Fun With Numbers: Adding It All Up

Before I write anything about this post, I'm going to try to hold off the onslaught of critics by stating the obvious: This is utterly unscientific, likely pointless and completely for fun because... well we still have three months before we get any concrete evidence on how the 2010 SEC season will unfold.

But...

Over the past few months I've done a bit of numerical analysis in hopes of getting a better idea of what's in store in the coming season.

I looked at the (once again) minimal depth at the QB position around the SEC.

I looked at the returning firepower in the receiving game, running game and scoring around the league.

I studied how many tackles, turnovers and sacks each team was returning from last year's squads.

I also looked at the returning experience on the offensive lines for each team.

So after doing all that, I figured it might be interesting to put all the numbers together to try to get a big-picture feel of who might be the teams to beat in each division.

Of course, while I freely admit this is an unscientific methodology, I also wanted to try to make it as complete -- and hopefully reasonably accurate -- as possible. So there were a few more things to take into consideration.

For one, there's leadership. I'm not really sure how much any of that matters, but for the sake of argument I figured it was worth considering how many veterans would be on each team's roster. Luckily, Phil Steele has captured those numbers already.

Steele also was helpful enough to solve another issue by coming up with a ranking for which teams faced the toughest schedules this season.

And while many of these numbers judge the talent that left a particular school since last year, it's also worth considering what has been added. For that, I added up Scout's recruiting scores for each SEC from the past two years (i.e. the freshmen and redshirt freshmen most likely to step in during the 2010 season) to get a ranking for that, too.

And finally, I figured there should be an edge given to teams with great coaches, too. I didn't have a great measure of that exactly. I considered using a comment from our favorite angry anonymous poster, but his list only included 11 coaches, ranked Derek Dooley five spots ahead of Mark Richt, and failed to include Dan Mullen's name, but rather simply referred to him as "that coach from Mississippi State." Instead, I tried to find the second-most arbitrary list I could... so here's one from Bleacher Report.

(Note: To wrap up, Georgia ranked fourth in experience, third in schedule, fifth in recruiting and fourth in coaching.)

To reach our final score, I simply ranked each team in each category and added them all up. The team with the lowest score (i.e. the highest rank in each category, on average) should theoretically be the best team. Here's how the numbers turned out:

SEC East		SEC West
Team	Score	Team	Score
S. Carolina	62	Arkansas	41
Georgia	64	Auburn	49
Florida	77	Alabama	65
Kentucky	90	Ole Miss	87
Tennessee	93	Miss. State	89
Vanderbilt	103	LSU	102

*Note: There were 12 categories considered, so Georgia's score of 64 means the Dawgs ranked, on average, 5th in each category (i.e. avg. score of 5.3).

Again, there are plenty of flaws in this analysis. For one, the methods of establishing rankings are pretty arbitrary. For example, I used QB TDs thrown as my ranking for the quarterbacks. That really hurts Aaron Murray -- the only starting QB without a TD pass -- and he's no doubt a good bit better than Larry Smith. That metric also ranks someone like Stephen Garcia pretty high (second overall). Judging by what their coaches have said this offseason, however, there's every reason to believe that neither QB is being ranked properly. And, if you assume both Murray and Garcia will essentially be league average, that would bump Georgia down to a score of 58 and jump South Carolina up to a 66.

So, the point remains that this probably doesn't mean much. But it might be worth making a few big-picture points based on the numbers.

First, all those folks predicting another Alabama-Florida SEC CG might be getting a bit ahead of themselves. Both teams have strong recruiting classes ready to step in, but it's hard to overlook all the talent that has left Gainesville and Tuscaloosa in the past year.

Second, LSU could be in some serious trouble. I don't believe the Bayou Bengals will be as bad as Vandy, but they have a tough schedule, a problematic QB and a lot of holes on both sides of the ball they'll need to fill.

Third, there are some good reasons for the hype surrounding Arkansas and Auburn as chic picks to win the West. I'm still not entirely sold on Arkansas, which gets a nice score due to having so many returning players, but is it really that big of a deal to return so much on defense when the D wasn't that good to begin with? Auburn, on the other hand... I'm really starting to buy in to that one.

And last, despite all the questions about the defensive scheme and the QB, Georgia can make a pretty strong case for being the favorite in the East. No, none of this means anything now, but if Murray can be decent and the D can force more turnovers than it did last year... well, there's good reason to be excited about what could be in store.

Notes: Smith Will See Work on Offense

A year ago, Branden Smith had five more touches on offense than he had tackles on defense. But for the speedy cornerback, his sophomore campaign figures to include a lot more time in the defensive backfield – and perhaps a bit less time making plays for the offense.

While Smith is currently listed behind Vance Cuff at corner on Georgia’s depth chart, he still has a strong shot at winning the starting job in the fall, and he would almost certainly be the first defensive back off the bench in nickel situations. That could complicate things a tad when the Bulldogs’ offensive coaches want to give Smith a chance to get a few touches on that side of the ball this season.

“We want to use Branden offensively still because he was very effective,” Mark Richt said. “But he will probably be getting a lot more work on the defensive side of the ball, and he may very well be the starter by the time the season rolls around.”

That doesn’t mean the increased workload on defense will necessarily stifle Smith’s potential on offense. Richt said his goal is to make sure Georgia’s most explosive players get a chance to score as often as possible on offense, and that includes the speedy Smith. Just how much Smith sees action on offense, however, likely depends on the progress of Georgia’s other receivers and on Smith’s conditioning in the early part of the season.

“Those first three games are going to be high noon, and it’s going to be tremendously hot,” Richt said. “So we’re going to have to look in his eye and decide if he’s got enough juice to go run that reverse or whatever play and still have the energy he needs to cover guys throughout the ballgame. But I think as the weather cools down, that shouldn’t be a factor.”

BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER

Marlon Brown’s slow start to his college career came as a surprise to many fans who expected the highly recruited wide receiver to blossom as a freshman the way A.J. Green had the year before. Richt knew better.

“Marlon played in a league (in high school) that didn’t challenge him much physically in my opinion,” Richt said. “He was kind of a man among boys in that league, and I really felt like it was going to take him a little time to get up to speed with SEC play.”

At Harding Academy in Memphis, the 6-foot-5 Brown had an easy go of things. At Georgia, however, growing pains were in store.

So none of Brown’s early struggles proved disappointing to Richt. Instead, the coach is thrilled to see just how much his young receiver has developed since catching just two passes his rookie year.

“He’s in tremendous condition, and he’s big, strong, physical,” Richt said. “He might be the best blocking receiver right now, and he’s only getting stronger.”

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENTS

After saying goodbye to five senior defensive tackles – including three who were taken in April’s NFL draft – Richt figured there would be some big transitions in store on the defensive line. On the plus side, however, the team’s move to a 3-4 defensive scheme – with just three down linemen used in a base set – there was one fewer hole to fill.

“Interior D line, we lost five seniors inside, and you’d think that would be a big issue,” Richt said. “And it probably will. That’s one of our concerns. Some guys might just mature fast enough to play that position. But just people learning in general, there’s a lot to learn out there.”

Still, there are some reasons for optimism, including the progress made by junior DeAngelo Tyson, sophomore Abry Jones and redshirt freshman Kwame Geathers – all who figure to play prominent roles on the line in 2010.

The wild card, however, might be Justin Anderson – a converted offensive lineman who has yet to practice with the defense, but whose 330-pound frame could make him a one-man wrecking crew at the nose position.

"It's going to be a challenge to see if these guys can really control the double teams that they need to inside,” Richt said of the nose position. “That's part of the reason we moved Justin Anderson in there is because he is a big, giant, powerful man and if he can take to it, I think he's going to be tough to block."

EXPANDING ISSUES

With the first dominoes of conference expansion beginning to fall, the questions about what will happen in the SEC continue to abound.

With Colorado and Nebraska appearing close to a move, the ripple effects of what could be the demise of the Big 12 could be huge. And with that in mind, even Richt, who had been skeptical that any big changes were in store, admits things are heating up everywhere.

“There’s some really serious stuff going on out there,” Richt said. “I don’t know about our league. I really feel like we have a great league, and a lot of people believe that. … I don’t think we’re in a rush to change much, but I do think Commissioner (Mike) Slive will make a good decision. I’m sure he’s thinking about what’s going on in the college football landscape and I think he’ll keep us on top.”

While teams like Texas, Virginia Tech or Miami have been discussed as potential SEC additions should expansion occur, the most prevalent rumors seem to surround Georgia’s neighbors on the recruiting trail, including Georgia Tech, Clemson and Florida State.

While the Bulldogs already go head to head with those schools for the top recruits, Richt’s coaches currently have the distinct advantage of being the only one among that group that can provide the prestige of a career in the SEC. And while that’s no doubt a luxury, Richt said, he doesn’t believe expansion would necessarily have a big impact on how the Bulldogs recruit.

"Some (recruits) really want to play in the Southeastern Conference, but there's a lot of them that are just trying to find the best fit for them," he said.

EVANS TAKES BLAME

Two weeks ago, Georgia athletics director Damon Evans told the school’s athletics association board of directors that he had a clear mission for the Bulldogs’ teams in 2010: “We must do better.”

While that means ratcheting up expectations for sports like football and baseball – both of which drastically underperformed expectations during the 2009-10 seasons – Evans isn’t taking any heat off himself for Georgia’s unusually lackluster athletics during the past year.

“I take full responsibility because at the end of the day the buck stops with me,” Evans said. “I’m not the guy doing the Xs and Os and recruiting and all of that, but I do believe that as the leader of an organization that I’ve got to provide them with the necessary resources to be successful – whether that’s from money to facilities or what have you – and at the same time, am I providing the leadership that’s going to allow us to rise and be where we should be. That’s why I have to take a look at myself as well. You can’t run away from things.”

SEC Meetings: Day 4 Wrap-Up

Friday’s final day of meetings between the SEC’s presidents and athletics directors finally focused heavily on the hottest topic of the week, but even after the stakes appeared to get higher around the country, commissioner Mike Slive still wasn’t changing his tune on expansion.

“We discussed it as you would expect us to discuss it, and we’re not going to say anything more than I’ve said all along, so there’s really nothing more I can add,” Slive said.

What Slive has maintained for weeks is that the SEC will watch what happens around the country and isn’t likely to act proactively by pursuing expansion, remaining – as Slive reiterated often – “strategic and thoughtful.”

That means the SEC could move to add teams should the Pac-10 or Big Ten make significant additions in the coming days or weeks, or, Slive said, it could mean the SEC does nothing at all.

“It’s just designed to say that we have maximum flexibility to how we approach this issue,” he said.

Reports surfaced this week that the Pac-10 could extend invitations to as many as six Big 12 schools, with Texas A&M also reportedly having some interest in moving to the SEC. Emails from Ohio State president E. Gordon Gee revealed this week by the Columbus Dispatch seemed to indicate the Big Ten was wooing Texas, and Missouri’s president said he wouldn’t rule out a move – either to the Pac-10 or Big Ten. Several other athletics directors and presidents in the Pac-10 and Big 12 went on record indicating they believed discussion on expansion were ongoing.

All of that remains speculation, however, and Slive said he has been hearing rumors for weeks and has no idea of a potential timetable on expansion in any conference.

Should expansion talks ignite, however, Slive said it would require the approval of nine of the SEC’s school presidents to admit a new institution, and in doing so, there could be the potential of also renegotiating some of the league’s media contracts.

But while large-scale expansion – including potential 16-team superconferences – remains the hottest topic in college football among fnas and media, Slive said he doesn’t have reason to believe things are moving so quickly behind the scenes.

“It’s a concept I think comes more from outside,” Slive said. “I’ve never heard the conversation that there was a need or a drive to get a bunch of superconferences.”

Without exception, the SEC’s presidents and athletics directors seemed to tow the company line on expansion.

“If it’s moving forward and expanding what we’re doing as far as adding new members, if that’s the way to maintain where we are, I think the commissioner will have a keen sense of what the right time is on that,” said Mississippi State athletics director Scott Stricklin. “If it’s standing pat, I think we’re all pretty comfortable with what we have as a league right now.”

Georgia president Michael Adams declined comment on the issue completely Friday, saying he had agreed with other presidents that only Slive would discuss expansion publicly. A day earlier, however, Adams expressed his hope that the league would be patient in its approach.

“There’s a pretty strong sense among the 12 presidents and the commissioner right now that the SEC is in the best shape it’s ever been,” Adams said. “So we feel pretty good about things. If the landscape changes then we’ll analyze it, but I don’t believe we have to do anything.”

BIG INCREASES IN REVENUE

The SEC’s new television deal with ESPN has already had a huge impact on the league’s bottom line.

The conference announced Friday that it would distribute $209 million in revenues between its 12 member institutions – an average of about $17.3 million per school – which represents a nearly 58 percent increase from last year’s payout.

“It’s an extraordinary growth and it’s just gratifying to see the change,” Slive said.

The additional revenue comes in large part from the deal with ESPN, with the SEC generating $109.5 million in total television revenue for football alone. The league earned $26.5 million from bowls, $14.5 million from the SEC football championship game, $30 million from basketball television coverage, $5 million from the SEC basketball tournament and $23.5 million from NCAA championships.

In addition to the revenue distributed by the SEC, schools also earn significant payouts from retained bowl revenue – a total of about $14 million – and local media packages, which in Georgia’s case is valued at more than $10 million annually.

“The total revenue that the conference is able to provide is what it distributes here with what’s retained by our institutions from bowl games and the amount they can realize in their local packages,” Slive said. “So if you add all that up, the total is really quite substantial.”

ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS STIFFEN

The league’s presidents approved legislation that would up the minimum credit hours required for football players to pass from six to nine, and while a final resolution on the matter has yet to be made, Georgia athletics director Damon Evans said he expects the new rule to be enacted by the 2011 season.

“It’s appropriate,” Evans said. “That’s what they’re in school for. And when you set an expectation in front of student-athletes, they normally meet it.”

The rule would force all football players to pass at least nine credit hours during the fall semester or face a four-game suspension to start the next season. Still at issue, Evans said, was whether an addendum could be added to allow the suspension to be reduced should the player meet certain academic requirements during the following spring or summer sessions.

Georgia coach Mark Richt said he didn’t envision any rule change affecting his team and was not opposed to the tougher standards.

“The young men, once they know what they’ve got to do, they’re going to do it,” Richt said. “If they think six is all they need, some of them, that’s what they’ll get. If they’ve got to get nine, they’ll get nine. I’ve got a feeling if it does come into play, everybody’s going to rise to the occasion.”

The concern from some athletics directors, however, would be that the increased standards would lead to more athletes trying to find ways to skirt the rules in order to avoid a suspension.

“I worry about the unintended consequences of something like that,” said Mississippi State AD Scott Stricklin. “We’ve got a lot of qualifiers in place that you have to hit, and I don’t know that adding another one to that is going to move the needle.”

GOTTA HAVE MORE COWBELL

Mississippi State successfully defended its tradition of ringing cowbells in the stands on game day, but Stricklin said his fans now need to learn to “ring responsibly.”

A move to eliminate the cowbells as artificial noise, which is currently outlawed by the SEC, was put on hiatus for at least one year, with the conference agreeing to allow the Bulldogs’ fans to ring the cowbells only during designated times during the game – a move that comes with the approval of Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen.

“We might not have the biggest stadium in the league, and I know we don’t have the loudest stadium in the league,” Mullen said. “We have cowbells, but we could try to pump in noise the way some other people do through speaker systems. But we don’t have the loudest stadium in the league, so I don’t think that’s an advantage for us.”

Fans will only be allowed to use the cowbells during timeouts, following scores and before and after each quarter. The exception to the artificial noise rule will run out at the end of the season, however, and the issue will be revisited at next year’s meetings.

“The other ADs were understanding of the challenge with the existing policy, and I think that’s why they are giving this a try,” Stricklin said. “I’m appreciative of that. We have a chance to communicate and educate our fans that, if this tradition is really important, you have to learn to be responsible.”

Georgia travels to Mississippi State on Sept. 25, and Richt said he’s not concerned about the cowbells – regardless of when they’re being used.

“Almost every place we play, it gets loud enough to where you can’t operate unless you’re using hand signals and silent snap counts,” Richt said. “To me, once it’s so loud – it doesn’t matter if it’s super loud or just loud. You still have to make adjustments.”

GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

Several school presidents, including South Carolina’s Harris Pastides, expressed concern this week over the rising salaries of assistant coaches.

“The problem is I would like you to be restrained if you’re Alabama, if you’re Tennessee,” Pastides told The (Columbia, S.C.) State. “But do I want to be the first one to let my coach go when you’re offering him more money?”

The Gamecocks recently gave defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson earned a 50 percent pay increase this offseason, upping his salary to $700,000 a year. Three other assistants – LSU’s John Chavis, Alabama’s Kirby Smart and Mississippi’s Tyrone Nix parlayed potential job offers from other schools into large offseason raises as well.

Georgia’s new defensive coordinator, Todd Grantham, landed a three-year contract worth $750,000 annually – more than double what his predecessor, Willie Martinez, was making. While that marks a substantial shift in expenses for the football staff, Evans said he thought the salaries being garnered by some assistants were warranted, assuming the schools could afford the expenditure.

“From my point of view, I don’t have any concern,” Evans said. “You have to do what you think you can handle as an institution. But each institution needs to be careful not to put themselves in a precarious situation when it comes to salaries, and to make sure they can handle that amount of money.”

LET'S CELEBRATE

SEC head of officials Rogers Redding met with coaches this week to discuss the league’s tougher penalties for taunting, which if flagged before the completion of a play could now result in an overturned touchdown.

While the rule has met with some criticism, LSU coach Les Miles is a fan, despite admitting he had yet to view any video from the league demonstrating what it would consider illegal celebrations.

“I think it’s the right thing,” Miles said. “If a guy is wildly taunting an opponent before he goes into the end zone, it’s a spot foul and 15 yards is marked from there. I think it’s a great rule.”

NO CHANGE TO TOURNEY

The league’s basketball coaches discussed changes to the seeding of the SEC tournament, but decided to table the issue for further study before a vote was taken.

“(The coaches) discussed the current process and maybe a single division vs. reseeding as another option, and they thought they wanted to continue to study it and did not create a recommendation to the athletics directors,” Slive said. “So at least in the coming year there will not be a change.”

Georgia coach Mark Fox was among the coaches who wasn't ready to form an opinion on potential changes without more study, but he said that changes should be made down the road.

“I do think, especially with the conference tournament, seeding it one through 12 would be a healthy thing to do," Fox said. "I think there’s some merit to doing that for the tournament. It makes things a little more balanced and fair for those teams that had great regular seasons.”

Currently the top two teams in each division earn a bye in the first round of the tournament.

STAYING IN THE ATL

There was some discussion during the league’s meetings about moving the SEC baseball tournament, but Slive said there isn’t much likelihood the same could happen for football, which plays its championship game each year at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

“Hypothetically there’s always a chance for something, but the game is extraordinarily successful for us and we have, at this point, absolutely no intention of moving it out of Atlanta,” Slive said.

NO EARLY SIGNING DAY

No progress was made on attempts to institute an early signing period for high school football players, with both coaches and athletics directors firmly against the idea.

“Our position is that we still oppose it. Our coaches opposed it and our A.D.s opposed it,” Slive said.

BAMA STILL WAITING

Slive said he remains hopeful a solution can be found for a quirk in Alabama’s schedule that has the defending national champs playing six games against teams coming off a bye week.

Still, Slive admitted, it will be an uphill battle to rectify the problem this season. Instead, Slive touted the changes made to avoid similar issues in the future.

“A new plan has been put into place so that the issue won’t exist in the next 10-year cycle starting in (2012) and we’ve made some adjustments in 2011,” Slive said. “So what we really have left is to see if we can do anything in 2010. It’s not easy at this point in the game.”

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

There were video boards around the Hilton announcing what room each meeting would be held in through the day -- along with information on other events at the hotel. By far the best -- and I'm not making this up -- was the Pizza/Head wedding rehearsal. If I were that bride, I'd definitely be hyphenating my last name.

Two-A-Days: Around the SEC

Two-a-Days rolls on with our 15th installment, in which we take a look around the SEC.

To read previous entries, click HERE.

So we've talked to the beat writers from every team in the SEC, and we've chatted with the beat writers from Georgia's three other FBS non-conference opponents. But that was all more of a micro-view of what's in store for the Bulldogs this year.

As we wind down Two-A-Days, I wanted to also take more of a big-picture look at college football. Later this afternoon we'll talk about the national landscape, but for now, I turned to ESPN's SEC blogger Chris Low for an around-the-horn look at the conference as it stands at the end of spring. Here's what he had to say...

David Hale: Ryan Mallett seems pretty well established as the SEC's leading QB at the moment, and Greg McElroy is coming off a national title. Beyond that, however, there are a whole lot of question marks. Georgia and Florida look like they've got talented prospects, but we haven't seen much (or any) of John Brantley or Aaron Murray. LSU and South Carolina looked to have established QBs, but Jordan Jefferson and Stephen Garcia haven't exactly endeared themselves to their coaches. Tennessee, Auburn, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Vandy... they look up in the air. So... is there a QB problem in the SEC right now or might we see a few of these ambiguous situations turn into major strengths by the fall?

Chris Low: This is like the third straight year where there's been a lot of uncertainty at the quarterback position. Back in 2008, it was sort of Matthew Stafford, Tim Tebow and everybody else. Everybody else had a lot of question marks. Last year, supposedly it was just Tebow and Jevan Snead and no one knew what to think of someone like Greg McElroy. It's been par for the course in this league that there's been a couple of stable situations and everybody else is going into the season a little bit blind.

The guy I think will break out and be a marquee quarterback this year is John Brantley at Florida. He's as pure a passer as Florida's had in a long time, and he's really played well in the last two springs. Last spring, Tebow didn't play a lot, and Brantley worked a lot with the first team. I think Brantley would be my first choice to really break out this season, and I think they're going to really tweak that offense around him. There's going to be much more emphasis put on throwing the football than in the past.

To me the most intriguing situation in the league is at South Carolina. You have a guy in Stephen Garcia who improved his numbers pretty significantly last year from his redshirt freshman year. If you look up just the SEC-only stats from last year, he had better numbers than almost any guy in the league, better than Tebow's numbers. Ryan Mallett's the only guy who had better numbers. But his coach, Steve Spurrier, is so down on him right now as far as his commitment and his work ethic, and he's telling everyone he might play a true freshman in Connor Shaw if he comes back in August and he feels like he's better. Maybe he's trying to motivate Garcia. Maybe he's really had it with Garcia. But to me, that's a pretty precarious position to be in. At every other position, you have the firepower to maybe make a run for the first time in ages, but you're looking at the prospect of maybe playing a true freshman at quarterback.

I think Chris Relf might be the most improved quarterback at Mississippi State. He had a really good spring, he's improved his passing, he's 240 pounds and a real good running quarterback. He really puts a lot of pressure on the defense with his ability to run, but he improved his passing this spring. I think he'll be even more effective this year.

DH: Lots of coaching changes around the league this year, including two head coaches (Tennessee and Kentucky) and a bunch of new coordinators (Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Ole Miss) and staff shakeups everywhere except Auburn. From your travels this spring, who seems to be fitting in the best so far?

CL: Georgia, what they did bringing in Todd Grantham, he has extensive experience in college and the NFL, knows that 3-4 defense inside and out, coached with Nick Saban and coached it the whole time he was in the NFL. His approach is getting after the quarterback, hitting the quarterback, pressuring the quarterback, disguising coverages, disguising blitzes, getting into his head and doing anything they can to attack the quarterback. That will be their calling card this year, and they're going to be more aggressive. Now, do they have the personnel right now to do everything he wants? I think he's a little concerned about his depth at corner and whether they have enough outside linebackers.

But they'll be more aggressive, take a few more chances and be more multi-faced in how they come after the quarterback and where they come from. If you go back and watch last year how many times Alabama blitzed Javier Arenas from the cornerback position -- I think he ended up with around five sacks. I think they're going to do more of that at Georgia this year and really put the offense in bad situations. So I like Grantham and that defense, but they are going to have to recruit to it, and they'll probably need to have at least one more year to get the guys.

One other situation like that -- I like Dan Mullen's hire of Manny Diaz as his coordinator. The combination of him and Chris Wilson, the defensive line coach who came over from Oklahoma, Mississippi State up front this year will be a lot more active and a lot better.

DH: Spring practice is often a lot like spring training in baseball -- everything seems promising until the games actually start. But from what you've learned this spring, what two or three storylines do you think will actually have a major impact this fall?

CL: I think the quarterback situation at LSU is going to be big. Jordan Jefferson did not have a great spring. They thought he would. Everybody thought he would take that shot and run with it, and he didn't. In fact, almost everybody at LSU will tell you -- if not so much publicly -- but Jarrett Lee played at least as well, if not outplayed him this spring. And Lee's the guy that threw 16 interceptions two years ago, and seven of them went for touchdowns the other way. So it's going to be really intriguing if they get into that first month of the season -- and remember, they play North Carolina to open the season, who will be outstanding on defense, and they play West Virginia a couple of weeks later -- if they don't play well offensively and Jefferson struggles with his decision making, I think you're going to see Jarrett Lee out there. It'll be interesting to see how he's received. He was sort of the whipping boy, but Les Miles told me he would not be hesitant to play Lee.

I think the whole Urban Meyer, Florida thing -- what is the deal? He was there for practice, there for recruiting, and he hasn't been around much since. He had the whole blow-up with the reporter. He hasn't said a whole lot. Has he changed as a coach? Is he going to give up special teams, which has sort of been his baby? If not, will he be as involved? Just what is the post-I'm going to quit, no I'm going to take a leave Urban Meyer going to look like? That's one of the shorelines that everybody is waiting to see how it plays out.

DH: Tim Tebow, Rolando McClain, Eric Berry... some of the biggest stars in the SEC are off to play on Sundays, so who did you see this spring that you think has a chance to step up to that star status and become a household name in the fall?

CL: I don't know that Marcel Dareus was a household name to start the season last year at Alabama, but he ended up being the defensive MVP of the national championship game. But he only started four games last year. He wasn't even a full-time starter for Alabama. So he'd be my first guy. I think he's the best defensive lineman in the SEC. He's a top-10 draft pick next year.

I think Tauren Poole at Tennessee, the running back. I think he'll be the next 1,000-yard rusher at Tennessee. He never really got a chance last year to play, but in every scrimmage they had this year, he had a long run. He's a really tough, hard-nosed runner, and I think he'll have a big year.

I think Kris Durham at Georgia. Teams are still going to shadow A.J. Green everywhere he goes, but talking to Mike Bobo, Durham has had a really good spring, and they really feel like Durham has come on and will break out and can become their No. 2 receiver this year and have a big year. He's a guy to watch, certainly.

After that, two more guys I think will be that type of player: Russell Shephard at LSU will become more of a household name this year now that he's a full-time receiver. I think they're going to get him the ball. And DeVonte Holloman, South Carolina's sophomore safety, I think will be one of those guys that everybody knows who he is when this year's over. I think he and Stephone Gilmore back in that defensive backfield will be a pretty wicked combination.

DH: Alabama and Florida have played in the past two SEC title games and, despite some major changes, appear to be the favorites again. You have them atop your SEC power poll, but who might be poised to step up and grab a division title if the Tide or Gators take a tumble?

CL: Well I don't rank them by division, I rank them 1-12. I have the West teams all ranked ahead of Georgia because I think the West has sort of moved past the East and is a little stronger top to bottom. Now, I don't know if it's the case that they won't have more losses, but that's not how I do the poll right now. I think that Auburn, LSU and Arkansas are all a little bit stronger right now than Georgia, but not a lot, and I think Georgia probably stands as good a chance as anybody to unseat Florida than anybody in the West can unseat Alabama.

I think if Georgia gets good play from Murray and he stays healthy and they're able to eliminate some of those big plays and some of those games that plagued them on defense last year when they gave up 35, 45 points, I think Georgia will be right there to challenge Florida. I think Florida is going to lose a couple of games this year. I think everybody in the East will have at least one conference loss this year, and it might be one of those years where everybody has two.

So I'd go with the Bulldogs in the East, and in the West, I just think it's so close between Arkansas, Auburn and LSU, it's basically whoever gets the breaks, whoever stays healthy and whoever's quarterback situation works out the best. Even then I'd say Arkansas has a little bit of an advantage because Mallett is the best quarterback in the league, but they haven't proven that they can stop anybody on defense. So that's the big divide they have to cross this year.

***

Big thanks to Chris for taking so much time out to provide some really interesting insight from around the league. You can read his SEC blog for ESPN HERE, including his spring wrap-up of Georgia HERE.

So… fair to see Alabama and Florida as the favorites again? Who do you see as the best of the rest? Which story lines are you most interested in following through the spring? And who do you see as the burgeoning stars in the SEC?

And don't forget, we're wrapping up Two-A-Days tomorrow with a look at Georgia. So if you have some burning questions you want answered, here's your last chance. Send them to me at dhale@macon.com.

NEXT UP: A look at the national scene later this afternoon.

Slive Talks Scheduling, Expansion

Had readers bring up a few SEC-related issues last week, and being as I was close enough to go to the man himself for some answers, I figured I'd get Mike Slive's take on them.

First off, Chris Low at ESPN reported last week that the league was holding off on finalizing the 2010 schedule because of a quirk that has Alabama playing six games against SEC foes coming off a bye week.

That prompted this email from a reader named Bob: "The SEC tried to distance itself from the “Conspiracy Theories” last year or the specter of favoritism shown to the so called Elite programs in the conference. When this happens it only throws fuel on the fire. BTW- This happened to UT (who I could care less about) and I don’t recall the SEC stepping in to help them."

To answer Bob's last point, yes, Tennessee has had more problems like this than most. Since 2007 the Vols have faced four SEC opponents coming off bye weeks -- tying Florida for the second-most among SEC teams.

But that's nowhere close to as bad as Alabama has had it. The Tide have played 11 total SEC games against opponents coming off their bye since 2007 -- nearly three times as many as UT or Florida. (Georgia, by the way, has only had two, while South Carolina and Arkansas have none). And that's not including this coming season in which that number will jump to a whopping 17.

Essentially, here's the bottom line on it: "In a league of 12 teams, just short of half of the bye weeks are absorbed by one program."

That's a problem, and rather than calling it a conspiracy, it's really fixing something that needed to be fixed.

"It's one of these things that developed over the last decade because of different things that happened," Slive said. "We're looking at it, and we're going to try to make an adjustment if we can in the coming year, but the ADs have already passed a new principle so something like that can't happen in the future."

Of course, the question is whether or not the SEC has waited a bit too long to make adjustments for this coming season. That's debatable, but all things considered I think most fans would prefer that the league err on the side of improving competition rather than allowing it to be shortchanged because of scheduling quirks.

The other big issue of the day surrounds conference expansion -- and it's an issue that seems to be gaining traction all the time. The latest game-changing comments -- which follow talk of interest in teams like Texas, Rutgers, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame by the Big Ten and Pac-10 -- comes from West Virginia coach Bill Stewart, who not only predicts an eventual end to the Big East, but makes an assumption that both the ACC and SEC will be a part of the eventual expansion.

"We talked about it today [in] a recruiting meeting," Stewart said. "Let's say the SEC invites us in. Well, that gives us a certain prestige. Then you say, where are we geographically compared to them? Now would the ACC be better? Well, geographically it might be, but clout-wise would it be? If the Big Ten would says, hey, come on in, that's an East-West travel. Probably the ACC would be the best travel league. But, really, football-wise, the ACC, SEC, Big Ten ... any will be good. I just hate to see the Big East disband."

What the what?!?

Seems pretty drastic, right? That's because it is -- and certainly Stewart is not in the rooms with presidents and ADs discussing these issues enough that his take can be considered much more than an educated guess right now.

But as drastic as this prediction might be, that doesn't mean it's not a possibility, and even Slive appears to consider it an option down the line.

"Any national issue we follow on a regular basis. We pay attention, we read what you read, we hear what you hear, and we listen to it," he said. "But expansion for us -- it's always been a topic of conversation, but never a front-burner issue."

Not a front-burner issue now, but if major shake-ups begin in both the Big 12 and Big East, the ball may get rolling quickly. The SEC has been the dominant football conference of the past decade, but the only way to maintain that dominance is to be proactive when change comes to the college football landscape.

Of course, right now, there's no real change to speak of -- just guesswork. And that's how Slive is treating it.

"First off all, something may happen, something may not happen," Slive said. "So hypothetically, we'll just watch. We'll continue to watch."

More Fun With Numbers: Tough Tasks Ahead

I wrote a lot about which teams had the most production returning from their 2009 squads this week, so I thought it might be an interesting exercise to see which teams will face the most returning talent in 2010, too.

So, again using Phil Steele's list, here's the number of returning starters each SEC team is scheduled to face during the regular season in 2010...

Team	Starters Faced
Vandy	180
Georgia	170
Tennessee	170
Kentucky	168
Alabama	165
Florida	159
LSU	158
Miss. State	157
S. Carolina	156
Ole Miss	155
Arkansas	154
Auburn	153

A few minor points:

-- I counted a zero for all FCS opponents, of which each SEC team plays one... with the exception of Vandy. So that's why the Commodores are so far out in front. Take away their low number among non conference opponents and they're at 165 for the year...

-- Which, of course, means that no team in the SEC is scheduled to face more returning starters from the 2009 season than Georgia (and, Tennessee). But...

-- The biggest thing to take from these numbers is probably that they really don't mean squat. Georgia's schedule won't be a cake walk, but it should be easier than the past two seasons. And while it does look like the Dawgs will have a tougher go of it than their SEC peers, those numbers can change drastically as injuries add up and veterans get benched (assuming Willie Martinez is not their coach) and young stars emerge.

-- Of course, if we were going to read anything into this, it's perhaps a bit concerning that the two teams that have stood out pretty dramatically in our earlier lists -- Auburn and Arkansas -- also stack up pretty well here.

Fun With Numbers: 2010's Best Defenses

Earlier this week, I wrote about the lack of experience at the QB position in the SEC, and yesterday I wrote at length about the returning firepower SEC teams have on the offensive side of the football, which led to this comment from one of our readers...

Elvis Skinner writes: "I wonder what the percentage of total defensive plays would look like for Bama. The offense should be fine, but the D could wind up looking like UF in 2007. I know Saban's "specialty is D", but I'm just saying."

One step ahead of you, Elvis.

First off, Phil Steele has the complete list of how many starters each team returns. On defense, no SEC team returns more than eight starters from 2009 -- with Mississippi State and Auburn leading the way. Kirby Smart will have the most work to do, as Alabama returns just two starters from last year's national-championship defense.

Tracking defensive measurables isn't quite as simple as it is on offense, but I figured there were three key categories worth studying. The first, obviously, is tackles...

Team	'09 Tackles	Returning Tackles	Percent Returned
Auburn	930	781	84.0
Arkansas	1002	760	75.8
S. Carolina	842	625	74.2
Miss. State	817	619	75.8
Vandy	940	587	62.4
Ole Miss	838	501	59.8
Kentucky	859	480	55.9
Tennessee	890	479	53.8
LSU	1011	468	46.3
Georgia	877	443	50.5
Florida	850	430	50.6
Alabama	841	294	35.0
SEC Totals	10,697	6,467	60.5

Of all the lists -- both on offense and defense -- ranking teams by total returning tackles may be the most unfair. While the returning production is a good basis for comparison elsewhere, a team isn't necessarily better because it had more tackles. In fact, if you look at the 2009 results, Alabama and Florida ranked near the bottom in total tackles.

So while this ranking isn't completely deceiving, we may actually be better off by studying the percentage of tackles returned here -- which will then tell us the percentage of defensive production each team needs to replace from last year.

In either case, the news is good for Auburn, which brings back 84 percent of its tackles from last season and brings back the most overall tackles at 781. With the loss of Chris Todd and Ben Tate, there will definitely be some questions on offense for Auburn next year, but it's not like Todd was a superstar, so the defensive numbers here lead me to believe the Tigers have a good shot at a nice season next year.

No surprise to see Florida and Alabama near the bottom of the list. Both teams had some early defections from key players and a big class of seniors say goodbye. Georgia was burned by the early departures of Reshad Jones and Rennie Curran, the team's two leading tacklers who accounted for 203 of the team's 877 total tackles in 2009.

Of course, while tackles are nice, they're simply how any play (aside from a TD) ends. What about the big plays? The one's that change the outcomes of games and shift momentum?

Let's take a look at which teams bring back the best pass rushes for 2010 next...

Team	'09 Sacks	Returning Sacks	Percent Returned
Georgia	30	22.5	75.0
Arkansas	29	20	69.0
Auburn	28	15.5	55.4
S. Carolina	28	15.5	55.4
Miss. State	18	13.5	75.0
Tennessee	21	13.5	64.3
Florida	39	13.5	34.6
Ole Miss	36	12.5	34.7
Alabama	32	10.5	32.8
Vandy	20	9.5	47.5
Kentucky	16	9.5	59.4
LSU	21	9.5	45.2
SEC Totals	318	165.5	52.0

Surprised to see the Bulldogs at the top of that list? I'll admit, I sort of was.

It was just 18 months ago that UGA fans were bemoaning the lack of any significant pass rush , and now we're looking at a team that will open the 2010 season with more returning sacks than any other squad in the SEC.

Of course, the biggest question surrounding UGA will be this: Do those numbers really mean much in Todd Grantham's new 3-4 scheme, where the pass rush will be coming in a much different look in 2010?

Still, aside from Arkansas, no other SEC team comes even close to bringing back as many sacks as Georgia does this season.

(Side note: As many times as I've seen Arkansas at the top of these lists, I'd have to say there's good reason for folks to be excited about the Razorbacks' future. That game at Sanford Stadium in September is going to loom large.)

Again, we find Alabama and Florida at the low end of the list, and LSU bringing up the bottom. If I'm Les Miles, I'm a bit concerned about how this season plays out. The Bayou Bengals have been at or near the bottom of a lot of these lists.

OK, so we threw some praise on UGA's pass rush, but what about creating turnovers?

Team	'09 Turnovers	Returning Turnovers	Percent Returned
Arkansas	30	25	83.3
Miss. State	25	19	76.0
Auburn	24	15	62.5
Ole Miss	24	15	62.5
Vandy	19	14	73.7
S. Carolina	17	12	70.6
Alabama	31	12	38.7
Tennessee	24	11	45.8
Florida	23	9	39.1
Kentucky	22	8	36.4
LSU	18	8	44.4
Georgia	12	6	50.0
SEC Totals	269	154	57.2

We really shouldn't be too surprised to see UGA at the bottom of this list. Even if the Dawgs had returned every one of their turnovers from last season, they'd still only be at the middle of the pack. That's how bad things were last season.

But there is some reason for optimism. For one, those pass rush numbers don't occur in a vacuum. The teams that created the most turnovers in 2009 -- Alabama and Arkansas -- ranked second and fourth, respectively, in the SEC in sacks last year. Pressuring the QB helps create turnovers, and Georgia should be pretty good at getting to the passer in 2010. Add that to another year of experience for Brandon Boykin and the obvious upgrade from to Bryan EvansBacarri Rambo and the Dawgs shouldn't be much worse off in the secondary in terms of talent than they were in 2009.

Besides, there's really nowhere to go but up.

Fun With Numbers: Returning Offensive Firepower in 2010

Yesterday, I wrote about the quarterbacks returning in the SEC for 2010 -- or more to the point, the lack of QBs returning for 2010.

The Senator brings up an interesting point on the issue, too.

"David thinks that Garcia may be Lakatos’ biggest challenge this year, but I think that game presents even more of a test for what Grantham and Belin can get out the linebackers."

This is something I didn't note in my post, but it's worth mentioning because, while Scott Lakatos faces the direct challenge of game planning the opponent's passing game, it's Todd Grantham that can have the biggest impact.

So let me now offer a quote from Grantham, discussing his 3-4 scheme:

"In the 3-4 you can be balanced. You really don’t have to declare your rusher until you see the formation sometimes. I think it gives you a better advantage over teams that are multiple formation-wise because you don’t get outflanked. You basically adjust your 'backers and you can still be solid against the run. And you also aren’t telling them who’s coming. The thing with the 4-3 is, the guys who put their hand in the dirt are the guys rushing. In a 3-4, I can tell you that the three guys with their hand in the dirt are coming, but one of those other outside backers is going to be coming 95 percent of the time. So they’ve got to account for all four of those guys on every snap, yet only one of those guys is going to be coming. So I think it gives you more position flexibility relative to the formations, and I also think it’s a little bit tougher for quarterbacks."

So what Grantham is saying is pretty simple: His scheme makes life confusing for QBs who aren't used to reading a 3-4.

And what my post from yesterday was saying is pretty simple, too: There won't be a lot of veteran QBs in the SEC in 2010.

So while there is rightly a legitimate concern about how quickly Georgia's defenders can learn Grantham's scheme, perhaps it's just as fair for other teams to be worried about how quickly their QBs can learn it, too.

***

OK, so enough about the quarterbacks. Let's talk about the rest of the offense around the SEC.

(And as a side note, Georgia returns the most offensive starters in the SEC, with 10. Mississippi and Tennessee return the fewest, with just four starters coming back on offense. You can see the full list of returning starters over at Phil Steele's blog HERE.)

First, let's start with the receivers. Here's what each SEC team has coming back for 2010...

Team	2009 Rec. Yards	Returning Rec. Yards	Percent Returned
Arkansas	3845	3353	87.2
Auburn	2857	2608	91.3
S Carolina	2940	2436	82.9
Georgia	2615	2323	88.8
Tennessee	2942	2166	73.6
Alabama	2631	2093	79.6
Kentucky	1824	1663	91.2
Vandy	1756	1509	85.9
Miss State	1685	1158	68.7
Ole Miss	2844	1109	39.0
LSU	2363	1096	46.4
Florida	3305	886	26.8
SEC Totals	31,607	22,400	70.9

A few thoughts:

-- It's easy to see why people are excited about Arkansas. They return the best QB in the SEC in a pass happy offense that also returns 91 percent of its receiving yardage from last season. Dangerous.

-- Georgia returns the fourth-most overall receiving yards and the second greatest percentage of its receiving yards in 2010. And that's from a group that went three-and-a-half games without A.J. Green last year and employed three freshmen (Orson Charles, Tavarres King and Rantavious Wooten) in significant roles. Give Green a full season and add the typical growth from freshman to sophomore seasons for the other three, and maybe that receiving corps shouldn't be too big of a worry for UGA fans.

-- It's one thing to enter the year without an established QB. That, of course, will be the case for two-thirds of the SEC this year. But it's another thing to do that with what is far and away the least accomplished group of receivers in the league, and that's exactly what Florida will do in 2010.

Listen, I've seen enough of Urban Meyer to assume he'll put a potent offense on the field no matter what this season, but he's definitely going to have to work a bit harder to do so this season than he has in the past (which is amusing considering he worked so hard it put him in the hospital last year).

Florida will return just 886 receiving yards in 2010 -- less than half the average among the other 11 schools -- and the biggest question mark surrounding the Gators last year was whether or not they had a legitimate vertical passing game.

Again, I don't doubt Meyer's ability to put a quality offense on the field, but it will be very, very interesting to see how that unfolds this season.

-- Also worth noting, I calculated stats for receptions and receiving TDs, too, but none were dramatically different than the numbers shown above. Kentucky returns the greatest percentage of receptions (90 percent) and South Carolina returns the most receptions overall (210). Florida remains last in both categories (75 receptions, 30 percent of 2009's totals).

Vandy returns the highest percentage of its 2009 receiving TDs -- all of them in fact. But that's not saying much since the Commies scored just six times through the air last season. Arkansas and Auburn both return more than 90 percent of their receiving TDs, while Florida, Ole Miss and LSU bring up the rear, all at about 35 percent.

***

That's the numbers on the receivers. But let's look at the running games, too.

Team	2009 Rush Yards	Returning Rush Yards	Percent Return
Alabama	3011	2695	89.5
Kentucky	2486	2077	83.5
Florida	3105	2056	66.2
Georgia	2093	1724	82.4
Vandy	1920	1687	87.9
Auburn	2756	1510	54.8
S Carolina	1576	1471	93.3
Arkansas	1713	1271	74.2
Ole Miss	2387	984	41.2
Miss State	2731	807	29.5
Tennessee	2045	695	34.0
LSU	1596	547	34.3
SEC Totals	27,419	17,524	63.9

A few thoughts:

-- People are excited about South Carolina this season, and I'm guessing a big reason for that is because the Gamecocks return such a large percentage of their overall offense from a year ago. But here's something that struck me: Auburn returns only about half of its total rush yards from 2009, but returns more total rush yards than South Carolina does, despite the Cocks bringing back 93 percent of last year's production. So the question then is -- does it matter how many returning players you have if they weren't that good to begin with? Of course, the flip side to that is, experience makes players better, so perhaps it's to be expected that we'll see growth in players from year to year.

-- Again, Georgia scores decent marks. The Dawgs return the fourth-most rushing yards in the SEC (and 82 percent of their total, with the missing 18 percent coming because of Richard Samuel's move to LB). But much as I wrote about UGA's receivers, this is a group that really only got going halfway through last season. It's not at all unreasonable to assume that the performances of Washaun Ealey and Caleb King should be much better if each plays a full 12 games than last year, when they combined to miss seven-and-a-half games between them.

-- The more I look at the success Morgan Newton had in his limited role last year and the percentage of talent that Kentucky is bringing back, the more I think the Wildcats could be flying a bit under the radar.

-- And let's look a bit deeper at Florida. Yes, the Gators are returning the third-most rushing yards in the SEC, but as a percentage of what the ran for last year, they're seventh in the conference. Obviously the biggest loss in that department comes from Tim Tebow, who was their star in short-yardage and red-zone situations.

Making matters worse is, what Florida loses in Tebow, it already wasn't very good at to begin with. The Gators ranked 10th in the SEC last season in red-zone conversions and they scored TDs on just 50 percent of their red-zone opportunities. (Georgia, meanwhile, was third in red-zone conversions and scored TDs 63 percent of the time.)

Of Florida's 34 red-zone TDs last season, Tebow was responsible for running in 11 of them. So it's not surprising that, while Florida returns nearly 70 percent of its total rushing yards from 2009, the Gators bring back just about 50 percent of their rushing TDs.

-- Along those lines, Vandy, South Carolina, Alabama and Arkansas all return more than 90 percent of their rushing TDs from 2009. LSU, Tennessee and Mississppi State all return fewer than 40 percent.

-- Scary thoughts: Alabama returns 92 percent of its carries, 90 percent of its rush yards and 94 percent of its rushing TDs from last year. And they'll probably be better this year. Yikes.

***

OK, so let's wrap the whole thing together. Here's how the SEC teams stack up in terms of total offense returning...

Team	2009 Total Offense	Returning Total Offense	Percent Return
Alabama	5642	4788	84.9
Arkansas	5558	4624	83.2
Auburn	5613	4118	73.4
Georgia	4708	4047	86.0
S. Carolina	4516	3907	86.5
Kentucky	4310	3740	86.8
Vandy	3676	3196	86.9
Florida	6410	2942	45.9
Tennessee	4987	2861	57.4
Ole Miss	5231	2093	40.0
Miss State	4416	1965	44.5
LSU	3959	1643	41.5
SEC Totals	59,026	39,924	67.6

And the numbers for overall offensive touchdowns:

Team	2009 TDs	Return TDs	Pct. Return
Arkansas	55	51	92.7
Alabama	48	41	85.4
Auburn	49	37	75.5
Georgia	41	34	82.9
Kentucky	39	32	82.1
S Carolina	30	27	90.0
Florida	58	26	44.8
Tennessee	47	26	55.3
Vandy	18	18	100.0
Ole Miss	44	18	40.9
LSU	34	13	38.2
Miss State	30	12	40.0
SEC Totals	493	335	68.0

A few final thoughts:

-- When you go 14-0, win a national championship, then return 85 percent of your offense -- and more total yards than anyone else in the conference, you're going to be a favorite to repeat. So yeah, Alabama's probably gonna be good again.

-- And it's also worth noting that Alabama's primary rivals last season -- LSU and Ole Miss -- return the lowest percentage of their total offense in 2010. The SEC West may be the better division next season, but there's a pretty big gap between what those top three teams bring back and the giant overhaul that will need to happen at the bottom three schools.

-- If you're Vandy, are you depressed that you scored a lowly 18 offensive TDs last year or are you excited that all 18 are returning?

-- The bulk of Georgia's "losses" are from Richard Samuel's move to defense. And since he's still on the team, perhaps it's not entirely fair to remove him from the stat totals (although I'd guess it probably is). So for the sake of argument, if you add his numbers back in, Georgia actually returns 4,442 total yards of offense, just a notch behind the top two teams and 94 percent of its total yards from a year ago.

-- And yes, I'm aware that another big factor in offensive success will be what teams return on the O line. But that's a post for a bit later... and one I promise I'll get to.

SEC QBs Will Be Short on Experience

I'm going to spend some time in the next few days taking an early look at the talent returning in the SEC in 2010, and just as I did last year, it seems appropriate to start at the quarterback position, which has been downright problematic in the league for the past two seasons.

That's not likely to change dramatically in 2010. Here are the career numbers for the expected 2010 starters at QB around the SEC...

QB	Team	Comp	Att	Comp%	Yards	TD/Int
S. Garcia	SC	304	554	54.8	3694	23/18
R. Mallett	Ark	286	544	52.6	4519	37/12
J. Jefferson	LSU	218	369	59.1	2585	21/8
G. McElroy	Ala	214	345	62.0	2704	19/5
L. Smith	Van	125	261	47.9	1293	5/8
N. Stephens	Tenn	72	143	50.3	982	5/4
M. Newton	UK	75	135	55.6	706	6/3
C. Relf	Miss St	24	50	48.0	296	5/3
J. Brantley	Fla	36	48	75.0	410	7/0
N. Stanley	Miss	11	23	47.8	163	1/1
A. Murray	UGA	0	0	NA	0	0/0
C. Newton	Aub	0	0	NA	0	0/0

Obviously some of these are still open competitions. Aaron Murray won't necessarily be the starting QB at Georgia, but he's the most likely candidate. Neil Caudle could land the job at Auburn if Cameron Newton, the JuCo transfer, doesn't perform well this spring. Tyler Russell, a redshirt freshman, is as likely to land the job at Mississippi State as Chris Relf. Raymond Cotton could earn the job at Ole Miss, Mike Hartline will push Morgan Newton at Kentucky, and Tyler Bray has a shot at beating out Nick Stephens at Tennessee.

But all of that is simply a long way of saying exactly what we said last year -- The QB situation throughout the SEC is in a state of flux.

Ryan Mallett, in his one-and-a-half seasons as a starting QB at the college level, has more career touchdowns than the bottom eight players on that list combined. Oh, and he'll miss the spring with an injury.

Even in years past, there has at least been a clear-cut top of the SEC QB depth chart, but this season, not one passer in the league has more than a year and some change as his team's starter.

That lack of experience shows up dramatically on the road, where the above listed QBs have a combined record as starters of 12-17 -- and that record is bolstered by a 6-0 mark from Greg McElroy and Morgan Newton. The supposed class of SEC QBs, Mallett and Stephen Garcia, meanwhile, have a combined record of 1-9 in opposing stadiums.

***

Looking specifically at Georgia, they'll get both Mallett and Garcia this year -- but they'll get Mallett at Sanford Stadium. In opponents' stadiums last year, Mallett was 0-4 with a completion percentage of just 39.3 percent (it was 67.7 percent at home) and four of his six worst games in terms of passing yards. (Note: He also struggled during his bowl game against East Carolina, completing just 15-of-36 passes for 202 yards.) Obviously Mallett should be more mature and better prepared for life on the road in 2010, but still, those numbers are striking.

Aside from Garcia and Mallett, here's the career numbers of the rest of the QBs Georgia is likely to see in SEC play this season: 332 completions, 637 attempts, 52 percent completions, 28 TDs and 18 INTs.

Georgia's non-conference slate includes:

-- Josh Nesbitt, who rarely throws and lost his only big-play receiver to the NFL

-- whoever starts for Idaho State and ULM

-- Tyler Hansen, whose career numbers at Colorado (55% completions, 9 TDs, 8 INTs) fall in line with what UGA is going to see around the SEC

So it's probably safe to say that the biggest test of Scott Lakatos' new secondary in 2010 is going to come in Week 2 of the season when the Dawgs travel to Columbia.

But I'm curious... who else scares you? Who would you rank as the No. 2 QB Georgia will face this year?

ADDENDUM: I'm dumb on two fronts...

1.) It's ULL, not ULM. My apologies to Lafayetteians everywhere.

2.) Cam Newton isn't without stats, complete. While at Florida, he was 6-of-12 for 54 yards with no TDs or INTs, which is pretty negligible.

And one other great comment that I forgot to note originally: Scott Lakatos' secondary will get an early test against Stephen Garcia in Week 2, but there really couldn't be a better early test for him, since he just prepared his UConn team for Garcia in their bowl game in which the South Carolina QB finished 16-of-38 (42%) for 129 yards and a pick.

Practice Notes: Mystery Surrounds Dawgs' D

Texas A&M head coach Mike Sherman admits, he’s a bit befuddled as to what to expect when his team takes on Georgia on Monday.

The Bulldogs have spent the past two weeks practicing for the Aggies, but they’ve been doing so without three of their four defensive coaches, making it tough to judge what Georgia’s defense might look like on game day.

“You debate back and forth as to how they’ll approach it,” Sherman said. “They have good players, so they may try something new or they may stay status quo. We really don’t know. We just have to take care of our business, do what we do, and make adjustments during the ballgame. Hopefully they’re the right ones to help us win.”

If Sherman is looking for a few clues from Georgia’s players, he might not have much more luck in determining the look of the defense either. The accounts of the preparation have been a bit varied.

“This plan is the same as Coach (Willie) Martinez or any of the other coaches, the same thing they would do,” linebacker Rennie Curran said. “For us, it’s not really about who’s coaching us. With Coach Martinez being gone, we’re just trying to hold up to his standard.”

Indeed, Georgia’s graduate assistants who have taken over the coaching duties this month have promised no vast departures from the scheme employed by the Bulldogs all season --- but that doesn’t necessarily mean there won’t be any new looks.

“We’ve been running the same thing for four years, so we’re not going to just completely leave the defense,” safety Bryan Evans said. “But there are a couple of wrinkles in there that we have, so it’s going to be fun to play.”

ONE LAST GO-ROUND

It’s hard to blame Georgia’s players if they feel like some of the bowl experience is over before it started. Just 24 hours after starting their first full bowl practice in Shreveport, the Bulldogs wrapped up their pregame workouts with their second and final practice before their game against Texas A&M on Monday. Georgia will still have a short walkthrough today, but unlike years past, that’s all there will be to the pregame preparations.

“Last year, we had a full week of practice and preparation. Now here, we have two days and a walk-through,” tailback Caleb King said. “It’s weird that we had so much of the practice in Georgia.”

Head coach Mark Richt said that, while the schedule has been different, he expects no ill effects. The Bulldogs practiced in Independence Stadium both Friday and Saturday, which is more field time than they would normally get before a bowl, and the focus on A&M has been intense all month.

“Everybody should have it memorized by now,” Richt said of the game plan. “Our goal was to have it so they were bored to death with the plan so they could play fast when we kicked it off.”

And while the run up to the bowl game is a departure from past seasons, King said it actually feels a bit more like a true road game – where Georgia has been successful throughout Richt’s career.

“It’s no difference because we practiced hard in Athens, and we just had to pretty much come out here and finish things,” King said. “We all should be ready for the game.”

CARRYING THE TORCH

In the past three seasons, the SEC has an impressive 19-7 record in bowl games, and that’s a trend Georgia takes seriously. So when the Bulldogs take the field Monday against Texas A&M – just the second bowl game of the season for SEC teams – they want to hold up their end of things.

“We want to represent our conference well, but we go into these games wanting to represent University of Georgia,” defensive end Demarcus Dobbs said. “We’re all competitive and we want everybody to do well, but we want people to be talking about Georgia after the ball game. We want the whole SEC to do well, but we’re playing for Georgia and the ‘G.’”

EATING IT UP

While it was Georgia Tech’s chewing of the hedges that proved the lasting images of last season’s Yellow Jackets win in Athens, Georgia center Ben Jones returned the favor last month by eating a piece of the field after the Bulldogs toppled Tech in Atlanta. But he promises, it wasn’t anything he had planned in advance.

“It was just a fun game, I was showing some emotion. We were just all excited about winning the game,” Jones said. “I just came out and played hard and it just happened. I don’t know why I did it or anything. It just happened.”

Planned or not, Jones said it isn’t likely to happen again. He hasn’t tested the turf in Shreveport or looked for any soft spots in the sod so far.

“We just come out here to practice and have a good day of work,” Jones said.

DAVIS LOOKS DOUBTFUL

Josh Davis was still in a green non-contact jersey on Saturday and Richt sounded less enthusiastic about his ability to play Monday against the Aggies.

“You can see he’s limping around a little bit, but we’re not giving up hope,” Richt said. “We’ll try to get him some work against the scouts and hope he’ll be OK.”

If Davis cannot play, Vince Vance will get the start at right tackle, Richt said.

Dobbs was still in green Saturday, too, but Richt said he expected Dobbs to be fine for the game.

Live Blog: Florida vs. Alabama

PREGAME UPDATE

Greetings from the Georgia Dome, home of an inordinate quantity of 'Bama bangs, a handful of NFL scouts looking for their next great fullback and NO FRIGGIN' COFFEE OR DESSERTS in the press box. What a sham!

Some pregame notes...

-- This blog will contain very little helpful information regarding the game. I'm here to make snide comments, occasionally let you know when a score happens, and in all likelihood, complain about the lack of quality press box fare for the next three hours.

-- So I had the TV on this morning while I was doing a little work. I was only casually listening to a classic Tom Rinaldi story (which are seriously paint-by-numbers melodrama at their finest) about a boy Tim Tebow made a promise of some sort to. I'm sure it was sweet and heartbreaking, but again, I really wasn't paying close enough attention to tell you any details. But this line I did hear: "To this day, one of the nine bracelets Tebow wears each day signifies that promise he made to a young boy." Nine bracelets? Seriously? It's like that scene in "Talladega Nights" where Will Ferrell has a Fig Newtons sticker on his windshield. We're three weeks away from Tebow rocking a fanny pack commemorating a promise he made to a homeless guy to bring him some extra chicken the next time he eats at a KFC.

-- Seriously, Tebow is a warrior. Don't forget that. Warrior.

-- Drink!

-- Oh, right... forgot to share the Tim Tebow drinking game... be sure to stock up on whiskey and read the rules in full.

-- If I find out the reason there were no press box desserts is because Terrence Cody ate six cheesecakes, I'm going to be very, very angry.

-- Brandon Dreaderick for Alabama is still rocking the Kid N Play haircut. Good for him.

-- The SEC gave us a form to fill out that includes all the information about our blogs so they can check to make sure we're properly following the rules of SEC blogging... and yet they provide no desserts. Even in George Orwell novels, I think people got to eat desserts.

START OF FIRST QUARTER

-- Florida fans booed Matt Stinchcomb in the pregame honors for the SEC Legends team. That didn't come anywhere close to how loudly Heath Shuler was booed though.

-- I'm not sure if there are more 'Bama fans here, but they are definitely louder and potentially drunker.

-- Bama takes the kickoff and returns it to the 22. I'd like to just take a moment of silence here to honor Jon Fabris. Where will we find real challenges next season?

-- Greg McElroy to Julio Jones for an 18-yard gain. By the way, Jeff Owens just suggested on his Twitter page that UGA do a black out in their bowl game. Whatever gets you pumped for Shreveport in late December, I suppose.

-- Interesting story from Urban Meyer about his trying to get a job from Nick Saban at Toledo 20 years ago... "I want to say 1989 I was a linebacker coach. I made this clear, too, not a very good linebacker coach at Illinois State University. Wanted to move back to Ohio. And somehow some way, there were no cell phones. I got a phone number and said call Coach Saban. Called Coach Saban, and his lovely wife picked up the phone and we chatted for about 10 minutes. I got her; she was sold. She was ready to go. And then I remember telling Shelly at the time -- I think she was my fiancee at the time, "Looks like we're going to Toledo." The phone call never came back. I had her; I didn't get him."

I'm struggling to come up with a joke that could be deemed "tasteful."

-- Impressive first drive by Bama so far, which just secured a first down at the Florida 37.

-- I think Florida fans are mad it's not really jorts weather.

-- Third-and-4 from the 31 for Bama. McElroy hits Jones in stride, but Julio bobbles the ball and can't come down with the catch. Somewhere, A.J. Green is rolling his eyes.

-- Leigh Tiffin on for the 48-yard field goal -- a short wobbler that still manages to float over the crossbar. Alabama 3, Florida 0, 10:37 left (10-50-4:23).

-- Courtney Kupets honored on the field as the SEC's scholar athlete of the year. She's nearly as tall as Mike Slive. Seriously.

-- Tim Tebow is also honored as the SEC's best warrior who still wears bracelets.

-- If I had known there wouldn't be desserts, I would have just gone to watch the game on the big screen at Hooters with Carlos Dunlap.

-- Jeff Demps just drops a wide open second down pass along the sideline. Florida faces a third-and-8 now from its own 24. Tebow dances around in the backfield like he has to pee as Bama's pressure collapses the pocket, and like a true warrior, he throws the ball away. He's like Braveheart in a football helmet. Florida punts it away.

FIRST QUARTER, 9:29 REMAINING

-- Our old friend Paul Dehner is now covering Cincinnati and was blogging live from the UC-Pitt game today (which was a fantastic game). Sadly, I cannot read beyond his fourth entry. I hate you, Paul.

-- Greg McElroy looks fantastic so far. He completes a 19-yard pass on first down top open Bama's second drive.

-- Mark Ingram on the carry takes it all the way down to the Florida 35. This Gators defense has to be stunned.

-- Second drop of the game by Julio Jones, though to be fair, he was sandwiched between two Florida defenders as soon as the ball got to him. Third-and-7 at the UF32.

-- McElroy delivers a strike to Marquis Maze for the first down, and Ingram follows that with another nice run down to the 10. What Florida's defense really needs right now is someone to give them an impassioned speech. But who?

-- Ingram rumbles seven yards for a touchdown after a Florida penalty gives the Tide a first down. Leigh Tiffin misses the PAT. Alabama 9, Florida 0, 5:33 remaining in the first. (8-76-3:56)

FIRST QUARTER, 5:33 REMAINING

-- An anonymous poster seems to think I'm complaining too much about the lack of dessert options. Thankfully, a reasonable person (Gameday Chef) stepped in on my behalf: "Your job is not as prestigous and demanding as Mr. Hale's. Prestigious people get free food, it's just a reality of America. If Mr. Hale is forced to suck it up, as you advise, the Terrorists win."

Well said, sir.

-- Prestigious people also don't need working email accounts. That's why I'm OK with mine never getting fixed. I wanna be like Paul Sorvino in "Goodfellas." Just have like 10 people who take messages for me, and if it's really important, I'll walk to the payphone at the end of the block and call you back.

-- Tebow hits Deonte Thompson for a 19-yard gain to the 40. He's going to look exquisite in a Buffalo Bills uniform next year.

-- Florida crosses into Bama territory for the first time after Tebow converts a third-and-seven. After the game, he's getting a special bracelet to commemorate the event.

-- Speaking of my prestigious job... I haven't gotten a paycheck in a month. Apparently the last one got lost in the mail. I'm secretly curious if perhaps the newspaper industry has already folded and I just wasn't told. No paycheck and a lack of press box desserts are two of the seven signs of newspaper apocolypse. If Mike Lupica doesn't spend 10 minutes telling us how we need to stop worrying about Tiger's personnal life on "The Sports Reporters" tomorrow, then I'll know we're in real trouble.

-- Fourth-and-12 for Florida at the Bama 31, and Sturgis lines up for the field goal. But the Bama band is playing the "A-Team" theme song. This could be interesting.

-- Meh. Field goal is good. Alabama 9, Florida 3, 28 seconds left in the quarter (12-56-5:05). If you don't think that missed PAT isn't going to come back to haunt Bama, then clearly you have never gambled on sports.

-- By the way, I've already received three texts from my fellow handicapper Dan, each saying, "Shove it, Florida."

-- Ingram in the Wildcat for Bama. That works about as well as when Mike Vick is in the Wildcat for the Eagles.

-- By the way, I'm furious about this whole Vick situation. I could have easily gotten tickets for tomorrow's Birds-Falcons game right up until they signed Vick. Now he has produced absolutely nothing for the Eagles all year, but has put tickets for the game out of my price range (which, admittedly, isn't particularly high). I can't help but feel like this is exactly why Andy Reid signed him. I hate you, Andy Reid.

START OF SECOND QUARTER

-- Alabama faces a third-and-4 from its own 38. I think Greg McElroy has risen up to No. 2 on my list of favorite McElroys. You just can't top Chuck McElroy though. Now that was a good-lookin' fella.

-- Bama is forced to punt. Brandon James looks like he might have an angle for the end zone, but Tide punter PJ Fitzgerald makes a great tackle near the sideline at the UF35.

-- Some interesting first-quarter numbers: Total offense - Bama 119, Florida 58; rush yards - Bama 56, Florida 17; McElroy 5-7-63, Tebow 5-10-41.

-- Tebow's pitch to Bredon James finds Bama out of position and James darts into Bama territory, only a holding flag brings it back.

-- Marquis Johnson tips away Tebow's third-down pass, marking what could have been the 2nd pick of the game for The Warrior. I see what he's doing... showing some compassion for the enemy he's about to vanquish. He's been watching some Steven Segal films.

-- Note from anonymous commenter: "You forgot that ESPN/ABC/CBS doesn't allow any negative comments about Saint Tebow. They have their eyes on you, buddy."

-- Tim Tebow is a warrior. Tim Tebow is America's greatest human being. Tim Tebow will be great in the NFL. Yes, this is definitely David typing this. No, this is definitely not an SEC official who has hijacked his laptop. Hey, why doesn't this damned email work?

-- Great run by Trent Richardson to pick up seven yards. He broke about 43 tackles along the way. That brings up a third-and-3.

-- McElroy hits Maze for a 34-yard gain to the Florida 27. Bama is simply taking it to this Florida defense. Florida's Major Wright is hurt after the play and being attended to by Florida medical staff, who I assume will ask Tebow what his advice is before performing any real medical examination.

-- Tebow is actually standing by himself on the sideline with a headset on. I'm guessing he's listening to Air Supply's Greatest Hits.

-- OK, I gotta minimize some of the Tebow jokes. I wanna save some material for the second half.

-- If McElroy's receievers could hang on to the football, his numbers would be through the roof right now. Third-and-5 at the Florida 22.

-- Wow, what a run by McElroy. He goes to the sideline to avoid pressure, then sidesteps down the sideline as he's falling backward to pick up the first down. Chuck would be proud.

-- Interesting article from the Tampa Tribune on the early tailgating that Tech and Clemson fans are doing for the ACC title game. I'm confused though... I don't see a video game console anywhere in the accompanying photo of the Tech fan.

-- Oh wait, never mind... money quote: "David Boney of Savannah, Ga., grilled burgers and hot dogs a few feet from his car. His chemical engineering textbooks waited for him inside."

-- McElroy is sacked for a huge loss and Bama will line up to kick another field goal, this one from 34 yards out. Tiffin's kick is good. Bama 12, Florida 3, 6:03 remaining in the half (12-68-5:27)

SECOND QUARTER, 6:03 REMAINING

-- Passing yards so far: Alabama 116, Timmy 38.

-- So since Georgia isn't going to have but one defensive coach on staff for its bowl game, and since fans have been complaining about the defense for two straight years, I'd like to see the Indy Bowl set up a system whereby the fans do all the defensive playcalling for the Bulldogs. I'd be much more interested in watching that game. If you would like to have Bryan Evans start at safety, press 1. If you would like Bacarri Rambo to start, press 2. I mean, if "American Idol" can do it, why can't Georgia?

-- Tebow reverses field and runs for a gain of 23 to the Bama 38. He follows that by going straight up the middle for a gain of 15. He jumps around and celebrates but in no way draws attention to himself.

-- Tebow to David Nelson for a 23-yard TD. I have no idea what happened to Bama's defense on that drive. Just brutal. Alabama 12, Florida 10, 4:31 left in the half (4-70-1:32).

-- McElroy hits Ingram on a screen on the first play from scrimmage and Ingram darts down the sideline for 69 yards to the 3 before being pushed out. Urban Meyer asks if he can help Charlie Strong pack for Louisville.

-- Oh my there are some unattractive Alabama fans on the Jimbotron. One girl looked an awful lot like Zach Galifianakis. Also, I think I saw Chuck McElroy.

-- Ingram finishes what he started, rumbling three yards into the end zone. That didn't take long. Alabama 19, Florida 10, 3:32 remaining in the half (2-72-0:59).

-- Tebow hits Riley Cooper on first down for a 59-yard gain to the Alabama 21. What the heck happened to these defenses? Saban will now allow Kirby Smart to take Mark Richt's calls.

-- Interesting play on second down. Tebow tried to hit Aaron Hernandez in the end zone. Corey Reamer broke up the play, but in swatting the ball out of Hernandez's hands, nearly batted it right to another Florida receiver. In the end, however, it was much like a "Flash Forward" episode... a lot of buildup to nothing.

-- Fourth-and-4 with 1:21 to go at the 19 and Sturgis boots the field goal. Alabama 19, Florida 13, 1:18 remaining in the half (5-65-2:14).

-- Maybe there will be halftime desserts. Perhaps they were just saving the good stuff til then. Fingers crossed.

-- OK, be back after the half, hopefully with cheesecake.

HALFTIME UPDATE

-- There were cookies and brownies out. They ran out before I got to the front of the line. They replaced them with a bowl of oranges. This is the worst day of my life.

-- I gave Finebaum a dirty look, just to try to even out my karma. Then I thought, I think he'd probably be more frightened by someone who smiled at him. He gets dirty looks all the time.

-- Here's an interesting stat for you: If this game ended at halftime, this would represent the fourth-most yards a team has compiled against Florida's D all season.

-- The halftime highlight was clearly a girl schooling some dude from Florida in the Dr. Pepper football toss. Absolutely hilarious. If that guy's friends let him come back and sit with them they ought to all be escorted from the game.

-- The really sad thing, however, was that the girl who won the toss had a better arm than Tebow.

-- You know who I feel bad for? The guy in line in the men's room who, when a urinal opens up and he's at the front of the line, has to wave the guy behind him on through. It's just a signal to everyone else in there that, yes, he's waiting on the stall, and no, it's not going to be pretty. There's no alternative but to hang your head in shame in that situation.

-- And no, that was not myself I was referring to.

-- And one other press box note: There is an unusually high level of bad facial hair here today. I keep looking for Jonathan Crompton but haven't seen him yet.

START OF THIRD QUARTER

-- One of the truly sad things about writing these live blogs from the press box (other than the lack of dessert options) is that I don't get to make fun of the broadcast team. Big thanks to those of you who have filled me in on some of the Danielson-Lundquist gems. In the 2nd half, I'll just try to predict what they're saying, and if I get any right, then you have to drink.

-- Florida goes three and out to start the half and Chas Henry boots a punt that sets Bama up at its own 26. I have trouble respecting people who choose to go by "Chas." That's like someone named Doug going by "Doogie." And in a show about a 16-year-old doctor, the fact that he wanted to be called "Doogie" was probably the most unlikely plotline.

-- Ingram goes around right end for a two yard gain to bring up a third-and-1 at the 35 then follows that with a dive up the middle to pick up the first down. He's up to 65 yards and 2 TDs so far... not bad for a guy playing hurt.

-- McElroy goes deep and hits Maze for a 28-yard gain to the Florida 32. Bama has been in Florida territory in five of seven drives, with one of the short drives being the end of the half.

-- Beautiful over the shoulder grab by Colin Peek in the end zone. Just a great looking play all around. Tebow looks dazed on the sideline. Alabama 26, Florida 13, 9:53 left in the third quarter (5-74-2:48).

THIRD QUARTER, 9:53 REMAINING

-- Verne: "Oh my that was quite a catch by, uh, Peek."
Gary: "Hell yeah."
Verne: "And Tim Tebow looks stunned."
Gary: "Hell yeah."
Verne: "But he's a warrior. You know he has to be thinking about a comeback right now."
Gary: "We're out of bourbon."

-- Interesting note: Mark Ingram has officially posted the most rushing yards in a season ever by an Alabama player. That's pretty impressive. Gary: "Hell yeah."

-- If I had a quarter for every pass Alabama has batted down in the secondary today, I'd have enough to go by a dessert treat from the concessions. Doogie Henry, M.D. back on to punt.

-- I'm currently perusing the Wikipedia page for Shreveport to see what I'm in for during bowl week. Apparently there's quite a history of movies being filmed in Shreveport, including gems like "Soul Men," "Blonde Ambition" and "The Guardian." I'm really holding out hope I'll get to meet Tom Sizemore while I'm there.

-- Nice run for Trent Richardson sets Bama up with a first down at the 37. McElroy goes for the home run to Julio Jones, but it falls incomplete. You have to feel like another TD here would be a backbreaker for Florida.

-- Another interesting note: "Mardi Gras celebrations have been going on in Shreveport now for over 20 years." Wow, way to jump on the bandwagon early, Shreveport!

-- Alabama is up to 363 yards of offense -- the most any team has tallied against Florida this season. And there is still 20 minutes left in the game.

-- McElroy is averaging 21 yards per completion. Carlos Dunlap must be sick. And only partially due to that last shot of tequila. (Was that in poor taste? Wait, tequila always tastes poor. Nevermind.)

-- First down Bama at the Florida 38 and Richardson runs down the middle for 5. This Florida D is absolutely gassed. Tide is 7-of-10 on third down and Tebow is still searching for just the right adjectives to use before giving his inspirational speech. Dramatic moments, folks.

-- Verne: "This is very uncharacteristic for the Gators defense."
Gary: "But let's not forget what a warrior Tim Tebow is, Verne."
Verne: "He is indeed, Gary. Quite a warrior."

-- Make that 8-of-11 on third down for the Tide. Ingram just rumbled to the 12 yard line for a 10-yard gain. And that'll do it for the third quarter.

START OF FOURTH QUARTER

-- Apparently if you test drive a Ford, you get a free Tony Gonzolez fathead. I'm just curious, who actually buys fatheads? I can't fathom anyone with a girlfriend or a wife would be allowed to hang it up, and the things cost like $100. In fact, I would purposefully NOT test drive a Ford to avoid having a giant Tony Gonzolez stuck on my wall. Plus, you then avoid the danger of Matt Ryan haphazardly throwing a football at your wall every time he's under pressure from the defense.

-- My eyes must be deceiving me. I just saw a stat that said Tim Tebow had a 2-5 career record when trailing in the second half. That can't be right. I mean, he's th greatest player of our era. He always rallies his team back because he's so inspirational. The stat guy must have gotten into Verne's bourbon.

-- Anonymous comment: "Mark Ingram is circumcising Florida's D today." How had I waited this long to make a joke like that? I'm not on my game today.

-- First-and-goal from the 1 and Ingram barrels forward for his third touchdown of the game. Tebow is still calmly listening to Air Supply on the headset. I'm not sure the "All Out of Love" lyrics are going to be enough to inspire a comeback this time, Timmy. Alabama 32, Florida 13, 13:49 remaining (17-88-8:47).

-- I'm curious what CBS's argument is now for Tebow still winning the Heisman. I guess it's not his fault his teammates have let him down so much. I mean, he's told them they have to get inspired. What more do you want from him?

-- Lorenzo Washington absolutely levels Tebow in the backfield as he's drops back to throw. The ball comes loose, which is initially ruled a fumble. A review calls it an incomplete pass, however, because everyone knows Tebow doesn't fumble in the fourth quarter.

-- Tebow takes another huge shot but gets a pass off to Aaron Hernandez, who twists and turns down to the 28-yard line. Tebow completes a 22-yarder down to the 6 on the next play. His third pass, however, is picked off in the end zone by Javier Arenas, who will now go down in history as the guy who ruined college football for everyone.

FOURTH QUARTER, 11:51 REMAINING

-- Note from commenter: "On another totally irrelevant point, Verne likes cheese."

I bet that's who ate all the desserts. Damn you, Verne!

-- Three-and-out for Bama. Not exactly what Saban was hoping to see, I'm sure. On the other hand, he has to stand on six phone books to see much of anything anyway.

-- Big Jumbotron announcement for fans to stay off the field after the game. Just once, I'd like to be involved in a fans-rush-the-field situation. I'm tall, so I feel like I could really be helpful in a tearing-down-the-goalposts plan.

-- In case you're wondering, here's Tebow's eye black passage: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. And look out for Arenas in the end zone."

-- What's worse, when I Googled that, there were already several news stories pointing it out.

-- What's even worse, when I just checked the comments, someone had already posted it.

-- I'll give Tebow credit, he makes a good billboard.

-- Fourth-and-3 at the Bama 13-yard line. Florida takes a timeout with 7:33 to play.

-- Pass is broken up. That should about do it. I'm heading to the field. I'm going to try to catch some of Tebow's tears in a plastic cup. I assume they'll eventually be useful in curing a deadly disease or something.