After what seems like an eternity, the college football season is here.

Whether you enjoy the idea of preseason classics or not, we will

actually get to see games this weekend.

Teams are ending the dreaded two-a-day routines. Coaches are moving

their teams into more of a game week mode.

On the field, it is exciting to see how many freshmen might have a

chance to play, but, injuries at some schools, especially at Florida

State, have been devastating.

Overall, after nine months of no games, it is time for toe to meet

leather. Let the games begin.

TENNESSEE ‘S sophomore quarterback Casey Clausen played well in last

Thursday’s scrimmage completing 10 of 16 passes for 231 yards. The

offense was further buoyed by the performance of freshmen tailbacks

Cedric Houston, Jabari Davis and Keldrick Williams. One of the three

might have to play fullback because of the thin numbers at that

position.

Freshman defensive end Ovince Saint Preux has been very impressive

during the fall drills. The 6-foot-3, 215- pound Saint Preux has

reminded observers of Leonard Little.

Senior cornerback Willie Miles will miss this week of practice with a

mild concussion and back bruise after tackling receiver Dante

Stallworth.

Freshman tailback Derrick Tinsley will begin practice this week after he

underwent a procedure Aug. 8 to correct an abnormal heart beat.

Tennessee has four married players on the team-Scott Wells, fullback

Will Bartholomew, quarterback Joey Mathews and tailback Travis Stephens.

KENTUCKY recruit Chad Anderson, a heralded linebacker signee, was denied

an appeal that would have made him eligible to play this season.

Anderson failed English during his senior year and he fell one course

short for freshman eligibility.

Offensive lineman Covington Woodley, a freshman signee, has left the

team.

FLORIDA sophomore quarterback Rex Grossman was impressive in the team’s

Saturday scrimmage. On the first two drives, he was 6 of 10 for 110

yards. Sophomore Brock Berlin was 8 of 15 for 65 yards. Coach Steve

Spurrier said he will name a starter during the week of the opening

game. Often injured center Zac Zedalis is out most of this week with a

high ankle sprain.

Starting cornerback Robert Cromartie is out for the season with a torn

pectoral muscle. A likely replacement is senior Bennie Alexander, who

has started 25 games.

Perhaps the best news of the week is that freshman lineman Jonathan

Colon has achieved a qualifying test score on his ACT.

The coaches have no idea who the punter is going to be. Matt

Piotrowicz, Matt Leach, Sean Morton and Nick Fleming have all struggled

at different times.

Tailback Willie Green is out for six to eight weeks after knee surgery.

Tackle Sylvester McGrew is out for at least 10 weeks after undergoing

surgery for torn ankle ligaments.

GEORGIA coach Mark Richt has not named a starting quarterback, but

redshirt freshman is taking all the snaps with the No. 1 offense. Green

would be the first left-handed starter since Charlie Byers in 1956.

Promising freshman D. J. Shockly is considered a co-backup with junior

Cory Phillips. Redshirt freshman Matt Redding is not in the picture.

At tailback, sophomore Kenny Bailey has been impressive during spring

practice and fall drills. He is listed as No. 2 behind starter Musa

Smith.

Although junior Terrance Edwards is the starter at split end, there is

a battle between sophomores Damien Gary and Reggie Brown at flanker.

Richt has lauded Brown for his work ethic.

Freshman defensive tackle Reggie Weeks sustained a knee injury that has

been compared to the ones suffered by running backs Robert Edwards and

Albert Hollis. Weeks dislocated his knee and tore one of his ligaments

and severed three veins in his leg. If the team’s vascular surgeon David

Sailor had not been at practice, Weeks might have lost his leg.

The tight end position is expected to be a strength this season,

literally. Duke transfer Ben Watson, 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, benched a

school record 530 pounds this summer.

Running back Verron Haynes is the fourth Bulldog to be suspended for

the opener on Sept. 1 against Arkansas State. The other three are tight

end Randy McMichael, defensive end Charles Grant and cornerback Tim

Wansley.

Offensive tackle George Foster might miss the opener after having

arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle. Junior college transfer Kareem

Marshall will probably replace him.

AUBURN fans nicknamed redshirt freshmen quarterback Jason Campbell “the

future”. Campbell did not disappoint last Saturday during a scrimmage as

he floated a 77-yard touchdown pass into the hands of his roommate,

Allen Tillman, a quarterback turned receiver. Campbell led the offense

to three touchdowns. He will be the starting quarterback until further

notice.

Redshirt freshman Ryan Broome is an interesting story for the Tigers.

The 6-foot-6, 298 pound left tackle has played just one season of high

school football after moving to the United States from Barbados. After

being on the scout team last year, he has moved up to the backup behind

Kendall Simmons.

OLE MISS sophomore quarterback Eli Manning was 11 of 19 for 81 yards in

last Saturday’s scrimmage. Manning along with backups junior David

Morris and freshman Michael Spurlock combined for 268 yards passing.

Junior college transfer Jason Armstead had two catches for 72 yards.

SOUTH CAROLINA received a verbal commitment from Andy Boyd, a linebacker

from Concord, N. C. Boyd, who is 6-foot-5, 235 pounds, chose the

Gamecocks over North Carolina.

Coach Lou Holtz said he would like to see either an exhibition game

before the regular season or competition against another school during

the spring game.

The Gamecock defensive line is not going to overwhelm anyone with its

size, but it is banking on speed and quickness. Although the nose guard

Langston Moore is 6-foot-2, 300 pounds, the two ends Dennis Quinn

(6-foot-4, 262 pounds) and John Stamper (6-5, 265 pounds) are much

smaller than some of the ends in a 3-3-5 alignment that have to face 300

pound offensive linemen.

ARKANSAS coach Houston Nutt has been impressed with the potential of two

promising freshmen quarterbacks in Matt Jones and Tarvaris Jackson.

Other freshmen who might see playing time are cornerback Marvin

Jackson, tailback Decori Birmingham, linebacker Pierre Brown, linebacker

Jeb Huckeba, and cornerback Ahmad Carroll.

In last Saturday’s scrimmage, the first team defense did not allow a

touchdown in eight series. The not so good news was the offense did not

score until the sixth and final series against reserve defenders.

However, the offense struggled because of a patchwork offensive line and

the limited play of the top three running backs-Cedric Cobbs, Brandon

Holmes and Fred Talley. Kickers Brennan O’Donohoe and David Carlton

kicked three field goals each.

After losing Anthony Lucas and Boo Williams, Hog coaches are looking

for a go-to receiver among the quartet of sophomore Richard Smith,

redshirt freshman George Wilson, and juniors Sparky Hamilton and Sam

Breeden.

LSU redshirt linebacker Marcus Yanez is transferring to Grambling. Yanez

is the fifth player to leave Baton Rouge for an in-state I-AA school,

where they are eligible to play this year. Quarterback Craig Nall

transferred to Northwestern State, offensive linemen Daniel Leon and

linebacker Chris Cooper to Southern, and offensive lineman Jonathan

Banks to Grambling.

Tiger fans have brought a record 62,600 tickets, breaking the previous

record of 59, 500 last year.

The Florida game is a hard sellout. Less than 100 tickets remain for

the Sept. 15 game against Auburn and the Oct. 27 game against Ole Miss.

It has been three years since the Tigers have returned a kickoff or

punt for a score. Kevin Faulk returned a kickoff 88 yards at Notre Dame

and Larry Foster took a punt 50 yards against Idaho. Tiger coaches are

hoping that Domanick Davis, who was third in kickoff (23 yards per

return) returns last season, will stop the streak. Davis is already

second in career kickoff returns at LSU with 1,190 yards on 49 returns

in two seasons.

Freshmen receivers Michael Clayton and Bennie Brazell might be able to

work themselves into the rotation with Reggie Robinson and Ed

Dangerfield out of the picture with injuries. Linebacker Tim Pope of

Panama City, Florida is also making headway to play. Coach Nick Saban

said he was impressed with Pope’s potential.

In last Saturday’s scrimmage, Derron Parquet (13 for 61 yards) and

Devery Henderson (6 for 44 yards) led the Tigers in rushing. However,

Parquet, a redshirt freshman, is considering a transfer to another

school such as Southern University.

Marcus Randall, Matt Mauck and Rick Clausen are battling for the backup

quarterback position.

Senior reserve center Jason Underwood, who is waiting on medical

clearance to play, is transferring to Tennessee-Martin.

MISSISSIPPI STATE fans are excited about seeing the newly refurbished

Scott Field. MSU will play three games at home in 18 days in September.

They are only one of 14 teams to start the season with three straight

home games. SEC brethren Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and LSU enjoy the

same advantage. Capacity for the Memphis game will be 48,000, but when

Ole Miss visits on Nov. 22 the stadium will be completed and attendance

will swell to around 56,000. The Bulldogs have won 16 of 17 games at

home since 1998.

After the team’s second preseason scrimmage, head coach Jackie Sherrill

lauded the play of several defensive players including Mario Haggan,

Dorsett Davis, Ronald Fields, Korey Banks and Walter Burdett.

Sophomore flanker Justin Jenkins has received kudos from head coach

Jackie Sherrill.

ALABAMA coach Dennis Franchione staged a kicking scrimmage last

Saturday. This was the first time that a scrimmage was used primarily

for the kicking game in recent memory.

Although nothing official has been announced, junior Tyler Watts

appears to have beat out senior Andrew Zow for the starting quarterback

position. Watts has outplayed Zow during the past few practices.

THE FSU DEFENSE did not allow a touchdown in last Saturday’s scrimmage.

Freshman quarterback Adrian McPherson and freshman receiver Craphonso

Thorpe drew praise from the coaches.

The injury nightmare continues for the Seminoles with the loss of

receivers Robert Morgan, Anquan Boldin and guard Otis Duhart. Although

Morgan and Boldin are out for the year with torn ligaments, Duhart will

possibly return in six weeks.

This string of injuries have brought back memories of the 1993 season

when FSU lost defensive backs Steve Gilmer and Corey Fuller and tailback

Tiger McMillan to knee injuries over three days.

CLEMSON linebacker Altroy Bodrick is out for the season after tearing a

ligament in his knee during last Saturday’s scrimmage. Bodrick was set

to take the spot of Keith Adams, who was drafted by the Tennessee

Titans. According to strength coach Joey Batson, Bodrick ran the fastest

40- yard dash time in summer workouts of all the veterans. Taking his

spot is senior Braxton Williams who moved from his star safety spot.

Sophomore Marcus Houskin has moved ahead of Eric Meekins at free safety.

Also during last Saturday’s scrimmage, defensive coordinator Reggie

Herring tore his Achilles tendon jumping up and down while yelling at

the defense.

GEORGIA TECH wide receiver Nate Curry is out for the season with a torn

ACL in his left knee. He sustained the injury in a non-contact drill. As

a freshman, Curry caught 22 passes for 298 yards and two touchdowns.

Fortunately, for the Yellow Jackets, receiver is a deep position with

juniors Kerry Watkins and Will Glover and sophomore Jonathan Smith.

Tech coach George O’Leary is very familiar with the Syracuse program.

He was the defense line coach and assistant head coach at Syracuse from

1980-86.

Freshman left tackle Nat Dorsey has solidified his spot as a backup.

Other freshmen who will see action this weekend are free safety James

Butler, receiver Levon Thomas, cornerback Dennis Davis and tackle Kyle

Wallace.

SOUTHERN MISS junior defensive tackle Carlos Crusoe is out before the

season begins after breaking a foot in last Wednesday’s scrimmage. Head

coach Jeff Bower, 67-47-1 in 10 years, has received a one–year contract

extension. His contract runs through the 2004 season.

MIAMI ‘S defense had the upperhand in last Saturday’s scrimmage. The

defense held the offense to field goals. Several members of the

offensive line missed the scrimmage because of injuries. Coach Larry

Coker said none of the receivers had shown consistency.

Coker said safety Sean Taylor, cornerback Antrel Rolle, wide receiver

Kellen Winslow and running back Frank Gore are freshmen who might see

considerable action.

Backup center Scott Puckett has a slight tear in his MCL that will

sideline him for nearly a month.

MICHIGAN coach Lloyd Carr has chosen John Navarre as his starting

quarterback. Navarre started four games last season completing 40 of 77

passes for 583 yards, eight touchdowns and one interception. He finished

ahead of Spencer Brinton, a transfer from San Diego State.

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