SEC media days report

— UA-LSU ‘classic,’ Miles says.

- Looking for the tightest, most-exciting SEC rivalry the past few years?

Look no further than the Arkansas-LSU game, which is waged for the Golden Boot, the heaviest rivalry trophy in the nation, on the final weekend of the regular season.

LSU snapped a two-game losing streak to the Razorbacks with last year’s 33-30 victory in overtime.

That result made thecumulative score from the past three games 111-111, all won in overtime or the closing seconds of regulation.

Arkansas captured a 50-48 triple-overtime victory over No. 1-ranked LSU in Baton Rouge in 2007, then scored a 31-30 triumph in Little Rock in 2008 on Casey Dick’s 32-yard touchdown pass to London Crawford with 21 seconds left.

“Overtime, last-minute heroics, it’s a great rivalry,” LSU Coach Les Miles said as the final comments by a coach at SEC media days. “It’s a classic SEC matchup.

“It’s important that that game ends the season, the regular season, and it carries a lot to it. The want to play and win in that one is something our players understand.”Up north

Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen does not refer to archrival Ole Miss by name, choosing instead to call it “the school up north.”

The reason, he said, “Just adds to our rivalry, to our kids, that they understand the importance of that game to our fan base.”

Ole Miss Coach Houston Nutt was asked what he thought of Mullen’s tactic.

“Somebody keeps keep telling me that,” Nutt said. “I don’t know too much about that.” No roll

LSU Coach Les Miles,who won the BCS national championship with a twoloss team in 2007, has not had his contract rolled over after either of the past two years.

“I didn’t really seek that roll,” Miles said. “My view, very honestly, has been a view of coach and prepare my team for victory. I’m very fortunate to have a good contract. I don’t think that’s the issue.”

Caldwell calms

Vanderbilt interim coach Robbie Caldwell had his audience rolling with laughter basically throughout his 40-minute stint at the podium in the big print media room at SEC media days.

One of the many humorous anecdotes he told related to his family’s response to hearing about Vandy Coach Bobby Johnson’s sudden retirement last week.

“My family was in a panic,” Caldwell said. “All they heard was ‘retirement.’ You know all the speculation that goes on as well as anybody. They were all in an uproar, crying, carrying on. They never heard the part about me getting to be interim head coach.

“When I get home, there’s no congratulations. There’s a panic. It’s ‘What are we going to do? Are we out of a job?’ You can imagine how we all settled down and gotto celebrate the situation.” Better buy

Kentucky Coach Joker Phillips has a warning for the Wildcats who have not jumped totally on board with his “Operation Win” strategy in his first season at the helm.

“Has everybody bought in?

No,” Phillips said. “But the ones that haven’t bought in, they will either be no longer with us, or they’llbe the best-conditioned player on our football team. We need those guys to buy in.” Tickling ivory

Arkansas tight end D.J.

Williams is one of several Razorbacks with a musical background, and he showedhis piano-playing skills at SEC media days.

“It helps me relax and lighten up the room and I enjoy doing it,” Williams said. “I was just wanting to put on a little bit of a show for everybody. Everybody looked a little bored.” Law man

First-year Tennessee Coach Derek Dooley has a law degree, and he was asked how his time as an attorney helps him in football.

“I don’t know,” Dooley said.

“I don’t have to bill time now, thank goodness.”

Dooley went on to say his background helped himread and understand the NCAA manual.

“The NCAA manual was clearly written by lawyers,” he said. “I think if football coaches sat around and came up with the rules they’d be more clear, but you can’t do that.”

No distraction

Georgia Coach Mark Richt and his players said Damon Evans’ recent firing as the Bulldogs’ athletic director isn’t a distraction.

Evans, 40, was fired July 5 after being arrested on a charge of driving under the influence. A 28-year-old female who isn’t his wife was riding in the car with Evans, and according to the police report, her panties were in Evans’ lap.

“I feel really bad for his family,” punter Drew Butler said. “He was in a great position, and unfortunately some things happened and he got caught up in a sticky situation. But I pray for his wife and his kids.”

Bulldogs fullback Shaun Chapas said he thought the news ofEvans’ arrest was a joke when he first heard.

“It was a surprise,” Chapas said. “But it happened, and it’s in the past now.”

Richt said he has a “very good friendship” with Evans and was saddened by whatled to his dismissal.

“But has it affected our preparation? I don’t believe it has,” Richt said.

“It certainly was news, no doubt about that.”

Frank Crumley was appointed Georgia’s interim athletic director.

Cutting wedges

Teams will be penalized 15 yards if they use three or more players for wedgeblocking on kickoff returns this season.

The rule is being implemented in hopes of decreasing concussions, which too often have been suffered by players on kickoff coverage when they run into a wedge, said Rogers Redding, the SEC’s supervisor of officials.

Having two blockers side-by-side is still allowed, Redding said, but if there are three or more players within 2 yards of each other on the same plane, officials have been instructed to flag it.

“Whether a block is thrown is immaterial,” Redding said.

The NFL implemented the wedge rule last season, Redding said, with favorable results. A foul will not be called if a wedge is formed on a touchback.

Favre has it

Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen gushed about incoming freshman quarterback Dylan Favre, the 5-10 nephew of NFL great Brett Favre.

Mullen said he wasimpressed by Dylan Favre’s ability to lead his team to the final of a 7-on-7 tournament.

“I’m trying to think in my mind,how can we not take this guy to play quarterback for us,” Mullen said. “Maybe there has to be a bigger, better, faster, stronger quarterback out there for us to recruit.”

But Dylan Favre’s playmaking and can-do attitude rubbed off on Mullen.

“This is Dylan Favre’s demeanor,” he said. “We play LSU. We lose a very close game. I pick up my phone. There’s a text message on my phone from Dylan Favre: ‘If I was your quarterback, I would have scored on that play.’

“He has that swagger, that ‘it’ factor that you want in a quarterback. He carries his team to a state championship game and he dominates the game on both sides of the ball.”Butler does it

Georgia junior Drew Butler was good enough last season to win the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s top punter, and he said his best game came in the Bulldogs’ 52-41 victory at Arkansas.

Whilethe game turned into an offensive show, Butler helped Georgia win the field position battle by averaging 55.3 yards on fourpunts, including three that were downed inside the Razorbacks’ 20-yard line.

“Arkansas is such a highpowered offense and can score at any time,” Butler said. “So being able to put them in a position where they had to go 80-plus yards, that’s the way I could help my team the most.”

Georgia averaged 41.9 net yards per punt to lead the nation, and Butler averaged 48.1 yards per punt.

Strong support

Florida defenders Justin Trattou and Ahmad Black praised Charlie Strong, the new Louisville coach who had been the Gators’ defensive coordinator.

Strong, a Batesville native, played at Central Arkansas.

“I love Coach Strong,” Trattou said. “I think he’s going to do great at Louisville. The sky’s the limit for him.

He’s a great motivator. He’s a guy you really want to play for on Saturdays.”

Around the SEC

Ole Miss’ Rebels mascot “Colonel Reb” has not walked the field or courts on campus since 2003. While “Rebels” will continue to be the school’s nickname, the student body is voting on a new mascot that will walk the fields at some point in the future. ... SEC associate commissioner Charles Bloom announced that 873 media credentials had been issued for SEC media days, the second-highest in league history. The record was the 923 credentials issued in 2009.

Sports, Pages 36 on 07/25/2010

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