SEC quarterback battles continue around league
Assorted SEC football notes:
▪ Florida’s quarterback race is still too close to call, but Jim McElwain thinks he will name a starter soon. Luke Del Rio and Austin Appleby, both transfers, are the top two contenders. Del Rio, son of Oakland Raiders coach Jack Del Rio, came from Oregon State. Appelby arrived in Gainesville from Purdue.
▪ Mississippi State lost one its quarterback candidates on Friday when Elijah Stanley announced his plans to transfer. Dan Mullen will now choose among junior Damian Williams, sophomore Nick Fitzgerald and redshirt freshman Nick Tiano.
▪ New coach Kirby Smart hasn’t settled on a quarterback at Georgia. Holdovers Greyson Lambert and Brice Ramsey, plus highly-touted freshman Jacob Eason are still in the hunt. Sources say all three were up-and-down in Georgia’s scrimmage on Saturday.
▪ This may sound like a broken record, but South Carolina has also not picked a starting quarterback. Head coach Will Muschamp and offensive coordinator Kurt Roper said after Saturday’s scrimmage they aren’t ready to pick from among senior Perry Orth, freshman Brandon McIlwain and freshman Jake Bentley.
▪ John Adams of the Knoxville News-Sentinel thinks Tennessee’s football season can be divided into three parts. He sees the “Warm-Up,” followed by the “Main Event,” with the “Style Section” wrapping things up. The Vols are the pick to capture the SEC East crown.
▪ The Vols are motivated by the close losses suffered last year. Just 25 points separated Butch Jones’ team from what was a good season from what could have been a great year.
▪ Auburn coach Gus Malzahn doesn’t have a timeline for naming a starting quarterback. He held contender Jeremy Johnson out of the team’s second pre-season scrimmage on Saturday.
▪ Marcell Frazier thinks he can make an impact on Missouri’s pass rush. The junior defensive end will be needed to step up on a line that recently lost a pair of players.
▪ Ole Miss has one of the nation’s better tight ends in Evan Engram, but coach Hugh Freeze thinks true freshman Octavious Cooley may be even better than Engram.
▪ Arkansas is happy with the depth on its defensive line. The Razorbacks think they have eight players who will see time up front.
▪ Texas A&M is trying to sort through its running back candidates to replace featured runner Tra Carson, now in the NFL. Carson got almost 50 percent of the Aggies’ carries last season.
▪ Tony Barnhart of Gridiron Now says that the Maurice Smith saga shows a need for rule change with regards to transfer policies. Smith was finally allowed to leave Alabama and transfer as a grad student to Georgia last week.
▪ Now-retired LSU play-by-play broadcaster Jim Hawthorne and his wife had to be rescued from the intense flooding that hit Louisiana over the weekend.
John Clay: 859-231-3226, jclay@herald-leader.com, @johnclayiv
ESPN opening weekend football schedule
Thursday, Sept. 1
Time (ET) | Game | Network |
7 p.m. | Charlotte at Louisville | ACC Network Extra* |
Tulane at Wake Forest | ACC Network Extra | |
Presbyterian at Central Michigan | ESPN3 | |
Tennessee-Martin at Cincinnati | ESPN3 | |
Maine at UConn | ESPN3* | |
7:30 p.m. | Appalachian State at No. 11 Tennessee Brent Musburger, Jesse Palmer, Laura Rutledge | SEC Network |
Indiana at Florida International Mike Couzens, Clint Stoerner | ESPNU | |
William & Mary at NC State | ACC Network Extra | |
8 p.m. | South Carolina at Vanderbilt Mark Jones, Rod Gilmore, Quint Kessenich | ESPN |
9 p.m. | Montana State at Idaho | ESPN3* |
Friday, Sept. 2
Time (ET) | Game | Network |
6 p.m. | Mississippi Valley State at Eastern Michigan | ESPN3 |
7 p.m. | Colgate at Syracuse | ACC Network Extra |
Albany at Buffalo | ESPN3 | |
Ball State at Georgia State | ESPN3* | |
8 p.m. | Colorado State vs. Colorado from Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo. Adam Amin, Mack Brown, Molly McGrath | ESPN |
9 p.m. | Toledo at Arkansas State Roy Philpott, Clint Stoerner | ESPNU |
Saturday, Sept. 3
Time (ET) | Game | Network |
7:30 a.m. | Georgia Tech vs. Boston College from Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland Jason Benetti, Kelly Stouffer, Paul Carcaterra | ESPN2 |
Noon | 2016 AdvoCare Texas Kickoff: No. 5 Oklahoma vs. No. 18 Houston from NRG Stadium in Houston Dave Pasch, Greg McElroy, Tom Luginbill | ABC |
Hawaii at No. 3 Michigan Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham, Dr. Jerry Punch | ESPN | |
Western Michigan at Northwestern Clay Matvick, Dusty Dvoracek | ESPNU | |
South Alabama at Mississippi State David Neal, Matt Stinchcomb, Olivia Harlan | SEC Network | |
Eastern Kentucky at Purdue Dave Lamont, Ray Bentley | ESPNEWS | |
Boise State at Louisiana-Lafayette | ESPN3* | |
12:30 p.m. | Liberty at Virginia Tech | ACC Network Extra* |
1:30 p.m. | Villanova at Pittsburgh | ACC Network Extra |
3:30 p.m. | No. 6 LSU vs. Wisconsin from Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Steve Levy, Brian Griese, Todd McShay | ABC |
Miami (Ohio) at No. 23 Iowa Eamon McAnaney, John Congemi | ESPNU | |
Richmond at Virginia | ACC Network Extra | |
4 p.m. | Louisiana Tech at Arkansas Beth Mowins, Anthony Becht, Rocky Boiman | SEC Network |
5:30 p.m. | 2016 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game: No. 13 Georgia vs. No. 19 North Carolina from Georgia Dome in Atlanta TV: Bob Wischusen, Brock Huard, Allison Williams Radio: Marc Kestcher, Tom Ramsey | ESPN and ESPN Radio |
6 p.m. | North Carolina Central at Duke | ACC Network Extra |
Florida A&M at Miami (Fla.) | ACC Network Extra | |
Western Carolina at East Carolina | ESPN3 | |
6:30 p.m. | VMI at Akron | ESPN3 |
7 p.m. | Southeast Missouri State at Memphis | ESPN3 |
South Carolina State at UCF | ESPN3 | |
Towson at South Florida | ESPN3 | |
Rhode Island at Kansas | ESPN3* | |
Oklahoma Panhandle State at Sam Houston State | ESPN3 | |
7:30 p.m. | Southern Mississippi at Kentucky Anish Shroff, Ahmad Brooks | ESPNU |
UMass at Florida Tom Hart, Andre Ware, Cole Cubelic | SEC Network | |
8 p.m. | No. 12 USC vs. No. 1 Alabama from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas TV: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Samantha Ponder Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, and Ian Fitzsimmons | ABC and ESPN Radio |
Coastal Carolina at Lamar | ESPN3* | |
9 p.m. | No. 2 Clemson at Auburn Brent Musburger, Jesse Palmer, Kaylee Hartung | ESPN |
Sunday, Sept. 4
Time | Game | Network |
1 p.m. | 2016 MEAC/SWAC Challenge: Alcorn State vs. Bethune-Cookman Eric Clemons, Jay Walker | ESPN |
6 p.m. | Texas Southern vs. Prairie View A&M Mark Neely, Forrest Conoly | ESPNU |
7:30 p.m. | No. 9 Notre Dame at Texas Joe Tessitore, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe | ABC |
Monday, Sept. 5
Time | Game | Network |
8 p.m. | 2016 Camping World Kickoff: No. 14 Ole Miss vs. No. 4 Florida State from Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla. TV: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Samantha Ponder Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, Ian Fitzsimmons | ESPN and ESPN Radio |