Let it go, people.

Evidently some folks see the need for an eight-city “Colonel Reb Road Tour’’.

The Biloxi mayor yearns for the good ole days:

“It’s hard not to come down on the side of the tradition,’’ Holloway said. “They asked me to talk about my playing days. In three years, we lost just one game and tied one game.’’

Ah, yes, 1959-62.  When mascots were mascots and football teams were segregated.  Good times.

Who is Jonathon Paige?

People who follow college recruiting news sure are a gullible bunch.  (h/t MrSEC.com)

Tech’s passing game: Down Hill.

Bill Connelly turns his statistical eagle eye on Georgia Tech with his 2011 preview here.  If he’s right about this…

While the Georgia Tech defense still tries to find its way, the Yellow Jackets’ fortunes in 2011 could be determined by … the forward pass? Even with the Flexbone, you have to force defenses to at least pretend to respect the pass, and Tech couldn’t in 2010.

… history suggests it’s going to be a disappointing year on the Flats.

The interesting thing to me about his analysis of Tech’s passing game is how personnel-dependent it is.  For all the talk about Johnson’s schematic genius, without a good receiver and a quarterback capable of getting the ball to that receiver on a quasi-regular basis, Tech’s passing attack is ineffective.  And as Bill points out, that’s not good news for the rest of the offense.

Time to stop this, Phil.

Three of Steele’s power ratings call for Georgia to go undefeated in the regular season.  The only other SEC team he lists with that chance is Alabama.

Boise State shows up next to Georgia, so I guess we’ll get an early answer on which of his projections has a chance.

Ah, hell.

No surprises if you’re a Georgia fan in kleph’s post about SEC 3rd down defensive conversion rates, I’m afraid.

Check out that Auburn graph, though.  Ted Roof’s been working his magic.

There’s special. And then there’s special.

John Pennington notes that Michael Dyer and Marcus Lattimore joined a small club last season – SEC running backs who gained over 1,000 yards as a freshman.  But there’s an even more exclusive club within that club, as this chart indicates.

Running Back	School	Fr-So Years	Fr. Rushing Total	So. Rushing Total
Herschel Walker	Georgia	1980-81	1,616	1,891
Reggie Cobb	Tennessee	1987-88	1,197	547
Emmitt Smith	Florida	1987-88	1,341	988
Chuck Webb	Tennessee	1989-90	1,236	156
Jamal Lewis	Tennessee	1997-98	1,364	497
Justin Vincent	LSU	2003-04	1,001	322
Darren McFadden	Arkansas	2005-06	1,113	1,647
Mike Dyer	Auburn	2010-11	1,093	???
Marcus Lattimore	S. Carolina	2010-11	1,197	???

Only two of the seven freshmen prior to last season managed to repeat the accomplishment as sophomores.

Also, don’t forget Walker compiled his numbers in the eleven-game regular season era.  With no SECCG to play in, either.

Tuesday morning buffet

Tasty morsels from the world of college football:

• This can’t be good:  “UT now has just eight scholarship seniors, and more than 70 percent of the roster is freshmen and sophomores.”
• Gene Chizik blames his higher-ups at Iowa State for the unpleasantness surrounding his departure.  Nice.
• Paul Westerdawg returns to a subject I’ve harped on here:  accountability.
• There sure are a lot of factors complicating Big East football expansion.  And the conference turned down a $1 billion TV package from ESPN?  Dayum.
• Speaking of TV packages, it’s probably a good thing Georgia Tech isn’t in the Big East right now.  The Jackets need every penny of that ACC broadcast revenue.
• Leather Helmet Blog scouts the South Carolina defense.
• Is Chip Kelly really this stupid?  Or does he just think the NCAA is?