Penn State gets its mulligan.

Emmert te absolvo, my son.

The NCAA announced Monday it is restoring Penn State’s postseason eligibility immediately and allowing it to return to a full 85 scholarship roster in 2015, citing “progress toward ensuring its athletics department functions with integrity.”

He was making things up as he went along, so why should the end be any different from the beginning?

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“This doesn’t affect his capability as a committee member.”

Face it, if Bill Hancock had declared Pat Haden’s conduct to be a problem for the selection committee, it’s hard to see how he could have stopped there and not gone on to question having any active AD serving on the committee.  That, of course, is the real issue being swept under the rug.

Eh, we’ll probably all have a good laugh about it the day the playoffs expand to sixteen teams.

You say it’s your birthday.

Leonard Floyd has a birthday wish.

UGA OLB Leonard Floyd turns 22 today. Asked him last week what he might get for birthday: “Maybe some more sacks. That will be good.”

— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) September 8, 2014

I’m down with that.  Maybe he could give us a “blow out the candles” gesture after he gets one.

Monday morning buffet

Get you a plate and dig in.

• Don’t count on seeing Justin Scott-Wesley and Malcolm Mitchell play this Saturday.
• You’ve got a funny way of looking for respect, son.
• Anybody think Big Game Bob’s gonna have a problem pulling this off?  Not me.
• Jim Delany reminds us that it wasn’t over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor.
• Steve Sarkisian regrets putting Pat Haden on the spot by summoning him to the sidelines.  Way to take a bullet, Steve.
• And Pat’s going to self-punish by staying off the sidelines for Southern Cal’s next two games.  That should fix everything.
• The Blawg House looks at some of Steve Spurrier’s favorite passing concepts.
• “I don’t really know how scholarships work, honestly.”

Chicken stock

Tyler cites plenty of stats from South Carolina’s win last Saturday, but with all due respect, none of those are as important as this one:  M. Davis (SC) – 18 CAR, 101 YDS, 2 TD.

Mike Davis is back.  And he’ll be starting Saturday.

South Carolina is twelfth in the conference in total offense and dead last in total defense.  Spurrier acknowledges that this isn’t his most talented team.  His best player is Mike Davis.  Coaching 101 says get the ball in the hands of your best player as much as you can.  Mike Davis hasn’t been asked to carry the ball at Lattimore levels before (he’s only had 25+ rushing attempts in a game once), but Saturday may very well be the time to break that pattern.  Giving Davis a steady dose of the ball accomplishes plenty – it takes pressure off the South Carolina passing game, the Gamecock defense and keeps Georgia’s offense off the field some.

Check out Carolina’s last series of the game Saturday.  It was an eighteen-play drive that ate over ten and a half minutes off the clock.  Twelve of the plays – twelve of the last thirteen – were runs.  Pound the ball.  That’s what Spurrier wants to do next Saturday with that big offensive line of his.

I know Georgia’s secondary is the weak link of the defense.  I expect Spurrier to try some deep throws, especially if the running game helps sell play action.  But I expect to see a lot more of Mike Davis.

The psychology favors South Carolina, despite the difference in the two teams’ starts this season, because of the history in Columbia in the series.  Georgia hasn’t scored more than 20 points in a game there since 1994 and no doubt the stink bomb the Dawgs laid there on the last trip is still on the minds of the coaches.  2012 may be on Mark Richt’s mind, but the game I’m thinking of was the 2005 meeting.  Georgia had a ton of momentum coming off a Boise State win in which Shockley looked all world.  Spurrier came in with the least talented team he’s ever coached, and John Thompson as his defensive coordinator.  And South Carolina came within an eyelash of pulling off an upset.  I’m sure Spurrier would be thrilled with another blowout, but a grinder where his team takes advantage of a couple of slip ups in front of a hostile crowd to pull out a close win would be just as satisfying.

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UPDATE:  Tyler has some more thoughts in response here.

Jesse Palmer, Renaissance man

My first thought was to wish this debacle would crash and burn quickly, but upon reflection, I hope it’s such a great success that he’s forced to give up his football broadcasting career.

Bert: there will be blood.

For a guy who pushed the NCAA to adopt a substitution rule ostensibly over safety concerns, Bret Bielema has no problem reaching for a colorful analogy (h/t IveyLeaguer).

Bielema said Monday his defense, which was carved up by Auburn in the opener last Saturday, needs to take on a boxer’s mentality.

“When you’re a boxer and you see someone bleed, you want to go after that cut eye,” Bielema said. “I always used to tell players, when you see a guy bleeding — and he doesn’t necessarily need to have blood coming out of him — but if he’s holding his knee or he’s holding his wrist, or he’s bent over, or he’s holding his leg or he’s working his ankle out, go after that baby.

“When I was a wrestler and you’ve got a brace on, I’m going after your (expletive), you know? That’s the mentality I think that we have to establish.”

Just remember that hurry up offenses are even worse for your health.

Fabris Invitational results, Week 2

8-2, with a tiebreaker won it this week.  With a twist…

STANDINGS for WEEK 2

Rank	Selection Name	Standings Adjustment	W-L	Pts	Tie Breaker Game 27-46
1	ET Blames Bobo	Adj	8-2	8	24-41**
1	jamc	Adj	8-2	8	24-41**
1	jriddle	Adj	8-2	8	21-36
1	rmj4uga	Adj	8-2	8	21-27

Yep, we had a tie in the tiebreaker.  Congrats to ET Blames Bobo and jamc.

Here are the season leaders:

SEASON STANDINGS through Week 2

Rank	You	Selection Name	W-L	Pts
1		awreed79	15-5	15
1		BR Dawg	15-5	15
1		Turfman25	15-5	15

SEC Power Poll, Week 2

It was the Week of the Cupcake, so there should be little surprise that SEC teams turned in a lopsided 12-1 record this week, with the only loss being Vanderbilt’s to Ole Miss.  It also means it’s a week’s set of results you don’t want to read too much into.

1. Texas A&M.  When you average scoring 62.5 points a game, it doesn’t matter too much if your defense is mediocre.
2. Georgia.  If Herbstreit is sticking with the Dawgs, I guess I can too.
3. Alabama.  I’m not exactly sure why there’s a quarterback controversy, as Sims looked quite serviceable.
4. Auburn.  The Tigers aren’t too shabby scoring points, either.
5. LSU.  Convincing win over Sam Houston State, which means…
6. Ole Miss.  Dominant in beating Vanderbilt, which earns them the best cupcake win of the weekend.
7. Missouri.  Really never appeared threatened in a road game against a MAC opponent, but Mauk can’t make the same careless mistakes against a decent SEC defense and get away with it.
8. Mississippi State.  Unimpressive win over a Sun Belt team.  Even the defense looked subpar, which was surprising.
9. South Carolina.  Spurrier said this team isn’t as talented as some of his teams in the past.  Who am I to argue?
10. Florida.  Georgia Southern would have beaten Eastern Michigan by seventy-one.
11. Tennessee.  I’d pick the Vols to win the Sun Belt.
12. Kentucky.  Wins over UT Martin and Ohio may be a modest beginning, but it’s the best start for the ‘Cats in three seasons.
13. Arkansas.  How bad is Nicholls State?  The last time that program lost by more than sixty points… was last year, against Louisiana-Lafayette.
14. Vanderbilt.  There’s regression and then there’s doing your best impression of a cartoon character skydiving with an anvil instead of a parachute.