At least they got shoes.

A missing debit card, shoes taken as “collateral” (at Free Shoes University!) and an attempted murder charge… maybe this is why Jeremy Pruitt decided it was wise to get out of Dodge City Tallahassee while the gettin’ was still good.

Wednesday brunch buffet

More tasty morsels for your reading pleasure:

• Lots of early contenders for the Fulmer Cup lead, including Ole Miss.
• For everyone advocating the SEC ending divisional play as a means of straightening out football scheduling, it hasn’t done much for basketball.
• Good news!  To accommodate DISH, the SEC Network is moving its launch date up a couple of weeks. That means we can have more PAWWWLLL.
• “Mike McQueary confided to a dozen Nittany Lions players that he could relate to the helplessness of the young boy he had seen with Sandusky in a campus shower a decade earlier because he was abused as a boy…”  Too bad his experience didn’t motivate him to respond in a better way.
• Georgia is the only SEC team facing two BCS conference opponents this season.
• “South Carolina defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward and his staff were in Austin last Friday, Saturday and Sunday to talk strategy with new Texas coach Charlie Strong and his defensive staff.”  While we’re passing rule changes, you know one I’d like?  A rule prohibiting defensive coordinators of teams on Georgia’s schedule from consulting with Charlie Strong.
• And don’t forget the NCAA’s football rules committee has its review of the 10-second substitution proposal scheduled today.

“Everything is about choices.”

So choose beautiful Knoxville.

(NOTE:  Jimmy Williamson does not approve this message.)

Tuesday lunch buffet

Some mid-day nourishment for you.

• Honestly, this is kind of refreshing.
• Athlon ranks the SEC’s 2014 football rosters.
• Boom says Florida has “more pressing needs right now” than an IPF.
• Does the law give the NCAA the ability to define amateurism in college sports?  You can guess what the NCAA thinks about that.
• Anyway you look at it, this can’t be good news for Michigan.
• On the other hand, when you’re at Notre Dame, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly “told me I couldn’t talk about it” is a viable course of action.
• I’m sorry, did somebody say we needed another one of these?

Driving Mudcat’s car

While I appreciate the effort here, any attempt to study the impact of five-star recruits signed by Mark Richt has to take in the full measure of what they brought to the table during their time in Athens to be truly meaningful.  Let’s face it – Marquis Elmore’s legacy is something more than what mere statistics can measure and will always be cherished by the true Dawg fan.

Wednesday morning buffet

It’s not as if there’s nothing left to fill the chafing dishes.

• Is Isaiah McKenzie the member of the 2014 class most likely to snare a starting job first?
• David Ching writes that obituary for Josh Harvey-Clemons’ career at Georgia I mentioned yesterday.
• Speaking of JH-C, his grandfather says, “Of course, he’s down.”
• The Nkemdiche brothers being sued for damages resulting from a fight raises an interesting question – not about them, but about Ole Miss’ investigation procedures:  “When this alleged incident occurred, the proper authorities investigated the matter and could find no evidence of wrong-doing related to Denzel and Robert Nkemdiche or any other members of our football program,” athletics director Ross Bjork said in a statement.  You better hope that lawsuit goes nowhere, Ross, my man.
• Bill Connelly’s 2013 college football offensive line rankings reaffirm what we already knew, that Georgia’s offensive line was resoundingly average.
• Which makes Marc Weiszer’s analysis of Georgia’s incoming offensive linemen timely.
• John Pennington takes a look at how accurate the Vegas line was on 2013 SEC games.

Lost opportunity

Jimmy Williamson sips his coffee, reads this story, shakes his head a little and wonders why Mark Richt can’t do a better job closing the borders with his recruiting.

Thursday morning buffet

If you’re facing the same weather conditions I am, it’s not like you’ve got anything better to do right now than to slip into the buffet line.

• Sorry, Missouri, but you just got the KC Joyner kiss of death.
• Stewart Mandel throws in the towel on oversigning.
• Clowney says he might have stayed in Columbia for his senior year if he were paid enough to support his family.  Now he tells ‘em.
• The NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors hopes to have a new management structure in place by August.
• Here’s a coach who’s on his eighth job in eight years.
• It turns out that among all the Vols who were arrested at that wild party last weekend, a man who identified himself as an assistant strength coach for Tennessee’s football team was handcuffed and put in the back of a squad car when he tried to intervene.
• “An online survey by a group of Canadian researchers suggests that Internet trolls are more likely than others to show signs of sadism, psychopathy and “Machiavellianism”: a disregard for morality and tendency to manipulate or exploit others.”
• The NLRB held its first hearing yesterday on the Northwestern players’ move to be certified as a union.

What losing control really looks like

I think it’s safe to say that Tennessee ought to be out to a good start in the 2014 Fulmer Cup standings.

On Sunday news broke that two current and one former Tennessee players were arrested on alcohol-related charges and resisting arrest. Now the Associated Press is reporting that seven more Volunteers have received alcohol-related citations.

According to a police report linebackers Curt Maggitt, Jakob Johnson and Jalen Reeves-Maybin were cited for providing alcohol to underage people. Offensive lineman Dontavius Blair, defensive lineman Malik Brown, defensive end Dimarya Mixon and cornerback Justin Coleman were cited for underage consumption.

The arrested players were linebacker A.J. Johnson, former linebacker Dontavis Sapp and defensive lineman Danny O’Brien. Johnson and Sapp were arrested on charges of purchasing alcohol for minors and resisting arrest while Sapp was charged with criminal impersonation, resisting arrest and underage consumption. The criminal impersonation charge stems from O’Brien originally provided the police with fake identification that showed he was over 21.

Police were initially responding to a call about a loud party at an apartment in Knoxville. The report also states that Sapp and Johnson provided marijuana to numerous individuals at the party, including one minor.

Must have been one helluva party.

Tennessee opens with Utah State this season, in case you’re wondering.  In any event, I think you can guess how long the suspensions will run.

Mark Richt is losing control of everything.

Auburn signee from Georgia gets nailed with two felony drug-related charges.

Two Tennessee players were arrested this weekend on alcohol-related charges and resisting arrest.

All we need is a scooter arrest to complete the trifecta.

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

UPDATE:  Is there an echo in the room?

Per an Auburn spokesman, coach Gus Malzahn is “aware of the situation and is continuing to gather information” on the arrest.

“We are aware of the situation and are still in the preliminary stages of gathering all facts and information,” coach Butch Jones said in a statement Sunday morning.

“Aware of the situation and is continuing to gather information” = coachspeak for “oh, shit, where’s the number for that defense attorney on my speed dial?”.