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Monday, April 14, 2008
Florida, Meyer put Georgia on notice
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Okay. The Masters is over and we’re heading down the stretch on spring football. So what did we learning over the weekend?
1. Florida puts Georgia on notice: Understand this about Florida coach Urban Meyer. He does everything for a reason. And I believe Meyer was putting Georgia on notice with last Saturday’s spring game. Chris Rainey, a red-shirt freshman from Lakeland, Fla., clocked a 4.24 in the 40 this spring and with the ESPN cameras rolling, put on a move for a touchdown that was shown on Sports Center again and again. You can bet that every defensive coordinator in the SEC, including Georgia’s Willie Martinez, will spend part of his summer figuring out what to do when OC Dan Mullen puts Rainey and Percy Harvin on the field at once. I think it was Meyer’s way of letting Georgia know that the Gators will have something to say about who wins the SEC East.
2. Alabama drew “only” 78,200: The 92,000-plus that Alabama drew to the 2007 spring game was impressive but it could be explained: New coach, new enthusiasm, perfect spring day, etc. Drawing more than 78,000 last Saturday was even more impressive to me. The Crimson Tide struggled down the stretch last season as teams figured out how to exploit their weaknesses. Nick Saban preached patience and process and that can be a very tough sell. Alabama has the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class coming in but the reality is that the Crimson Tide is still a couple of years away from competing for the championship. But things are clearly moving in the right direction in Tuscaloosa. That’s why 78,200 were there.
3. Jonathon Crompton will have elbow surgery, but he’s still the guy for UT: Tennessee officials said that the quarterback will have minor elbow surgery after spring practice, which will end with Saturday’s Orange and White game. But last Saturday Crompton, the junior from Waynesville, N.C., appeared to be doing just fine, completing 17 of 22 passes in a scrimmage. There is some talk that B.J. Coleman, the red-shirt freshman from Chattanooga, could push Crompton for the starting job. Don’t buy it. There is no way Phillip Fulmer is going to start an inexperienced quarterback on the road at UCLA on Sept. 1. Barring injury, Crompton will be the guy when the season starts.
4. Cullen Harper is the real deal: A lot of Clemson fans out there thought Harper, the rising senior from Alpharetta, was just keeping the quarterback seat warm for Willy Korn, the plumb of the 2007 recruiting class. But I’m here to tell you that the son of former Georgia Bulldog Jeff Harper is a big time ACC quarterback and proved it again in last Saturday’s spring game. Harper completed 13 of 18 passes and had a couple of touchdowns. Last season he was the ACC’s most efficient passer (27 TD to only six INT) while completing 65.1 percent of his attempts. This guy simply knows how to play the position. Young Mr. Korn will just have to wait his turn.
5. Looks like Ole Miss FINALLY has a quarterback: Ever since Javan Snead transferred from Texas, Ole Miss fans have been waiting to see if they finally had another quarterback they could embrace. It’s been a long dry spell since Eli Manning left for the NFL. It appears Ole Miss has its guy. Snead completed 20 of 26 passes during the spring game and he appears to have some pretty good weapons. Snead will get more help this summer when running back Enrique Davis arrives. You know Houston Nutt is going to run the ball first, which should make Snead even more effective.
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