The Saban Effect: NCAA looking into slowing down offenses

If a rule comes into place in the 2014 season which would allow teams to substitute within the first 10 seconds of the 40-second play clock (therefore reducing the speed at which an offense can operate), we should call it The Saban Rule. Why? Looking ahead to seeing the days in which his man-mountain defenses would be completely exhausted by lighter, faster offenses (see the second half of the Auburn vs Alabama game for details), Coach Saban complained in September: “All you’re trying to do is get lined up [on defense],” he whined to ESPN.com in September, ESPN’s website reported today. “You can’t play specialty third-down stuff. You can’t hardly scheme anything. The most important thing is to get the

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Arkansas’ new DC takes a bow

Robb Smith, Arkansas’ new DC, took the bow on Monday as he was introduced by head coach Bret Bielema. Smith comes from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he was the NFL team’s linebackers’ coach in 2013. Former DC Chris Ash has gone to Ohio State to be the Buckeyes’ DC – despite the Razorbacks going 3-9  in 2013 and lost every game from September 21st onwards. “I’ve been able to watch Robb Smith grow in the profession, and I know he’ll bring in an attacking defensive philosophy that is built specifically to stop offenses in the SEC”, Bielema said in a release. “Robb has been promoted time and time again at every place he’s been. With his background, he captivates a

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Vols starter arrested

Star Tennessee Vols linebacker AJ Johnson and defensive linesman Danny O’Brien were arrested on alcohol-related charges in Knoxville on Saturday night, it was reported. The report says: “Johnson was charged with purchasing alcohol for a person underage and resisting arrest. O’Brien, a reserve nose tackle as a redshirt freshman last season, was charged with criminal impersonation, resisting arrest and underage consumption of alcohol.” The report was at former UT player Dontavis Sapp – who was also arrested. “We have very high standards and expectations within our football program at the University of Tennessee, and appropriate action will be taken,” Butch Jones, Tennessee’s head coach said. BOTTOM LINE: Johnson was a star for the Vols last season, making over 100 tackles. He

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Florida starter to transfer

This news isn’t exactly hot off the press, but Florida safety Cody Riggs is going to leave The Swamp when he graduates in the spring. It is not known where the player is going to be transferring. Florida coach Will Muschamp said: “Cody Riggs and his parents came to me and he’s going to finish up in May and transfer to another school to finish his last year of eligibility. He wanted a fresh start. And I appreciate his contributions to Florida.” Riggs is aiming to play more at cornerback than at safety to give himself more of a chance at a NFL career. Last season Riggs, a junior, was about the only Florida starter not to be injured, starting

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UGA Offensive Linesman in transfer turnaround

Georgia offensive linesman Mark Beard has had a change of heart and will remain in the program, according to multiple reports. Apparently Beard had a change of mine and asked Georgia head coach Mark Richt to take him back. He’ll be part of the battle to be a starter for the Dawgs in 2014. Bulldawg Illustrated quoted Georgia head coach Mark Richt as saying: “Sometimes making a decision and living it out are two different things.  As I’ve mentioned before the same thing happened to me.  As a player I told my coach I had decided to leave for what I thought were all the right reasons.  But after a few days, I realized it was a bad decision and asked to come back.

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Georgia offensive tackle to transfer

Georgia offensive tackle Mark Beard is graduate and transfer from Athens, the school has announced. The junior – who earned his sociology degree early- appeared in 14 games in 2012 after playing in Junior College. Beard was considered to be a candidate to be a starter in 2014, but now he’s eligible to play somewhere else immediately in 2014, wrote Macon Telegraph reporter Seth Emerson on Twitter.

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Clowney leads SEC Defensive NFL Combine invitees

Jadeveon Clowney leads the list of SEC defensive linesmen going to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, starting February 19th. Here’s the list of defensive players: Defensive linemen Ego Ferguson (LSU), Dominique Easley (Florida), Kony Ealy (Mizzou), Ed Stinson (Alabama) and Dee Ford are the five SEC names that jump out at you. Jadeveon Clowney (DE), South Carolina Kony Ealy (DE), Missouri Dominique Easley (DT), Florida Ego Ferguson (DT), LSU Dee Ford (DE), Auburn Anthony Johnson (DT), LSU DaQuan Jones (DT), Penn State Daniel McCullers (DT), Tennessee Jeoffrey Pagan (DE), Alabama Kelcy Quarles (DT), South Carolina Chris Smith (DE), Arkansas Ed Stinson (DE), Alabama Robert Thomas (DT), Arkansas Linebackers For the linebackers, CJ Mosley (Alabama) and Ronald Powell (Florida) both stand

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Alabama leads NFL Combine invite list

National Signing Day was Wednesday. And now NFL Combine Invite List Day is Thursday. OK, so we made up the ‘NFL Combine Invite List Day’, but today the NFL really did release breakdown of how many people had been invited to the Combine, which runs from February 19-25 in Indianapolis. The SEC had 71 players invited, smashing the second-placed ACC with 48. The Pac-12 had 45, Big Ten 36, Big 12 had 25. Every team in the SEC had at least one player invited. Eight SEC schools had at least eight. Alabama had 12 players invited, LSU had 11, Florida had 8 and Missouri had 7. Position-wise, SEC had 28 offensive and defensive linesmen invited to the combine, dwarfing B1G’s

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For Whom The Cowbell Tolls: Mississippi State’s National Signing Day?

Bearing in mind that we managed to get ‘They Might Be Giants’ in an article, we thought it important to get some Ernest Hemmingway in this article…..and that’s why we’ve gone with the ‘For Whom The Cowbell Tolls’ headline….(apparently it’s also the name of a Mississippi State blog, so we’re not exactly first in with this one…) Anyway, despite many people thinking that he would be out of a job before the 2014 National Signing Day, Dan Mullen’s victory in the Egg Bowl over Ole Miss and subsequent bowl win over Rice has now put a smile or two on the faces of the Cowbell Army. The Jamoral Graham signing was great because, as ESPN said – he can play

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Karma? How was Arkansas’ National Signing Day?

Bret Bielema isn’t much liked in SEC corridors. Maybe it’s because he was Wisconsin’s head coach. Maybe it’s because of his wife and her tweeting ways. Maybe it’s because he hasn’t won a SEC game. Anyway, Arkansas fans will certainly like him a lot better after a solid National Signing Day – which included getting a player to come play for him instead of National Champion Florida State. That was the case with 4-star athlete JoJo Robinson . Robinson had been pursued by LSU, Auburn and Miami, too. They think he might be the next great UA punt/kick returner. We can’t wait. Anyway, Bielema has always been pretty good at getting running backs, and he added one more in Juan Day.

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