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SOUTH CAROLINA: Spring practice started Friday. Chris Smelley, Tommy Beecher and Stephen Garcia are battling at quarterback. New defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson will be trying to improve the run defense. South Carolina was No. 110 last season in run defense. Some of the midterm enrollees who need to have a productive spring are defensive back Akeem Auguste, safety Antonio Allen and running back Eric Baker, all from Fork Union Military Academy.
Linebacker Jasper Brinkley is up to 270 pounds of muscle. The defensive line has plenty of depth with 11 players available in the spring and 16 in late July when five freshmen come in. Defensive end Eric Norwood returns. He took two fumbles back for touchdowns against Kentucky last October. The major question at defensive end is who replaces the departed Casper Brinkley, who is out of eligibility? Senior Jordin Lindsey is listed on the pre-spring depth chart. Junior Nathan Pepper, who tore his knee up in the S.C. State game last Sept., will likely not be able to participate in spring. The offensive line must improve after allowing the second most sacks of any team in the league and rushing for the fewest yards per game in the SEC. ALABAMA: The Tide practiced for two days then took off for spring break. Chris Rogers and Javier Arenas are working to replace Simeon Castille at cornerback. The offensive line is going through a lot of reshuffling. Evan Cardwell has worked at right guard after holding down the center position last year. Antoine Caldwell and redshirt freshman William Vlachos worked at center. Jonathan Lowe worked with the backs after being switched from receiver last year. AUBURN: The Tigers are on spring break this week. Safety Mike McNeil, a sophomore, is working his way to a starting position after Eric Brock graduated and Aairon Savage moved to cornerback. Byron Isom took over and played well for right guard Chaz Ramsey who is out with a back injury. GEORGIA: Linebacker Marcus Washington will likely miss the 2008 season after having shoulder surgery. He played in 11 games last year and started six. Akeem Dent and Darryl Gamble are possible replacements. Washington had 40 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Only Georgia has placed in the top ten in recruiting every year since 2002. The next closest team is Florida. During that time the Bulldogs are 64-15, the best record of all the SEC teams. Recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner deserves much of the credit for Georgia’s success. The defense dominated in Monday’s practice coming off of spring break. Senior defensive end Jarius Wynn drew praise from coach Mark Richt for his spring production. Jeff Owens, Dannell Ellerbe, Quintin Banks, Asher Allen, Ramarcus Brown and Rennie Curran have also caught his eye. Logan Gray is back at practice. He will not cross train at receiver and quarterback. Instead, Richt said he will remain at quarterback. LSU: The defensive line returns a lot of depth, but the back seven, linebackers and secondary, return only two starters-senior linebacker Darry Beckwith and senior free safety Curtis Taylor. Harry Coleman, who did a good job after replacing safety Craig Steltz in the national title game, is holding down the top strong safety spot. The team is off until March 24 due to spring break. Chad Jones, who is vying for the starting spot at safety, is splitting time between football and baseball. Tiger junior Brandon LaFell and senior Demetrius Byrd are the starting receivers. Redshirt freshman quarterback Jarrett Lee is ahead of junior Andrew Hatch. The two best looking running backs are sophomore Richard Murphy and redshirt freshman Stephen Ridley. Junior Keiland Williams and Charles Scott have lacked consistency. TENNESSEE: The Vols might be interested in using cornerback Eric Berry on both sides of the ball due to his athleticism. Junior Demetrice Morley is getting comfortable again in the secondary after missing last year due to academics. OLE MISS: Spring practice began Thursday. All practices are open the public. The biggest questions for Houston Nutt this spring might be on offense. Is Jevan Snead ready to take over coordinator Kent Austin’s offense? The leading returning rusher is Dexter McCluster, who has 63 yards on six carries. Cordera Eason, perhaps the best running back, has ten carries in his career. Jeremy McGee, an UCLA transfer, is expected to challenge him. JUCO running back signee Enrique Davis is also coming in. Michael Oher anchors the offense line and five receivers return. The Rebel defense should carry the team with the top 14 tacklers returning. Greg Hardy and Marcus Tillman return at defensive end and Ted Laurent and Peria Jerry are back at tackle. Ashlee Palmer, Jamie Phillips and Tony Fein are back at linebacker. Former Auburn starter Patrick Trahan joins the team this summer after a stint in junior college. Jamarca Sanford and Johnny Brown are back at safety. FLORIDA: The Gators begin spring practice this week. How will quarterback Tim Tebow adjust to a new season after winning the Heisman Trophy? How will receiver Carl Moore and lineman James Wilson do on the field after controversy off the field? Wilson, who was in uniform and participated in practice, said he was open to staying. Has the defense matured? Can they get pressure up the middle with John Brown, Torrey Davis, Justin Trattou, and Lawrence Marsh? How will the defense change under Charlie Strong who is the sole defensive coordinator? Gator position changes: Maurkice Pouncey from guard to center; Michael Pouncey from guard to defensive tackle, Jerimy Finch from outside linebacker to strong safety, Ahmad Black from cornerback to safety, Trattou from defensive end to defensive tackle and Steven Wilks from outside linebacker to fullback. Maurice Hurt is struggling with bone spurs in his foot. It is not clear if Chris Rainey has been granted a medical redshirt. The starting secondary was Joe Haden and Wondy Pierre-Louis at cornerback and Major Wright and Dorian Munroe at safety. Receiver Deonte Thompson was a pleasant surprise on day one. MISSISSIPPI STATE: The Bulldogs are back on the field after spring break. Coach Sly Croom said backup quarterback Chris Relf received more work. He was not happy with the defensive tackling. KENTUCKY: Former Wildcat coach Guy Morriss is the new offensive line coach at Kentucky State. ACC FOOTBALL FLORIDA STATE: Jimbo Fisher has said all positions are open for competition. Drew Weatherford, who has started 33 games, is the No. 1 quarterback, but Fisher is hoping Christian Ponder will push Weatherford. On the offensive line, Ryan McMahon and Rodney Hudson will likely nail down the starting spot at left tackle and Daron Rose, depending upon academics could sew up one of the starting tackle spots. Evan Bellamy, Will Furlong, Antwane Greenlee and Brandon Davis are battling for the other positions. Furlong, a redshirt freshman, opened spring practice as the starting right guard. Greg Carr and Preston Parker (double duty at receiver and running back) have the most experience at receiver, but Bert Reed and Taiwan Easterling are looking for playing time. Richard Goodman will be limited while he continues to rehab a severe ankle injury. Antone Smith is the only running back on scholarship after Russell Ball and Jamaal Edwards transferred. Preston Parker will also line up at tailback. The defensive line was ahead of the offensive line in day one. New defensive lineman Dumaka Atkins and Emmanuel Dunbar had three sacks. MIAMI: The Canes are back from spring break. Junior receiver Khalil Jones made some two big catches in the scrimmage. Coach Randy Shannon said all three quarterbacks are doing better than expected. He also said the quarterbacks are making the right checks at the line of scrimmage. Receiver Jermaine McKenzie (deep ankle bruise) is back at practice after having his protective boot removed. Freshman Allen Bailey continues to get reps with the first team at defensive end. The spring game is set for March 29. N C STATE: The Wolfpack began spring practice Tuesday. Coach Tom O’Brien said quarterback Daniel Evans had shoulder surgery and will miss spring practice. Redshirt junior Harrison Beck, redshirt sophomore Justin Burke, and redshirt freshman Russell Wilson all took snaps Tuesday. BOSTON COLLEGE: Brian Toal returns for his senior season after missing last season due to shoulder problems. Toal, who carried the ball close to the goal line, is back this spring. GEORGIA TECH: Josh Nesbitt will battle Calvin Booker, the Auburn transfer, at quarterback. Nesbitt averaged 6.4 yards per carry as a freshman. VIRGINIA TECH: Running back Branden Ore had been kicked off the team. His sophomore season he gained 1,137 yards and last season he gained 992 yards. UCF: Redshirt freshman receiver Ereck Plancher died after workouts on Tuesday. TERRELLE PRYOR: The five-star quarterback from Jeanette, Pa., announced his decision Wednesday at noon to go to Ohio State over Michigan. SEC HOOPS This year’s tournament might have been the most excited, perhaps too exciting when considering the F-2 tornado that hit the Georgia Dome Friday night. On the court action was terrific. Eight games were decided by six points or less and seven games were decided by four points or less. The higher seed won six times. TENNESSEE (29-4) No. 2 seed vs. American (21-11), No. 15 seed on Friday in Birmingham. This is only the fourth time in 15 years that a team with a No. 1 RPI was not a No. 1 seed. Tennessee had a No. 1 RPI going into the conference tournament. Tennessee was 8-2 in its last 10 games.
GEORGIA (17-17), a No. 14 seed lost to Xavier (28-6), a No. 3 seed Thursday in Washington, D.C. A key to the loss was Xavier getting to the free throw line 29 times compared to Georgia’s five in the second half. Georgia had to change from an aggressive man-to-man to more of a zone to protect the players in foul trouble. For the game, Georgia had more field goals and rebounds. A No. 14 seed was the worst ever for a SEC Tournament champion. Kentucky had a No. 12 seed in 1985.
ARKANSAS (22-11) No. 9 seed vs. Indiana (25-7) No. 8 seed on Friday in Raleigh. The Hogs have been one and done in the NCAA Tournament over the past two seasons.
VANDERBILT (26-7), a No. 4 seed vs. Siena (22-10), a No. 13 seed on Friday in Tampa. In 1993, Vandy was a No. 3 seed.
KENTUCKY (18-13), a No. 11 seed lost to Marquette (25-9), a No. 6 seed on Thursday in Anaheim, Calif. Joe Crawford scored 35 points in the loss. The loss was Kentucky’s first in a NCAA opener since 1987. Ramel Bradley added 19 points. This was Kentucky’s lowest seed since they were a No. 12 under Joe B. Hall in 1985. Nine teams with a better RPI than Kentucky’s No. 57 failed to make the field.
FLORIDA: The Gators beat San Diego State, coached by Steve Fisher, in a first round game Wednesday night in the NIT. Florida faces Creighton Friday night at home. Marreese Speights had 18 points and six rebounds and Nick Calathes had 16 points with five rebounds and five assists. Jai Lucas had eight points and four assists. OLE MISS: Ole Miss beat U.C. Santa Barbara Wednesday night to advance to Monday’s game against Nebraska. Chris Warren scored 16 points in the win over UCSB. Ole Miss won 13 straight games and achieved a top 25 ranking earlier in the season. The Rebels were beaten in overtime by Georgia exactly 10 years to the day that Bryce Drew and Valparaiso beat Ole Miss on the last shot of the game in the NCAA Tournament. The Rebels need to improve their conference road record (1-7). The only win came at Georgia. Ole Miss would have been 9-7 instead of 7-9 except for three point losses to Auburn and South Carolina, both winnable games. Still, coach Andy Kennedy has won 20 games in consecutive seasons. The Ole Miss RPI was in the mid-40s and they had five wins over teams in the top 50 RPI. SOUTH CAROLINA: Sophomore guard Devan Downey set a new SEC single season steals record in the loss to Tennessee in the second round of the SEC Tournament. Downey, who had five steals against the Vols, collected 103 steals on the season, one more than Clint McDaniel of Arkansas in 1995. Interesting, two more of the top five individual season marks are held by another South Carolina player. Chuck Edison, who had 93 steals in 2000 and 91 in 2002. The Gamecocks could be much improved next season under a new coach. The only seniors on the team will be Zam Fredrick and Branden Conrad. The team’s best players freshman Mike Holmes, redshirt sophomore Dominique Archie and Downey, a sophomore, return. Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel has been mentioned as a possibility to replace Dave Odom. There were rumors in Atlanta during the SEC Tournament that Gamecock officials might try to see if former Texas Tech coach Bobby Knight was interested. Tulane coach Dave Dickerson could also be in the mix. LSU: For only the second time in nine years, the Tigers failed to win a game in the SEC Tournament. The Tigers finished, 13-18, their worst record in 10 years. LSU has won only 12- of- 35 games in the SEC since making a Final Four appearance two years ago. It could get worse before it gets better because forward Anthony Randolph and Marcus Thornton, who had 17 games of 20 points or more, are likely to test the NBA waters. There are reports that LSU has contacted Southern Cal coach Tim Floyd. Virginia Commonwealth coach Anthony Grant, North Texas coach Johnny Jones, a former LSU point guard, and interim coach Butch Pierre could all receiver interviews. Former LSU coach John Brady has taken a job with Arkansas State. AUBURN: The Tigers failed to reach the postseason for the fifth straight season after losing Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament. Coach Jeff Lebo is hoping to have a full roster after playing only six players for most of the season and losing 11 of their last 13 games. Kortvotney Barber (broken hand), Boubacar Sylla (foot) and Josh Dollard (medical condition) are all expected back next season. ALABAMA: The Tide was left out of the postseason for the first time since 1999-2000. Coach Mark Gottfried awaits his fate after another underachieving season. Tide assistant Philip Pearson has been mentioned as a candidate for the Jacksonville State job. Alabama played well in the tournament, but the, 1-1, record doesn’t mask the problems this team had the entire season. The Tide was 18- of- 42 from the arc in two SEC Tournament games. Alabama did show some improvement in guarding the three- point line. The Tide, ranked No. 11 (35%) in the SEC in three- point defense, allowed just 11- of- 46 shooting (23%). Richard Hendrix had 37 points and 21 rebounds in the two contests. Alabama hit only three field goals in the last 10 minutes of regulation before heading to overtime in the loss to Mississippi State. The Tide has lost four straight games to Mississippi State.
BRENT BEAIRD IS A SPORTS WRITER FOR MYCLAYSUN IN ORANGE PARK, FLA. HE ALSO WRITES FOR RIVALS.COM, SAMSPORTSLINE.COM AND GATOR BAIT MAGAZINE. HE CAN BE HEARD ON SPORTS RADIO 1010 XL.
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