SEC Media Day One: Continuing Coverage

After Arkansas and South Carolina time slots, here are a few short notes from the proceedings in Hoover:

ARKANSAS: Most of the questions were about the turmoil that has engulfed Nutt during the offseason. I thought Nutt held up pretty well with his usually pulpit fervor. Nutt batted away most of the questions by saying how enthusiastic the Razorback Club meetings were this summer and how excited they were about the upcoming season. He tried to put all that stuff behind them and move on, but I figure it will follow him around until they get a big win.

Nutt did reveal that Darren McFadden still dresses up for Halloween. I need pictures, please.

Nutt also thinks Marcus Monk will break the Arkansas receiving touchdown record. I think he only needs six. I would say that is a safe bet, but given the Arkansas air attack last year, maybe it isn't. I don't see Casey Dick suddenly morphing into Dan Fouts and I don't think he'll have too many chances to show his arm off even if he did. Nutt did say that Monk is one of the best receivers he's seen while covered because he can go up over the defender. That is certainly true and may be Dick's saving grace. He doesn't have to throw a perfect pass to Monk to get a reception. Monk will break the record, but it won't come early in the season.

SOUTH CAROLINA: First, Shiny Pants was late by about thirty minutes. No surprise. His theme was that the Cocks now have a team that matches up with the talent of the jean shorters, the coon dogs, and the Bulldogs. He said repeatedly that this is the first team he's had at Carolina that he thinks can compete for a conference crown.

Spurrier had a good quote on the NBA referee betting scandal. When asked if anything like that could happen in the SEC, Spurrier responded (I'm paraphrasing), "I don't think I've ever said 'That guy called the game like he had money on it,' but I've been involved in some that I thought deserved investigation."

AUBURN: Tubs talked about his offense mostly. He is excited about his stable of running backs and senior quarterback Brandon Cox. But, not all is peachy on the plains. They are still looking for a dangerous receiving threat and their "starting over" on special teams. A theme in Tub's slot was how physical the LSU game was last year and how Cox was never really the same after that game. It sounded like Tubs has enjoyed playing second fiddle to Nick Saban over the past few months. He sounded fresh and ready to start the season.

Tubs did note how brutal Auburn's schedule is with games at Florida, at LSU, at Arkansas, and at Georgia. He talked about how difficult it is to get the entire team ready to play big road games. Tubs identified momentum as the single biggest factor in road games. He'll have his work cut out for him this year.

KENTUCKY: Rich Brooks was cracking them up with his opening line: "I'm baaaaaaack." He said his goal every year is to make it back to SEC Media Days the next year and was glad to get back after everyone questioned his job security last year. Brooks said this was his best football team at UK and that this would be an interesting year for his club. UK's offense will put up some points and Brooks said his defense should be improved, unlike most years.