I'm far from the first person who's speculated that Bobby Petrino could end up at Kentucky if the Joker Phillips regime continues to tank.
Speaking of Petrino and bad coaching hires, wonder what the folks down in Florida are thinking about Will Muschamp. The bloom seems to have faded from that rose a bit, and perhaps the Gators could've had Petrino when they were trying to find a replacement for Urban Meyer. Not to beat my chest or anything, but my advice to Florida at the time was to call up Petrino and tell him he had a blank check.
Petrino would've restored the Gators' prominence in short order with access to all that talent, fused with his brilliance as an offensive tactician. Of course there are probably plenty of pretty co-eds in Florida's athletic department, so maybe he'd have ended up disgraced no matter the location.
Anyway, back to the Kentucky situation: John Clay, longtime columnist at the Herald-Leader of Lexington, says the drumbeats of doom are getting louder around Phillips.
Some eye-opening facts:
*UK has not posted a winning record in SEC play since 1977. That's going on 35 years.
* No coach in the 132-year history of Kentucky football has lasted in the job for more than nine seasons. Not even Bear Bryant, who coached here for eight (1946-53).
* Kentucky hasn't been to a legitimate top-tier New Year's Day bowl since the early 1950s.
Moving over to Knoxville, check out these quotes from defensive end Darrington Sentimore in this article:
Sentimore called North Carolina State a "great team." He said the offensive line also was great.
"That's pretty much it," he said.
"Quarterback, average. Receivers, average. The offensive line is pretty good," he said. "I've played against some good quarterbacks, and I don't think (Mike Glennon) is as good as the other QB's I've played against ... But I think he's good."
-- Georgia Tech Rivals beat guy Kelly Quinlan posted some interesting nuggets in this update, and not sure if it's accessible to everyone.
Here are some of the more interesting developments:
*Synjyn Days still at QB will be #2 for VT game. Getting some A-back work as well. Vad Lee will be available as well, but I still am not sure if they will put him in. Vad will probably be the number two for Presbyterian and Tevin's snaps will be limited in that game, but Days is the more rationale choice for VT given Vad has never played on the road in that situation.
* Zach Laskey will probably start at VT, he was back on Friday. Sims and Snoddy are next on the depth chart.
* Izaan Cross has been working at NT a lot in sub packages. He could play a significant amount of snaps there in Blacksburg. If Cross wants to have a NFL future it will be as a DT so this is a good way to showcase his skills.
* The team had a good simulated scrimmage on Friday in the stadium and PJ gave them this weekend and the staff the weekend off. Justin Thomas apparently put on a show as Logan Thomas. The staff is very excited about Justin and they just need him to put some weight on and learn the offense better, but it has been said he has the best grasp of the offense as a true freshman since Jaybo Shaw.
* Defensively the biggest issue is inside linebacker and playmaking from that spot. The staff has been pleased with the rest of the defense, but they need the two ILBs to step up in order for the defense to be successful.
* Omoregie Uzzi has had a tough time in camp the last few weeks and looks like an old NFL veteran in terms of having trouble moving around. The staff hopes to get 20-30 snaps a game out of him this year. That is why they haven't moved Will Jackson or Shaq Mason around.
-- The SEC is allowing replays of controversial plays to be shown inside stadiums. Good. The more accountability, the better.
Getting these refs out of some stadiums alive might be a different matter, though.
-- At Auburn, Rivals beat guy Jay Tate chronicles Dee Ford's and Avery Young's accelerated path to relevance.
Avery Young is making quick work of college football.
The true freshman arrived on campus this summer, but already has earned the first start of his college career. How did he make up ground so quickly?
Teammates say he's a physical freak. Despite arriving at 6-foot-6 and 295 pounds, Young has enough lateral quickness to remain in front of Ford and Lemonier along the perimeter.
"It takes a good player to stick with those guys," said left tackle Greg Robinson, a redshirt freshman who will be making his first college start Saturday as well. "He's real swift on his feet, which you don't see from a lot of guys. He works hard, got in his playbook and did what he had to do."
Young may be a surprise, but his talent never was a question.
He was a four-star prospect whom Rivals.com ranked as the country's No. 9 tackle. Young narrowed his choices down to Auburn, Georgia, Florida, Miami and Alabama, but waited until National Signing Day before announcing his decision.
He arrived on campus in May without much in the way of excess weight. His fitness was tested throughout fall camp, but the freshman clearly passed with flying colors.
Now he's a starter.
"A guy that big isn't supposed to be that light on his feet -- but somebody forgot to tell him," assistant coach Jeff Grimes said. " Coming from a high school offense that's quite different from what we're doing, it's been a challenge (He's) learning how to play the game at this level, but he has all the tools."
And Pat Forde breaks out his first Forde-Yard Dash of 2012.
College football is back, and for that The Dash is both thankful and freshly amazed at the sport’s enduring allure.
It is scandal-proof. It is idiot-proof. It is bigger than the coaches who have been disgraced, bigger than the players who have been suspended, bigger than the rampant greed and hypocrisy that cling to the game’s bloated underbelly.
We know this now more than ever. Because in the aftermath of the most tragic scandal of them all, at Penn State, and despite football’s myriad and increasingly obvious flaws, we still breathlessly count the minutes to kickoff.
Why? Because the seasons are too compelling and the games are too good. It’s that simple.
LW
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