Quotes from the first practice day

… courtesy of Chip Towers’ blog–

First, the silly:

On whether there is a discipline problem, or the perception of one: “There’s not a discipline problem on our team at all, I don’t think. We’ve had some guys make some mistakes. Some may say it was minor. I don’t know. Everything they do that’s against the rules or against the law is wrong. Some are more minor than others, certainly. I’m not alarmed our shocked these guys are making some foolish mistakes. Some of them are relatively innocent, some of the scooter stuff.

“For instance, I know Caleb [King] knew his license was suspended. He had no idea you had to have a license to ride a scooter. Now he should have known that; we probably should have told him. But we only had him about a week. We had Scooter 101 in our team meeting yesterday. We did have that.

“NaDerris [Ward] was sitting behind a car that was indecisive abnout what to do at an intersection where the light was green. He decided to go around like I think most everybody in America would probably do. He gets stopped. But he did have a valid license from California but he didn’t have it on his body.

“Nonetheless, those are laws and they were broken. Those things happen. But I’m not alarmed at all. I think we have a very disciplined football team. I think we have a great bunch of guys that really care about doing things right. I’m excited about them… . And now we have a Scooter Policy.”

I wonder who taught “Scooter 101”.

Next, the hopeful:

Brandon Miller: He said he’s probably up to 80 percent as far as knowing everything he has to know and being able to play full out on instinct. He said that’s up from 50 percent at the start of spring practice to 70 percent after that. So he picked up 10 percent over the summer.

How often does somebody ask him about the transition to MLB? “Every day. Every person I see asks me about it. But it’s good. It’s an honest question. I don’t mind.”

I really don’t mean this in a snide way, but I’d like to see Miller play on instinct. He’s physically gifted. But he’s been very quiet on the field to date.

Finally, that Thomas Brown is one tough son of a gun.

Thomas Brown, on the tailback competition and coming back from an ACL injury in nine months: “Anytime somebody new comes in [Knowshon Moreno, Caleb King], they’re going to be the hot topic. I don’t pay any attention to that. For me it’s more about proving I’ve recovered from the ACL. I’m back and better than ever. I’m not going to be timid and there’s not going to be a lack of mobility.”

Did he consider sitting out this season: “I never thought about it at all. I did my own research and I was able to determine that every ACL injury is different. To just tear the ACL like I did, 6 or 7 months and you’re pretty much done with rehab. Now it’s time to get ready to play.”

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UPDATE: David Ching, as always, does his thing with an interview with Mike Bobo and a complete transcript of Coach Richt’s presser.

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Out of the mouths of babes

Georgia Tech redshirt freshman Demaryius Thomas had this to say about his team’s “revamped passing scheme” after Tech’s first day of fall practice:

“A lot more routes than the two or three we had last year,” Thomas said when asked what will appear most different to fans between last season and this. “More over the middle, more of a lot of things.”

Two or three routes for receivers?  Gee, dog, I wonder why.

Reflections

Kentucky’s Rich Brooks is feeling confident these days, after coming off an 8-5 season with a win over Georgia and a bowl victory.

In fact, it sounds like he’s just getting started.

“I would be extremely disappointed if we don’t make some noise in this league and have a chance to compete in the (Southeastern Conference) race,” coach Rich Brooks said.

Brooks says this may be the best college team he’s ever coached — including an Oregon squad he led to the Rose Bowl…[Emphasis added.]

To this Dawg fan’s ears, that sounds eerily reminiscent of a now infamous quote from another head coach who once said, “I’ve been waiting 55 years to be the head coach of a football team that has this much potential, and I guarantee you that we’re going to get it done.”

At least Rich Brooks has never fought with anyone on his coaching staff.

If the Dawgs aren’t dogs…

Now this is an interesting approach to analyzing the SEC’s 2007 season:

Methodology: What I did was try to see what each team’s record was against the line for the past 5-years. For example, in the first week, LSU travels to Starkville to play Mississippi St. Obviously the betting lines aren’t out, but I’m going to try and guess who will be the favorite. In this particular example, I think it’s a safe assumption that LSU will be favored. In the past 5-years, LSU is 12-1 on the road when in conference when they are favored, while Mississippi State is 2-15 in conference when they’ve been the dog at home. It’s fairly crude, but we’re talking projections here baby! It ain’t rocket science! Therefore in this example, I’d predict LSU to win the game.

He’s got Georgia rolling to an 11-1 (7-1) year. Needless to say, I’ll take it. Here’s his basic analysis:

Georgia gets a couple of tricky games upfront against Oklahoma State & South Carolina, but both are at home and I’m figuring Georgia to be favored in both. Georgia is 12-0 the last 5 years against non-conference teams in which they are favored giving them the edge over the Cowboys and they are 13-4 as favorites in home conference games while South Carolina is 4-10 when they are a dog on the road in conference. That sets up Georgia well at 2-0 to start the year. Week 4 is very tricky as Georgia travels to Alabama. I think both teams will be 3-0, but the win over South Carolina is big and Georgia plays Oklahoma State as a non-conference opponent early on while Bama takes on Western Carolina. If Georgia is the favorite, they are 12-1 in conference road games they are favored in while Alabama is 1-6 in home dog conference games. From that point on, Georgia has pretty smooth sailing. They do travel to Knoxville to take on Tennessee, but I think the Vols are 2-2 heading into that game and will be the underdog at home. [All emphasis added.]

In essence, to have these trends hold up, Georgia needs to get off to a good start in the first two games. Lose one or both, and all bets are off. So to speak…

(h/t College Football Resource)