Potential thug alert!

I thought I might provide a public service announcement for the many Auburn fans who, like good Baptists, disapprove of dancing.

You know the kind of dancing I’m talking about, don’t you?

It looks like all that excitement may be swaying a top recruit, A. J. Harmon of Jefferson County, who’s pondering a turn to the Dark Side in the wake of the celebratin’ going on last Saturday:

“My mind and heart is really centering on Georgia,” he said. “I’d say I’m 65 percent sure I’m going to Georgia. I’m going to go to Clemson this Saturday for the Boston College game. Clemson better pull out all the stops. Because all I saw on Saturday with that blackout may have changed my mind.”

“I was 90 percent sold on Clemson before Saturday,” he said. “You could say 100 percent Clemson. But I saw a lot of stuff in Athens I wanted to be a part of.”

“What I saw Saturday was me,” Harmon said. “Georgia played with emotion and let it all out. That’s me. That’s the player I am. A place that’s hype like that is a place for me to go play ball.”

Don’t hate him because he wants to bust a move or two.

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When pundits collide

Stewart Mandel today:

… Hopefully, it [Notre Dame’s 1-9 season] will also serve as a cautionary tale to athletic directors around the country when hiring their next coach: That leading 20- and 30-something professionals to Super Bowls does not automatically render a coach capable of leading 18- and 19-year-old college kids…

… The only potential positive is that maybe now a few athletic directors might give pause before throwing money at the next hot NFL name.

Really?  If you look at Dennis Dodd’s list of the top 10 coaching jobs of 2007 – granted, a dumb list for its inclusion of Lloyd Carr – at a glance, you’ll see that five of the top seven names he’s listed have NFL experience.

A more accurate lesson here for college ADs everywhere:  just because Notre Dame does something stupid doesn’t mean you have to.

And for the rest of us?   Caveat lector, especially when it comes to cherry picking pundits.

Belue to Scott? Never mind.

Today must be Stupid List Day. No one sent me the memo.

Here’s the list of the the top 10 moments involving an SEC team, as compiled by the sports staff of the Mobile Press-Register.

Now I know these guys are homers – Alabama and Auburn are part of seven of the ten moments listed – and I know I am too, but, seriously, how do you compile a list like this and leave off Georgia-Florida 1980?

On the slight chance that they forgot, here’s a reminder:

My old Kentucky stats

Going back to cfbstats.com and looking at some more of Kentucky’s statistical splits, it’s apparent how consistent (in this case, it’s a good thing) UK’s passing game is. Home, road, winners, losers, conference, non-conference – you can pretty much pencil these guys in for 250 or so yards every time they play.

Interestingly enough (and I wouldn’t have expected this), you can say much the same thing about the Wildcats’ passing defense. One way or another, Kentucky looks to yield somewhere in the neighborhood of 190-200 ypg in the air.

Where the splits are far more dramatic come in the rushing game, at least on offense, where there’s a notable dropoff against conference opponents, opponents with a winning record and opponents that are ranked. Some of that may be attributable to injuries, but some of that simply has to be the result of playing better defenses, no?

Some of the differences on the rushing defense splits can no doubt be explained by UK having Arkansas (338 yards gained) as an opponent. But the Hogs are only one of five teams to whom Kentucky has yielded over 200 yards on the ground this season. (By comparison, the most Georgia has allowed an opponent to gain rushing the football is 190 yards, by Tennessee.)

All of that would seem to indicate that if Bobo sticks to his overall game plan of seeking balanced performance running and throwing the ball, he ought to be able to succeed. Georgia’s defense needs to make sure it clamps down on the UK running game (if Rafael Little can’t go Saturday, that would make the job easier). Kentucky is going to get its yardage in the air, and its points (note the tail off in the month to month stats, though). The goal should be to keep UK under 30 on the scoreboard. If the Dawgs do that, the rest should take care of itself.

Any list that would have me as a member…

In case you were wondering, here’s Dennis Dodd’s list of the top 10 coaching performances this season.

Yes, that’s Lloyd Carr’s name showing up at #10. The guy who led a team expected to challenge for a MNC to three losses – including what many consider to be one of the greatest upsets in college football history – has done a bang up job in Dodd’s eyes. Better than 109 other coaches in D-1, if you’re counting.

Talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations. You see something like that and realize that no matter who else’s name appears on that list, it’s complete rubbish.