Chump’s change

For those of you who are wrapping themselves in the cloak of Butts-Mehre righteousness over l’affaire Gurley, before you get too comfortable, ask yourselves a simple question:  who’s being hurt by this?

Todd Gurley?  Hardly.  He was turning pro after this season, come what may.  This won’t affect his NFL draft standing a whit.

The Georgia athletic department?  Surely you jest. The TV money and other revenues rolling in won’t miss a beat.

Nah, it’s just the fan base that suffers.  Again.

If being pure of heart keeps you warm through the night, just consider the point of the rule that you think Gurley is foolish for (presumably) violating.  It’s there for one reason.  The schools don’t want to share with their student-athletes. The odds are pretty good that in the next year or so, they’re going to be told they can’t do that anymore.

So consider your virtue intact as Georgia allows another season to blow up for no good reason.  Me?  It’s a good thing I don’t have a dog to kick right now.

***************************************************************************

UPDATE:  Or, to put it another way…

If reports are accurate, UGA's Todd Gurley took advantage of his name and likeness. That's for UGA, NCAA only. pic.twitter.com/auxxzCyXu3

— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) October 9, 2014

Advertisement

This seems timely.

With the news that Judge Wilken denied the NCAA’s motion to dismiss, Jeffrey Kessler’s just getting cranked up.

Jeffrey Kessler says he will be adding additional new named plaintiffs.

— Jon Solomon (@JonSolomonCBS) October 9, 2014

I hope he burns the entire rotten structure to the ground.

Forget about everything else…

… because Todd Gurley has been indefinitely suspended.

***************************************************************************

UPDATE:  First hint.

Hearing the investigation into #UGA star Todd Gurley is for possibly accepting extra benefits for his likeness w memorabilia brokers.

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) October 9, 2014

Hearing same thing as @BruceFeldmanCFB , by the way. Story coming up shortly.

— Seth Emerson (@SethEmerson) October 9, 2014

How do you like those amateurism rules now, gang?

***************************************************************************

UPDATE #2:  Seth fleshes it out a little more here.

A source said the investigation involved whether Gurley received money in exchange for his autograph or use of his likeness. Fox Sports reporter Bruce Feldman reported essentially the same news.

***************************************************************************

UPDATE #3: Today’s profile in courage.

UGA AD Greg McGarity tells me via text the school will not have any comment on Todd Gurley right now, but will perhaps next week.

— Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) October 9, 2014

***************************************************************************

UPDATE #4:  Amateurism, for the win.

$90/pop. #JustSayin RT @RickMuscles: @slmandel $90.00 for shirt http://t.co/jQjrmXKti2

— Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) October 9, 2014

***************************************************************************

UPDATE #5:  More details, from Andy Staples.

SI.com has learned that a person confirmed to Georgia’s compliance office this week that he paid Gurley $400 to sign 80 items on campus in Athens, Ga., one day this past spring. The person claimed to have a photo and video of Gurley signing the items, but neither the photo nor the video showed money changing hands.

Third down and whoa

From Pete Roussel, a handy chart of SEC quarterbacks performances on third down:

Two things stand out there that may have some bearing on this Saturday: as long as he’s not throwing for the end zone, getting Mauk in third down situations is a win for the defense and getting Mason in third down situations is not easy.

Musical palate cleanser, the swinging sounds of Brian Wilson edition

I’m generally not a fan of the “hey, let’s trot out the stars”/We Are The World stuff, but I have to admit this is quite enjoyable, probably because of the excellent choice of material.

Three words sung by Chrissie Hynde and Steve Wonder’s harmonica are enough to make me swoon, to be honest.

(If you’re interested, here’s who’s in the video.)

“I think past Alabama teams would have had just as much trouble as this Alabama team.”

Gary Danielson ain’t backing off his tempo talk.

“I think what was proven in this game right now is all this stuff about tempo is garbage…”

But he finally seems to be coming to terms with what spread, pass-first offenses bring to the table.

“There are a lot of factors here. The willingness of teams to go to the spread and throw the ball on early downs, not having to go toe-to-toe with superior athletes at Alabama at the line of scrimmage has an effect. The fact that the SEC has gotten all this publicity and has recruited so well, top to bottom, the games are just tougher.”  [Emphasis added.]

If he’s right, Saban’s got a few more tough games left to play.  Best brace yourself, Phyllis from Mulga.

Missouri’s X factor

I know a lot of people are impressed with Maty Mauk.  I’m not so much impressed as I am scared.  I’ve watched a fair amount of Missouri football this year and Mauk’s been all over the place.  South Carolina’s a perfect example of that – he did very little until the game was on the line late in the fourth quarter and then he blew the Gamecocks up.

As Missouri’s beat writer puts it,

Maty Mauk came off the bench last year and finished off Missouri’s win at Georgia. This year he’s had some games of big numbers (five touchdowns vs. Toledo), while at South Carolina he didn’t do much until late. How good a season do you think he’s had so far, and how dangerous is his scrambling ability?

Matter: I’d give him a B so far. He was outstanding at Toledo, good enough against UCF, struggled some against Indiana and could barely complete a pass for three quarters at South Carolina. Outside of Bud Sasser, Mauk was working with the JV receiver corps in Columbia East. He got jumpy in the pocket, struggled with throws on the run – which is usually his specialty – and barely found room to scramble. On the other hand, he made two great throws to ignite the rally. He’s a pretty resilient guy, doesn’t seem to get too rattled by the moment and always wants to push the ball downfield, sometimes to a fault. His scrambling ability can break down a defense, but more so than last year, he’s looking to throw while scrambling — not just using his legs to pick up yards. He still has bouts of wild inconsistency. He can look like the most dangerous QB in the SEC on one drive then throw a mindless pass into coverage on the next.

He’s a real wild card.  What Georgia has to guard against is, if things are going well and there’s a lead in the fourth quarter, defensive complacency.  It doesn’t matter how poorly Mauk’s played up until that point; he’s more than capable of turning things on, especially if the defense is showing some of the same prevent looks it did in the Tennessee game.  This game won’t be over until it’s over.

Thursday morning buffet

Plenty to enjoy today.

• Spurrier’s okay with the fan base bitching about the way his team is playing.
• Meteor pissing match.
• Four of Todd Gurley’s top five career rushing performances have come in his first five games this season.
• Malcolm Mitchell and Justin Scott-Wesley have “practiced better,” this week.  That couldn’t come soon enough.
• Asshole of the month.
• A little Coach Ekeler for ya’.
• Wild Dawgin’.
• Here are Gary Pinkel’s comments on yesterday’s SEC Teleconference.  Globalization and the SEC?  Somebody in the media’s trying too hard.

So this is what cutting edge journalism looks like.

Alabama loses.  Former Tide quarterback and current SEC Network talking head questions Saban’s management of his offensive coordinators.  Inevitable backlash from passionate Alabama fans ensues.  Ditto Saban.  Former Tide quarterback and current SEC Network talking head responds in predictable way, blames media.

Lesson learned:  you don’t bite the hand that feeds you.