Georgia Coach Mark Richt said he expects Todd Gurley to finish this season with the Bulldogs after the NCAA ruled Wednesday the junior tailback must miss two more games -- which would make four total -- as part of his punishment for accepting more than $3,000 for signing memorabilia.
If Gurley's suspension isn't reduced pending Georgia's appeal, he will be able to play in the final three regular-season games -- then possibly the SEC Championship Game and bowl game -- starting against Auburn on Nov. 15.
SEC TOP TO BOTTOM
Rank;previous;arrow;record;comment
1;(1);same;Mississippi State;7-0;10-game streak started vs. Hogs last year
2;(3);up;Alabama;7-1;Open date before road trip to LSU
3;(4);up;Auburn;6-1;Survives Spurrier to stay in national title race
4;(2);down;Ole Miss;7-1;Buddies Malzahn and Freeze face off in Oxford
5;(5);same;Georgia;6-1;Looking to stay in control of East vs. Florida
6;(6);same;LSU;6-2;Open date to get ready for Saban
7;(7);same;Missouri;6-2;Mauk would love to light up Kentucky again
8;(8);same;Texas A&M;5-3;Should get well vs Louisiana-Monroe
9;(9);same;Arkansas;4-4;Another week, another ranked SEC opponent
10;(10);same;Kentucky;5-3;Glad to be back in East at Mizzou
11;(11);same;South Carolina;4-4;Almost got big upset at Auburn
12;(12);same;Tennessee;3-5;Didn’t enjoy Kiffin’s homecoming
13;(13);same;Florida;3-3;QB Harris gets first start vs Georgia
14;(14);same;Vanderbilt;2-6;James Franklin got out at right time
BY THE NUMBERS
0-7 — Will Muschamp’s record as a player and coach in the Florida-Georgia series. He was 0-4 as a Georgia player and is 0-3 as Florida’s coach.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Auburn at Ole Miss, 6 p.m. Saturday, ESPN
Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze already has beaten one of the coaches who followed him at Arkansas State — when the Rebels beat Boise State and Bryan Harsin to open the season — and he’ll try to make it 2-0 against Auburn and Gus Malzahn. With the Tigers being ranked No. 3 in the first college football playoff poll and the Rebels No. 4 and both teams having one loss, this game could be viewed as a possible elimination matchup. Malzahn and Freeze share backgrounds as former high school coaches and are close friends, but they have to put that aside Saturday with so much on the line or their teams.
Considering Gurley is a projected first-round NFL Draft choice, there has been speculation he might opt to sign with an agent and not play again for Georgia, but Richt shot down that theory.
Gurley has continued to practice with the Bulldogs since being suspended Oct. 9.
"I don't think there's any doubt that Todd's going to finish with honor and he's going to have a great finish to his career here at Georgia, whenever it ends," Richt said. "I think he's excited about finishing this season with his teammates."
In addition to Gurley missing four games -- the next two are against Florida and Kentucky --the NCAA ruled he must complete 40 hours of community service and donate a portion of the money he received to a charity of his choice.
"Regardless of what happens, the bottom line is our guys understand that we're playing a very good team this weekend," Richt said. "It is historically a very hotly contested game every time we hook up against Florida."
Georgia won road games against Missouri 34-0 and Arkansas 45-32 without Gurley.
"There are questions and there are things swirling around that could become a distraction," Richt said. "But I think our players have done a really good job of only worrying about the things they could control and trying to prepare well enough to get a victory."
Check back later
Alabama Coach Nick Saban didn't watch ESPN anxiously Tuesday night as Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long, chairman of the selection committee for the inaugural four-team college football playoff, announced the group's first top 25 poll.
"I don't really have any thoughts on it," Saban said. "I don't even know for sure where we're ranked, because it doesn't really matter."
The Crimson Tide are ranked No. 6.
"To me, this is a media extravaganza for everybody to talk about right now, because it really doesn't mean anything until the season's over," Saban said. "We've got some tough games coming up against some of the teams that are ranked higher than us."
So maybe Saban does know where Alabama is ranked?
"If we can do a good job and have success in the next four games that we have, I think all those things will take care of themselves," he said. "It really doesn't matter much where anybody's ranked right now. It's going to be how you finish."
Alabama is among six SEC teams in the top 20 along with No. 1 Mississippi State, No. 3 Auburn, No. 4 Ole Miss, No. 11 Georgia and No. 19 LSU.
"I really don't have much reaction," Auburn Coach Gus Malzhan said. "We'll worry about that as it gets toward the end of the season."
There will be plenty of shakeups among SEC teams in playoff polls the rest of the season impacted by games including Auburn-Ole Miss, Ole Miss-Mississippi State, Alabama-Auburn, Alabama-Mississippi State, Alabama-LSU and Auburn-Georgia.
"I recognize the committee has a difficult job, and we have confidence in them and know they're going to judge the full schedule of games," Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze said. "It's certainly an honor to be considered one of the teams right now that has a shot at it."
Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen said he's not sure how relevant a playoff poll is at this point of the season, but that being atop the rankings is a lot of positive publicity for the Bulldogs and their fans.
"Here it is the first poll ever released in the college football playoff and Mississippi State's No. 1," Mullen said. "I think that's pretty historic and a really neat deal for our fan base and our alumni and our students an the university as a whole.
"How it affects our football team in the big picture of things, I don't think it does any way, shape or form."
Leather look
Texas A&M will honor the 75th anniversary of its 1939 national championship team by wearing throwback uniforms for Saturday's game against Louisiana-Monroe, including a helmet designed to appear as though it is made of leather.
The helmet was created after studying photographs from the 1939 team, according to a news release. One notable difference is the Aggies' helmets have modern face masks while in 1939 helmets offered no protection for the face.
In other fashion news regarding SEC games, Georgia and Florida both will wear home uniforms for their matchup in Jacksonville, Fla., and South Carolina will wear all-black uniforms against Tennessee.
Georgia is the designated home team against Florida and will wear red jerseys, but the Bulldogs granted permission for the Gators to wear blue.
"I'm hoping our guys don't think blue is red and the quarterback starts throwing to their guys," Georgia Coach Mark Richt said. "I don't think it will be an issue. Hopefully, the fans enjoy it."
Shiloh Christian days
After South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier spurned the punt and went for it on fourth down six times -- and converted five -- in Auburn's 42-35 victory over the Gamecocks last Saturday night, Tigers Coach Gus Malzahn was asked if he'd ever had a game where he declined to punt.
Malzahn, speaking on his weekly radio show, recalled his Shiloh Christian Saints didn't punt in a 70-64 victory over Junction City in a 1999 Class 2A state playoff game.
"We got down 38-14 in the first quarter, so we had to go for it every time," Malzahn said. "We never punted. We onside-kicked every time and we found a way to win in a non-overtime game, so that is probably the closest I can remember anything like that."
Rhett Lashlee, now Auburn's offensive coordinator, passed for 672 yards and eight touchdowns in Shiloh Christian's victory over Junction City 15 years ago.
Nice perk
Alabama's Crimson Tide Foundation paid off Coach Nick Saban's $3.1 million home in Tuscaloosa in January 2013 according to AL.com. The Foundation will continue to pay property taxes for the 8,759-square-foot home.
"It's not all that unusual in the world for universities to provide the housing," Scott Phelps, assistant secretary of the Foundation, told AL.com. "We want to keep him happy. We think he is the best coach in America."
Sports on 10/30/2014