Inevitably, the long, sordid saga of the Honey Badger will end in the NFL
Inevitably, the long, sordid saga of the Honey Badger will end in the NFL
A berth in the BCS National Championship Game is on the line when Alabama and Georgia meet for the SEC title. Steve Greenberg says that's not the only critical conference finale taking place this week.
Alabama is, and should still be, the favorite in this Saturday's SEC title game. But Georgia has, without a doubt, closed the gap significantly.
Dizzy from all the big changes? Here's the deal for each league.
[/FONT]Joe Kines remembers the 17-year-old gym rat at the University of Georgia. In the film room, at the mess hall, bouncing around the dorm with his teammates. The former Bulldogs defensive coordinator would recognize Kirby Smart's boyish grin and familiar flop of hair anywhere. Smart, the son of a coach in every sense of the description, was on his way to a coaching life even as a young defensive back under Kines in the mid-1990s. "He's been on that track for a long, long time," said Kines, who retired from coaching in 2009. He remembers a time when Smart, Mike Bobo and Will Muschamp lived together, all three the sons of coaches, all three destined to follow their fathers' leads. Bobo graduated from quarterbacking the Bulldogs to being their offensive coordinator. Muschamp bounced around and landed in Gainesville, Fla., where he has the Gators poised for a BCS berth in his second year on the job. Smart didn't stay in Athens, nor did he rifle from post to post. He latched on with Nick Saban at LSU in 2004 and hasn't let go since. "He's always been a step ahead," Kines said.[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Kirby Smart won't leave mentor Nick Saban until he has an opportunity for success
The All-America linebacker is a contender for many individual awards.
A look at the various connections and storylines that make Saturday's Alabama-Georgia game a little more personal for those involved.
Alabama overcame a halftime deficit to beat the Georgia Bulldogs in the ESPN, EA Sports simulation, which was posted on Youtube.
BOL's weekly power ranking of Alabama's 13 opponents for the 2012 season.
AJ McCarron's standard reply about handling big-game pressure is a shrug and a look that says, What's the big deal? It's an attitude that has served No. 2 Alabama's quarterback pretty wellso far. McCarron and Aaron Murray, his counterpart for No. 3 Georgia, have played on plenty of huge stages with varying results and a couple of performances they wouldn't mind forgetting. The nation's two top-rated passers will square off in Saturday's Southeastern Conference championship game with the winner moving on to face No. 1 Notre Dame for the national title. Crimson Tide center Barrett Jones said succeeding in such games is about controlling emotions and focusing on execution not the hype. Then he's asked about McCarron.
Student attendance at Alabama football games hits lowest rate since 2009-al.comAccording to a report from Alabama's student newspaper The Crimson White, those seats are part of the UA student section, which saw its lowest attendance rate since 2009 this season.
Seth Emerson, Georgia beat writer for the Macon Telegraph, answers five questions and offers a prediction.
The kind folks in media relations at CBS have sent along a news release with comments from college football analyst Gary Danielson about the Alabama-Georgia game. Danielson played at Purdue in 1970-72, leading the Boilermakers to a 6-5 record as a senior. He led the Big Ten in passing offense as a junior with 1,467 yards. As a professional, he played with the Detroit Lions (1976-84) and Cleveland Browns (1985-88). His best year was with the Lions in 1980 when he ranked seventh in passing efficiency and led the team to a 9-7 record.
High expectations produce high coach turnover in SEC-al.comThis marks the first time the SEC's had as many as four coaching changes in one year since 2004.
Though he gained an extra year of eligibility because he didn't play in 2009, McCarron said it would have been fun if he did