Today’s episode of “I Blame Bobo” is brought to you by…

Aaron Murray.

… Before Murray’s 2011 season, only four quarterbacks — Tim Couch, Peyton Manning, Danny Wuerffel and Andre Woodson — threw for more than 3,000 yards and 35 touchdowns in a [SEC] single season. Those were also the only quarterbacks to throw for 35 touchdowns in a season before Murray. Murray — if he stays healthy and remains at Georgia for all four years of his eligibility — is on pace to break Wuerffel’s SEC touchdown record of 114.

We can bitch all we want about Murray’s shortcomings, but that’s some damned impressive company he’s keeping, especially when you consider that Georgia’s receiving corps was a big question mark going into the season.  Somebody deserves a little credit for what’s going on there.

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It’s third-and-Willie time on the Plains.

Auburn makes it official.

“This is a great opportunity to be a part of a storied program and tremendous coaching staff here at Auburn,” Martinez said. “I’ve had the pleasure to know Coach Chizik and other members of this staff for a long time and I share their energy and passion for the game of football and developing young men. I’m appreciative of this opportunity and look forward to helping Auburn win championships in the future.”

I’d like to think we’ll all be appreciative.  It’s the least he can do for those of us who suffered through ’08 and ’09.

Well, they can’t be any worse on defense than they were under Roof last season, so there’s that.  (Honestly, BVG all by his lonesome will be a vast improvement.)

Some of his best friends are players.

So, who said this?  (No fair peeking!)

“You guys know me. I’m the type of guy, I’m going to have relationships with my players. I hope to have relationships with the guys that play for me for the rest of my life.

“But the fact that people would make accusations that we tampered or did this or did that, again, I’m just going to defend our program and defend our character and how we do things. But I think it’s ridiculous to think that I’m not going to have relationships with these kids after I leave places.”

Answer here.

Clearing space (and doing it more fairly) in an era of multi-year scholarships

This John Infante piece on multi-year scholarships and oversigning almost makes too much sense.  Seriously, how logical is his opening paragraph?

To say that oversigning is a major issue in college football is incorrect. Roster management is the issue, with oversigning being just one facet of the larger controversy. It would be absurdly easy to eliminate oversigning with no improvement in student-athlete welfare.

If you’re looking for an explanation about what’s behind roster management and how it might be affected by the new multi-year scholly rule, his article is pretty much a primer and definitely worth your attention, particularly as to some of the remedies he suggests.  If you think the student-athlete who gets the short end of the stick as a victim of the numbers game deserves a little more freedom, you’ll like what he proposes.

Friday morning buffet

There’s always something tasty in the world of college football.

• Paul Myerberg notes that there may be one weekend that proves to be the exception to the adage that you don’t plan a wedding in the South on a fall weekend:  “… Nov. 17, when the [SEC] will feature more than twice as many games against F.C.S. competition, seven, as it does actual conference games, three.”
• For those who thought Tommy Tuberville would be a step up from Mike Leach in the recruiting department, it turns out that Texas Tech brought in seven JUCO early enrollees with its most recent class.
• Something to keep an eye on, playoff fans:  pay options begin to creep back into viewing March Madness.
• And Texas asks for patience with the Longhorn Network.
• Sally Jenkins’ Captain Queeg analogy for Randy Edsall is pretty awesome.  (Although I wish she could have worked the strawberries in there, somehow.)
• Will Dorial Green-Beckham be a bigger challenge for Georgia now?
• This comes as absolutely no surprise to me:  “When he secured a coveted spot on an all-star game roster reportedly assembled by “the (2006) U.S. Army All-American Bowl Selection Team made up of Tom Lemming of CSTV and representatives of Scout.com“, Adam James had no Division I scholarship offers and 14 receptions in 10 games as a tight end playing in the state’s second-lowest (2A) Texas high school football classification.”

“Sometimes crap happens. You just have to deal with it.”

A South Carolina entourage takes in LA on some not so pleasant business.

… Spurrier and 10 other university coaches, leaders and officials will be in Los Angeles this weekend to appear before the NCAA Committee on Infractions. The NCAA says the school received $55,000 in improper benefits for athletes — mostly football players — who stayed at a hotel for a reduced rate and for South Carolina’s involvement with a mentoring group in Delaware.

South Carolina agreed in its response to the NCAA in December that major rules violations did take place.

This is worth keeping an eye on for a couple of reasons.  For one, I’m curious to know whether the sanctions South Carolina imposed upon itself – some carefully measured scholarship reductions and official visits cutbacks – are enough for a newly feisty NCAA enforcement section.  (Along those lines, you have to wonder how the ‘Cocks hire of Ohio State’s former compliance officer goes down with those people.)

Secondly, even if the NCAA decides it’s satisfied with the punishment the school has doled out for itself, how Spurrier recruits with the reductions in the SEC’s new era of the soft 25-man cap will be of interest, as he’s been fairly aggressive with roster management over the past couple of seasons.