UK Wildcat's Newton showing team he's ready to lead

A relaxed Newton seems comfortable in this new role as leader. His fellow upperclassmen have noticed the changes. Newton doesn't just try to lead via tweet, but by example, they said. "He's a workaholic," senior cornerback Randall Burden said of Newton. "He's working harder and more than he has in past years. He's getting ready to take this team on and lead it." Fellow defender Ronnie Sneed has seen it, too. "Morgan's a different guy than before," the senior linebacker said. "I could tell last year Morgan started to change. You could tell he was upset he didn't win that starting position, and I believe that pushed him to prove a point." Sneed pointed to tangible evidence of leadership such as Newton's coordinating seven-on-seven drills and setting up competitions with players from other schools. Last week, they worked with players from Georgetown. On Wednesday, it was guys from Eastern Kentucky. That led one reporter to ask the quarterback whether he planned on calling any players from Louisville. "We're not scared," Newton said laughing. "But probably not, since we'll see them this year." It's not just becoming a coordinator that has made Newton a leader, Sneed said. "He's working really hard," Sneed said. "I know he's in the film room, and I know he's in the weight room pushing it hard. He's excited about this season."

Vols Prentiss Waggner named to Bednarik Award watch list

Waggner started the 2010 season at safety, but thrived when he was moved back to cornerback, the position he played in high school. He finished the season tied for third in the SEC and 15th in the nation with five interceptions. His three interception returns for a touchdown set a UT record.

Waggner, who is one of 18 SEC players on the watch list, also recovered two fumbles and was fifth on the team with 57 tackles. His late-season accolades garnered some national recognition, which also included All-SEC second team honors.

SEC players make watch list for the Biletnikoff Award

The watch list for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation’s top wide receiver, also came out Wednesday. Georgia’s Tavarres King, Auburn’s Emory Blake and Alabama’s Darius Hanks, Marquis Maze and Duron Carter made the list. King, a sophomore, had 27 catches for 504 yards and three touchdowns last season for the Bulldogs, taking third billing behind A.J. Green and Kris Durham. Blake, a junior, emerged as a third receiving option for the Tigers last season, finishing with 33 catches for 554 yards and a team-leading eight receiving touchdowns. Maze, a senior, is the Crimson Tide’s leading returning receiver, catching 38 passes for 557 yards and three touchdowns last year. Hanks, a senior, had 32 catches for 456 yards and three touchdowns. Carter, the son of former NFL star Cris Carter, is a former Ohio State receiver who transferred to the Crimson Tide from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College this spring. He had 44 catches for 690 yards and 10 touchdowns at Coffeyville.

Vanderbilt's Marve, Hayward named to Bednarik Award preseason watch list

Two Commodore defensive standouts are among 65 players across the nation named to the Bednarik Award preseason watch list, the Maxwell Football Club announced today.
Chris Marve, a two-time All-Southeastern Conference linebacker from Memphis, Tenn., and Casey Hayward, a 2010 all-conference cornerback from Perry, Ga., were named to the Bednarik Award watch list. The award is presented annually to the nation's best defensive player.
Vanderbilt was one of four SEC teams to have multiple players named to the watch list. Alabama paced the conference with five players, with LSU following with three players. Two Arkansas players were included in the preseason list.

Nineteen players from the SEC were named to the watch list, more than any other conference.

Marve, a three-year starting senior, has previously been named as a preseason candidate for the Lott Impact Trophy and will likely get consideration for the Butkus, Nagurski and Lombardi awards. The SEC's active career leader with 306 tackles, Marve also ranks among the league's leaders with seven career forced fumbles. In 2010, he contributed 80 tackles, including a career-high eight stops for loss.

UGA's Murray named to Maxwell Award watch-list

Aaron Murray has been named to the 2011 Maxwell Award watch list, one of only a small number of sophomores added to this year's list.

The only Bulldogs that have won the award are Herschel Walker and Charlie Trippi.

Murray will be following up a freshman All-American performance as he was the leading freshman in the NCAA with a passer rating of 156.4. He passed for over 3,000 yards and accounted for 28 touchdowns as a redshirt freshman in the powerful SEC.

Murray's talent combined with the Bulldog's favorable schedule place Murray in a very good place to make a run at the 2011 Maxwell Award.

Vandy TE Brandon Barden named to Mackey Award Watch List

Vanderbilt senior Brandon Barden is one of 34 players named to the 2011 Mackey Award preseason watch list, the Nassau County (N.Y.) Sports Commission announced today. The Mackey Award, named for NFL Hall of Famer John Mackey, is presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end. Barden, from Lincolnton, Ga., is one of four Southeastern Conference tight ends named to the watch list. The others are junior Orson Charles of Georgia. junior Philip Lutzenkirchen of Auburn, junior Michael Williams of Alabama.
Barden is the conference's active leader among tight ends in receptions and receiving yards. He enters his final season as a Commodore with 91 career catches, good for 991 yards and eight touchdowns.
As a junior, Barden earned second team All-SEC honors from the Associated Press by pacing the Commodores with 34 receptions and 425 receiving yards in 2010. Only two Commodore tight ends, former All-Americans Allama Matthews and Chuck Scott, have more career receptions at the position than Barden.

The last two Mackey Award winners have been standouts from the SEC: D.J. Williams of Arkansas in 2010 and Aaron Hernandez of Florida in 2009.

Auburn’s Philip Lutzenkirchen named to John Mackey Award watch list

Auburn’s Philip Lutzenkirchen was named to the preseason John Mackey Award watch list Wednesday. The award is given annually to the nation’s top tight end.

Lutzenkirchen, a junior, caught 13 passes for 137 yards last year. He emerged as a prime red zone target, catching five touchdowns. Three came against Georgia and Alabama.

The Marietta, Ga., native has 18 career catches for 203 yards and seven touchdowns. He is one of 34 tight ends on the watch list. Here are Auburn players who have made preseason watch lists so far this season:

• RB Mike Dyer — Maxwell Award (top overall player)
• TE Philip Lutzenkirchen — Mackey Award (top tight end)

Watch list for Bednarik Award released

The watch list for the 17th Bednarik Award contains a total of 65 players representing all 11 Div. 1-A conferences. The reigning Bednarik winner is Patrick Peterson, who left LSU a year early for the NFL. The latest Bednarik watch list features just three of last season’s semifinalists, Florida State DE Brandon Jenkins, Boston College LB Luke Kuechly, and Notre Dame LB Manti Te’o. Players from the SEC and ACC make up slightlymore than half of the 2011 watch list, with the former topping the list with 18 and the former a couple behind at 15. Nine of the 12 SEC schools were represented, including Vanderbilt with two, while Alabama topped all individuals schools with five players named to the watch list, a total that represents nearly half of their starting defense. Florida State was next with four, followed by LSU, Nebraska and North Carolina with three players apiece. Both the Big Ten and Pac-12 saw seven players each representing their conference, while the Big 12 and Big East had six and four, respectively.

Maxwell Award releases watch list

The Maxwell Football Club announced Tuesday morning the 66-person-strong watch list for the 75th edition of the Maxwell Award. Not included in that list is last year’s winner Cam Newton, who left Auburn a year early and ultimately become the number one-overall pick in the April NFL draft.

There are, however, returning semifinalists for the 2010 award, including Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma WR Ryan Broyles, Baylor QB Robert Griffin, Oregon RB LaMichael James, Stanford QB Andrew Luck, Nebraska QB Taylor Martinez, Boise State QB Kellen Moore, and Michigan QB Denard Robinson.

Conference-wise, the SEC tops all leagues with 12 players on the list, followed closely by the Pac-12 (11) and the Big Ten (10). The Big 12 was next with eight, followed by the ACC and Mountain West with six and five players, respectively.

Georgia recruiting assistant calls it quits

Charles Cantor has resigned from his post to “pursue other opportunities“, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution blog. Cantor, who had only been with the Bulldogs in that capacity since 2008, apparently resigned last month on June 14th, two weeks before UGA linebacker Jarvis Jones had his eligibility called into question for reportedly receiving financial assistance involving air travel between Los Angeles and Atlanta in 2009. University athletic director Greg McGarity declined to comment to the AJC that Cantor’s resignation had anything to do with any NCAA violations.

Mother of 2011 Auburn signee shot, killed

According to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, the mother of 2011 Auburn signee Quan Bray was shot and killed in LaGrange, Ga., Sunday morning. Bray’s mother, Tonya Bray, was fatally wounded during a car chase that ultimately ended in what was initially thought to be simply a one-car accident. Quan Bray’s father, 37-year-old Jeffery Jones, is the suspected gunman and turned himself into the authorities shortly after the shooting.

Tonya Bray was taken to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound. She was just 37. Auburn head coach Gene Chizik issued a statement regarding the devastating development for a member of his football program. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Quan and his entire family during this extraordinarily difficult time. This is a terrible tragedy, but the Auburn Family will support Quan in every way possible throughout the grieving and healing process ahead. Quan is a great young man with a bright future, and we will be there for him every step of the way.”

Auburn oaks still hanging on

The ailing oaks at Toomer’s Corner are a mottled mix of yellow and brown these days, but experts say there’s still a chance the trees will be in good enough shape for Auburn football fans to roll them with toilet paper after wins this fall. It’s been about five months since school officials confirmed that the famous trees had been poisoned, and fan of archrival Alabama is now awaiting trial in the attack. Emergency procedures that included removing poisoned dirt around the trees’ roots have helped them survive this long. Auburn University horticulturist Gary Keever said no one is sure yet whether the trees will live or die. Fans have celebrated wins under the trees since at least the early 1970s.

“I don’t want to give a sense of false hope, but we’re not ready to say they’re definitely not going to make it,” said Keever.
Each is surrounded by a metal barricade with white signs in red letters that read “PLEASE DO NOT ROLL TREES,” and they get water every other day. Workers remove fallen leaves because tests have shown they are laced with herbicide.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the trees are still alive this fall that fans are allowed to roll them and celebrate in the traditional manner,” he said. In town for a visit, high school student Katy Reynolds of Hoover stopped to take a photo of the trees. “It’s so sad,” said Reynolds. “I’m an Alabama fan, but it’s so stupid that somebody would do this,” said Reynolds’ friend Cory Abercrombie.

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Crimson Tide committed 44 minor NCAA violations in past two years

Sending improper recruiting text messages and selling complimentary game tickets are among the minor NCAA violations the Alabama athletics department has committed past two years. There are 44, to be exact. On its website Friday, the school released the list of secondary NCAA violations committed from July 1, 2009, through Thursday. Of the 44 missteps, 16 involved the football program and two from men’s basketball. “Secondary violations do not include extra benefits or any significant recruiting benefits,” the NCAA website states. “If a school commits several secondary violations, they may collectively be considered a major infraction. Secondary violations occur frequently and are usually resolved administratively.” Messages left for UA officials were not returned Saturday afternoon. For the Tide football program, most of the 16 involved impermissible communication with recruits. Six were for text messages or phone calls, two for publicizing recruiting visits and another for visiting a recruit on the day of competition.

The most serious infraction made headlines last summer. Marcell Dareus’ trips to a party thrown by an agent in Miami last summer accounted for one of the two offenses leading to a game suspension. Dareus was held out of the first two games of the 2010 season.

An unnamed player was held out of competition after selling free tickets to games. The player was required to repay the profits to charity, and the entire team was reeducated on the rule.

UGA Ex- AD Evans not talking about past

BOSTON -- This is where Damon Evans works now. Amidst a conclave of financial buildings and historical landmarks, the man who once had everything, a world away and a year ago, now works in anonymity. That’s the way he seems to like it. When he walks around the downtown financial district in Boston, he isn’t likely to see anyone wearing a hat with a red or black “G” on it. He may find that refreshing, or it may remind him of his goal to expand the “G” brand. Once, before it all came crashing down one night a year ago, Evans ruled over one of the most profitable, popular college sports programs in America. He is an alum of that school, Georgia. It was his dream job, he was young, and he had just received a big raise. Now he works a couple of blocks down from the church where Samuel Adams helped plan the Boston tea party. Evans is just one of the many men and women walking in and out of a building that mainly houses a Macy’s but also a Dunkin’ Donuts and the Markley Group. That’s where Evans works now.

Evans is aware that it’s been a year since the event that took him from his home state to Boston. Understandably, he would prefer to let the anniversary pass without much fanfare. “I’m really not wanting to discuss the past, as you might imagine,” Evans said recently. His voice sounded cheerful but clearly reluctant. According to one friend, who preferred not to be named, Evans is just trying to focus on his family and would like to move on. Kerri, his wife, has strong roots to the Boston area, and the Evans and their two children often vacationed at Martha’s Vineyard. So the job offer from the Markley Group, while not what the family was expecting, worked out well.

Evans is still in contact with friends and former colleagues at Georgia. But his life is now in New England, not the Deep South.

“I think he’s moved on to the next chapter of his life,”said Mark Fox, Georgia’s head basketball coach who has spoken with Evans. “I think that’s probably a fair assessment.”

By Seth Emerson

Gators lose three-star TE to transfer

Florida, has confirmed that tight end Michael McFarland has decided to transfer from the school. No reason was given for the departure, although head coach Will Muschamp said in a statement that it was a mutual decision. “Michael and I have come to the conclusion that it is in his best interest to transfer from the University of Florida,” Muschamp said. “We wish him the best as he continues his career somewhere else.” McFarland was a three-star member of UF’s 2010 recruiting class, but was a redshirt last season after dressing for three games.

In addition to McFarland, and as noted by the Gainesville Sun, the TE is the fifth player to transfer from the program this offseason, joining LB Chris Martin, wide receiver Chris Dunkley, WR Javares McRoy and running back Mike Blakely.

Domestic incidents gets Miss. St. LB arrested

According to Brandon Marcello of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Bulldogs linebacker Deontae Skinner was arrested early last month and charged with simple domestic assault.

The charges stemmed from an alleged altercation with the mother of Skinner’s child. The female, Jasmine Foote, was also arrested and hit with the same charge. The police report stated that Skinner and Foote each had “physical marks” on their bodies.

Head coach Dan Mullen told Marcello that Skinner has not been suspended, and that any type of punishment will be handled in-house.

Last season as a redshirt freshman, Skinner played in 10 games. He was a three-star member of MSU’s 2009 recruiting class coming out of Macon, Miss.

U2 is visiting Vanderbilt Stadium this Saturday

As one of the world’s top rock bands prepare for a sold-out show at Vanderbilt Stadium, the city of Nashville is buzzing for U2’s first trip to the Music City in 30 years as part of its 360 Tour, now the highest-grossing concert tour in history.

The setting for the concert has transformed the Commodores’ football home into an unrecognizable spectacle to fans that fill the venue for games in the fall.

Prentiss Waggner handly duty in Vol’s secondary

The Tennessee defensive back has found it much easier to make a catch with two healthy hands now than it was in spring practice when it looked like he had a softball covered in tape attached to his left arm. Apparently the minor setback in camp in April that cut his well-known ball skills in half hasn’t done anything to slow Waggner down as the Vols have thrown it around during offseason workouts this summer.“Oh yeah, seven-on-seven drills, Tyler Bray is having a little trouble with me,” Waggner said last week during an appearance at a camp led by former teammate Eric Berry. “I’ve picked him off like twice already. “I was glad to take the cast off. I’ve got my strength back after that. Everything is going good. I’ve been doing my rehab on my hand and I’m back at 100 percent right now.”