The NCAA cracks down…

… on recruiting sites.

Myerberg’s explanation of the rationale behind the ban:

… Well, there’s a secondary issue at stake, one beyond that simple publication of recruiting videos. According to those more familiar with how these recruiting sites work – Bryan Fischer of CBS is a great example – it’s not just about the videos but the interaction between the sites and the teams they cover. For example, according to Fischer, team-specific sites – say, a Georgia-centric site – often share information with coaches that may or may not be made available to its other paying members.

This is a shaky relationship, one the N.C.A.A. wants to stop. I can get behind this stance, I suppose: a site that passes along tidbits and items about a certain prospect grants a team a leg up in that prospect’s recruitment, even if another team site can do the same for a different team. Take this scenario: Georgia’s Rivals site tells Mark Richt or a Georgia assistant that one recruit is looking to go to the same school as a teammate, or is interested in playing one position over another.

Richt could then use this inside information when making his recruiting pitch, offering this top prospect’s teammate or making sure the recruit is aware his position of choice is available when he arrives in Athens. You can see why the N.C.A.A. might want to put a stop to such a dialogue.

I’m not really sure how this addresses the street agent issues that have popped up with guys like Will Lyles, but the NCAA seems serious about this.  How serious? Serious enough that it “… has asked every F.B.S. program that has subscribed to a recruiting Web site to report it as a secondary violation.”

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As long as the cause is just, let’s not worry about the technicalities.

I know Matthew Sanderson, who’s seriously jonesing for a playoff to replace the BCS, sees the Fiesta Bowl scandal as a prime opportunity to advance his cause – and he’s enlisted one Doug “Scare Quotes Are Your Friend” Robinson to promote that – but, really, guys, if you’re going to express all that outrage about overpaid bowl officials, I’m not sure that advocating the NCAA as the go-to substitute is the smartest call here.

Aaron Murray’s buzzword

See if you can guess what I’m thinking.

… Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, who coaches the quarterbacks, is looking for more consistency.

“We were kind of streaky last year,” Bobo said. “We’d be hot for a quarter and cold for a quarter. A lot of that would be the start of the game and the end of the game. We want to focus on fundamentals and be more consistent.”

If you picked “Murray’s not the only one who needs to work on being more consistent”, DING!, you’re a winner.

Murray’s self-analysis is interesting.

“It usually starts off slow, in the second and third quarter I get really hot, and at the end of the game, I start cooling off a little bit,” Murray said. “I’ve just got to stay focused throughout the game and not mentally lose it at times.”

Last season’s stats don’t completely bear that out.  Murray put up a better passer rating in the first quarter than in the second (mainly because five of his interceptions came in the second quarter), but it’s not like he was wildly inconsistent over the course of the year, as the stats by half bear out.  His first half passer rating in 2010 was 154.58; the second half rating was 154.34.

If there’s a place for him to work on his decision making, it’s where you’d expect it to be, on third and four or more yards to go.  It wouldn’t hurt to be put in less third and long situations, either.

First chink in the armor?

I’ve been looking to strap on my inner Munson since the start of spring practice and I think I’ve found my first area of legitimate concern.  Take it away, Sanders Commings.

Sanders Commings looks around Georgia’s secondary these days and doesn’t see the lineup he envisioned before the start of spring practice.

“It’s really different,” Commings said Thursday after the Bulldogs’ 10th spring workout. “One of our safeties is at linebacker now and one of our safeties is hurt, so it’s different communication with different guys talking to you. The goal hasn’t changed, though, because we’re all trying to play as one.”

Georgia had its secondary returning intact following the 2010 season, but that changed this winter when second-year defensive coordinator Todd Grantham decided to move Alec Ogletree from safety to inside linebacker. The other safety starter at the end of last season, Bacarri Rambo, sprained his right MCL late last month and will miss the rest of the spring.

Commings and fellow cornerback Brandon Boykin have been the defensive backs still standing from the expected quartet, though Commings is at a different position.

I don’t question moving Ogletree to linebacker – really, how many 235/240-pound safeties do you see in college ball these days? – and I know that some of this is exacerbated by injuries, but safety’s looking a little thin right now.

Thin enough that the Commings move may be permanent.  So, yeah, I’m a little nervous.

I’m guessing that Grantham is confident he’ll be fielding a much stronger front seven this season, which will take some pressure off the secondary, and that’s good as far as it goes.  But Georgia was often hurt last season by inconsistent safety play.  If they don’t get a player or two to step up, the best front seven in the world won’t save ’em every time.

‘Cocky talk

I admit it.  As a Georgia fan, I suppose I should totally despise Steve Spurrier, but I can’t bring myself to do that because amid all the smug arrogance there also runs a streak of self-mockery which occasionally generates quotes like this:

… [Spurrier] pointed out his office window and showed me the space on the façade of Williams-Brice Stadium where they will unveil the words “2010 SEC East Champs” during Saturday’s spring game.

“We don’t have many championships here [one to be exact, 1969 ACC champs] so we’ll celebrate half of the SEC,” Spurrier said. “Most schools don’t celebrate it quite like that but we have plenty of room on the walls of our stadium.”

Don’t get me wrong, he’s a jerk.  But he’s a jerk with redeeming moments now and then.