College Football - Week 11

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

I would have thought that Jeff Jagodzinski would be a pretty good candidate for that job, but I haven't heard his name associated with it.

His name has come up a few times in the media for the Minnesota job, but after reading that he wasn't interested in the work that for a onto recruiting and wanted out of college coaching when he got himself fired at BC I am hoping he's not a serious candidate.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by mckerney

Yesterday it was reported Hoke was the latest coach contacted by Minnesota this week. No idea where he's supposed to stand on their short list after the top tier of candidates who will turn them down.

Hoke would be an excellent choice. I'd hate to see him in the Big 10.

[DeToxRox]

A Dallas radio station is reporting Cam Newton will be suspended at some point today. No idea how legit the source at the radio station is since it is a Dallas station but it's worth at least acknowledging.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

A Dallas radio station is reporting Cam Newton will be suspended at some point today. No idea how legit the source at the radio station is since it is a Dallas station but it's worth at least acknowledging.

A guy on the Rivals mainboard (consider the source...) said that a Mississippi State booster turned over a recording of a conversation with Newton's dad detailing how the $180k would be paid.

[molson]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

A Dallas radio station is reporting Cam Newton will be suspended at some point today. No idea how legit the source at the radio station is since it is a Dallas station but it's worth at least acknowledging.

People are saying Ian Fitzsimmons tweeted this. But he says he didn't. According to many other tweets.

I hate twitter.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Atocep

A guy on the Rivals mainboard (consider the source...) said that a Mississippi State booster turned over a recording of a conversation with Newton's dad detailing how the $180k would be paid.

Auburn is gonna' be dead if this turns out to be true. The USC case took years to gather evidence, this is coming together in weeks.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by molson

People are saying Ian Fitzsimmons tweeted this. But he says he didn't. According to many other tweets.

I hate twitter.

Was just coming to post this.

Twitter is a gift and a curse.

[DeToxRox]

Chizik said Newton will start Saturday.

He's playing a mighty big game of poker now.

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Auburn is gonna' be dead if this turns out to be true. The USC case took years to gather evidence, this is coming together in weeks.

At this point I don't see how these allegations could be anything but true. It is one thing to make stuff up and watch it disappear quietly. That is clearly not the case here though.

[molson]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Was just coming to post this.

Twitter is a gift and a curse.

From reading some of this stuff, I absolutely believe that he intentionally posted a fake/misleading story just so hundreds of people would call him, and he'd get to go on the air everywhere to "set the record straight", and so idiots like me would do a search for him within Twitter.

[molson]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Chizik said Newton will start Saturday.

He's playing a mighty big game of poker now.

Makes sense. Future coaching contracts seem to consider wins, vacated or not.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Hoke would be an excellent choice. I'd hate to see him in the Big 10.

It wouldn't surprise me if Hoke is near the top of the second tier of candidates Minnesota has that the coach they hire will likely come from. It seems the administration is set on trying to hire a big name by offering $2.5 to $3 million a year to Patterson, Petterson, Harbaugh and Mullen before looking at guys like Hoke, Troy Calhoun, Randy Edsel and Mike Stoops.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by RomaGoth

At this point I don't see how these allegations could be anything but true. It is one thing to make stuff up and watch it disappear quietly. That is clearly not the case here though.

Newton's excuse: "OK so here's what happened. I really thought Mississippi State was the place for me, but my dad was like, 'Son, do you realize you just committed to MISSISSIPPI FUCKING STATE? What the hell? I don't care if Mullen's there or not, it's MISSISSIPPI FUCKING STATE! What have they won, except the Cam Newton sweepstakes?' I realized he was right, but I really felt bad about screwing Coach Mullen over and reneging on a promise so quickly, so pops and I came up with an excuse about me needing money to play, and since they wouldn't pay, I had to de-commit and find another school. And that's how I ended up at Auburn. I didn't get no money, I was just embarrassed at having made such a stupid mistake to being with."

If any of the MSU stuff turns out to be true, that's about the only plausible scenario I can come up with where Newton isn't found to be taking money from Auburn. Either that, or he pulled out of MSU thinking he was going to get paid by Auburn or another team, but it never happened, he got stuck without a team, and chose the best fit for him.

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Newton's excuse: "OK so here's what happened. I really thought Mississippi State was the place for me, but my dad was like, 'Son, do you realize you just committed to MISSISSIPPI FUCKING STATE? What the hell? I don't care if Mullen's there or not, it's MISSISSIPPI FUCKING STATE! What have they won, except the Cam Newton sweepstakes?' I realized he was right, but I really felt bad about screwing Coach Mullen over and reneging on a promise so quickly, so pops and I came up with an excuse about me needing money to play, and since they wouldn't pay, I had to de-commit and find another school. And that's how I ended up at Auburn. I didn't get no money, I was just embarrassed at having made such a stupid mistake to being with."

If any of the MSU stuff turns out to be true, that's about the only plausible scenario I can come up with where Newton isn't found to be taking money from Auburn. Either that, or he pulled out of MSU thinking he was going to get paid by Auburn or another team, but it never happened, he got stuck without a team, and chose the best fit for him.

I hope your first scenario is correct, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it. Just the implication that getting paid to play at a school, regardless of which one it is, is enough to make me cringe. Add in the academic cheating (twice, allegedly) and the stolen laptop incident, and Newton is looking more and more like another douche athlete.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by mckerney

It seems the administration is set on trying to hire a big name by offering $2.5 to $3 million a year to Patterson, Petterson, Harbaugh and Mullen before looking at guys like Hoke, Troy Calhoun, Randy Edsel and Mike Stoops.

I'm becoming convinced that schools float these upper-tier names of coaches just to placate fans, but knowing full well that they have no shot in hell of landing these guys.

Thing is, are there any Minnesota fans that seriously think they'd have a shot at landing guys like Harbaugh, Peterson or Patterson?

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Who says the NCAA cleared him to play? I'm sure they get all sorts of allegations and can't follow-up on them immediately (look at how the UNC stuff has unfolded). I would think it's up to the school to decide whether there's any substance to the allegations, and the NCAA moves on its investigations at its own pace. The NCAA won't rule someone ineligible until they've got proof, and in this case, it seems quite clear the investigation is just now getting started.

This situation is less clear cut than the Derrick Rose situation, where the NCAA Clearinghouse completed an investigation, said his SAT was fine and then later punished Memphis because it was allegedly taken by someone else, but clearly there was some sort of investigation/knowledge of the MSU/Newton allegations. In Georgia and UNC's case, the NCAA advised them to sit players before actually completing the punishment, but elected not to do so here (or Auburn blatantly ignored it.)

Originally Posted by molson

And I always roll my eyes at the "kid didn't know" or the "school didn't know" justifications. Whether that's true or not is irrelevant. It's your responsibility to know, otherwise you have this structure not unlike the trainer/athlete relationship in MLB ("I don't need the details, just shoot me up".) Dirty programs are built on keeping kids and head coaches out of the loop. Thats why you have boosters dealing directly with kids and their families, and gifts to parents/high school coaches/others that influence a kids decision.

Let's posit a hypothetical. Star athlete "Cam N." knows that his father/coach/family friend is asking for money - but it's not for him. He can even come out and explicitly tell coaches he's not interested in extra benefits, but that won't stop random boosters. Is he supposed to turn himself in to the NCAA? Cross all his finalists off the list and pick a random school out of the blue that might not be a good fit for him? Even if he got the money, that almost certainly wasn't the only reason he ended up at Auburn - I mean like KSyrup said, he chose Auburn over MSU here, if anything it would have been more suspicious the other way.

Heck, (other than the Feds stepping in if/when things get out of hand) what's to stop me from telling/intimating to a shady booster from SC, Clemson, Auburn, FSU etc that for $5,000 up front and $50,000 on the back end I can get Jadeveon Clowney to commit to their school of choice? If he goes elsewhere, I can just say that more money beat them out and they can't go public without screwing their school, and if he does go there suddenly I'm the Rainmaker who made it happen and I can blackmail them into giving me the money. All that despite the fact I have never spoken to Clowney, let alone influenced his decision, let alone controlled it.

(I also do hope this blows back on CUM/Florida if proven true. We're expected to believe that his dad wanted $200,000 for him coming out of JC but never asked for anything coming out of high school?)

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

I'm becoming convinced that schools float these upper-tier names of coaches just to placate fans, but knowing full well that they have no shot in hell of landing these guys.

Thing is, are there any Minnesota fans that seriously think they'd have a shot at landing guys like Harbaugh, Peterson or Patterson?

No. But I do believe you have to at least ask these guys even if there is a 99% chance you get rejected. I think the most likely hire is a Mr. Kevin Sumlin from Houston.

[JonInMiddleGA]

My advice would be not to overlook this little bit of the story

The NCAA requested financial statements from Cam’s dad the Pastor Cecil Newton. They apparently requested bank statements and records from his church. A church that just went through a big overhaul. A church that was set to be demolished. A church where it now up to code even though Cam’s mom said of the church that “we don’t have any money…we have nothing.”

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

My advice would be not to overlook this little bit of the story

The NCAA requested financial statements from Cam’s dad the Pastor Cecil Newton. They apparently requested bank statements and records from his church. A church that just went through a big overhaul. A church that was set to be demolished. A church where it now up to code even though Cam’s mom said of the church that “we don’t have any money…we have nothing.”

Gotta love how one thing leads to another to another to another.......

[CU Tiger]

And it may be protected by federal legislation regarding churches according to some I have heard.

Quick anyone want to start a church of football, we will gladly accept donations for delivery of studly players.

Then we will use our money to bribe Scouts/Rivals et. al. into making our players rank higher so we can demand more.

You know it will work exactly like the MLB farm system.

By the way..200k wont touch Clowney...his dad has a new job and so does his mom. Dad makes ~50k/year as a project manager where he was previously a janitor.

He will announce SC on signing day.

[molson]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Let's posit a hypothetical. Star athlete "Cam N." knows that his father/coach/family friend is asking for money - but it's not for him. He can even come out and explicitly tell coaches he's not interested in extra benefits, but that won't stop random boosters. Is he supposed to turn himself in to the NCAA?

Cross all his finalists off the list and pick a random school out of the blue that might not be a good fit for him? Even if he got the money, that almost certainly wasn't the only reason he ended up at Auburn - I mean like KSyrup said, he chose Auburn over MSU here, if anything it would have been more suspicious the other way.

Heck, (other than the Feds stepping in if/when things get out of hand) what's to stop me from telling/intimating to a shady booster from SC, Clemson, Auburn, FSU etc that for $5,000 up front and $50,000 on the back end I can get Jadeveon Clowney to commit to their school of choice? If he goes elsewhere, I can just say that more money beat them out and they can't go public without screwing their school, and if he does go there suddenly I'm the Rainmaker who made it happen and I can blackmail them into giving me the money. All that despite the fact I have never spoken to Clowney, let alone influenced his decision, let alone controlled it.

(I also do hope this blows back on CUM/Florida if proven true. We're expected to believe that his dad wanted $200,000 for him coming out of JC but never asked for anything coming out of high school?)

If the family gets money from a school without the kid's knowledge, and then pushes the kid towards the school, the kid is inelligible. (Or he should be - I haven't memorized the NCAA rules to see if there's loopholes where a school can payoff the kid's decision-makers). That's not necessarily "fair", but the family screwed the kid over for cash. Wouldn't be the first time a family ruined a kid's life/career/opportunities.

Someone else starting rumors about a kid's family looking for money wouldn't make a kid inelligible. In the hypothetical you describe, you can certainly get eyebrows to raise pretty easily, if you're credible. If it's another school, or a booster of another school making those false claims, I would hope that's a serious violation in it's own right.

Of course, the NCAA has no ability to get down to the truth of any of these complex business relationships, so what you really have is just a business where everyone's playing by different rules.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

No. But I do believe you have to at least ask these guys even if there is a 99% chance you get rejected. I think the most likely hire is a Mr. Kevin Sumlin from Houston.

I agree with this. I expect they'll say no, but as long as you're willing to offer a competitive salary you may as well make them say no. Sumlin certainly wouldn't surprise me as the hire either.

Also, I'm not really sure floating those names as targets helps Minnesota's AD. There's a lot of anger in the fan base at Joel Maturi for his handling of the football and hockey programs in recent years, saying he intends to hire a big name and then getting someone who doesn't excited could work out poorly in the short term.

[molson]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

And it may be protected by federal legislation regarding churches according to some I have heard.

Quick anyone want to start a church of football, we will gladly accept donations for delivery of studly players.

Then we will use our money to bribe Scouts/Rivals et. al. into making our players rank higher so we can demand more.

You know it will work exactly like the MLB farm system.

By the way..200k wont touch Clowney...his dad has a new job and so does his mom. Dad makes ~50k/year as a project manager where he was previously a janitor.

He will announce SC on signing day.

I think Notre Dame prep in my hometown of Fitchburg, MA already uses this business plan for basketball.

Notre Dame Prep of Fitchburg, MA

I'm sure they'll take your religious donations. Just put somewhere on the check what your favorite Div-I school is (they've placed dozens of kids in div. 1 basketball programs all over the country.) There's about 30 students at the school. All but a few are on the basketball team.

[Young Drachma]

Newton will be in the NFL before the hammer drops. But that's a lot of smoke out there.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

I'm becoming convinced that schools float these upper-tier names of coaches just to placate fans, but knowing full well that they have no shot in hell of landing these guys.

Thing is, are there any Minnesota fans that seriously think they'd have a shot at landing guys like Harbaugh, Peterson or Patterson?

Well they some how land Tubby Smith for the basketball program and their football program has a great history and a new stadium which the hoops team didnt have. They have the pieces in place to land a bigtime coach.

There is simply no excuse for the Minnesota football program to have been down for the past 50 years. The early ages of college football were dominated by the Golden Gophers.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

There is simply no excuse for the Minnesota football program to have been down for the past 50 years. The early ages of college football were dominated by the Golden Gophers.

Early era, sure. But post WW2, they had, what, a couple good seasons in 1960 and '61, when they won a (questionable) National Championship?

Does Minnesota produce enough D-1 talent to rival Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin? Because if not, why exactly would they be expected to be a college football power?

I'm not trying to be a dick with this line of questioning, just generally curious. With Washington, there's enough D-1 talent that the UW can build off the homegrown guys and poach enough talent out of California and Hawai'i to round out the roster and produce a strong team (when they have good coaches in place of course).

I'm curious what the route would be for Minnesota to turn into an annual bowl team (besides good coaching) - where would the talent come from?

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Early era, sure. But post WW2, they had, what, a couple good seasons in 1960 and '61, when they won a (questionable) National Championship?

Does Minnesota produce enough D-1 talent to rival Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin? Because if not, why exactly would they be expected to be a college football power?

I'm not trying to be a dick with this line of questioning, just generally curious. With Washington, there's enough D-1 talent that the UW can build off the homegrown guys and poach enough talent out of California and Hawai'i to round out the roster and produce a strong team (when they have good coaches in place of course).

I'm curious what the route would be for Minnesota to turn into an annual bowl team (besides good coaching) - where would the talent come from?

The homegrown talent in Minnesota isnt great by any means but what talent is in state needs to stay here. (Michael Floyd, Seantrel Henerson are a couple of big names recently from Minnesota that got away)

As it is right now Iowa, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame are coming into Minnesota and taking their better players to their programs. Minnesota only has 1 D1 program so while the talent isnt great they also arent splitting it up among 3-10 schools like Cali, Florida, and Texas.

I certainly think they can match the success that Iowa has had lately with a coach that knows what he is doing.

As for Wisconsin. The states are very similar in size and they play pretty much the same type of schedule. Wisconsin and Minnesota produce very similiar talent IMO. The difference is the Wisconsin coaching staff can make their players better. Brewsters recruited 2 top 40 classes 3-4 years ago back to back. Unfortunately the coaching staff did very little to make these players better.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by mckerney

IAlso, I'm not really sure floating those names as targets helps Minnesota's AD. There's a lot of anger in the fan base at Joel Maturi for his handling of the football and hockey programs in recent years, saying he intends to hire a big name and then getting someone who doesn't excited could work out poorly in the short term.

Sure, but isn't it better to say you went after a guy like Harbaugh or Peterson and got rejected than to not have tried in the first place?

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Sure, but isn't it better to say you went after a guy like Harbaugh or Peterson and got rejected than to not have tried in the first place?

I agree that it's best to go after them, but knowing the Minnesota fan base there's a decent chance they won't be happy with the hire if it isn't a known name. A lot of the fans wanted to see Maturi fired before Brewster so he wouldn't take part in the hiring of the next coach, so there's not a lot of trust in his decision making. Some fans have already taken issue with their interpretation of what Maturi meant saying it would be, "a Tubby Smith hire," and demand the next coach is a Harbaugh level hire. If its someone like Hoke I could see a decent part of the fan base be either angry or apathetic.

I definitely think its best to aim for the top on the hire, I'm just not sure it helps with PR and the fanbase if they state they're going after Peterson and Harbaugh if they can't end up landing them.

[sovereignstar v2]

Here's the quote:

I've asked Tubby Smith if he wanted to coach football, but he's declined, but we're out here to find a Tubby Smith. We're out here to find somebody that people can recognize, people have confidence in, and people are going to bring instant credibility and notoriety to the football program.
That is my goal. Whether there is that interest remains to be seen, but I'm excited about the time line that we have.

In Maturi's defense (and trust me, I don't like defending him), he's just saying that he'd love to make another Tubby-like hire if he can. That's really all I get from that. I'm confident they really want to make the right hire this time around (see the $2.5M figure that's floating around). If they fuck up again, there is going to be significant backlash and any momentum the program had going for it with the new stadium will be gone in just a few years. The reality is that in the end it almost solely depends on who is interested.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Here's the quote:



In Maturi's defense (and trust me, I don't like defending him), he's just saying that he'd love to make another Tubby-like hire if he can. That's really all I get from that. I'm confident they really want to make the right hire this time around (see the $2.5M figure that's floating around). If they fuck up again, there is going to be significant backlash and any momentum the program had going for it with the new stadium will be gone in just a few years. The reality is that in the end it almost solely depends on who is interested.

I don't have an issue with the Tubby Smith hire comment myself, but I've seen some Gopher fans comment on it to say that if Maturi doesn't hire someone like Harbaugh he has lied to the fans. It's not that I have a problem with what he said, but I can see some fans using it to rip a hire like Brady Hoke or Kevin Sumlin and could see casual fans remaining apathetic if the hire isn't someone with name recognition. I'd obviously love it if they could get one of the top big name candidates, but I don't think the hire needs to be a big name coach. A coach who has had success at smaller schools could be a very good hire along with some top coordinators, though I think it is best that the new coach has head coaching experience. My main point was that I'm not sure Maturi or Bruininks have anything to gain by saying they're going after some of the top available coaches if they can't land one.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by mckerney

I agree that it's best to go after them, but knowing the Minnesota fan base there's a decent chance they won't be happy with the hire if it isn't a known name. A lot of the fans wanted to see Maturi fired before Brewster so he wouldn't take part in the hiring of the next coach, so there's not a lot of trust in his decision making. Some fans have already taken issue with their interpretation of what Maturi meant saying it would be, "a Tubby Smith hire," and demand the next coach is a Harbaugh level hire. If its someone like Hoke I could see a decent part of the fan base be either angry or apathetic.

I definitely think its best to aim for the top on the hire, I'm just not sure it helps with PR and the fanbase if they state they're going after Peterson and Harbaugh if they can't end up landing them.

Ah, OK, I get it now.

Sounds like there are some Gopher fans that need a reality check - I just don't see any way they land someone like a Harbaugh, Peterson or Patterson. Now, a guy like Kevin Sumlin or Brady Hoke - that seems more realistic, and really, those would be solid hires IMO.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Ah, OK, I get it now.

Sounds like there are some Gopher fans that need a reality check - I just don't see any way they land someone like a Harbaugh, Peterson or Patterson. Now, a guy like Kevin Sumlin or Brady Hoke - that seems more realistic, and really, those would be solid hires IMO.

A reality check is part of it, dealing with the disappointments of the last 50 years, and especially the last 5-6 are another part of it. A big name coach will get a lot of the casual fans excited, someone like Hoke a lot of them will scoff at his 38-46 or Houstons record this season under Sumlin, some will mock the idea that they were hired after looking at big names. I agree that both would be good hires and people will be onboard if they're winning in a couple years, but either could be a tough sell in the short term as relative unknowns at the BCS level. Especially after the last 4 years.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Former MSU player implicated by Bond says Newton's dad set the price
Kenny Rogers: Cecil Newton put price tag on Cam Newton for Mississippi State - ESPN

[Ksyrup]

So should we read anything into the fact that Auburn now has "no comment" about Newton's status for tomorrow's game, after Chizik stated so confidently the other day that he was starting? Or do we think that was just a general no comment about anything dealing with Newton? I guess we'll know in about 23 hours.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

So should we read anything into the fact that Auburn now has "no comment" about Newton's status for tomorrow's game, after Chizik stated so confidently the other day that he was starting? Or do we think that was just a general no comment about anything dealing with Newton? I guess we'll know in about 23 hours.

IDK. I just hate all this stuff. We could end up missing out on one of the most spectacular seasons for college player ever. Whether his dad "sold" him or not, it is his actual play that put him on the top. It would be heart-breaking for it to end because of this crap.

[Lathum]

Idahos football field looks like a practice bubble.

[Lathum]

Thats one way to keep Boises offense off the field

[RomaGoth]

BSU took their foot off the pedal in that second quarter, well, except for the last 1 1/2 minutes....

[Balldog]

Pryor comes out and says he is coming back for his senior season, which is a no brainer.

This is the part that annoys me:

"I'm a Buckeye until I break all the records," he said during preparations for the eighth-ranked Buckeyes' showdown on Saturday at Ohio Stadium against Penn State.

Lets not come back to win a National Championship or win a Big Ten Championship outright, lets come back so you can set all the records. He's still all about himself.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

IDK. I just hate all this stuff. We could end up missing out on one of the most spectacular seasons for college player ever. Whether his dad "sold" him or not, it is his actual play that put him on the top. It would be heart-breaking for it to end because of this crap.

Or he isn't found to be guilty until after the bowl games happen, Auburn gets hit, and somebody like TCU is on the outside looking in from playing in the title game.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Yahoo Sports reporter is saying on Twitter that NCAA has told Auburn that there are possible eligibility issues with Cam Newton and that they could run risk of forfeit if they play him.


http://twitter.com/YahooSportsNFL/st...4245544415233#

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Matthean

Or he isn't found to be guilty until after the bowl games happen, Auburn gets hit, and somebody like TCU is on the outside looking in from playing in the title game.

Or he isn't found guilty at all, but he is sat because he might be and we lose a very special season to allegations.

[DeToxRox]

Michigan D just scored a TD. I assume a patch will be out to fix the issue at halftime.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Balldog

Pryor comes out and says he is coming back for his senior season, which is a no brainer.

This is the part that annoys me:


Lets not come back to win a National Championship or win a Big Ten Championship outright, lets come back so you can set all the records. He's still all about himself.

You know everybody murders people, but not everyone breaks records.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Or he isn't found guilty at all, but he is sat because he might be and we lose a very special season to allegations.

I think if you are Auburn you don't sit him at this point unless you know there is wrong going on. If they are going to get nailed, him playing today isn't going to change much in the grand scheme of things. They are screwed anyway. For me, there's just way too much smoke for there not to be fire at this point. Sure, he could be clean and this is a big misunderstanding, but the odds are this isn't simply going away. Somebody did something wrong. It's just a matter of who and how much.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Matthean

I think if you are Auburn you don't sit him at this point unless you know there is wrong going on. If they are going to get nailed, him playing today isn't going to change much in the grand scheme of things. They are screwed anyway. For me, there's just way too much smoke for there not to be fire at this point. Sure, he could be clean and this is a big misunderstanding, but the odds are this isn't simply going away. Somebody did something wrong. It's just a matter of who and how much.

I agree. It makes no sense to sit him now, regardless of rumours. I have no doubt something happened, but the question is was he involved.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I bet Matt Simms wishes he had played against Memphis & Ole Miss instead of Alabama & LSU.

[mauchow]

Badgers up big at halftime against Indiana, 38-10. It was 31-10 when Chappell came out with an injury; so it was not due to Chappell injury that the Badgers are routing the Hoosiers. Iowa losing against Northwestern at halftime, which of course was expected by Big 10 country as NW always gives Iowa fits... I'm sure lady-luck will be on Iowa's side again though come the end of the game.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I bet the Tennessee defense wishes they had seen Jeremy Masoli more than once this year too