College football notes: NYT-Decatur

[DKW 86 7,419]

http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/s...816/notes.shtml

College football notes

Auburn

AUBURN — Highly touted defensive lineman Greg Smith is the only Auburn player yet to attend a practice. That's because he's still waiting on transcripts to pass muster with the university. (Has since been admitted. Pracrtices today.)

...

Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville said one of his worries about Smith is that he'll be out of shape when — or if — he arrives to practice.

"If he looks like he can help, we'll work with him," Tuberville said. "If not, we'll put him on scout team and redshirt him. But we're thinking he might be able to come in, having a little more age on him."

Back in the swing: For the first time since spring practice, Auburn worked out on the fields behind the athletic facility. Tuberville said, for one reason or another, things change for the team when it leaves the school's intramural fields and heads to the real practice fields.

"I think they can keep their focus a little bit better," Tuberville said. "But we go over there for a reason. We want them to go to a different environment, make them fight the heat, the hard ground, make them not take for granted over here how much nicer they got it. And we don't have to buy as much OFF for the ants."

Quarterback Brandon Cox said the worst part of practicing at the intramural fields isn't even the shape they're in. "I think the worst part of practice was walking there and back," Cox said. "It's more comfortable walking straight out there and practicing. It's a little better."

A weightier subject: Tight end Tommy Trott came to Auburn weighing 225 pounds. He played high school football at 230 pounds.

And now? He weighs 254 pounds as of Tuesday's weigh-in. He put on 15 pounds this summer alone, he said. The weight gain was by request from his coaches, Trott said.

"I think I'm starting to get used to it now," Trott said. "I felt slower in and out of my cuts. I felt better today. For a while, it was the wear and tear of two-a-days and maybe a little bit of that extra weight."

Extra points: Defensive back Steve Gandy is out of the hospital and was at the athletic complex Tuesday following emergency surgery Sept. 7 for compartment syndrome of the thigh. He's expected to recover well from the surgery. ... Auburn has not scrimmaged this fall, and Tuberville isn't expecting that to change for the next couple of days. "We don't have two offensive lines," Tuberville said. "I don't like going ones versus twos on defense and twos versus ones on offense. We don't get anything out of that." ... Auburn will take today off for the first day of classes. The Tigers return to practice at 8:45 a.m. Thursday.

— Bradley Handwerger, Sports Writer

Alabama

TUSCALOOSA — A radio interviewer approached Terry Grant gushing about his "super performance" in the Alabama scrimmage.

Even more objective sources — namely his coaches and teammates — were impressed by the freshman tailback's showing Monday in the Crimson Tide's first preseason scrimmage.

Grant didn't get carried away, even with the interviewer's lavish praise. "It was just one day," the soft-spoken Grant said. "You've got to keep coming out and working hard."

Then, the former Mississippi Mr. Football credits his teammates for "making it happen" and says he won't grumble if coaches decide to redshirt him this season.

At least, Grant is keeping the 13-carry, 148-yard performance in perspective. He knows well the uphill battle for a freshman trying to push into playing time at perhaps Alabama's deepest position.

— The Associated Press

Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida's beleaguered offensive line got a little thinner Tuesday when talented freshman Maurice Hurt had arthroscopic knee surgery.

Hurt, a 6-foot-3, 309-pound guard from Georgia, sustained cartilage damage in his right knee Monday, two days after starting guard Ronnie Wilson had surgery to repair a broken left ankle.

"We went in knowing we couldn't get anybody hurt and we got a couple of guys hurt," coach Urban Meyer said Tuesday.

Hurt, who had been working with the first-team offense while starter Jim Tartt recovered from offseason shoulder surgery, could be out two weeks. Tartt returned to practice Monday and provided a brief boost to Florida's most troubled position.

— The Associated Press

Georgia

ATHENS, Ga. — Coach Mark Richt said his players "ran out of gas" during a two-hour practice Tuesday on the last practice before fall semester today.

Beginning today, Georgia will move to daily afternoon practices.

Richt said Tuesday's practice began well before exhaustion set in.

"I guess that's pretty understandable," Richt said. "Not that camp is as tough as it used to be, but we've been pushing them. We've been taking up just about every minute of their time."

Richt said junior receiver A.J. Bryant made two "tough catches" Tuesday.

"I think (the quarterbacks) are gaining confidence by leaps and bounds in every (receiver) out there right now," Richt said.

"We're just getting better, but I still say if you ask each quarterback which guy they thought would have the best chance of catching a ball it would be Mohamed (Massaquoi)."

— The Associated Press

South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina safety Brandon Isaac will have to sit out the first three games this season after a mistake was made determining how many credits he transferred from junior college. The senior had been penciled in as a starter this season after playing in all 12 games in 2005.

But Isaac was actually ineligible last year because the university incorrectly gave him credits which were then used to certify him eligible to play. University officials said the school has put new rules in place to make sure the mistake doesn't happen again.

— The Associated Press

WOW! could this be really bad news for ?

[Bottomfeeder 244]

Whoa, that's sounds really fishy to me.

[fearthetiger03 0]

Defensive back Steve Gandy is out of the hospital and was at the athletic complex Tuesday following emergency surgery Sept. 7 for compartment syndrome of the thigh. He's expected to recover well from the surgery.

Sept 7?? Great editing department, eh? :huh:

[DKW 86 7,419]

Defensive back Steve Gandy is out of the hospital and was at the athletic complex Tuesday following emergency surgery Sept. 7 for compartment syndrome of the thigh. He's expected to recover well from the surgery.

Sept 7?? Great editing department, eh? :huh:

Courtesy of the NYT-Decatur...