One less reason to visit South Bend

The AJ-C’s Jim Galloway is reporting that the College Football Hall of Fame is moving to Atlanta.

How to set a record for fewest punt return yards allowed

I love stuff like this.

… On the western edge of Little Rock, Ark., there is a high school football team coached by a wizard named Kevin Kelly. Pulaski Academy’s roster doesn’t include a punter because, quite simply, they’d rather “go for it” every time the team is faced with a fourth down.

And when this guy says “go for it”, he means exactly that.

… Now, flash to the Arkansas 5A state championship last year. Coach Kelley’s Pulaski Bruins are up 35-32 with the ball deep in their own territory. On the final drive of that title game, the Bruins converted on four straight fourth-down situations instead of protecting their teetering lead with a punt and, indeed, won the state title.

Oh yeah, that’s not all.

When it comes to the kicking game, which wise coaches have proven is just as integral to success as a good offense and defense, he’s just as radical. He tries an on-sides kick every time. As Wertheim writes in SI, “According to Kelley’s figures, after a kickoff the receiving team, on average, takes over at its own 33-yard line.”

After a failed onside kick the team assumes possession at its 48. Through the years Pulaski has recovered about a quarter of its onside kicks. “So you’re giving up 15 yards for a one-in-four chance to get the ball back,” says Kelley. “I’ll take that every time!”

Would this work in college?  Who knows if the numbers work out quite the same?  But at least you’d have one more scholarship freed up that would have gone to a punter.  And at Georgia, we’d quit complaining about directional kicks.

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UPDATE: Gregg Easterbrook wrote about Pulaski two years ago here.  (h/t Dr. Y in the comments)

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Kiffin watch: “That’s a lovely dress you’re wearing, Mrs. Cleaver.”

Jesus, can the Laner possibly get more unctious?

Asked about Meyer’s comments, Kiffin chose his words carefully:

“I’d say this. This offseason the (SEC) commissioner (Mike Slive) made a big deal about our renewal of vows about what we’re supposed to say about other teams, other coaches, other players.

“Obviously, Urban feels he doesn’t need to follow that. I won’t say anything else.’’

Asked if he’d ever say an opponent didn’t play to win, Kiffin said, “No, I would never say that.’’

He’s college football’s Eddie Haskell.

… He was known for his neat grooming — hiding his shallow and sneaky character. Typically, Eddie would greet his friends’ parents with overdone, good manners and often a compliment such as, “That’s a lovely dress you’re wearing, Mrs. Cleaver.” However, when no parents were around, Eddie was always up to no good — either conniving with his friends, or picking on Wally’s younger brother Beaver. Eddie’s two-faced style was also typified by his efforts to curry favor by trying to talk to adults at the level he thought they would respect, such as referring to their children as Theodore (Beaver’s much-disliked given name) and Wallace, even though the parents called them Beaver and Wally.

Portrait of a coach as a young man?

Eddie Haskell with a goatee?

To Junior’s credit, the two-faced stuff was pretty good, though.

… Kiffin did say something else, though, indirectly taking a swipe at Meyer.

Meyer said a flu outbreak among several key players adversely affected Florida’s performance against UT.

Asked if he was concerned about flu striking Tennessee, Kiffin said:

“I don’t know. I guess we’ll wait and see, and after we’re not excited about our performance, we’ll tell you that everybody was sick.’’

By the way, is Kiffin going to draw Mike Slive’s wrath for mentioning Corch Meyers by name?  Stay tuned.

Joe Cox is not one to be trifled with.

Boys, you mess with the Ginger Assassin at your own peril.

He’s able to bend the space-time continuum to revise his game after the fact.

It turns out Cox was even more accurate than you might have thought against Arkansas.

Cox had one incompletion taken away from his initial statistics from the game because he was charged with a pass attempt on a spike that Georgia says should have been a team attempt.

That now makes Cox 18 of 25 for 375 yards on Saturday.

But don’t take my word for it.

“He throws a catchable ball that you can’t drop,” said wide receiver A.J. Green, who had seven catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns Saturday. “You have no choice but to catch the ball.”

No choice, bitches.  None.  Obviously, Joe could have killed Tavarres King in the huddle with a mere flick of the hand Saturday night after those two drops, but has chosen to bide his time.  Thin ice, dude.  I’d watch it.  Offer to pick up his laundry, or something.

Tuesday morning buffet

Plenty of stuff to chow down on this morning:

• In case you’ve wondered what Robert Edwards is up to these days, here you go.
• Here’s an indication of how 2009 has already had its share of twists and turns:  Oklahoma is looking at a win against Miami as a stepping stone to getting back in the national title hunt.
• Mitch Mustain – as a quarterback, he’ll make a heck of a punter.  His mom must be thrilled.
• Junior’s showmanship pays off big for CBS:  “The Florida-Tennessee drew an overnight household rating/share of 4.8/11 on CBS, which is up 60 percent from last year’s Florida-Tennessee game (3.0/7). Saturday’s rating/share was the highest CBS has had for its first game of the college football season since 2002, when the UF-Miami game drew a 6.0/13.”
• For those of you unhappy with Georgia’s defense, things could be a lot worse.
• Another interesting stat from the Arkansas game:  “Richt’s Bulldogs had never won consecutive contests in which they trailed at any point by double digits until the past two weeks. In fact, the last time Georgia turned the trick was in Ray Goff’s second season as coach in 1990, when the Bulldogs defeated Southern Miss 18-17 and Alabama 17-16.”
• Here’s a review of Munson’s book.
• Progress of a sort:  “Kiffin said Crompton played “better” at Florida than he did against UCLA. The quarterback threw for exactly 93 yards each game, but he decreased his interceptions from three against the Bruins to two against the Gators.”
• None of the USC coaches told Aaron Corp he was starting last Saturday?  Weird. (h/t The Wiz of Odds)
• I bet Penn Wagers is jonesing to call the Georgia-ASU game.  Arizona State ranks 118th in the nation in penalty yards per game with 94.5. Georgia is 115th with 86.3.

SEC Power Poll Ballot – Week Three

For all the action we saw last weekend, not too much dramatic movement in my rankings.

1. Florida. Feel free to read as much into the results in the Swamp last Saturday as you want, but ask yourself one question.  Tennessee will face Alabama, Georgia and Auburn.  Do you think the Vols will play not to get blown out against any of those teams?  Me neither.
2. Alabama. Just chuggin’ along.  I’m guessing that Ryan Mallett’s passer rating will take a hit this week.
3. Ole Miss. Will they finally break a sweat Thursday night?
4. LSU. The Washington win looks better now, I guess.  This team still isn’t clicking like I thought it would be, but the Tigers are 3-0 and should win again this week.
5. Georgia. What do you have when you’ve got a terrific collection of talent that hasn’t meshed completely as a team?  The fifth best team in the conference.
6. Auburn. The functional opposite of Georgia – thin, lacking elite talent, but getting the most out of everything.  I really like the way they’re playing, but question whether that will hold up with that somewhat shaky defense.  Especially if there’s an injury or two.
7. South Carolina. This is where the rankings start getting iffy.  The ‘Cocks haven’t really put everything together for a game yet, but they do have a win over a BCS conference school, which is more than you can say for some of the schools below.
8. Arkansas. It’s a quarterback’s world, my friends.  That’s why I’m ranking Ryan Mallett’s team ahead of Jonathan Crompton’s.
9. Tennessee. There’s no truth to the rumor that Mike Hamilton has petitioned the SEC to base the standings on covering the spread.
10. Kentucky. The ‘Cats haven’t lost, so they’ll perch here momentarily.  This week won’t be pretty, I fear.
11. Mississippi State. This is likely to be as high as they go.
12. Vanderbilt. To be the worst, you’ve got to be beaten by the worst.