Around the SEC links

• James Franklin says if you're tired we'll pull you off offense not special teams.
• Arkansas Head Coach files for bankruptcy.
• Gator line rushes to protect.
• Vanderbilt trying to find #2 back.
• Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin cops-out on punishment.
• Robert Nkemdiche not solid to Clemson? Says he's 3 and done.
• Gurley tries to stay on straight and narrow at UGA.
• Running back Alvin Kamara names top 2.
• Nick Saban rants.
• Shaw could be gametime decison.
• Gator coaches studying 3 times as much film as normal.
•  Vanderbilt won't pass up long ball.

The NCAA is Investigating Jovon Robinson's Recruitment

This is all coming from Roy Adams though it has been separately confirmed that the NCAA is indeed investigating running back Jovon Robinson's recruitment. To what extent I do not know but here is the information I have gathered.

The NCAA has been at the high school of the current Auburn signee since Tuesday allegedly investigating a couple of things. They have discovered a discrepancy in Javon's transcript. Apparently a school official changed the transcript giving Jovon the grades to qualify to attend college. That official has since retired. If found to be true, Robinson would be determined to be ineligible to play for Auburn this year.

There are also questions about a brand new $30,000 Dodge “sports car” that Robinson has been seen driving around in. There is an inquiry into the situation and the NCAA is suspicious that all of the parties involved are not being completely upfront with them. Supposedly money was transferred into a guardian's account which was used to pay for the car. The guardian is telling the NCAA he/she inherited the money.

It's something worth watching and I thought it was news-worthy so I brought it to you here. Who knows what, if anything, will come of this given the NCAA's reputation for turning a blind eye on similar situations before.

While I'm at it, follow our new twitter account @BIYLF so that you don't miss a single one of our articles.

UPDATE: A guidance counselor has resigned from Woodale High School after admitting to creating a false transcript for Robinson. Robinson is being held out of practice until further notice.

College Football is Finally Here

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Yes, loyal readers, I awoke to the same smell you did. I sat straight up in my bed (still wearing last evening's attire. Whoa what a night) and the air had a familiar aroma. Then I remembered....It's friggin' college football time!

Tonight, the No. 2 LSU Tigers travel to Starkville to face the unranked Mississippi State Bulldogs.

It's likely to not be a very close game, but it is the first SEC match-up of the year. We will finally see what these LSU fans have been clamoring about regarding Matt Flynn and be able to judge for ourselves whether or not he is the "real deal". Granted this aint Florida, but it is an SEC team and anything can happen.

It is time for tailgating, vulgar displays of beer drinking, beautiful southern college girls, and last but not least, royal ass whippings handed to your most hated rival. (one can hope, right?)

So pick up that 12 pack of your favorite choice beverage, call in a pizza on your way home from work. And tune in to ESPN tonight at 8:00 Eastern Time to see some SEC action.

Thank god it's finally football time.


Sab's prediction:

This one won't be as close as the final score will dictate. Expect MSU to come strong out of the gate, but succumb eventually to the superior talent of the Tigers.

Final Score: 34 -10

One Will Shoulder the Load

From left to right, runningbacks LaMarcus Coker, Arian Foster, and Montario Hardesty

There were many concerns for the Volunteer Nation headed into fall practice. Who is going to step up and be the guy at right tackle, which of the new receivers is going to separate himself from the rest and demand a starting spot? The only thing, it seemed, that wasn't a concern was whether or not there would be enough talent at the running back position.

LaMarcus Coker had just come off a year which saw him run for nearly 700 yards and scoring 5 touchdowns while not even starting most games, not playing at all in many of the early games, I would add, and averaging a healthy 6.4 yards per carry.

Montatio Hardesty would be one year removed from a severe knee injury that clearly hampered him in 2006, and fresher than ever.

And Arian Foster had been getting all kinds of praise throughout the Spring, gaining many hoorahs from the coaching staff and Phillip Fulmer in particular for his effort, his work ethic, and his determination to excel. Many speculated that the praise rained on Foster was intended to motivate the younger, and more prone to mishap, Coker. Speculation which looks all the more founded considering the situation Coker now finds himself in.

Just before Fall practice began Fulmer announced the indefinite suspension of LaMarcus Coker for a violation of team policy. Inside information has revealed that most likely a drug test discovered marijuana in his system. He has been ordered to rehab and his return to the team is conditional and the length of his absence indeterminable.

So the weight then falls on the two aforementioned backs and true Freshmen to try and make up for the loss of Coker. No small task to say the least. But I am of the opinion that the third running back is going to see very few carries by the time it is all said and done for one key reason: Arian Foster is perfectly poised to have a break-out year.

Foster is the prototypical NFL rusher at 6'1" and 225 lb.s and he has proven that he can be durable.

After taking over the starting position in 2005 for the injured Gerald Riggs, Foster proceeded to run for nearly 150 yards each of the last five games and looked like the next great thing at running back at the University of Tennessee.

He was a preseason second-team All-SEC pick coming into 2006 but he injured his ankle in the second game of the year against Air Force and was plagued by the injury for several weeks afterward. He finally regained his form in the Outback Bowl vs. Penn State only to fumble on a key drive at the opponents 12-yard line in a 10-10 tie. The Nittany Lion's Tony Davis recovered the fumble and returned it 88 yards for a touchdown. Penn State won the game 20-10.

After the game Foster said "I feel like I let my team, the coaching staff, and everybody that came on this trip down. I put it on my shoulders. It's going to be a chip on my shoulder for next year." Exactly the reaction you would want from a player with Foster's up-side and he is staying true to his word.

Instead of hanging his head Foster has used the game as motivation and is more determined than ever to play at a superstar level in 2007. He has a picture of the ill-fated fumble that he keeps in his locker and looks at each time he leaves for practice for motivation.

"I don't remember working this hard in the off-season." Foster has said. "I worked myself to death this season. Last year was tough. I'm over that. That's the past, and I'm just ready to kick it into gear and go to California."

One of the factors that has me convinced Foster is back to his 2005 form and is going to be a featured back is that, despite Coker playing extremely well last year and despite his big-play potential, he couldn’t beat out Foster in the spring. Foster cemented himself first on the depth chart with an impressive showing in the Spring game when he rushed for 63 yards on eight tries.

“This is why he’s No. 1,” Cutcliffe said. “He runs the football well. He breaks tackles. He’s got enough moves to make you miss.

“He’s a heckuva pass protector and a heckuva receiver. That’s what you are looking for in an every-down back.”

Don't be surprised to see this year's Vol team resemble teams of old when they would hand the ball off almost every play, demonstratively driving down the field in a dominant fashion. Foster is the perfect fit for David Cutcliffe's offense and he will be a star in the 2007 season.

On an interesting note, Arian Foster did not give himself any credit whatsoever for the 63 yard performance in the Spring game. So was it his offensive line he credited? Was it the lead blocking of the H-backs? None of the above. It was all Spencer Douglas according to Foster.

"I'm Spencer Douglas. There ain't no Arian here. I changed my name about two weeks ago. I just changed it.” It seems he has adopted an alter-ego akin to Clinton Portis' noted role-playing.

When asked after the spring game where he thought the offense was right now, Douglas replied “They're probably in the locker room because we just had a spring game.”

A Tribute to Arian Foster