SEC report

LITTLE ROCK — League isn’t for old men

As if Missouri’s SEC debut against Georgia on Saturday night hasn’t been hyped enough for several months, Tigers defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson added fuel to the fire when he made fun of the Bulldogs’ offense.

Richardson was asked after Missouri opened the season by beating Southeastern Louisiana 64-10 last Saturday night if he had watched Georgia beat Buffalo 45-23 earlier in the day.

“I watched that game. I turned it off, too,” Richardson told the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune. “It’s like watching Big Ten football. It’s old-man football.

“If we execute, nobody in this league can touch us. Period.”

In the old-man days, a Georgia graduate assistant would have made copies of Richardson’s quote and posted it throughout the locker room, but Bulldogs Coach Mark Richt said that’s not necessary in the Twitter age.

“Nowadays, everybody knows all about it,” Richt said. “My mom called me and wanted to know what I thought about it.”

Richt, 52, didn’t seem to take offense to Richardson’s comments.

“I’m over 50, and I’m starting to think I’m becoming an old man, so I thought it was a compliment actually,” Richt said. “The bottom line is, guys are going to say things and you can’t worry too much about it. You’ve just got to worry about hooking it up and playing and see who does the best.”

Richardson wasn’t among the Missouri players made available for interviews this week, having “earned himself a little vacation,” team spokesman Chad Moller told reporters.

“What Sheldon did was wrong and irresponsible,” Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel said. “He got caught up in the moment, and he made a mistake. We handled it internally.

“He’s got great respect for Georgia, as I do. We’ll learn the lessons and move on.”

Georgia’s players were careful in their comments.

“We’re just going to have to stay focused on our game plan,” receiver Michael Bennett told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Bennett was asked if he’d been told to give that bland response or if he had other options.

“A, B and C, I guess,” Bennett said with a laugh. “I’ve got a few more in my pocket if you want them: Focus on the game; they’re a great team.”

Sign of the times

Chalk it up as an Aggie joke.

Someone — and Texas A&M officials claim it wasn’t any of them — purchased space on a billboard in Gainesville, Fla., touting the Aggies and poking some fun of the SEC.

The Aggies play their first SEC game against Florida on Saturday in College Station, Texas.

A billboard at the intersection of 13th Street and 53rd Avenue, about five miles from the Florida campus, appeared Tuesday and read, “You’ve been annexed by Aggie Nation. The Best Academics & Cleanest Program in the SEC. WHOOP! Real Football. Real Tradition.”

Texas A&M officials quickly tweeted they had nothing to do with the billboard, and it was taken down Wednesday after a cease-and-desist letter sent by Texas A&M to the owner, Clear Channel Communications, claiming copyright infringement.

“To protect any trademark, we’ll take it down, and if they resolve it, we’re happy to put it back up,” Jim Cullinan, head of communications for Clear Channel, told The Gainesville Sun.

Cullinan told The Sun that a Houston media company representing a group called “Aggie Nation” bought the billboard.

Florida Coach Will Muschamp heard about the billboard.

“I didn’t see it, but I’m sure it was interesting,” Muschamp said.

For the record, Vanderbilt, not Texas A&M, is the SEC’s highestrated academic member, according to rankings by U.S. News & World Report. Vanderbilt is 17th and Texas A&M is tied for 58th with Florida to rank second in the SEC.

The billboard’s claim about Texas A&M’s “clean” reputation doesn’t add up, either. The Aggies have been hit with major rules violations seven times by the NCAA, which ties Auburn for most among SEC schools.

Tide No. 1 again

Alabama’s 41-14 victory over Michigan at Cowboys Stadium last Saturday convinced voters in The Associated Press poll to move the Crimson Tide from No. 2 to No. 1 this week. The Tide jumped ahead of Southern California, which opened at home by beating Hawaii 49-10.

It’s the fifth consecutive season defending national champion Alabama has been ranked No. 1. The only other team to do that in the past 50 years as Miami, which was ranked No. 1 at least once in each of seven seasons in 1986-1992.

Alabama Coach Nick Saban has warned his players not to get overly excited about the No. 1 ranking.

“He told us that that was just the first game, so don’t get all hyped up about that,” junior linebacker C.J. Mosley told al.com “We’ve got a lot more games to come, and we’ve got a lot more improvement to do.”

Senior center Barrett Jones won the Outland Trophy last year and has played on two national title teams at Alabama.

“I think everyone understands our goal wasn’t to beat Michigan,” Jones told al.com. “It was great, but our goal is to win the national championship.

Frazier’s first start

Auburn quarterback Kiehl Frazier, a sophomore who played at Shiloh Christian High School in Springdale, played in all 13 games off the bench for the Tigers last season.

Now he’s the Tigers’ firstteamer, and he made his first start in their 27-19 loss to Clemson in Atlanta last Saturday. He completed 11 of 27 passes for 194 yards with 1 interception.

“I was proud of him,” Auburn Coach Gene Chizik said. “Obviously, there are a lot of things he can improve on, and he knows that. But overall, I think he handled everything well.

“I think he’s really in a good place in the fact that he got the first start out of the way, which for a quarterback is big. I think it gives him a little more piece of mind ... that there were a lot of first-time things he plowed through.

“He did some nice things, and hopefully he’ll continue to improve.”

Happy return

Tyrann Mathieu may be suspended from playing for LSU this season, but the Tigers appear to have found an able punt returner in sophomore receiver Odell Beckham Jr.

Beckham returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown in LSU’s 41-14 victory over North Texas last Saturday. That gave the Tigers three punt returns for touchdowns in their past four games, including Mathieu’s scores against Arkansas and Georgia last season.

“You can never replace a guy like [Mathieu], but there are certain things he taught me,” Beckham told Gannett Louisiana. “I try to take that and use them.”

Beckham didn’t want to be specific about the tips he received from Mathieu but credited his teammates on the punt return unit.

“There were tremendous blocks, and everybody did exactly what they were supposed to do on the touchdown,” Beckham said. “That’s when good things happen, and we were able to put it in the end zone. It was just as we scripted it in practice.”

Shaw’s shoulder

It may be a game-time decision for South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier whether to start quarterback Connor Shaw against East Carolina on Saturday.

Shaw injured his right (throwing) shoulder in last Thursday’s opener against Vanderbilt.

“If he can throw it fullgo [today] and he’s cleared by doctors, then he in all likelihood will play,” Spurrier said. “He hasn’t done anything all week and we just have to wait and see.

“He thinks he is. He thinks he’ll be ready by game time. ... He’s going to dress out, that’s for sure.”

If Shaw isn’t ready, Spurrier said redshirt sophomore Dylan Thompson will start.

Two-minute drill

Auburn center Reese Dismukes is expected to play in Saturday’s SEC opener against Mississippi State after being suspended for the Clemson game because of an offseason arrest for public intoxication.

Florida sophomore Jeff Driskell has been named the starter for the Texas A&M game after splitting snaps with sophomore Jacoby Brissett last week against Bowling Green.

Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze said he expects running back Jeff Scott to play Saturday against Texas-El Paso after he was held out last Saturday against Central Arkansas because of a back injury.