BY BRENT BEAIRD
Jacksonville Sports News
There is some talk that former Vol coach Phil Fulmer would be interested in the Louisville job if Steve Kraigthorpe is fired. Former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville’s name could come up if Mike Sherman is fired from Texas A & M.
RETURNING QBS: The ACC has more experience quarterbacks returning that most leagues. There are as many as nine quarterbacks who could challenge for the first-team all-conference spot by the end of the season. Five returning starters threw for over 2,000 yards a year ago while one, N.C. State’s Russell Wilson, was 45 yards short of the mark.
Look at the Big 12. Oklahoma has 2008 Heisman winner Sam Bradford. Colt McCoy is back at Texas, and Oklahoma State’s got maybe one of the most dynamic QBs you’ve never heard of in Zac Robinson. And there are five more signal callers returning that eclipsed the 2,000-yard mark in ’08.
Arguably the nation’s most powerful conference isn’t following the same storyline. The SEC, fresh off three consecutive BCS championships, returns just two QBs who tossed for over 2,000 yards last season and started every game: Former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and Ole Miss rising star Jevan Snead.
RUSHING STAT: A year ago, Missouri lost its way on offense and turned into the Texas Tech of the Ozarks: lots of tricks and throws but no muscle. The Tigers averaged fewer than 30 rushes a game. That is a historically low figure. It is the lowest average of runs per game by Missouri in at least 60 years. Available data dates back only to 1949. Of the 120 schools at the top level of college football, only seven averaged fewer than 30 runs a game. Three had winning seasons: Missouri, Texas Tech and Western Michigan. Four had dreadful seasons: Virginia, New Mexico State, San Diego State and Southern Methodist. (STLToday.com)
FULMER ON TV: Former Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer will still be around on Saturdays this fall as CBS announced today that Fulmer will be a part of the network’s SEC coverage. Fulmer's role at the network will be a studio-based one as he will be a part of the SEC Tailgate Show and the SEC Postgame Show. Fulmer was fired by the university on Nov. 2 of last year, but finished out the season on the UT sideline. Overall, he had a 151-50 record during his Tennessee career.
SOUTH FLORIDA: The prognosis for the injury suffered by South Florida running back Jamar Taylor is not good, but better than originally thought. Taylor sprained his knee, which would obviously knock him out for the majority of the 2009 season. Taylor hurt the knee during Saturday's scrimmage. Now, this morning brings word that tailback Mike Ford has been suspended for the first two games of the season by head coach Jim Leavitt. And like you needed to ask, Ford was suspended for a violation of team rules. Ford and Taylor were one of three players fighting for the starting job, with the other being Mo Plancher.
SOUTHERN CAL: Southern Cal has announced that defensive end Armond Armstead will be out for six weeks. Armstead will need surgery to repair the fifth metatarsal (outer most bone) in his left foot. The procedure will be performed Friday morning. The senior suffered the break during this morning's practice after stepping on a teammate's foot. Based on the initial timetable, Armstead will miss the Trojans' rematch with Ohio State in Columbus, the start of the Pac-10 season, and two league games total. Starting QB Aaron Corp could return next week after X-rays revealed his cracked fibula is progressing at a rate slightly better than expected.
Quarterback Matt Barkley struggled more so than he's had throughout the entire camp as he finished a scrimmage going 5 of 19 for 109 yards, although he didn't throw an interception during his work with the first-team offense. Mitch Mustain completed 10 of 15 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown against the second team defense. Meanwhile, Aaron Corp is continuing his return from a slightly cracked fibula. Corp, who missed the last week of practice, is able to jog but not run, and an X--ray scheduled for yesterday was postponed until today.
Barkley possibly will become the first true freshman in USC history to start an opener at quarterback. While the injury news off the field was good for Corp, the news on the field likely left the injured Southern Cal quarterback feeling more and more like his dream job is slipping away. Taking advantage of both the Corp injury and a scrimmage geared toward getting him a copious amount of reps, Barkley did not disappoint.
In an earlier scrimmage, Barkley completed 10 of 17 passes for 120 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. He worked in seven series, with five of those coming with the first-team offense. In fact, he was the only quarterback to work with the first team as third-stringer Mitch Mustain was relegated to action with the second and third teams. Mustain went 14 of 16 for 154 yards, one touchdown and zero picks.
MICHIGAN: Head coach Rich Rodriquez has not named a starter among a trio of Nick Sheridan, Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson. Even though Forcier and Robinson are both true freshmen, Sheridan is by far the most experienced player in the trio. However, it's a widely held belief that Forcier is the leader and will remain just that, at least at the start of the season. All three players are currently receiving equal reps with the first-team offense.
