Jinxed.

So much for the forgotten man:  less than a week after I posted my best wishes for Quintin Banks this season, Seth Emerson reports that Banks has elected not to continue his playing career, although he will stay with the team as a student coach.  I’m sorry to see the end to his time on the field.

On the plus side, Branden Smith is academically eligible again.

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Just shoot me. Now.

God, please make this stop.

The next Tebow?

The similarities are remarkable.

At 6 feet 3 and 225 pounds, Florida freshman quarterback Trey Burton is built like Tim Tebow.

Like Tebow, Burton went to a Florida high school. Burton graduated from Venice. Tebow went to Nease in Ponte Vedra.

Like Tebow, Burton entered Florida early, arriving on campus in January.

Like Tebow, his running skills are his strength. Burton rushed for 123 yards and two TDs on 10 carries in the Gators’ spring game.

Like Tebow, he’s spending his freshman year as a backup.

And like Tebow, Burton has a strong Christian faith.

“I just want to do whatever I possibly can to get this team to [the SEC Championship game],” Burton told the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune. “I don’t care if it is washing people’s shoes or carrying water bottles. I am not really trying to prove anything to anyone. I am just going to go out there and try to make plays.”

What, no Filipino circumcision experiences to compare?  Maybe next summer…

An exercise in perspective

You know, my first reaction upon reading this post of previews from Kentucky bloggers about the Georgia game was a derisive snort.  But you know what?  Their team has garnered a 2-2 split with Georgia in the last four seasons, and could easily be 3-1 in those games but for some last-minute heroics from Stafford, Green and Dobbs in the ’08 game.

So maybe they’re entitled to a little condescension at this point.  That’s certainly something Mark Richt needs to get turned in the right direction this season.

“Run Lindsay!”

Any book that delves into Gator pain is going to be worth a look.

Of course, I welcome any excuse to post this:

Thursday morning buffet

Here are a few tidbits to nosh on:

• When it comes to Aaron Murray, Mike Bobo ain’t satisfied.  I’m glad to see that complacency isn’t settling in.
• This also heartens me:  “Defensive players who are standing out, according to Grantham, include linebackers Justin Houston, Darryl Gamble and Cornelius Washington.” Any depth at outside linebacker is a very good thing.
• “For the first time since 1969, the Georgia Bulldogs are opening a football season with three of their first five games away from Sanford Stadium.”
• It doesn’t sound like college football players are particularly enamored with an extended playoff.
• Derek Dooley’s decision to be a hard ass about Bryce Brown’s request for a release is looking dumber by the moment.
• Michael Elkon notes that Stewart Mandel and Sports Illustrated don’t seem to be on the same page about the 2010 season.
• Mark Schlabach has a couple of pieces up about defenses switching to the 3-4 worth reading, with lots of quotes from Todd Grantham and Justin Houston.
• Here’s a statistically detailed look at the defensive recipe for winning the BCS national championship, from a Notre Dame blog.

Kiffin watch: because I got high.

Remember Dillon Baxter’s bizarre accusation that coaches all over the country had contacted him about jumping ship from Southern Cal?  The one that then-AD Mike Garrett had to retract with apologies?

Maybe it was all a drug-induced hallucination.

… The Times, though, has unearthed another potential reason behind the suspension.

Late Tuesday night, The Times asked Kiffin if Baxter’s punishment was related to a USC Department of Public Safety incident report filed at 2:47 a.m. Tuesday. It indicates that officers were at Fluor Tower, where USC players are housed for the first few weeks of training camp, when an incident occurred.

“A student was cited to Judicial Affairs for violating a team curfew and being under the influence of a controlled substance,” the report said. Neither Baxter nor any other player is named in the report.

While Kiffin and other school officials declined to comment on the record regarding the incident, a source with knowledge of the situation told the Times that Baxter was the individual in question and the substance was marijuana.

Must be some good shit.

“It’s not a bad thing.”

Les Miles is so FOS about this ex post facto grayshirting debacle with Elliott Porter that you wonder why he decided to open his mouth about it in the first place.

Such as:

… He noted that Porter’s scholarship offer was still good, just postponed a semester. He said if somebody made the same offer to one of his sons, they would “certainly be disappointed that day, but recognize that, long-term, it’s not a bad thing.”

Miles said grayshirting can benefit players who could use time to allow their bodies to mature.

“He might take his time to come in shape and to benefit his body and compete,” he said.

All of which might have come off a bit more convincing if Miles had asked Porter to grayshirt before he moved into his dorm room.  Besides, I thought that’s what a redshirt is for.  Maybe ol’ Les’ problem is that he’s colorblind.