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Thursday, July 24, 2008
Florida wants Tebow ready for Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hoover, Ala.-One of the neat things about SEC Media Days is that you finally get a glimpse of what players and coaches actually like about their team and what still concerns them going into preseason practice. Sometimes you have to read between the lines but there are some nuggets of information to be had. Here are a few from Wednesday’s first session.
1. Gators want Tebow healthy for Georgia: It is a fact that in 2007 Florida quarterback Tim Tebow had one of the greatest individual seasons ever (32 touchdowns passing, 23 rushing). But it is also a fact that Florida feels it lost to Georgia (42-30) not because of the motivational lift the Bulldogs got from storming the field, but because Tebow was banged up and nowhere close to 100 percent.
Only time will tell if the Georgia-Florida game on Nov. 1 will be the Top 5 showdown that many anticipate. But this much is certain. The Gators want a rested and healthy Tebow when they get to Jacksonville.
Florida coach Urban Meyer told me that his Heisman Trophy winner won’t have to carry the ball 210 times as he did during the 2007 season. Keeping Tebow healthy and fresh will be a priority in 2008.
“The good news is that we now have some options,” Meyer said. “Tim ran the ball as much as he did last season because that is what gave us the best chance to win.”
Also understand that a lot of Tebow’s carries last season came when he would get impatient in the pocket and just take off. OC Dan Mullen tried to fix that but old habits are hard to break. Tebow told me that he has spent a lot of time working on that in the off-season.
“I’m trying to really concentrate on making my reads and staying in the pocket,” Tebow said. “It’s what I need to do if I’m going to be a better quarterback.”
Here’s a prediction and it’s an easy one: Tebow’s running numbers will be down because, unlike last season, Florida can go four deep with quality running backs (Kestahn Moore, Emmanuel Moody, Chris Rainey, Mon Williams). And that doesn’t count incoming freshman Jeffrey Demps, who has speed to burn.
2. LSU will be ready for Auburn’s spread offense: LSU opens the season with Appalachian State, Troy and North Texas before playing its first SEC game at Auburn on Sept. 20. All three of those schools run some version of the spread offense, which Auburn installed last December before the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
Coincidence? I don’t think so.
“We like our non-conference schedule because it will give us some good looks at the spread,” Miles said with a slight smile.
Consider this:
Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards probably runs the spread better than anybody in the country. Some say he is better than West Virginia’s Pat White.
Auburn’s new offensive coordinator, Tony Franklin, was in the same position last season at Troy, which will continue to run his offense. LSU will watch game film of Troy to get ready for Auburn and then get to see the same offense live.
Last season North Texas hired Todd Dodge, a Texas High School legend, as their head coach. He installed a spread offense that he used to go 79-1 and win five state championships at Southlake Carroll High School. After going 2-10 last season North Texas is expected to improve dramatically I 2008.
3. LSU’s D-Line will be even better: LSU lost the nation’s best defensive player, tackle Glenn Dorsey, off a defense that won the national championship last season. But LSU coach Les Miles said Wednesday he expects his defensive line will be even better in 2008. Here’s why. Dorsey is gone but he will be replaced by Ricky Jean-Francois, who only played in two games-the SEC championship game and the BCS championship game—last season because of suspension. He was the defensive MVP in both.
“We feel good about Ricky Jean and we feel good because Charles Alexander (6-3, 293) is back,” Miles said. “He has never played a full season.” Alexander started the first three games at tackle in 2008 but was lost for the season with a knee injury.
“I really think we’re going to have one of the better defensive lines out there,” Miles said. “We feel good about it.
Yet another nugget from Miles. He said Wednesday that he is not ruling out the possibility of playing a true freshman at quarterback. Jordan Jefferson was the Louisiana 5A offensive player of the year last season.
“We just think he is something special and we’ve made the commitment to take a strong look at him in camp,” Miles said. “It could be that because of his talent, we will have to find a way to get him on the field.”
Either Andrew Hatch or Jarrett Lee is expected to be the starting quarterback when LSU opens the season against Appalachian State, the three time Division I-AA champions who knocked of Michigan, Miles’ alma mater, in the 2007 opener.
4. Commish says SEC TV network still on the table: SEC Commissioner Mike Slive insists that the idea of the league forming its own television network is not dead. A former attorney, Slive deftly handled the questions about the SEC’s current negotiations with CBS, ESPN, Raycom, and FSN South for the new television deal that will start with the 2009 season.
“Our goal is to have those negotiations completed by this fall,” Slive said. “All options, including and SEC TV network, are still on the table.”
Understand what is going on here. The SEC has a trump card to play in these negotiations in order to get the best possible deal. That card is the possibility of the league forming its own network like the Big Ten and Mountain West have done. If the dollars are right, the card goes back into the SEC’s pocket to be used in a future negotiation. If not, the SEC plays the card. I’m betting that the TV boys come up with the cash. SEC football is just too popular right now.
5. Croom learned a lot in 45-0 loss: Mississippi State started the 2007 season with a 45-0 loss to LSU in Starkville. In that game, Croom said he took some chances he shouldn’t have taken because he didn’t have enough confidence in his team to stop the Tigers. The result was six interceptions and a blowout.
“I told my guys after the game that I didn’t have enough faith in them and that I would not do that again,” Croom said.
From that loss Mississippi State went on to beat Auburn, Kentucky, Alabama, and Ole Miss to finish 8-5. Croom was named the SEC coach of the year.
“I learned something that day that made me a better coach,” Croom said. “If I want my team to believe in me I have to believe in them.”
Some are skeptical that Mississippi State can win eight games for the second year in a row. Croom is not.
“Our defense is better. Our quarterback (Wesley Carroll) was a freshman last season. We have more speed and more guys who can make plays,” Croom said. “I expect us to take a step forward.”
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