1. What’s the status of Tennessee running back Marlin Lane?  ”That’s up to Coach Jones.” Wide receiver injuries piling up for the Vols.

2. Peyton Manning on why he recruited Butch Jones…to Colorado. Impressed with coach – “I like his slogans and philosophies.”

3. Former coach on running back Braylon Heard, who’s transferring from Nebraska to Kentucky.  “He can change the game at the blink of an eye. He can go 80, 90 yards in a heartbeat.”

4. Kentucky preparing for a crowd as large as 50,000 for this Saturdays’ spring game. They won’t see any kickoffs or kick returns.

5. With Marcus Lattimore gone, a focus on running backs Mike Davis and Brandon Wilds at South Carolina.

6. Texas A&M’s spring game on Saturday will be carried live on ESPN for the first time in school history. Aggies overhauling linebacking corp.  ”“There’s a big hole to fill.”

7. Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin will serve as NFL Network analyst on the opening day of the NFL draft.

8. The first team will scrimmage the second team at Vanderbilt’s spring game on Saturday.

9. With the exception of Zach Mettenberger, LSU defenders had the go-ahead to hit all other LSU quarterbacks in practice the past few days.

10. With recruiting deregulation on hold, job responsibilities of support staff are up in the air at Auburn.  Gus Malzahn: “Right now, we’re just going day by day.”

11. Georgia’s spring practice is over but the competition for starting spots is just beginning. Coach Mark Richt: “If you’re working out this summer thinking you’ve got something nailed down, you better re-check your thinking.”

12. Hey Georgia fans, who do you want on the cover of Athlon’s preseason college football magazine?  You can vote for either Aaron Murray or Todd Gurley here.

13. With his Bulldogs team getting ready for its second spring scrimmage, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen is looking for leaders.

14. With defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson gone to an NFL as a likely first-round pick, Missouri needs someone to step up in the middle of the defensive line.

15. Arkansas defensive coordinator Chris Ash on safety Eric Bennett: “He’s been a great player. He’s been a great student of the game.”

16. With a year under his belt, expect even bigger things from Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper.  ”Everything is easier. “When I first came in, I didn’t know a lot of plays.” Dee Hart may return punts or kicks for Alabama this fall.

17. A profile of Alabama A.D. Bill Battle and his business career.  What if he hadn’t gone to Selma?

SEC Basketball

18. Billy Donovan’s wish for his Gators next year.  ”We have to get more competitive. Nastier.”

19. They may not think it now – but Missouri fans will miss Phil Pressey - “the Jerry Lewis of point guards..”

20.  Garry Parrish on why Kentucky deserves to be ranked No. 1 heading into next season.

Extras

21. When Eli and Peyton Manning need a tune-up, they turn to Duke coach David Cutcliffe.

22. The NBA’s early entry deadline has some issues.  The case of Louisville’s Russ Smith is a perfect example.

23. “Louisville faced the easiest path, seed-wise, of any national champion since UNLV in 1990.”

General Stuff

1.  Yahoo! Sports and NBC Sports are teaming up.

2.  Atlanta is one step closer to replacing the Georgia Dome.

3.  Tony Dungy says Peyton Manning could “absolutely not” become a coach because “it would frustrate him to death” that every player isn’t Peyton Manning.  (Listen and you can hear the sobs of Tennessee fans who’ve always pictured their alum back on the Knoxville sidelines… once Jon Gruden retired, of course.)

4.  West Virginia’s Mountaineer mascot has been told to stop hunting bears with his university-issued musket.

SEC Football

5.  New Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee will stick with Arkansas State through the Red Wolves’ bowl game.

6.  Alabama will begin practice for the BCS Championship Game on December 18th.

7.  Report: Tide offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier is not a candidate for the head coaching job at Southern Miss and has not interviewed.

8.  New Arkansas coach Bret Bielema appears to be taking his time in filling out his staff.

9.  Which LSU team will show up for the Chick-fil-A Bowl?

10.  Mississippi State will close bowl practices to prying eyes after an open scrimmage on Sunday.

11.  Johnny Manziel’s Heisman win is yielding a whole lotta positive pub for Texas A&M.  (Yeah, but can he repeat?)

12.  Georgia’s coaches will make a little more cash from the Capital One Bowl than they would have elsewhere.

13.  Looks like Kentucky will be hiring former Wildcat John Schlarman as its new O-line coach.

14.  Whether Marcus Lattimore turns pro or not, South Carolina’s Mike Davis should be the Gamecocks’ first choice at tailback next season.

15.  Tennessee needed a fresh start… and Butch Jones provides it.

16.  During bowl season, Vanderbilt’s players get to play tourists in their own hometown.

SEC Basketball

17.  The SEC has named its Players of the Week.

18.  Andy Kennedy doesn’t believe “hunger” had anything to do with his team’s loss to MTSU over the weekend.

19.  Florida will have a whole week off before facing Arizona in Tucson on Saturday.

20.  This year’s Missouri team is an offensive mess.

Oakland Raiders running back Darren McFadden (Arkansas) is the man.  Just ask New York Jets corner back Darrelle Revis.  “He just crushed us today,” said Revis following the Raiders 34-24 victory on Sunday.

McFadden rushed for 171 yards on 19 carries with two touchdowns.  One of those touchdown runs went for 70 yards on a play that was supposed to be a pass.  “I just felt like it was in my best interest to go ahead and run,” McFadden said.

“He’s able to get from point A to point B faster than anyone I’ve seen,” quarterback Jason Campbell (Auburn) said. “He can get in a hole and shift out and make two guys miss and get down the sidelines.”

With 393 rushing yards in his first three games, McFadden leads the NFL.  ”He’s the best back in football, bar none,” said Raiders coach Hue Jackson.

On the defensive side of the ball for Oakland, Jarvis Moss (Florida) had a big day for the Raiders, notes Jerry McDonald of the San Jose Mercury News.  The defensive end had two sacks, a tackle for a loss, and three quarterback hits.

Pending the outcome of tonight’s Washington-Dallas game, there will only be three or four undefeated teams left standing heading into week 4.  One of those teams is the Detroit Lions led by quarterback Matthew Stafford (Georgia).  On Sunday, Stafford led the Lions back from a 20-0 halftime deficit as Detroit rallied to beat the Minnesota Vikings 26-23 in overtime.

Although this is Stafford’s third year in the league, thanks to an assortment of knee and shoulder injuries, the Lions QB completed his 16^th career start on Sunday, completing his “rookie” year.  Detroit News columnist Mike O’Hara breaks down Stafford’s stats and says the former Bulldog compares favorably to another SEC legend – Peyton Manning.

“Stafford is proving he’s the real thing.  He is a quarterback, not just playing the role.”

Sunday afternoon in Minnesota, Stafford completed 32 of 46 passes for 378 yards and two TDs. Stafford is currently fifth in the NFL in passing yards, only behind Philip Rivers, Cam Newton, Drew Brees and leader Tom Brady.

Speaking of Cam Newton (Auburn), the number one overall pick in this year’s NFL draft had his worst statistical game but got something that had eluded him in his first two starts – a victory.  The Carolina Panthers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 16-10.

After back-to-back  400+ yard efforts in his first two games, Newton completed 18 of 34 passes for just 158 yards yesterday. But he did engineer his first fourth-quarter game-winning touchdown drive in a game that featured “monsoon-like” weather conditions.

“No matter what the conditions were — dry, slick, wet — it doesn’t matter as a quarterback in this league,” Newton said. “There’s an old saying: ’Don’t tell me about the pain, just bring me the baby.’”

Another positive for the rookie yesterday – no interceptions and no sacks.

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (Ole Miss) was also a winner Sunday – torching the Philadelphia Eagles for four touchdown passes with no interceptions in the Giants 29-16 victory.

Sean Hartnett says it’s time to recognize Manning for what he is – a top 10 NFL quarterback.

“No longer should he be the whipping boy of New York back pages, radio hosts and fans when things go wrong”

A few other SEC-related notes from Sunday:

• Mike Wallace (Ole Miss) caught 5 passes for 144 yards including an 81-yard touchdown pass in the Steelers 23-20 victory over Indianapolis.
• Julio Jones (Alabama) had an impressive showing in a losing cause.  The Atlanta Falcons rookie caught 6 passes for 115 yards against Tampa Bay.  The Bucs won the game 16-13.
• Sidney Rice (South Carolina) had 8 catches for 109 yards as Seattle won for the first time this year.  The Seahawks beat the Arizona Cardinals 13-10 in Rice’s season debut.  He had been sidelined with a shoulder injury.
• Mark Ingram (Alabama) scored the go-ahead touchdown in the Saints victory over the Texans.  It was his first touchdown of his young NFL career. New Orleans defeated Houston 40-33.
• The Broncos lost to the Titans 17-14 on Sunday fueling speculation in Denver that it’s time for Tim Tebow (Florida).  But coach John Fox is still backing Kyle Orton.  “Right now, in our opinion, Kyle gives us the best chance to win.”

And finally, Colts owner Jim Irsay made news this morning when he told a group of Super Bowl donors that Peyton Manning (Tennessee) was out for the season.  Irsay later clarified those comments saying there’s an “outside chance” Manning returns in December.

Stafford and Grossman get victories; Newton smashes records

There are only seven undefeated teams left in the NFL after two weeks of games and a couple of those squads sporting a perfect 2-0 mark are led by former SEC quarterbacks.

In Detroit, the Lions are 2-0 to start the year for the first time since 2007. They did it in style with a 48-3 blowout of the Kansas City Chiefs, the most lopsided regular season win in franchise history.  Leading the way was Matthew Stafford (Georgia).  The third-year Lions quarterback threw four touchdowns on 23 of 39 passes that went for 294 yards.

Those four TD tosses in only his 15^th NFL start puts Stafford in elite company. It marked the third time in his career that Stafford has thrown that many TD passes in a game.  Only fellow Georgia alum Fran Tarkenton can top that.  Tarkenton threw four touchdown passes four different times in his first 15 starts.

In Washington, it was a tale of two halves for Rex Grossman (Florida).  In the first half of the Redskins game against the Arizona Cardinals, Grossman threw two interceptions including one at the goal line, while leading his team to only score one score in four chances inside the Red Zone.

But in the fourth quarter, Grossman completed 12 of 17 passes with a touchdown.  On the day, the former Florida Gator ended throwing for 291 on 25 of 43 passes with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

“It was just one minor mistake here or there. But we got it done,” said Grossman, who has now thrown multiple touchdowns in three of his five games as Washington’s starter (three of them were last season). “That’s all that matters. I felt like on offense, we dominated yards-wise, but we had only 10 points to show for it (in the first half). That’s something we’ll look at film and work to improve on, but we won the game, and that’s what matters. We didn’t capitalize on some of our drives, but we did when it counted.”

He’s starting his NFL career 0-2 but the most celebrated former SEC quarterback continues to be Cam Newton (Auburn).  One week after tying a rookie record for most passing yards in a game, Newton set the rookie record on Sunday against the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers, throwing for 432 yards in the Panthers 30-23 loss. It’s not the only record he set.

Newton is the only rookie in NFL history to post two consecutive 400-yard passing yards in a team’s first two games of the season and is the only player to throw for 400+ yards in his first two starts.  His passing-yards in his first two games – 854 – is also a record for a quarterback in his first two starts. The 432 passing yards were also a franchise record.

But Newton also threw three interceptions and the Panthers are now 0-2 on the season.  How much blame should the quarterback get?

Writes Doug Farrar at Yahoo! Sports, “there’s no question that he helped his team lose the Packers game,” but  Farrar also adds that Newton  “kept his team in both of those games, and when you watch the tape against the Packers, it was the little things he did that impressed.”

For perspective, Farrar points out that last season Carolina quarterbacks failed to throw for at least 151 yards in six games.  Newton threw for that many yards in the first quarter against the Packers.

The most popular backup quarterback in the NFL saw action Sunday but not at his normal position.  Denver quarterback Tim Tebow (Florida) was forced into action as a wide receiver because of injuries.

“I’m going to do whatever I can to help the team,” said Tebow. “If they ask me to go out there and run some routes and block some people, I’ll go do it.”

Tebow did have any balls thrown to him. The Broncos beat Cincinnati 24-22.

Elsewhere around the league:

An impressive second-game showing for Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green (Georgia).  The rookie wideout caught 10 passes for 124 yards and one touchdown in the Bengals loss at Denver.

The touchdown came on an impressive sideline catch early in the fourth quarter.

“I was trying to make the play when my number was called, and Andy (Dalton) did a great job giving me the ball,” Green said. “We’re young, and we’re going to get better every week.  We’re taking steps every week.”

Oakland Raiders rookie Denarius Moore (Tennessee) was impressive at Buffalo on Sunday.  Seeing action because of injuries in the Raiders receiving corps, Moore caught five passes for 146 yards.  One of those catches resulted in a 50-yard touchdown.

“It was an OK day for me,” Moore said. “I came in and made plays when they called upon me. The overall thing is we took a loss today. We’ve just got to come back, practice Monday and get better.”

The Raiders lost to the Bills 38-35 despite a 323-yard passing day from quarterback Jason Campbell (Auburn).

Wide receiver Mike Wallace (Ole Miss) played a big role in the Steelers route of the Seahawks on Sunday.

Wallace had 8 catches for 126 yards and one touchdown in Pittsburgh’s 24-0 shutout of Seattle.

Three receivers of note with repeat 100-yard performances the first two weeks of the season:

Wide receiver Devery Henderson (LSU): Three catches for 103 yards and one touchdown in the Saints victory over the Bears. That follows his six-catch 100 yard performance in Week 1 against the Packers.

Tight end Jason Witten (Tennessee): Seven catches for 102 yards in the Cowboys’ 27-24 overtime victory at San Francisco. That follows his six-catch, 110 yard performance against the Jets.

Running back Ben Tate (Auburn): On Sunday, he went 103 yards on 23 carries in Houston’s 23-13 victory at Miami. That comes on the heels of his 116-yard rushing performance in a Week 1 blowout of Indianpolis.

Finally, it’s the absence of an SEC alum that’s causing panic in Indianapolis. With the Colts dropping to 0-2 following their loss to Cleveland on Sunday, Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz had this to say about a team playing without star quarterback Peyton Manning (Tennessee).

“They’re not going to win any football games with Kerry Collins. Nice guy, stand-up guy, and once upon a time, he was a pretty darned good NFL quarterback.

“I will acknowledge, when the Colts went out and grabbed Collins as a short-term insurance policy for Peyton Manning, I thought it was a terrific idea. Surround him with playmakers, run the ball a little better, play some defense and win some games.

“I was wrong.

“The Colts were wrong.”

Kravitz solution? Brett Favre.

“The next time Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay tweets about visiting Hattiesburg, Miss., here’s hoping he’s not joking around.”

Newton one of many impressive former SEC QBs on opening weekend

Randall Cobb stole the show on Thursday night.  Sunday afternoon, it was Cam Newton’s time to shine in the spotlight.  Returning to the same stadium where he led Auburn to a national championship in January, the Carolina Panthers QB threw for a rookie-debut record 422 yards.

“He’s had the world on his shoulders for a year now and I think he’s getting used to it,” Carolina offensive tackle Jordan Gross said. “This is a tough game. He got hit a lot. Crowd noise, but he had incredible composure out there against all odds. He was as advertised.”

Newton completed 24 of 37 passes, including two touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed for a touchdown. In the end, it wasn’t good enough as Carolina fell short to the Arizona Cardinals, 28-21.  Another SEC alum, LSU’s Patrick Peterson, returned a punt 89 yards for the go-ahead score.

“The last time I lost a game was Navarro Junior College,” Newton told reporters. “What do you want me to say, it feels great? It is not a comfortable feeling for me.”

SEC connections abound in Newton’s record-setting performance.  The previous high for a rookie QB in an opener was Peyton Manning back in 1998 for the Colts (others cite Otto Graham back in 1950) while Newton’s 422 yards tied Matthew Stafford’s mark for the most yardage in any game during a rookie year.

Both Manning and Stafford also made news Sunday.  Manning, recovering from his recent neck surgery, had his streak of 227 consecutive starts snapped.  The Tennessee great and Indianapolis Colts veteran had never missed an NFL game.

“He’s in all of our prayers,” said Colts middle linebacker Gary Brackett. “You don’t ever want to see anybody injured, especially knowing how much he loves the game and wants to be out there.”

While the Manning-less Colts were getting pasted by the Houston Texans, Stafford was leading the Detroit Lions to their first 1-0 start in four years at Tampa Bay.  Stafford, the overall number one pick out of Georgia back in 2009, was 24-of-33 for 305 yards and three touchdowns.

“It was nice, it was great,” Stafford said of playing his first game that counted in 10 months. “The guys up front kept me clean … and when they do that, the sky’s the limit for this team.”

Stafford missed 13 games last year with shoulder injuries.

We haven’t heard a lot out of Florida’s Rex Grossman in recent years.  That’s because the veteran quarterback played in only 38 games in nearly eight years before supplanting Donovan McNabb in Washington.

Starting Sunday at home against the New York Giants, Grossman completed 21 of 34 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns in the Redskins 28-14 victory.

“I thought (Grossman) played an excellent game,” said Redskins coach Mike Shanahan. “There was a lot of pressure up front from that defensive line, and it was hard to make big pass plays against that defense.”

Rounding out an impressive opening weekend for former SEC quarterbacks was the performance of Chicago’s Jay Cutler.  The Vanderbilt alum completed 22 of 32 passes for 312 yards and two touchdowns as the Bears steamrolled the Falcons 30-12.

Cutler is in his second year playing for offensive coordinator Mike Martz.

“Mike loves to throw it. Everyone in the league knows that, That’s no secret,” said Cutler, who registered his first 300-yard passing day since the opening game of 2010. “If you can protect, you’re probably going to roll up some offensive passing yards.”

A few other SEC-related notes around the league:

• Georgia’s A.J. Green made his first NFL career catch a memorable one.  His 41-yard touchdown reception was the go-ahead score in Cincinnati’s 27-17 win over Cleveland.
• Green spent much of the day matched up against former Florida cornerback Joe Haden.  Green’s touchdown came while the Browns were still huddled.  “It was real confusing,” Haden said. “It was not a good look for us. We feel like we beat ourselves.”
• Former Florida Gator Percy Harvin started his season with a bang as he returned the opening kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown in the Minnesota Vikings 24-17 loss at San Diego.
• Misfortune for one former SEC player spelled opportunity for another Sunday afternoon. When Houston Texans running back Arian Foster (Tennessee) couldn’t go on Sunday, Ben Tate (Auburn) got the start.  Tate rushed the ball for 116 yards with a touchdown on 24 carries in Houston’s victory over Indianapolis. A second round pick in 2010, Tate didn’t play a down last year because of torn ankle ligaments.

The run-up to the NFL draft hasn’t been particularly kind to former Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett.  Over the past few weeks he’s been called everything from a drug user to Vanilla Ice.  (Not sure which is worse, by the way).  Now, after all the rumors and accusations, Mallett just wants the whole process to come to a close.

“I just want to get my name called and go play ball for any team that wants me,” Mallett said this week.  “And whatever team takes me I’m going to go out there and give them everything I’ve got.”

When it comes to off-field worries, we at MrSEC.com aren’t particularly concerned.  Wearing his hat sideways is not something that worked against Mallett in Arkansas’ locker room or on the playing field.  In fact, on the field he’s shown that he’s very coachable.

After his sophomore season, Mallett was anchored to a 55.8 completion percentage.  He had a reputation for struggling in road games.  But as a junior, he improved in both areas.

From 55.8% to 64.7% his completion number jumped.  He also led Arkansas to a 6-2 record away from home with the losses coming to eventual #1 Auburn — in a game in which Mallett was injured — and top-five Ohio State.

While his late-game decision-making against Alabama and OSU has been questioned, Mallett did throw for 380 yards at Georgia in a last-minute win.  He threw for 303 yards in a 41-20 win at East champion South Carolina.  And he threw for 320 more yards and three TDs against LSU in a game that had a Sugar Bowl berth (and $17 million BCS dollars) riding on it.

Is Mallett simply a product of Bobby Petrino’s system?  That’s a fair question.  Tyler Wilson entered the Auburn game after Mallett’s injury and rolled up 332 yards through the air with four touchdowns.  Mallett went out, but the Arkansas offense kept moving the ball. 

Another concern is Mallett’s style of play.  To this New England Patriots fan, I’m reminded of former Pro Bowl quarterback Drew Bledsoe when I see Mallett.  Big build, big arm, big numbers.  However… Mallett is also as slow as Bledsoe.  And as NFL defensive ends got faster throughout Bledsoe’s career, his numbers dropped.  Quite simply: You can’t throw from your backside.

Whether Mallett is a product of Petrino’s system or so slow that he’ll be a sitting duck behind center is anyone’s guess.  But his skills are those of a prototypical, first-round quarterback.  The Vanilla Ice issues might cause the big gunslinger’s stock to drop, but if he can prove that he’s not a system guy and that he can speed up his delivery time — Peyton Manning and Tom Brady don’t win a lot of games with their legs, folks — some team could get a franchise quarterback at a bargain price in tomorrow’s second round.

To help break Kentucky’s 25-year losing streak against Tennessee I’m going to relive my favorite (and only) Peyton Manning story for the Wildcats to do it. Nothing else has worked for the long-suffering Kentucky fans, so maybe retelling this story will do… something?

Read the rest of this entry »

Tennessee freshman quarterback Tyler Bray is off to a red-hot beginning as a starting quarterback.

Through two games — admittedly against Memphis’ and Ole Miss’ secondaries — UT’s new signal-caller has put together quite an impressive stat line:

37 completions
67 attempts
648 yards
8 touchdowns
0 interceptions

As giddy Vol fans might tell you, not even Peyton Manning got off to that kind of start.  Of course, Manning also didn’t face Memphis and Ole Miss in his two collegiate games.

Manning also didn’t have his name — surrounded by stars — tattooed onto his back.  At least I don’t believe he did.

At left is reportedly a picture of Bray’s back and the tattoo that adorns it. 

If the photo is real — and folks in UT’s football program say it is — then there should be no surprise in the fact that Tennessee’s new quarterback displays confidence on the field.  Clearly he’s pretty confident off it as well.

Content provided by John Clay’s Sidelines.

Here is Jacob Tamme’s 2-yard touchdown catch, first of his NFL career, from Peyton Manning in Indianapolis’ win last night over the Houston Texans.

(AP photo/A.J. Mast)