By
Brian Harbach
The SEC Bach-Story will be a weekly SEC recap of all the big happenings from the previous weekend. This will be posted every Monday morning so be sure to look for it each week. In order to eliminate all confusion, the Bach in Bach-Story is pronounced like back (Back to the Future, The Empire Strikes Back, Back in Black), you get the picture.
As the first Monday in August has arrived it is hard to hide the excitement of the upcoming SEC season. Just weeks away from the the start of the season it is time to take a look at where the conference is at for the start of two a days. The SEC Bach-Story format will stay the same all through the season; email me with any comments or suggestions. Here we go…
The Weekend That Was
College football in the SEC is back, the whistles, the coaches, the fans watching pre-season practices, college football is back and the countdown to game-day has begun. We have been through spring practice and player led workouts over the summer, now players are back practicing with the coaches and the season is nearly here.
The Weekend That Wasn’t
The top three Prep Schools players in the country signed with SEC schools this past February, but two of them will not be on campus until January at the earliest. Wide Receiver DeAngelo Benton signed with LSU and Offensive tackle Jermaine Johnson signed with Auburn this past February, but neither player qualified academically. Both players are trying to get their grades and test scores straight for the spring semester, but will not be a part of SEC Football in 2008. The third player who was eligible to play this fall is Ole Miss’ Enrique Davis; he has a chance to make a big difference for the Rebels offense.
The Weekend That… What the Heck
The Coaches Poll came out early Friday and for the first time in probably 20 years Duke did not receive a vote. For those not aware, Steve Spurrier has voted Duke #25 on his ballot in the first poll of the season since he has had a vote. Some media members have given him a hard time for doing this and that is ridiculous. This was Spurrier’s way of showing appreciation to a school that gave him his first opportunity to coach in college football.
It is disappointing that he was likely pressured into not voting for Duke this season because it is done more often then you think. We aren’t privy to the actual coach votes, but is it hard to assume that 2 of Oklahoma’s 3 first place votes came from coaches with the last name Stoops? Would it surprise you if every Pac 10 coach had voted for USC #1 (they received 14 first place votes)?
Just because Spurrier votes Duke and everyone knows he is doing it, doesn’t mean other coaches are giving their own league a pat on the back or putting other teams they play higher in the rankings to help out their own team. This stuff happens, it isn’t going to stop, so just give Duke their vote back and stop caring when Spurrier does it.
The Weekend That Will Be
Pads, helmets and hitting. This week will probably have mostly shell drills with helmets and shorts, but come this weekend we should start seeing the true signs that football season in the SEC is upon us. Players smacking each other trying to earn their spot on the field or just solidifying the spot they already have. It can’t get here soon enough.
Big Man on Campus (BMOC)
Jerrell Powe After three years of trying to get eligible at Ole Miss Jerrell has finally been cleared to play football in the SEC. Just a couple years ago this kid was some recruiting services #1 high school player in the country until his academics caused him to drop. He has been at Ole Miss for a year trying to get his grades up and become eligible to play on the football team. Last week that dream came true. It is unknown how much of a difference he will make for the Rebels this year, but no matter what he does on the field he deserves a pat on the back for the work he did off of it. Great job Jerrell, welcome to SEC Football.
Player Now Doing Charlie Work (PNDCW)
As a note to those who do not know what “Charlie-Work” is, do yourself a favor and start watching It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (the episode called “Dennis and Dee go on Welfare” explains it perfectly). Anyways, the player who should now be doing Charlie-Work as punishment this week is Kentucky Quarterback Curtis Pulley. Pulley plead guilty last week to speeding to go along with his other off-season transgressions and now backup QB Mike Hartline will go into pre-season practices as the #1. Pulley is too talented not to earn the starting job; he actually won the starting job in 2006 over Andre Woodson only to lose it later. The question is if he can get back on the right track in order to get back on the field as a starting quarterback in the SEC.
Top 5 SEC Heisman Candidates)
1) Tim Tebow (Florida)
2) Knowshon Moreno (Georgia)
3) Matthew Stafford (Georgia)
4) Arian Foster (Tennessee)
5) Percy Harvin (Florida)
4 Downs with the SEC)
First Down – Pre-Season Quarterback Battles
It looks like there will be a couple battles once 2 a days get going at the quarterback position. Auburn, LSU, Kentucky and South Carolina all seem to be waiting to see who is going to step up to lead their team in 2008. It is very surprising that the two favorites for the SEC West (Auburn and LSU) have the most important position on the team up for grabs. Stephen Garcia will be back with the Gamecocks just in time (shocking) but Steve Spurrier likes what he has seen from Tommy Beecher and he will be given every opportunity to earn the starting spot.
Second Down – The True Freshmen
The SEC always has great young players that show up and impress once 2 a days get going and this year is no different. Who will be the players that step up, live up to their recruiting hype and become a great SEC player this season. Big name guys like Julio Jones (Bama), AJ Green (Georgia) and Enrique Davis (Ole Miss) should get looks early and possibly make a name for themselves on the August practice fields. High school is over for these kids, these players won’t be heroes on the team in August, but if they work hard now they give themselves the opportunity to be heroes in November.
Third Down – New Coordinators
If the coach is the backbone of the program, the coordinators would have to be the arms and legs. There was a lot of turnover in the SEC this off-season and there are a lot of new names and old names taking over at different schools. Auburn is replacing Al Borges (fired) and Will Muschamp (took over DC job at Texas) with OC Tony Franklin (former Troy/Kentucky OC) and DC Paul Rhoads (former Pitt DC). Bo Pelini has moved on from LSU to coach the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Major Applewhite left Alabama and has been replaced with Jim McElwain (Former Fresno State OC). With all the new blood in the coordinator ranks which ones are going to step up and make a difference in the SEC?
Fourth Down – It isn’t getting any easier
Can anyone other conference claim 4 teams with a chance at a national championship? Can any other conference claim 4 teams that have a chance at a conference championship? The SEC has 4 solid contenders for a national title in Auburn, Florida, Georgia and LSU. It could be argued that as many as 6 different teams could make it to Atlanta with a chance at a conference title. The SEC doesn’t seem to be getting less competitive; it seems to become more competitive each year. Better coaches, better players and tougher out of conference games make the SEC in 2008 something special to watch.
Of course this will column will become more driven by the games and players once the season gets closer, the format won’t change, but the content should be a little more fun once we have games to talk about.
What do you think? If there are any additional topics you want to see in the SEC Bachstory E-mail
me Brian Harbach
The SEC Bachstory, August 3, 2008
Harbach's Top 5 SEC Offensive Players by Position, July 27, 2008
Harbach's Top 5 SEC Defensive Players by Position, July 27, 2008
Harbach's Top SEC Games, July 13, 2008
Championship Game Hurts SEC, July 6, 2008
Harbach's 2008 SEC Preview, June 30, 2008
Let's Get This Started, June 9, 2008
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