SEC BUZZ

THE SCOOP

What to call that Auburn miracle over Alabama?

When the Georgia victory was dubbed ‘The Prayer at Jordan-Hare,’ it made it challenging to come up with a catchy one for the second miracle.

The latest offering, and a good one: “Kick Six.”

One other offering still kicking around, so to speak: “Kick, Bama, Kick,” a takeoff on the famous “Punt, Bama, Punt” victory by Auburn over Alabama in 1972.

Thanks to Jon Solomon of AL.com, there are some similarities, as he caught up with David Langner, the 1972 return star for Auburn.

Langner returned two blocked punts for scores in the final 5 minutes, 30 seconds to rally Auburn from a 16-3 deficit.

Get this: Davis and Langner both graduated from Woodlawn High in Birmingham, Ala. Langner says there will come a time when Davis will find the history difficult.

“I’m going to tell you, it’s going to be hard on him,” Langner told Solomon. “He has to learn to be humble. If you’ve never had a reason to be in that situation before, it’s tough. You make a lot of mistakes. You offend a lot of people. I certainly did, and I regret it.”

Langner, 62, retired just a week ago, and still every day he hears from somebody about “Punt, Bama, Punt.”

PINKEL TO STAY

Missouri coach Gary Pinkel, considered to be on a short list for the University of Washington, said that he’s not a candidate or its coaching job.

“I coached (at Washington) for 12 years, and Don James is my mentor,” said Pinkel, who was an assistant with the Huskies from 1979-90. “I’ll be quite frank: I’m staying at the University of Missouri. I, with the administration’s help, will continue to build a national program in a quest for a national championship. I’m a Missouri Tiger, and I’m going to stay a Missouri Tiger.”

But Washington’s loss of Pinkel could be the gain of an SEC offensive coordinator. The Seattle Times reported that Alabama’s Doug Nussmeier is one of the top targets to replace Steve Sarkisian, who left to coach USC.

Nussmeier and Boise State coach Chris Peterson are said to be the top candidates. Nussmeier served as Washington’s offensive coordinator from 2009-11 before joining Alabama in 2012. Peterson also was a candidate at USC.

GOING TO COURT

Two former Missouri football players are suing the NCAA in federal court over head injuries they suffered decades ago, joining a cascade of recent lawsuits against college sports’ governing body related to traumatic brain injuries.

Tony Van Zant and Sharron Washington filed the suit Tuesday. Both played for Missouri from 1987-91. Van Zant is running backs coach at Division II Lincoln University.

Both say they suffer headaches, depression and other ailments. The lawsuit seeks medical monitoring and testing for former college players with similar head injuries and didn’t advance to the NFL.

Similar lawsuits have been filed in recent months in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota and Tennessee by ex-players from schools such as Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, Oregon and Vanderbilt.

HE SAID IT

“I realized it after the game because people were storming the field and I saw signs that had ‘We want Bama’ crossed out and they put in ‘Auburn.’” — Missouri quarterback James Franklin on how he learned that Auburn won the SEC West