Is Mark Richt climbing into the toaster oven?

Mark Richt always looks cool . . . cool hair, cool tan, cool shades, cool demeanor. But no coach in the SEC, with the possible exception of the Right Reverend in Oxford, will be walking on as many coals in the coming weeks.

Yet, the AJC's Mark Bradley finds room for optimism . . . fine quarterback, fine tight end, improving defense and THE DREAM TEAM, Richt's haul of instate studs who one Bulldog senior says could include seven or eight starters. Bradley thinks Georgia will win the SEC East.

Really?

Upon closer examination: Georgia lost A.J. Green, and has no one returning who has shown the consistent ability to catch the ball, much less replace the finest receiver in UGA history.

Georgia lost its best defensive player to the NFL draft. USC transfer Jarvis Jones, the supposed answer at linebacker, is the subject of an NCAA investigation. The offensive line, mediocre when intact, is no longer intact. Meanwhile, Georgia is shedding tailbacks like a magnolia drops leaves.

Which brings us to this: UGA's first two games are against Boise State and South Carolina. Let's check back on the Dawgs going into Week 3. If the team is already relying on Dream Teamers, the Georgia season will be trending nightmarish, and Richt will be counting down the days.

mg

SEC meetings in quotes

Thanks to summer intern and UA student Laura Owens for the dispatches from her home town of Birmingham. We'd like to augment her good work with the following: The Birmingham News' best snippets from coaches and players from Wednesday.

Enjoy.

mg

SEC Media Days Stupidest Questions: Day 1

Inevitably, when there are 100+ reporters involved in any given situation, there will be those questions that make you cringe.

Though Day 1 was pretty tame, there were some that didn't need to be asked. Here are four of the worst questions from Day 1 of the 2011 SEC Media Days:

Florida's new head coach Will Muschamp was asked what it was like to see former Florida head coach Urban Meyer's daughter as a member of the media at Media Days.
He replied, "Yeah, I think Nicki is doing an intern there with FOX, I believe. It was good to see her in one of these rooms we were in."

Muschamp, who is a former Georgia player, was also asked what it felt like to be a Georgia guy coaching at Florida.
"I'm a Florida guy," was all he said to that.

Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino was asked if he considered the 2010 season a 10- or 11-win season since Ohio State vacated the Sugar Bowl win.
"It's a 10-win season," he answered. "We were 10-3. We have every chance in the world to win that game. We got beat on the field."

This question was addressed to Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen. This question wasn't the question itself that's so ridiculous. It's the phrasing and third person referencing that made it seem awkward:
Question: If you could go back in time and talk to Dan when he took the job, what lessons that you've learned would you tell that person?
Mullen actually gave a really long answer to this one, but it started with: "You know, I don't know. I think the lessons that you learn are what makes you who you are today."


--Laura Owens

Lattimore and Jeffery ready for new year

In the 2011 pre-season, South Carolina boasts two of the top offensive players in sophomore running back Marcus Lattimore and junior wide receiver Alshon Jeffery. Both players made the coaches’ All-SEC first team.

             “What we like about Alshon and Marcus is that you can brag on them, and it doesn’t affect them at all,” said head coach Steve Spurrier.

            Lattimore, whose name has already been mentioned in the Heisman race, said he embraces that opportunity.

            “I have a good shot to win it, I think,” he said. “I’ve got a great offensive line.”

            Spurrier also has confidence in his running back’s abilities.

            “All summer, I have said Marcus Lattimore is the best running back in the country,” he said.

            Coming in as a freshman, Lattimore said the biggest thing for him to work on was pass protection.

            “It was so fast. It was hard to react to it,” he said. “All the blitzes Nick Saban throws at you, it’s crazy. But I think it slows down after three or four games.”

            Jeffery said his personal goal for this year is to try for the SEC Championship again.

            “I felt great about our season, but we left a lot of things on the field,” he said. “Hopefully this year we’ll learn from our mistakes.”

            Spurrier said Jeffrey has worked a lot on his size since he got to South Carolina.

            “When he got to South Carolina, he was 245, now he’s thinned down to 230,” Spurrier said. “He’s a lot faster than he’s ever been.”

            Jeffrey said he and Lattimore get along well off the field and that Lattimore is a great teammate.

            “I don’t compete over touches,” Jeffery said. “If I ever had to choose, I’d choose Marcus to touch the ball.”

--Laura Owens

Danny Sheridan: LSU ... then Alabama

The USA Today odds maker says LSU -- by a cat's whisker over Alabama -- is the SEC's best bet for a sixth consecutive championship.

Among his other pre-season observations:

*Auburn, home to the top recruiting staff in the country, has brought in far too much talent to fall completely off the map.

*Alabama is good enough to run the table, even with middlin' quarterback play.

*Mark Richt is the most likely SEC coach to lose his job. The magic number: at least 9 wins.

*If LSU were to open with Alabama instead of Oregon, the Tigers would be favorites. By the time the two play in Tuscaloosa in late fall, who knows?

Read the rest here, courtesy of al.com

MG

Remember: The EXPATS return Aug. 1.

And the Bayou Bengals make three

First an announcement: We'll be gearing up the EXPATS on Aug. 1 to begin the countdown for the 2011 season. In the meantime, here's a nice little opinion piece from The Tuscaloosa News' Cecil Hurt on the latest probation for an SEC football team.

As Hurt points out, the sky didn't fall in Baton Rouge yesterday. But the NCAA gave LSU a year, and accepted the school's self-imposed penalties by docking a few scholarships. Mostly, the boys from Indy praised the school for how it handled the matter. Still, that makes three SEC schools now under NCAA watch, with major two-sport infractions against Tennessee almost certainly to come.

(Is it just my hearing aids or is the predictable cackling from Big 10 schools gone the way of the bobwhite? There's silence on the Northern Front. And for the record, the ACC's current compliance sheet is no better than the SEC's.)

Suffice to say, SEC Commissioner Mike Slive has failed in his mission to have a probation-free league. Guess the moral high ground got lost under all those trophies.

mg

Hosts of party where Aaron Douglas died face charges

Aaron Douglas, the talented offensive lineman who battled substance-abuse problems at Tennessee and Alabama, died May 12 of an apparent overdose in Florida. Now the hosts of the party the player attended have been charged with violating underage drinking laws.

Read more here.

mg