1. “Georgia HAS to beat Boise State when they meet in Atlanta…”

2. What to focus on as Georgia starts practice. The “dream team” arrives.

3. Wide receiver Israel Troupe cited by police.

4. Les Miles on the start of LSU practice: ”We like getting outside and … tasting the grass.”

5. Wide receiver Russell Shepard reports and will practice today. Total of 104 players report as Les looks for leaders.

6. Thousands turn out to watch South Carolina’s first practice. Steve Spurrier likes the team speed.

7. Mississippi State begins practice. “On Wednesday, they slept.  Today, they’ll sweat.”

8. Kentucky defense produced only 16 takeaways in 13 games last year – turnovers a big focus.

9. Alabama deals with a home invasion – from Florida State. Alabama #1 and Florida State #2 in this preseason forecast.

10. Huge expectations for wide receiver Durron Carter – son of Cris.

11. The Tide’s Darrington Sentimore will transfer to a JUCO – he’s the seventh player to leave since the end of last season.

12. Freshmen pass catchers at Auburn have a great opportunity – team returns only one receiver with more than three catches last year.

13. No one gets Cam’s #2.  “Starless” Auburn is “the underdog, again.”

14. The star of the day at Auburn’s first practice?  The new practice facility.

15. James Stone is the rock in the middle of the Tennessee offensive line.

16. Who will be the leaders for the Vols this year? Practice competes with $48 million construction project.

17. More praise for the wide receiver corps at Arkansas. High expectations for the Razorbacks. 108 in Fayetteville today.

18. Breaking down Florida’s special teams.

19. Vanderbilt freshmen excited to get started.

20. Who can stop the SEC from winning another BCS title?  The SEC.

21. A roundup of key players and returning starters for all 12 schools.

22. The KFC Yum Center in Louisville, Lady Gaga and John Calipari.

23. “No truth to the rumor that Cal is looking into scheduling exhibitions in Knoxville, Gainesville and Durham, N.C.”

24. Florida’s non-conference basketball schedule this season features six teams that made the 2011 NCAA Tournament. “Perhaps the toughest one yet,” says coach Billy Donovan.

25. The cost of covering college athletes’ full expenses.

26. An Alabama ethics commission says high school coaches accompanying prospects on recruiting trips can receive free tickets to games.

Last night, Mark Richt spoke to a Georgia booster club in the Atlanta area.  His message was upbeat and positive.  And the fans on hand liked what their coach was saying:


“We’re Georgia.  We’ve got good players.  We stumbled last year, but we weren’t far off.  Greg (McGarity) has done a good job supporting us.  The fans have done a great job supporting us. …

No one’s pushing the panic button.  We believe in what we’re doing. …

I plan on having a hell of a year.”


Richt even pointed out that an 0-2 start (with losses to Boise State and South Carolina) would sound the death knell for his club.  “… On paper, those might be the two best teams we play all year,” he said.

But let the Dawgs actually start 0-2 and you won’t be hearing a lot of positivity from the Peach State media or fans.

Here’s a rundown of Georgia coach Mark Richt’s comments:

* Richt said it’s an “exciting time at Georgia” and then discussed Boise State and South Carolina, his team’s first two opponents.  “It has energized the program in a big way.  I think that everybody understands what it’s gonna take preparation-wise and I think everybody’s been willing to pay the price.  I say ‘everyone,’ but there’s been a few guys who’ve gotten off the bus, so to speak… a year ago, or in the last few months even, the last few days.  Some guys have chosen to move on and a couple of guys got a little help, but the guys that are still here are excited about the future and are willing to pay the price to play the kind of football that everybody in our Georgia Bulldog Nation expects.”

* Asked if quarterbacks Aaron Murry and Tyler Bray (Tennessee) might be on the verge of a Danny Wuerffel-Peyton Manning year-in, year-out duel, Richt said: “I hope they’re both that good.  I hope ours is better.”  That got laughs.  “Aaron is really a coach’s dream in how he approaches the game.  He understands preparation.  He understands team.  His motivation is for Georgia to win.  His motivation is to see his teammates have success.  His motivation is not to promote self.  And when you have a guy like that it makes your life so much easier.”  Richt also credited Mike Bobo for working with Murray on protecting the football.

* Asked about the decision to play Boise State in the Georgia Dome, Richt said: “Where we were at that time was a decline in our record.  A decline in how people perceived our program.  A place that I didn’t really like, I wasn’t really comfortable in, wasn’t used to.  And I said, ‘what better way to send a surge of energy into this program than to schedule a game like that.”  Richt also said, “There’s risk in playing a team that can whip your tail because they might whip your tail.  But in order for us to get back to where we want to be — which is highly ranked, highly thought of — we need to play this game.”

* Richt handles the media as well as any coach in the league.  While some Georgia fans are turned off by his ever-cool demeanor, it serves him well when dealing with the press.  Richt always seems to be in control of the room.  Let’s see what happens when the hot seat questions come.

* Richt is excited about his defense in Year Two under Todd Grantham.  Last year, his defensive players had to think too much about their assignments.  This year they’re able to focus on technique.  The coach also said he’s been able to recruit to the 3-4 now.

* Asked if Georgia’s Liberty Bowl loss to UCF was devastating to his program, Richt said, “Well, it wasn’t devastating.  I mean it hurt real bad.  I didn’t enjoy it.  But devastation means you’ve blown up the program and it’s beyond repair, so I don’t think it was devastating.  But it was awful, I can say that.”  He also said, “Coach O’Learly outcoached me.  They’re team played harder than we played.  And they deserved to win.  And we learned from that. … We learned to finish.  We’ll see how well we learned it.”

* Laughing, Richt said, “I think our depth is fine… as long as we don’t get anyone hurt.”

* “The passion of the coaches and the players and the fans especially” is what separates the SEC from other conferences. 

* Richt admitted that “right now” the West is stronger than the East right now.

* Sidenote — Worst thing about Media Days now compared to 20 years ago: You now hear “reporters” say “We” when referring to teams.  If you’re pulling for a team in the league, you’re not objective and you shouldn’t have a credential.  Period.  There’s no room for “we” at Media Days.  Just my rant.

* “College football is a grind.  It’s a grind for the coaches.  It’s a grind for the players.  We love it, we’re not complaining, but anytime you can have some fun with your guys I think it’s good to do that and to wear those (Nike Pro Combat) uniforms I think will be something they’re really gonna enjoy.”

* Asked about the hot seat, Richt said: “I know that if you walk in the Butts-Mehre Building there’s not one sense of doom or gloom.  There’s only excitement, only guys that are so thankful that we’ve got a new season and a clean slate and the ability to play some great opponents to start the year.  Expectations are just as high as they’ve ever been going into any season.  Our goal is to win the Eastern Division.”  Nice dance around the job security question.  “I don’t worry about all that.  I worry about enjoying the ride.  We’re in good shape.”

* “Six of our losses were within a touchdown in the fourth quarter (last year), we just finish better and we’ve have had a better season.  We weren’t getting blown out of the water, we just didn’t win.”

* Richt pointed out that he’s getting commitments for 2013 and 2014 which shows people still have faith in Georgia’s program.

* One of Richt’s sons has the sickle cell trait and he says that’s led him to treat his players differently.  Some players who have that trait are pulled out of certain drills.  Interesting question from Rachel George of The Orlando Sentinel.

* On Will Muschamp, Richt said: “Well, I’m sure he’s gonna tell everybody in Florida that he’s Florida through-and-through and all that, but I guarantee you there’s a little bit of red and black in his veins.”

* Georgia center Ben Jones entered the writers’ room and was given a mic.  Richt laughed and looked at the podium in a “here it comes” kind of way.  “Do you trust the offensive line this year,” the player asked.  Richt smiled and said, “You weren’t in here when I was bragging on the offensive line.  (The writers) are worried about the depth on our line. … I think Ben Jones is the best center in America.  I think he’s going to win the Rimington.”  He drew laughs by saying, “Good question there, Ben.”

* Asked to talk about how tough it is to last 11 years at one school in the SEC, Richt said, “It’s not difficult if you win,” and then he laughed loudly.  “It’s not difficult if you know you win 9, 10, 11 a year, and win the Eastern Division every other year, and win the SEC every three or four years.  It’s not a problem at all.  It’s when you go 6-7, that’s when it’s a problem.  But greater days are coming, the best is yet to come.”

* Very, very hard not to like Richt.

1.  ESPN.com says Trent Richardson is the SEC’s best back, but…

2.  Auburn has the league’s best stable of backs.

3.  Florida isn’t getting its usual amount of love from the preseason football mags.

4.  Will Charlie Weis find a 1,000-yard rusher among this year’s Gator backs?  (Urban Meyer’s team never had a 1,000-yard running back.)

5.  Georgia’s players are geared up for the tough start to their season.  (Boise State and South Carolina will be the Dawgs first two opponents.)

1.  Here’s a behind-the-scenes video look at Auburn’s day in Washington, DC.

2.  It sounds like ex-Tiger Cam Newton is earning respect from his Carolina Panthers teammates.

3.  This blogger thinks Georgia could make or break Boise State’s season.

Linebacker Robert Atiga from Snow Community College in Ephraim, Utah, will attend Arkansas this fall.

Atiga chose Arkansas over Oregon State. He also received scholarship offers from Utah, Washington, Boise State and Utah State.

Ya gotta like Mark Richt.  Long viewed as the one of the nicer guys in sports, Georgia’s coach doesn’t seem to be changing his demeanor as the seat beneath him warms.  Take, for example, some comments he made last night.

Speaking to 200 Bulldog fans in Jacksonville last night, Richt accepted blame for the 2010 season and made few excuses.  If he’s feeling pressure — and he says he’s not — he’s not acting like it.  Guys facing make-or-break years usually don’t say the things he said last night.


* While explaining that he believes UGA lost some games late because their opponents played harder — a helluvan admission — he said: “That’s embarrassing.  It’s our shame and it’s my fault.  We’re not going to let that happen again.”

* He also admitted that the Dawgs haven’t exactly been dominant on the national scene the last two years.  He thinks their season opener could help on that front.  “Boise State is not a conference game, but it’s a big game for the University of Georgia.  To have a season like we just did that was so far below what we are used to and what’s expected, we needed this game.  Boise State is the winningest team over the past 10 years.  If we can battle with them, we can make Georgia very relevant again nationally.”


So in the span of one Q&A session, Richt shouldered full blame for Georgia’s 6-7 record last year, suggested his team didn’t play hard at times, admitted that his program needs to become “relevant again,” and further ramped up the importance of his team’s season opener.

That’s gutsy.  And his willingness to not make excuses is typically classy.  Whether you’re high on Richt as a coach or not — he’s only 62 games over .500 at UGA after all — it’s hard not to like Richt the person.

The writing is on the wall in Athens.  Even long-time Mark Richt supporters like Bill King of The AJC understand the magnitude of the coach’s current situation.

While the coach said yesterday that he doesn’t “feel any pressure at all,” The Junkyard Blawger knows that — as he puts it — Georgia’s first two games this fall could “make or break” the Dawgs’ veteran coach:


Win both of those first two games (versus Boise State and then South Caroilna) and the Dogs, whom Chick-fil-A’s Gary Stokan seems sure will (be) ranked in the preseason Top 25, likely will vault themselves into the Top 10 and put themselves in the driver’s seat in the SEC East in a rebuilding year for the Florida program.

Lose both of them, and even Richt is going to be sweating bullets.


True enough.  We all want instant gratification.  We also like for things to be simple.  And judging Richt on his first two games — either “he’s got it back” or “he’s lost it” — is both quick and easy.  The fan reaction to those first two games will likely have some impact on the psyche of Richt’s squad.  In other words, winning both games could put his team on a roll… losing both could cause a panic and a tailspin.  Players know what’s being said about their coach.

But in reality, Richt will be judged for his body of work in 2011.  If he starts of 0-2 and then wins his last 10, the first two games won’t mean much.  The same will be true if he starts 2-0 and then drops his last 10.

The two things that we believe will have the biggest impact on Richt’s job security are the following:


1.  Does he win 9 games in 2011?  Anything less can be called a disappointing season by the anti-Richters in the Peach State.  Nine wins against an SEC schedule will land the Dawgs in the Top 25 and in a pretty good bowl game.  No one’s going to be fired if that’s the case.  Nine is the goal.  Eight is survivable, but nine is finer.

2.  Does he beat Florida?  Richt was owned by Urban Meyer.  Even during the Gators’ stumble-filled 2010 season, UF was able to right its ship long enough to outlast the Dawgs in Jacksonville.  Georgia fans are getting tired of losing to their bitter rivals.  If Florida has a mediocre season in Will Muschamp’s first year on the job and the Gators still get past Georgia, that could be very, very bad news for Richt.


King and all the folks who are focusing on UGA’s first two games are correct in doing so.  Those contests with Boise State and Carolina are huge. 

But getting to nine wins — one way or another — and topping Florida will mean more for Richt’s job security in the long run.

The attorney general for the state of Utah said yesterday that he has decided to file a lawsuit against the Bowl Championship Series.  Republican Mark Shurtleff says the BCS is “an illegal monopoly” and that it violates antitrust regulations.

You can click the above link for the details.

We’ll make five quick points on this subject:


1.  While we at MrSEC.com aren’t fans of the BCS and would prefer a small playoff system in college football — 8 teams — we do not support a lawsuit attempting to crush the current system.  We believe that the court system and state attorneys general should have enough on their hands when it comes to real world issues.  To put it plainly, there are bigger fish to fry than college football’s postseason system.  So, respectfully, we ask that politicians butt the hell out of our sports and instead do their damn jobs.

2.  While the BCS is a flawed system, it has poured more money into schools — all FBS schools — than any system previously created.  Non-AQ teams want an equal share of postseason cash, just like a Texas, a Southern Cal, an Ohio State or a Florida or an Alabama.  But check the TV ratings and you’ll see that no one is wearing out their remotes to catch Boise State and Nevada on television (unless they’re playing a big boy school).  The BCS schools are the traditional powers who demand huge sums of cash from television networks.  That cash then trickles down to the little guys.  If the supporters of the little schools actually kill off the BCS system…

3.  We’ll be headed right back to the old bowl system.  And the small schools will go back to never ever playing in the Fiesta, Orange, Sugar or Rose Bowls.  Hope you enjoyed your shots in primetime, Boise State and Hawaii.  And forget that check your league gets from the BCS each year.  Enjoy the heck out of the Humanitarian Bowl.  As for the rest of us, we’ll go back to having the national title decided by pollsters.  The big schools won’t agree to a playoff that splits college football revenue evenly.  If they’re faced with a “playoff or no playoff” choice, they’ll choose “no playoff” and go back to controlling all the cash.  We can’t blame them for that.  The mega-schools built the sport, they beat one another other up in top-tier leagues each season, and they feel they deserve the lion’s share of the riches.  They do.  Where’s Joe the Plumber when you need him?

4.  Why not let the free market decide the matter?  Public demand for a playoff is growing.  Television dollars are rising.  Eventually, a playoff system is likely to take root.  But that’s if the politicians and courts allow things to play out on their own.  Unfortunately, most of these do-gooders don’t grasp the fact that there are currently only two choices on college football’s gear box — neutral and reverse.  The attorney general of Utah clearly doesn’t understand that he can’t force 60-some-odd college presidents to do something that they don’t want to do… which is move forward toward a playoff.  In reality, the options are the BCS (neutral) or the bowl system (reverse).

5.  The fact that guys like Republican Mark Shurtleff of Utah don’t understand the situation and can’t see what a destruction of the current system will bring takes us right back to our initial point: Butt the hell out of our sports and do your damn job, politicians.

1.  LSU’s season opener against Oregon will air on ABC at 8pm ET on September 3rd.  (Unfortunately that’s smack opposite Georgia’s game with Boise State.)

2.  With spring practice in Starkville complete, MSU’s strength coach is set to take over.

3.  Dan Mullen wants his team to be playing in Atlanta at season’s end.  (And he doesn’t mean in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.)

4.  The DT Shackelford injury at Ole Miss is a major loss.

5.  With Nathan Stanley transferring out, there are now two quarterbacks on the Rebel roster… three if Barry Brunetti gets an NCAA hardship waiver.

6.  Andy Kennedy has yet another vacancy to fill on his coaching staff as his offseason shake-up continues.

7.  This year’s Liberty Bowl — which featured UCF’s 10-6 win over Georgia last year — will have a 3:30pm ET kickoff on New Year’s Eve.