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TENNESSEE: The Vols had their spring game in front of nearly 29,000 fans Saturday. The White beat the Orange, 38-16. Quarterback Jonathan Crompton was 13- of -20 for 266 yards with three scores and one pick. Crompton hit receiver Denarius Moore for a 74-yard scoring pass to open the game. Receiver Gerald Jones had three catches for 47 yards and he also threw a 17-yard touchdown pass. Jones also lined up at quarterback with Crompton still on the field. Vol Linebacker Rico McCoy and Ellix Wilson combined for 12 tackles. Safety Eric Berry intercepted a pass and returned it 25 yards. Demetrice Morley also picked off a pass. The Vols struggled to run the ball this spring. Lennon Creer had 10 carries for 59 yards and Tauren Poole had 12 carries for 55 yards.
The Vols struggled to run the ball this spring, partly because the coaches knew what Arian Foster can do. Offensive coordinator Dave Clawson has added elements of the spread offense to the Vols’ traditional I-formation. Crompton had his elbow scoped and should return to team workouts in June. Offensive lineman Anthony Parker and Poole both had their left knees scoped. SOUTH CAROLINA: The Black beat the Scarlet, 37-34, in the annual spring game. Both Tommy Beecher (9- of -30 for 131 yards and a score) and Chris Smelley (13- of- 30 for 219 yards and three scores) threw a combined eight picks in the spring game. Smelley threw five picks in the first half and three in a seven play stretch. Cornerback Mike Newton returned a Beecher pass 82 yards for a score. Brian Maddox, who gained 87 yards on 13 carries in the final scrimmage, was the team’s most improved running back this spring. Kicker Ryan Succop was named the MVP of spring practice. Assistant coach Ray Rychleski has solidified the special teams. The defense will play more man-to-man. Nearly every starter returns on defense. Eric Norwood was shifted to linebacker and Cliff Matthews to defensive end. Freshman receiver C.C. Whitlock will see playing time this season. Two freshmen receivers from last year, Chris Culliver and Mark Barnes have moved to the secondary. The secondary is the strongest unit of the defense. Akeem Auguste, a freshman, was impressive this spring at cornerback. The offensive line still has several question marks. Coach Steve Spurrier told a booster club Tuesday night that if the team played this week, Beecher, a redshirt junior, would be the starting quarterback. Beecher, a math major, has nearly a perfect grade point average. He has not started a game since he was a senior in high school. OLE MISS: Linebacker Allen Walker was arrested early Saturday morning and charged with a DUI. He had a breakout spring performance. Walker has been suspended indefinitely. Senior safety Jamarca Sanford was the first player arrested during Coach Houston Nutt’s tenure back in January. Ole Miss officials are planning on installing an 84 x 48 foot wide HD video board at the north end of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium before the beginning of football season. Nutt said defensive tackle Jerrell Powe’s academic status looks promising. Powe is down to 342 pounds after weighing 381 earlier in the year. In 2012, the Rebels play Georgia Tech, Texas, Florida and Georgia. MISSISSIPPI STATE: Coach Sly Croom is scheduled to make 15 stops in the next two weeks beginning in Birmingham Monday. ARKANSAS: The Arkansas spring game is Saturday. Cornerback Darrell Glasper, a 5-foot-8 walk-on, intercepted quarterback Casey Dick (26 of 38 for 309 yards and three scores and two picks) twice in Saturday’s scrimmage. In the last two scrimmages consisting of more than 100 plays, Dick has connected to 63% of his passes and averaged 300 yards. He has been first team cornerback since Jamar Love strained a quad last week. Receiver London Crawford caught nine passes for 111 yards and Carlton Salters caught nine passes for 91 yards. Tight end D. J. Williams caught five passes for 86 yards. Tailback Michael Smith, who is 5-foot-7, carried 21 times for 141 yards and two scores. Nathan Dick was 12- of- 21 for 146 yards as the second team quarterback. Alex Mortensen was 8- of- 20 for 107 yards mainly against the second team defense. Louisville was No. 97 in total offense in 2003 before Petrino. In his first year in 2004, they were No. 5 in total offense averaging 488 yards per game. KENTUCKY: The White team beat the Blue team, 23-22, in the annual spring game in front of 8,500 fans. Quarterback Curtis Pulley was 12- of 26 for 134 yards with one score and one pick. He also ran for 82 yards on 15 carries. Mike Hartline was 11- of- 28 for 124 yards with one touchdown and one pick. He also ran for 38 yards. Will Fidler was 2- of- 5 for 57 yards. The receivers dropped numerous passes. Receiver Dicky Lyons, Jr. broke out of a slump to catch 10 passes for 148 yards and two scores. ALABAMA: For the eighth straight year, the Tide will not have a player taken in the first round of the draft. The last Tide players to be drafted in the first round were Chris Samuels and Shaun Alexander in 2000. It’s possible that Alabama might not have a player drafted in the top 100 players for the second straight year, the first time this has happened since 1969-1971. Since 2001, Alabama has dropped from first in all-time SEC first round picks to third with 34. Tennessee is first with 39 and Florida is second with 36. LSU is fourth with 30. LSU: The hiring of Joe Alleva as athletic director met with glee in an editorial from the Duke Student newspaper which blamed him for mishandling the Blue Devil lacrosse scandal and a 2005 steroids scandal involving the basketball team. Tiger Associate Athletic director Verge Ausberry, after making up future LSU schedules, that the SEC will play more Thursday night games and Labor Day night games. Will Ferrell (6-2, 220), a linebacker from Florida A & M High, has verbally committed to the Tigers over Illinois and Maryland. Les Miles was asked this week about the availability of his quarterbacks this summer. He said he wanted all of them including freshman Jordan Jefferson to be on board. Miles expressed concern over who would man the right tackle position and the starting cornerbacks, possibly Jai Eugene and Chris Hawkins. Miles didn’t commit to naming a starting tailback. He said Richard Murphy had a great spring, but Charles Scott (ankle) and Keiland Williams are in the race. Defensive back Chad Jones hasn’t returned to the baseball team after spring practice due to academic issues. FLORIDA: Quarterback Tim Tebow, who improved on his pocket presence and decision making, picked up his play toward the end of spring practice. There is no clear No. 2 quarterback between John Brantley and Cam Newton. Brantley has a broken bone in his right hand that has set him back further. He broke it in the second scrimmage before the spring game. The tailback position is five deep even though Kestahn Moore is still the starter. Emmanuel Moody improved toward the end of spring, but was not overwhelming. Chris Rainey, who is up to 178 pounds, showed flashes of brilliance. At receiver, redshirt freshman Deonte Thompson showed promise. Cornelius Ingram and Aaron Hernandez were impressive enough to warrant more plays involving the tight ends. Receiver Carl Moore missed time with an ankle injury and Louis Murphy struggled with headaches and staph infection. Coach Urban Meyer has praised the play of freshman receiver Justin Williams. Receiver Percy Harvin’s rehab could be lengthy because he has to beware of infections. Maurkice Poncey made a smooth transition from guard to center. Meyer said James Wilson, who appears to be staying, underwent minor knee surgery. The expected starters are Phil Trautwein, Jim Tartt, and the Pouncey’s and Jason Watkins. Carlos Dunlap had a breakout spring, but none of the tackles—John Brown, Troy Epps and Torrey Davis—showed enough consistency to get the coaches excited. Matt Patchan, who was moved from the offensive line, made plays at tackle. Meyer said he will stay on defense. He also said freshman defensive tackle Omar Hunter will play this year. Brandon Spikes, Dustin Doe and Brandon Hicks had good springs, but A. J. Jones, Ryan Stamper and John Jones missed too much playing time. Jones could be back at strong side if his wrist heals. Seven players can play cornerback. Joe Haden emerged as the best cornerback. Haden and Wondy-Pierre Louis are the starters. Free safety Major Wright causes himself problems by trying to always make the big hit, but he and Dorian Munroe are the starters. Jamar Hornsby earned some time at safety. GEORGIA: The Bulldogs play at Arizona State in September. ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter has had minor surgery to correct a nagging thumb injury this week. The surgery is expected to help Carpenter, who has started 31 games and thrown for nearly 8,000 yards, improve his velocity and accuracy. Aaron Murray (6-1, 200), a Rivals 100 quarterback from Tampa (Fla.) Plant, chose Georgia over his childhood favorite Florida Thursday morning. Georgia already has a commitment from quarterback Zach Mettenberger from Watkinsville, Ga. LIBERTY BOWL: This is the 50th anniversary of the bowl game. The game has been set to kickoff on Friday, Jan. 2, which would be the latest start ever. The game matches the C-USA champ against a team from the SEC. Last year, Mississippi State beat UCF. So the bowl lineup for Friday, Jan. 2 is the Cotton Bowl at 2 p.m., the Liberty Bowl at 5 p.m. and the Sugar Bowl at 8:20 p.m. ACC NOTES GEORGIA TECH: Coach Paul Johnson doesn’t put up with loafing in practice. He makes the players do up-downs for every loaf. The Yellow Jackets will throw the ball this season even though the run to pass ratio in the spring game was 75-25. In the spring game, the offense fumbled nine times (seven times in 70 option plays) and scored only seven points, but they players believe it will work. NORTH CAROLINA: Coach Butch Davis and defensive line coach John Blake should be credited with preparing defensive tackle Kentwan Balmer for the NFL draft. MIAMI: The Canes have had a first round draft pick for 13 straight years. The trend might continue if either defensive end Calais Campbell or safety Kenny Phillips is selected. In a recent interview, Coach Randy Shannon said the quarterbacks and receivers made strides during spring practice. Shannon lavished praise on Allen Bailey, a freshman who moved from linebacker to defensive end. He said Bailey, who weighs 290, could weigh 310 or 315 by the fall. Shannon said the eight freshmen who came in during spring will impact the team immediately. He also said linebacker Eric Houston is moving to fullback. FLORIDA STATE: Bobby Bowden said walk-on receiver Louis Givens, who is from Wolfson High in Jacksonville, was one of the more impressive walk-ons this spring. Bowden said in a booster speech in Orange Park, Fla., Monday night that the coach-in-waiting idea has given him a lot of peace of mind since he knows his assistants will be taken care of after he is gone. Bowden has no plans to work at the school after he retires. He said the quarterback situation has narrowed after the spring performance of Christian Ponder and D’Vontrey Richardson. Starter Drew Weatherford missed most of spring after having his knee scoped. Bowden said Everette Brown could be the next outstanding defensive end. In talking about the return team, he compared A. J. Alexander to Peter Warrick. Preston Parker will be prosecuted for a petty-theft charge in Leon County because his arrest this week on separate charges of marijuana (a misdemeanor) and concealed weapon (felony) violates the terms of his diversionary program. He was put in the program in 2006 after he tried to steal a DVD from a department store. Parker completed part of his program but has yet to pay the $200 court fees. Bowden also said at a booster meeting this week that he agreed with the firing of radio analyst Peter Tom Willis because he said the position should be similar to a “PR man”. Willis called FSU’s offense in 2005 “a high school offense”. VIRGINIA TECH: Quarterback Sean Glennon threw for 119 yards and two scores in the annual spring game. Tyrod Taylor was 11- of- 19 for 67 yards and one pick. MARYLAND: The Terps have their spring game this Saturday. Former Kansas State assistant James Franklin has done a good job as the new offensive coordinator. The Terps have implemented a new 3-3-5 stack defensive formation. Jordan Steffy, Chris Turner and Josh Portis are fighting for the quarterback position. Steffy has done well in Franklin’s system that has a lot of three step drops and shorter passes to the receivers. CLEMSON: Coach Tommy Bowden said freshman defensive end Da’Quan Bowers’ playing time will be determined by his conditioning. Bowers, who is listed at 267, has gained up to 280 pounds. Linebacker Courtney Vincent’s status will be re-evaluated after exams. Vincent, who was suspended for a violation of team policy and missed all of spring drills, played in all 12 regular season games last season. He also has a pending DUI charge. BOSTON COLLEGE: The BC spring game is this Saturday. Quarterback Chris Crane appears to be the replacement for Matt Ryan. Crane (6-4, 236) is considered a pocket passer with some mobility. Defensive end Brady Smith has been kicked of the team permanently after he was charged with raping another student. He started 12 games last year and made 29 tackles. BOWL GAMES: A total of 32 bowl games were played last year. The NCAA Bowl Certification Committee will consider adding three more games: The Congressional Bowl, St. Petersburg Bowl and The Rocky Mountain Bowl. This means there would be 35 bowls and slots for 70 bowl teams. Last year there were 71 eligible bowl teams. SEC HOOPS MISSISSIPPI STATE: Bulldog guard Jamont Gordon has declared for the NBA draft, but he will not sign with an agent. TENNESSEE: Tyler Smith, who led the Vols in assists and rebounds, is returning for his senior season. McDonald’s All-American guard Scotty Hopson also signed with Tennessee this we
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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