Category: Vanderbilt

LSU DT Shelvin to opt out of 2020 season

LSU defensive tackle Tyler Shelvin is going to opt out of the 2020 season. The 6-3, 364 lb junior is widely-tipped to be one of the top picks at his position in the 2021 NFL Draft. Last year he had 39 total tackles – including 3 tackles for loss and 13 solo tackles, as well 2 defended passes. That led LSU’s starters for the year. He was a massive unit to stop – a reason that although he started all 15 games, he didn’t record a tackle against Oklahoma and Clemson in the College Football Play-Off games.  

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COVID shreds Auburn, LSU position groups

The COVID-19 pandemic may have hit the University of Alabama’s school population hard, but it’s hit Auburn and LSU’s teams harder. Auburn hasn’t been able to practice since Tuesday, because positive COVID-19 tests meant practice was cancelled on Thursday. Wednesday’s practice may have been due to the virus, but also due to social justice issues, but Auburn hasn’t been transparent about it. And when they do step on the practice field in the burning, humid heat, the team will only have 16 players due to positive tests and worries about exposure to the virus. “We are learning as we go here,” Malzahn said, according to 247Sports. “Every day and every week is a different challenge, and we talk about the teams

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Ja’Marr Chase opting out of season – reports

LSU wide receiving star Ja’Marr Chase is going to opt out of the 2020 season, according to reports. Apparently this is not COVID-19 related, but so Chase can concentrate on getting prepared for the 2021 Draft. CBS said that it was “agents may have simply convinced Chase to leave before his third collegiate season”. And although it’s claimed that it’s not related to the virus, here’s the deal: If Chase had had a bad case of COVID-19, it would have exhausted him. The virus has been linked with heart conditions, lung conditions and left tons of tons of victims utterly exhausted. Imagine if that happened to Chase during his junior year. As for Chase, he really didn’t have anything to

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SEC adds another COVID-19 testing mandate

The SEC has updated their testing practices. The league will now require three tests per week instead of the updated two, with a third rapid diagnostic test coming nearer the game. “We remain vigilant in monitoring the trends and effects of COVID-19 as we learn more about the virus, and this cardiac evaluation enhances the effectiveness of the protocols already in place,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. He added: “We are confident in our institutions’ ability to provide a healthy environment supported by rigorous testing and surveillance. Our student-athletes have indicated their desire to compete and it is our responsibility to make every effort to deliver a healthy and medically sound environment for providing that opportunity.” In our view, the

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If the SEC really cared, they’d ban fans

If there’s one thing that differentiates us from other football conferences, it’s tailgating. The regalia of The Grove. The boats below Neyland. The whole LSU scene. We are legendary. Most schools are going to ban tailgating this season. After all, they don’t want a reduced stadium to spurn a party of 100,000 outside (we see you, Baton Rouge!). That could lead to some innovative tailgating spots in parks with big screens getting put up for people to watch games like you would for play-off games in different professional sports cities, but most sensible people will walk away. Georgia is not yet decided on this.  The stadiums themselves – schools have announced – will be reduced by around 20-25%. According to

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NCAA Division 1 Council votes on eligibility

The NCAA Division 1 Council has voted to allow players in any fall sports to play ANY amount of competition and it not to count towards their eligibility. In essence a player can opt-in for a game or two, and then opt-out if he or she feels uncomfortable about the environment. Also, this means that should the College Football season close down during the season, players won’t lose eligbility. This should assuage a lot of fears that the NCAA would take off years of people’s scholarships for opting-out, but it was predictable bearing in mind how badly the organising body has handled the whole COVID-19 situation. SO WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT THE SCHOLARSHIP HEADACHE? With the new rules in

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SEC Schedule Focus: What’s going to fun to be watch each week

Week 1 (Sept. 26) Actually a pretty boring week here, with the favorites for the leagues almost guaranteed to go 1-0. Florida’s trip to Ole Miss will be interesting because of Lane Kiffin, and the standout game will be, er, Tennessee’s trip to South Carolina. A lot has been talked about of the Vols in this gruelling offseason, so we’ll see if they pick themselves up.  Alabama at Missouri Florida at Ole Miss Georgia at Arkansas Kentucky at Auburn Mississippi State at LSU Tennessee at South Carolina Vanderbilt at Texas A&M Week 2 (Oct. 3) An absolute monster of a Saturday with Auburn going to Georgia and Texas A&M rolling into Bryant-Denney Stadium. There’s also the battle of Spurrier between

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How do you keep players ‘in the bubble’?

  Right, so keeping players in the bubble’s going to be tough. It’s pretty obvious that the kids who are going back to school think that just because they passed a COVID test between March and now that they aren’t ever gonna get the plague, so they are gonna hang out, drink and do dumb stuff, because they are students. Football players aren’t different, particularly with all the distractions. And no, we ain’t talking about studies, since a lot of college football players wouldn’t be in college if it wasn’t for football. Hell, it’s a miracle most of them got through high school. A great friend of mine was pursuing the sort of lifestyle that would have made Hunter S Thompson proud

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SEC, ACC: No plans to scrap college football

The SEC and ACC have both said that they have no plans to quash their college football plans after the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences said that they are cancelling fall football. B SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement: “I look forward to learning more about the factors that led the Big Ten and Pac-12 leadership to take these actions today. I remain comfortable with the thorough and deliberate approach that the SEC and our 14 members are taking to support a healthy environment for our student-athletes. We will continue to further refine our policies and protocols for a safe return to sports as we monitor developments around COVID-19 in a continued effort to support, educate and care

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The Terminator Chronicles: Big Ten/Pac-12 edition

August 11, 2020, the Big Ten and the Pac-12 fired the first missiles. After arguing as to whether the fall college football season should be delayed or not, the conference decided that that was it: They were cancelling fall football. There were words of players practicing at Nebraska and Iowa. There was a sense of hope that everything could get sorted with a player-pushed protest. News of all but Iowa and Nebraska deciding to resist came through yesterday, but they had said there wasn’t a vote. There was. And the red button was pushed. But now, there will be no Game. There will be no bitter battles for weird jugs, trophies and helmets. We won’t be able to jump around, white out,

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