“We have a chance to be extremely good.”

Coach Richt does an interview on Sporting News Radio, where he talks about leadership, the offense, defense and the Oklahoma State game.

It sounds like Richard Samuel is in much more in control of the number one slot than I thought.

Go ahead, Corch, make our day.

For some reason, Corch Meyers keeps saying it:

… At issue is whether Tebow will make it in the NFL as a quarterback.

There is considerable debate. Many wonder if he has the accuracy to thread passes through NFL secondaries. His slow release is another concern. And the fact that he has taken almost all of his snaps out of the shotgun instead of under center is a red flag.

As a concession, Florida Coach Urban Meyer has indicated that he will at least consider installing a few plays that put the quarterback under center instead of in the shotgun.

“I assure you, him playing under center has nothing to do with his draft status with the programs we talked to,” Meyer said. “If it did, we would help him because he earned that. … He will be under center if it helps us win a game.”

If “helps us win a game” means tossing a meaningless TD pass to put the Gators up 49-0 against Charleston Southern, OK, fine.  But can anybody in their right mind see the GPOOE™ hunkering down behind center on a third and eight from the LSU fifteen, down by four?

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The downside of testosterone

Poor old Mike Gundy.  He’s got the biggest opening game of his career coming up in a couple of weeks with Georgia and he can’t get his charges to pay attention.  Why?  Because they’re men and they’re twenty.

… The start of school brings new demands and diversions.

“The most difficult thing we’re doing right now, or trying to do, is keep them focused and concentrated on preparing to play the game,” said OSU coach Mike Gundy.

“You’ve got 19,000 students here. You’ve got a lot of cute girls out there. There’s a lot of things going on. Guys have to focus. We’re trying to reel them in.”

In an effort to re-focus his squad, Gundy has halted media access to the team until Aug. 31, the Monday of game week.

As for the co-eds, there’s no easy answer.

“There’s a lot of distractions right now,” Gundy said. “Because we can’t keep them in camp. They’re out there on campus. There’s a lot going on right now.”

Womens.  You can’t win with them…

Sometimes, they really do think we’re that stupid.

Shorter Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick:  sure, the schedule isn’t as difficult as it used to be, but scheduling is much tougher, so it’s a wash.

Friday morning buffet

Wrapping up the working week with some tasty stuff –

• Self-promotion time:  Clark at The ACC & SEC Blog was nice enough to invite me to come bloviate all over his place with a Q & A preview of Georgia.  Feel free to mock.
• Sagarin’s 2009 preseason rankings are out.  Three SEC teams are in the top ten – but none are in first and ‘Bama ain’t one of them, either.  Georgia, however, checks in a number seven.  Wow.   (That’s higher than where he ranked UGA last year.)  Also, if I understand his methodology, he’s got Georgia +3.5 minus 3.5 in the opener against Oklahoma State.
• And speaking of the Cowboys (since the Cowboys aren’t speaking for themselves these days), The Quad shares its analysis of #15 OSU with us today.  Everyone tends to focus, understandably, on the Okie State offense, but make sure you read Paul Myerberg’s take on the defense.  Lots of good stuff – and he also predicts Georgia wins the game.
• No sir, Phil Fulmer’s not bitter about being replaced by Lane Kiffin.  Not one bit.
• I don’t get this.  Sure, blame the media if you like, but it still doesn’t explain why Saban seems more contemptuous of the folks covering his team than most of his peers.  Is there something particularly shoddy about the Alabama football media?
• MaconDawg interviewing David Hale is as entertaining as you might expect.  Good job, fellas.
• Here’s another SEC position rankings that I just don’t get.
• And The Valley Shook runs its SEC quarterback analysis for the past three seasons.  Check out Stafford’s steady progress.  Mike Bobo must be doing something right.
• Let’s finish with a great recruiting story:

In 2007, Penn State coach Joe Paterno watched on TV as Drew Astorino hit the game-winner for Edinboro (Pa.) General McLane High in the Class AAA state hoop final. A few months before, Astorino scored the winning touchdown in the AAA football final. Astorino, who doesn’t run a 4.3, had one offer (Kent State) before Paterno called. Astorino “made plays in the clutch, so we took him,” Paterno told the Philadelphia Daily News. The 5-foot-10, 193-pound redshirt sophomore is starting at free safety. That’s recruiting, old-school.