Tag: Smith

SEC Season Preview: Can The Joker take Kentucky from the SEC basement?

Joker Phillips’ job at Kentucky can’t be easy. After all, they seem to always live in the shadow of their band of basketball brothers, and never seem to come out. Even when they posted relatively successful numbers in 2006 – 2009, no-one particularly appreciated them, and even now it’s as though Randall Cobb went straight from high school to Green Bay without playing for Big Blue in between. Well, Joker wants to make right on all of that, and have a team that can not only own hated rival Louisville, but do some damage in the SEC East. Can this be his year? LAST SEASON Last season the Kentucky Wildcats were pretty awful, finishing the year 5-7. That might not

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Maxwell Smith named as Kentucky’s starting quarterback

Joker Phillips has made Maxwell Smith his starting quarterback for the 2012 season. Smith, who threw for 819 yards and 4 TDs (and 4 INTs) for the Wildcats last year, was named earlier this week. The new QB told the Courier-Journal: “I heard about it this morning. Coach Joker and Coach Sanders were together and they called me in, and that’s when I found out. I felt good, felt great. That’s what I’ve been working for since I was a little kid, to get a job to start on an SEC team. It might not have been SEC at the time; you know I’m a West Coast guy. It might’ve been Pac-10 at the time, but I’m glad to be

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SEC Presason preview: Can Hugh Freeze turn around Ole Miss?

In the days of Eli Manning it might have been a truism to talk about the Rebels and say: “Ole Miss by damn!”, but last season, there was only one ‘damn’ to describe this team: Damn awful. But can they improve and at least break their SEC losing streak – and give hope to Rebels fans who haven’t had a decent team since 2009? LAST SEASON Ole Miss went 2-10 last year under Houston Nutt, who was summarily given his marching orders a month before the season ended – a move that sparked some outrage. And it was no bad thing. The Rebels didn’t lose many close heartbreakers – they were generally laughers (bar BYU (loss by 1) and Arkansas,

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SEC Prediction: Will Arkansas ‘Hog’ The SEC West?

Between Bobby Petrino and Houston Nutt, the Arkansas Razorbacks have put together winning seasons for seven years out of the last 10, including a pretty wonderful 11-2 run in 2011. This year, many people are expecting nothing to change except the fact that Bobby Petrino’s out (penalized for his philandering ways), and beloved John L. Smith’s in with a 10-month contract. If Arkansas is half as a good as Smith is as a soundbite, they might make a run for the title! In fact, the AP and USA Today like the Hogs so much that they have a Top 10 ranking to start the 2012 season. But can they be better than that, or will the John L. Smith roadshow fall by

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SEC Meetings: What to Expect From Media Days 2-3

A few months after the SEC Meetings in Florida, we’re getting a play-off in college football – and it’s all to the SEC’s advantage, because if that group is going to sit and talk about ALL schedules – not just non-conference schedules – then it’s going to be SEC all the way. So anyway, here’s what we expect the coaches to talk about at the SEC Media Days from now on in (sorry about missing Mssrs Pinkel, Spurrier, Franklin and Sumlin, but we’ve been away (but you will be caught up on what they said). We expect: Nick Saban to talk about Alabama’s recruiting, re-tooling after another National Championship, and of course – as happens every year – oversigning. And how

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Recruiting: Arkansas lands top Oklahoma recruit

Arkansas has added its seventh commitment of its 2013 class, ArkansasSports360 has reported. Khari Harding, a three-star recruit from Oklahoma ranked 12th amongst players in his position in the state by Yahoo Rivals, was heavily recruited by Indiana before decided to play for the Razorbacks. “I just like the physicality in the SEC,” Harding told the Oklahoman. “That’s part of me, being physical and coming down and hitting.” He said that they were on the top of his list for a while. He added: “I’ve been really interested in them. I went there and I liked the coaches, the fans, the facilities and what they’re doing around there.” Harding was in the Top 10 of the Oklahoman’s in-state recruits.

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