McCready Picks LSU by 7

[DKW 86 7,426]

http://www.al.com/sports/mobileregister/nm....xml&coll=3

Two weeks of play yield 10 revelations

Thursday, September 14, 2006

I spent the better part of Saturday at the Winking Lizard in the Gateway District of Cleveland.

You know, there was research to be done and I was thirsty.

From that vantage point, here are 10 observations -- most of them related to the SEC -- as we go into Week 3 of the football season:

-- David Cutcliffe might be a potential head coaching target at Kentucky or North Carolina State after the season, but he should stay right where he is. Cutcliffe, Tennessee's offensive coordinator, has done a remarkable job with Erik Ainge this season and the Vols' offense looks nothing like the undisciplined disaster that it was a year ago.

-- However, after watching Ole Miss get mauled by Missouri -- Gary Pinkel mercifully called off the dogs, er, Tigers in the third quarter -- it's obvious Cutcliffe left Ed Orgeron with just about nothing to work with in Oxford. What a mess. Did Cutcliffe not recruit anyone? An Ole Miss alumnus from Atlanta was sitting a few stools down from me Saturday and he had a hard time watching that. The good news for him is he won't remember the beating his Rebels took from Mizzou. Remember: Beer before liquor, never sicker.

-- The same applies to Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State. Does anyone believe Croom wouldn't beat Tommy Tuberville in a battle of X's and O's on a chalkboard? However, Croom inherited a disaster in Starkville. Auburn and Mississippi State could play 100 times and the Bulldogs wouldn't come close once. I hate it for Croom, who's a super guy, but AD Larry Templeton and Co. deserve what they're getting for selling their souls to Jackie Sherrill for so long.

-- Everyone talks about Georgia's quarterback situation, but the Bulldogs' defense is some kind of salty. South Carolina didn't have a chance.

-- We're going to be seeing a lot of Chris Smelley at South Carolina this season. Even before Blake Mitchell was suspended Wednesday, Steve Spurrier was clearly ready to make a move at quarterback.

-- Let's rank the top quarterbacks in the country. Notre Dame's Brady Quinn is terrific. He picked Penn State apart, much to the chagrin of my new friends on Prospect Street. Just after Quinn, however, is LSU's JaMarcus Russell. Mobile's own appears to have matured physically and emotionally since last season. He's going to make a lot of cash on Sundays in the not too distant future.

-- Georgia's Matthew Stafford is going to dominate the SEC before he leaves Athens. Vanderbilt's Chris Nickson, a wonderful kid and a great athlete, simply isn't a quarterback. Ole Miss' Brent Schaeffer flashed some of that attitude that got him run out of Knoxville two years ago. Auburn's Brandon Cox manages a game as well as anybody in the country and I really like Alabama's John Parker Wilson. I'm not sure Brodie Croyle would've beaten Vanderbilt Saturday.

-- How did Alabama and Auburn miss on Chevis Jackson? Both the Tide and the Tigers thought the LSU cornerback and St. Paul's graduate was an average wide receiver. Nick Saban saw a lock-down cornerback. Jackson's matchup with Courtney Taylor Saturday should be fun to watch.

-- I met a big Vanderbilt fan in Cleveland. I mean, he was cheering raucously for his Commodores. Funny thing about that guy, though. He had on an orange shirt with the tiger eyes decal and a blue cap with an Auburn insignia.

-- After watching a Texas fan stuck in Cleveland for a convention Saturday, I'm not sure I'd mess with Ohio State fans. The poor guy was loyal to his Longhorns, complete with a Vince Young jersey and a burnt orange cap, but there were times I feared for his safety. Don't let anyone tell you that the only passionate college football fans live in the South. Ohio has more than a few as well.

Croom apologizes for outburst

Croom received a harsh reprimand late Saturday and all day Sunday for the controversial comments he directed toward disgruntled Bulldogs fans after Saturday's shutout loss to Auburn. The scolding, however, didn't come from an MSU official. Instead, Croom got an earful from his wife, Jeri.

"I've been chastised severely by my wife," Croom said. "Believe me, I have. So I hope I can get a reprieve on that."

Croom tried to make amends after firing back at some fans in his postgame news conference after the Bulldogs' 34-0 loss at Scott Field. Croom was upset with some fans who have vented on talk radio shows, Internet message boards and through e-mails to the coach's office about the offense's struggles and have demanded changes on the staff. The Bulldogs opened the season with consecutive shutout losses for the first time since 1904 and rank last out of 119 Division I-A teams in total offense.

After the Auburn game, Croom told reporters he was "tired of answering questions" about his offense and said he didn't want to do his weekly radio call-in show Monday at a restaurant in Starkville.

"I don't want to hear about the play-calling. I don't want to hear about getting rid of my coaches," Croom said minutes after the Auburn loss. "I want to get that clear before that call-in show. I don't want to do that show anyway. I need to be working and trying to get our team better instead of sitting around and listening to those questions."

Croom arrived at the Veranda restaurant about five minutes late to a waiting audience and a line of callers for his weekly show. Croom was greeted with an ovation from fans in the restaurant and fielded 14 calls, including 12 from well-wishers. Two callers, who appeared to be on the verge of making disparaging comments, were cut off.

"Our fans have been very loyal and supportive," Croom said. "The people who are vocally critical, they're in the minority. I shouldn't have acknowledged that. It won't change anything anyway. So I should have gone on. The bottom line is we've got to get better."

Gators poised to threaten

It was easy to predict that LSU and Auburn would be elite SEC teams this season. Gauging Florida, however, was more difficult.

But Urban Meyer has let Chris Leak do what he does best, which is throwing the football. He's given freshman Tim Tebow just enough exposure to force opponents to prepare for the veer option attack Meyer implemented so successfully at Bowling Green and Utah. He's made freshman wide receiver Percy Harvin a guy that must be accounted for before every play. And he's made wide receivers Dallas Baker, Andre Caldwell and Jemalle Cornelius equal-opportunity threats.

"When we were (at Utah in 2004), we had a great dropback passing game and great option game," Meyer said. "Last year I didn't feel like we had either. Chris is not an option quarterback. That's fine. We understand that.

"But the threat of a quarterback run, which he's very effective when he does do it, is significant because it limits the looks you see on defense."

Eleven Florida players caught passes Saturday in a 42-0 win over Central Florida. Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer admitted his coaches can't possibly prepare the Vols' defense for every play the Gators might run. He said the Vols would focus on Florida's bread-and-butter and hope sound fundamentals help against the Gators' variety.

"You can't possibly practice everything that a team might have done one or two times," Fulmer said. "You hopefully fundamentally can make the adjustments as they come up in the course of the ballgame."

Vols trying to shake somber reality

Tennessee is not only getting ready for SEC East rival Florida Saturday, the Volunteers are also trying to deal with a season-ending injury to cornerback Inky Johnson.

Johnson, who remains hospitalized at UT Medical Center, already has undergone one surgery to repair torn blood vessels in his right shoulder area. He faces additional surgery to correct nerve damage in his right shoulder and arm. He's had trouble moving his upper right extremity ever since a sideline collision in Saturday's 31-30 win over Air Force that landed him in the hospital.

Justin Harrell, the Vols' All-SEC defensive tackle, also was thought to be lost for the season after suffering a ruptured left biceps tendon in the Air Force game. But on Wednesday, Fulmer said Harrell would play against Florida. Doctors said Harrell cannot make the injury worse. And Harrell is not in pain, Fulmer said.

Hogs' McFadden apologizes -- again

For Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, apologies lead touchdowns 3-2 so far this season.

Arkansas' sophomore tailback began this season apologizing to teammates for getting into the late-night Little Rock fight that severely dislocated his left big toe. It required major surgery the last weekend before the Razorbacks reported for August preseason drills.

McFadden then logged two mea culpas in Saturday's 20-0 victory over Utah State, the first because after fellow sophomore sensation Felix Jones rushed from the Aggies' 34-yard line to the 1, McFadden fumbled to Utah State. The second stemmed from a fumble, recovered by Arkansas, charged to freshman quarterback Mitch Mustain. McFadden said it was his fault.

McFadden plans to make some amends for his mistakes now that the SEC season has started.

LSU wants respect in AU series

Perhaps it's rhetoric, but even though LSU has been arguably the league's premier team in recent years, the Bayou Bengals' players feel Auburn is casting a shadow on their team. That doesn't sit well since the teams have split their past six games and LSU has a national title and three SEC Championship Game appearances, numbers Auburn can't match.

"They get more attention if we're ranked over them or they're ranked over us," LSU senior strong safety Jessie Daniels told the Baton Rouge Advocate. "It's always been like that since I've been here."

LSU won 20-17 in overtime last year, but before the bowl season, some were calling Auburn the SEC's best team. LSU won its bowl and wound up the SEC's highest-ranked team at No. 6 in the final AP poll. Auburn, meanwhile, lost to Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl.

"It's just strange to me," LSU offensive guard Will Arnold said. "I don't understand it. I guess we just got lucky and beat them. I feel like we need to go out and prove ourselves to everybody.

"Maybe going out and playing well against Auburn, maybe that will make people see a different LSU team. The one I think we have."

Stafford era set to begin at UGA

With Joe Tereshinski III out for at least four weeks, Stafford is in as Georgia's quarterback. It was only a matter of time anyway.

NFL draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. has already predicted that Stafford will someday be the No. 1 overall pick.

Jennings facing redshirt possibility

The possibility of a redshirt season for Vanderbilt junior tailback Jeff Jennings is growing greater with each passing week. Jennings continues to be slowed after offseason knee surgery.

Before injuring his knee against Kentucky last season, Jennings had rushed for 448 yards and seven touchdowns on 123 carries. Included in that total was a 103-yard effort against Ole Miss in the third game of the season.

Ole Miss game huge for Wildcats

To hear Kentucky fans talk this week, you'd think the Wildcats' home game against Ole Miss Saturday night is the biggest game of the season. And it just might be.

Kentucky hasn't won an SEC opener since Jerry Claiborne led the Cats to a 35-6 win over Ole Miss in 1987. As senior center Matt McCutchan told the Lexington Herald-Leader, "Some of our freshmen probably weren't even born then."

McSwain missing for Rebels

Ole Miss' leading rusher last season, Mico McSwain, hasn't had much of a role in the offense in the first two games. McSwain has rushed for only nine yards and caught two passes for minus-10. The last time McSwain touched the ball against Missouri, it was disastrous. He caught a pass from quarterback Schaeffer, tried to elude tacklers by running in the other direction and lost 16 yards.

"Nothing against Mico, but I don't like running a shovel pass and having a 15-yard loss," Ole Miss offensive coordinator Dan Werner told the (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger. "We want north and south runners and I think he's starting to learn."

Neal's picks

Alabama (-25) 37, Louisiana-Monroe 10; Arkansas (-5½) 21, Vanderbilt 14; LSU (+3) 24, Auburn 17; Florida (-3½) 28, Tennessee 20; Georgia (-17½) 30, UAB 7; Kentucky (-3½) 28, Ole Miss 21; Mississippi State (-11) 27, Tulane 10; South Carolina (No line) 34, Wofford 9.

Last week: 9-0 overall, 6-2 against the spread. For the season: 18-2 overall, 12-5-1 ATS.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

It would really be fun if some history repeated itself. I remember the last time a Miles team started talking about victories against an upcoming opponent and not getting the respect that they deserved

The results

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11-01-2003

Oklahoma State

9

Oklahoma

52

Norman, OK

[AUTaxMan 0]

Of course he did. He's a bammer.

[DKW 86 7,426]

Of course he did. He's a bammer.

Actually NM is an grad.

[AUTaxMan 0]

I'm a Samford grad. Doesn't keep me from being an Auburn fan.

[DKW 86 7,426]

I'm a Samford grad. Doesn't keep me from being an Auburn fan.

Sorry, I see what you mean now.

[tombigbeetiger 223]

McCready should be castrated at the neck

[WarTim 3,456]

Of course he did. He's a bammer.

Actually NM is an grad.

Remember,.....uat=Ole Miss

[Lurking Tiger 62]

http://www.al.com/sports/mobileregister/nm....xml&coll=3

Two weeks of play yield 10 revelations

Thursday, September 14, 2006

I spent the better part of Saturday at the Winking Lizard in the Gateway District of Cleveland.

You know, there was research to be done and I was thirsty.

From that vantage point, here are 10 observations -- most of them related to the SEC -- as we go into Week 3 of the football season:

-- David Cutcliffe might be a potential head coaching target at Kentucky or North Carolina State after the season, but he should stay right where he is. Cutcliffe, Tennessee's offensive coordinator, has done a remarkable job with Erik Ainge this season and the Vols' offense looks nothing like the undisciplined disaster that it was a year ago.

-- However, after watching Ole Miss get mauled by Missouri -- Gary Pinkel mercifully called off the dogs, er, Tigers in the third quarter -- it's obvious Cutcliffe left Ed Orgeron with just about nothing to work with in Oxford. What a mess. Did Cutcliffe not recruit anyone? An Ole Miss alumnus from Atlanta was sitting a few stools down from me Saturday and he had a hard time watching that. The good news for him is he won't remember the beating his Rebels took from Mizzou. Remember: Beer before liquor, never sicker.

-- The same applies to Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State. Does anyone believe Croom wouldn't beat Tommy Tuberville in a battle of X's and O's on a chalkboard?

I quit reading his trash right there.

[AUesquire 1]

I have no problem with anyone who would pick LSU this weekend. Heck, I scared to death of this game and they've got an incredibly talented team. But, what's all the crap I've been reading about a lack of respect and Auburn overshadowing them etc. Last night, I'm flipping channels and it's LSU this and LSU that. As a matter of fact, they were showing that special about last season after Katrina.

We as Auburn fans, are the ones usually harping about a lack of respect. How could anyone playing for them or as a fan of LSU feel like we overshadow them?

[AUTaxMan 0]

Let's stop being scared and start being confident.