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Friday, August 1, 2008
It’s reality check day for Alabama’s freshmen
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s Friday. We’re 27 days from the start of the season and there is already a ton of stuff we need to talk about:
1. Today is reality check day for Alabama’s freshmen: Since last February they have been known as the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class. Today Alabama’s freshmen have to put on their shoes and realize that high school is over. It’s time to play with the big boys. There is obviously talent there and guys like receiver Julio Jones are going to have to grow up in a hurry. They need to play now because Alabama is thin at several positions like wide receiver and linebacker.
“We will always welcome a guy who can help us win,” senior offensive lineman Antoine Caldwell said. “But everybody has to prove themselves once they get out on the field.”
Translation: That high school rep doesn’t mean much in the heat of two-a-days at this level. Welcome to the SEC, rookie.
Alabama opens its season on Aug. 30 against Clemson in the Georgia Dome.
2. Stephen Garcia needs to stay out of the spotlight: For a guy who has never played one down of college football, Stephen Garcia has gotten a lot of ink in his 18 months at South Carolina. He caught a huge break Thursday when the University decided to reinstate him for the beginning of practice. Garcia, who had three run-ins with the law in 15 months, was supposed to be banned from team activities until August 15. Now he’ll get to practice.
But young Mr. Garcia won’t be talking to the media anytime soon.
“Stephen does need any more attention,” coach Steve Spurrier said on Thursday.
This is good for Garcia and here’s why. The word I get is that Garcia has had a tough time handling the hype that came with his recruitment. Part of his bad behavior was a reaction to that pressure. He needs to be a backup quarterback for a while. But if South Carolina struggles at the quarterback position in the first two games with N.C. State and Vanderbilt, Spurrier may need for Garcia to play when Georgia comes to town on Sept. 13. Stay tuned.
3. Auburn will play two quarterbacks: When I sat down with Auburn OC Tony Franklin on Wednesday he made it clear that he would like for one of his two quarterbacks—Kodi Burns or Chris Todd—to lock down the starting job in August. “It’s easier if it’s one. It’s easier in practice because he would get most of the reps and the game planning is easier,” Franklin said. “I’d like for one of them to evolve and say that this was the guy who is going to take us. But I really don’t foresee any way that they both don’t play. That’s because they are both good.”
Two nuggets here:
Todd, a transfer from Texas Tech, had a dead arm in the spring. “He says it’s 100 percent now but I’m going to wait and see for myself,” Franklin said. “Because when his arm is 100 percent it’s pretty special.”
Burns is not a natural passer but he is getting better in a hurry. In scrimmages before the bowl game he completed 38 percent of his passes. In the first half of the spring it was 55 and in the last two scrimmages he was over 70 percent.
4. Hart a good hire for Alabama: Dave Hart had a very successful career as Florida State’s athletics director. But Hart was also known to have his differences with FSU’s strong-willed president, T.K. Wetherell. In that battle the president always wins and Hart was not so gently pushed out the door.
But the former basketball player at Alabama is returning to his alma mater as the right-hand man to athletics director Mal Moore. It is a very good hire for all parties involved and here’s why. Hart is a great detail man and will handle the day-to-day operations of that department very well. Moore is good at rallying the Alabama family to open up their wallets when the need arises.
Was Hart brought in to replace Moore? It might seem that way but consider this: Every other year somebody is saying or writing that Mal Moore is on his way out. All I know is that Alabama’s facilities used to be some of the worst in the SEC. Now they are among the best. That has all happened on Moore’s watch.
5. Kentucky QB race may solve itself: Mike Hartline and Curtis Pulley came out of spring practice in a dead heat to replace Andre Woodson as Kentucky’s quarterback. But Pulley, a 6-4 junior, was cited for marijuana possession in June and then was caught speeding and driving with a suspended license in late July.
The real problem with Pulley’s transgressions was that he did not inform coach Rich Brooks immediately. Brooks found out about it from a television reporter when he got back last Friday from SEC Media Days. Not good.
Pulley has had his issues at Kentucky. He actually won the job from Woodson in the spring 2006 only to lose it. He will lose playing time. He is also running out of chances with his head coach.
“It’s kind of like if you’ve got money in the bank you can withdraw only so much,” Brooks said of Pulley. “If you overdraw you’ve got a real problem
