“It was the cherry on top, you could say.”

Remember the Florida player who announced his departure from the program within minutes after that disappointing loss to Kentucky?  Most observers chalked that up to a lack of confidence in Mullen, but after reading this, I’d say Mullen’s lucky he left.

The rest of the story goes back months, when Lemons said he had problems with marijuana that earned him a suspension for the opener against Charleston Southern. The punishment could have been worse in a program that has grown stricter since Dan Mullen took over for Jim McElwain, who signed Lemons in 2017.

“Mac, he was letting a lot players get away with a lot of stuff,” Lemons said. “Mullen came in. He was really strict with the rules.”

Lemons said Mullen told him to either go to a rehab program or lose his spot on the team. Lemons agreed to go to Gainesville’s Florida Recovery Center over the summer. That’s the same program Browns receiver Josh Gordon attended.

The initial plan, Lemons said, was to stay for a month, but Mullen asked him to stay another week. He did.

“I’m showing him genuine passion I really wanted to change myself,” said Lemons, a 6-foot, 200-pound sophomore. “I don’t know if he really even saw that.”

Or maybe Mullen did see it, but it didn’t matter because UF has a crowded backfield with Jordan Scarlett, Lamical Perine and Jesuit High alumnus Malik Davis.

The carries Lemons thought he earned in part because of his effort to get clean never materialized. He didn’t rush the ball Saturday, although he returned two kickoffs for 47 yards.

Lemons had previously expressed displeasure at UF, tweeting before the 2017 Vanderbilt game that it would be his last. He was planning on leaving soon after the Kentucky game (regardless of its outcome) but was “pretty much fed up” after the defeat.

He said his frustration spiked after the game, when he became disruptive while “expressing myself a little too much,” during Mullen’s address to the team. Lemons was asked to leave the locker room. Not long afterward, he tweeted his intention to transfer.

“I barely got touches that game,” Lemons said. “I’m outta here.”

Hell, if I were Mullen, I would have offered to help him pack.

I don’t think Florida’s problems this year are limited to talent.

Advertisement

“You better never count a Bobo out.”

If Kirby was this excited after Mike Bobo’s comeback win over Arkansas, imagine what kind of reaction he’d have if CSU somehow manages to upset the Gators.

It’s shaping up to be another fun year on the Flats.

TFW it’s only two weeks into the season and you’re already resorting to gallows humor:

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson: "We spend a lot of time on kick coverage. Sometimes if you watch us, you wouldn't know it."
On new fair catch rule: "If I was playing us, I wouldn't use it. I'd return every one."

— Mike Barber (@RTD_MikeBarber) September 12, 2018

Urnge, rested and ready

Per Rivals UT beat writer:

The most interesting and notable note from Tuesday was Phillip Fulmer’s presence on the field. The former Hall of Fame coach has been at every practice this fall, but today, Fulmer wasn’t in khakis and a jacket but full sweats with a practice outline in his hand. He watched the QBs, WRs and TEs, but mostly observed the offensive line, offering tips to Trey Smith, K’Rojhn Calbert, Drew Richmond and Riley Locklear, among others.

In case you ever wondered how much Jeremy Pruitt wanted a head coaching job, that’s how much.

“College football isn’t fair.”

Man, two weeks in and Messrs. Massey and Peabody ain’t foolin’ around about the likely CFP field:

There is a clear Big Five right now — Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and Oklahoma — that have separated themselves from the pack, and all have between a 61 percent chance (Georgia) and 44 percent chance (Oklahoma) of making the playoff. The next best: Penn State at 15 percent.

And to think there are people worried about what player compensation would do to competition.

Gamecock roundup

It’s midweek, so it’s time to put the South Carolina game in the proverbial rear view mirror, but not before I leave you with a few final choice nuggets.

• Interesting choice of words, but to what should be no one’s surprise after the hurry up blew up in their faces, Will Muchamp’s offense sounds like it’s getting back to grinding on offense.
• LOL:  “Is it time to start thinking about getting rid of Will Muschamp?”
• Try to guess who said this:  “No matter what happens, we made a statement that we’re a force to be reckoned with.”

As the saying goes, the more things change…

Regrets? Montana has a few.

I had to chuckle when I read Stewart Mandel’s opening to this week’s Mailbag ($$):

Brand​ bias is a very real​ thing among​ those​ of us who​ cover​ college​ football.​ It’s​ why we continually​ overrate teams​​ like Texas and USC while assuming Clemson would revert to the mean as soon as Deshaun Watson left the building.

And it’s probably why ostensibly informed writers like me and Bruce Feldman thought South Carolina was going to give Georgia a game last weekend.

Does that mean the Gamecocks don’t have a brand bias?

BTW, Mandel’s all aboard the Kirby train now.

Your 9.12.2018 Playpen

I’ve actually been saving this for a few days in anticipation of this week’s Playpen:

Jerry Falwell, Jr., the president of Liberty University and a close ally of President Trump, told USA TODAY Sports in a phone conversation Friday that Nike’s ad campaign centered around Colin Kaepernick might cause the school to re-consider its relationship with the apparel company, which signed a contract last year to outfit Liberty’s athletic teams through 2024.

“We’re exploring the situation,” Falwell said. “If Nike really does believe that law enforcement in this country is unfair and biased, I think we will look around. If we have a contract, we’ll honor it, but we strongly support law enforcement and strongly support our military and veterans who died to protect our freedoms and if the company really believes what Colin Kaepernick believes, it’s going to be hard for us to keep doing business with them.

“But if it’s just a publicity stunt to bring attention to Nike or whatever, that’s different. We understand that. We understand how marketing works. But they’re going to have to convince us that they’re not proactively attacking law enforcement officers and our military. If that’s the reason behind using this ad, we’re going to have a hard time staying.”

Says the guy who currently employs the former AD at Baylor.

If I’m parsing this correctly, Falwell appears to be saying he’s totally cool with Nike if it turns out this is nothing more than a cynical marketing ploy, but if he determines there’s a shred of sincerity behind promoting Kaepernick, that’s a bridge too far for him.  Maybe.

Jeez, could he be a bigger wanker if he tried?

The comments are yours, peeps.

Not the week two inexperience they were anticipating

One of the questions I had leading up to last week’s South Carolina game was how ready the ‘Cocks would be on offense, given a new offensive scheme and coordinator.  My thought was that it was early enough in the transition to expect a few hiccups.

Kind of like this:

South Carolina gained only 54 yards rushing while yielding 271 to Georgia. Part of the problem, Muschamp said, was the Gamecocks seeing called runs shift into passes in their up-tempo, RPO (run pass option) attack.

First-year offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon took the blame at halftime and told Muschamp he would be more hard-headed about sticking to run plays.

But once Georgia scored in the third quarter, South Carolina had little choice but to throw the ball to get back in it, Muschamp said.

Muschamp and McClendon discussed how things unfolded with the head coach quickly jumping in that South Carolina’s defense needed to make stops so the offense could have a chance.

“I said, ‘You can’t start shouldering blame on everything.’ You can’t do that as a coordinator,” Muschamp said.

No shame in that.  Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know.  But it never was reasonable to expect that offense to be clicking on all cylinders in game two against an SEC defense, Deebo or no Deebo.

Common sense and the NCAA

Here’s a good suggestion from Dan Wolken in the wake of the game cancellations this week:

Football games being cancelled due to extreme weather is not an irregular occurrence anymore. It’s happening every year. NCAA needs to build a second bye week into the season for flexibility.

— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) September 11, 2018

Seems too reasonable to act on, though, amirite?