What makes this decision so bad is the crass nature of the move.

Doesn’t this sound condescending? “(University of Tennessee Associate Sports Information Director) John Painter has issued the first-annual Iron Vol of the Media. We’ve got a few people we wanted to recognize who will be attending our Wednesday night mock game for the entire session with the understanding that abuse brings control.”

Would anyone feel comfortable if government behaved this way? Why should a government sponsored institution allow its football program to behave this way?

New Nike uniforms are déclassé
The Alabama Crimson Tide and Florida Gators will wear new Nike uniforms for at least one game during the season. The announcement/fashion show unveiled the special features of the new Nike Pro Combat uniforms. However, the uniforms aren’t anything special. In fact, they are tacky. What was Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban thinking in allowing this? I thought Alabama was above worrying about what uniform it would wear. What’s next? A Houndstooth-out?

Now for the South Carolina game recap: