http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college/2008/07/new-rule-change.html SEC associate commissioner Charles Bloom said Friday that the conference will implement three new rules to its football games in 2008. Bloom, speaking on behalf of the conference at the Florida Sports Writers Association media days in Tampa, said the primary changes include: The clock entering a 40-second count after the referee calls a dead ball; penalties assessed for grabbing the horse collar of a player (unless a quarterback or a runner is in the tackle box) and field goals will be reviewable. "The rules will provide expediency to the game and get it done quicker," Bloom said. "It's a way to manage the game in a certain time frame. Most people look at 3 hours, 15 minute or 3 1/2 hours for a game." Bloom said TV stations have expressed interest in expediting college games that tend to sludge along. Speaking of TV, Bloom said the SEC Network -- a conference-owned station dedicated strictly to SEC sports -- is still a possibility. orlandosentinel 7/18/08

http://blog.nola.com/lsusports/2008/07/lsu_football_adjusts_roster_sc.html BATON ROUGE - Kickoff for LSU football is more than a month away but things began shaking out in the program Thursday with the announcement offensive lineman Jarvis Jones had been tossed off the team. The decision by head coach Les Miles essentially came out of nowhere as Jones had not been involved in any embarrassing off-field incidents that might have made his future as a Tiger shaky. But after playing in seven games last year as a true freshman, Jones appeared to have lost a battle this spring with classmate Joseph Barksdale for a starting job at tackle. With most of that unit returning, the tackle position opposite junior Ciron Black was the only starting opening on the line in 2008. A Texas native, Jones had already returned home Thursday, LSU officials said, and the school will forfeit his scholarship. Several people associated with the football program said they had no clue what lay behind Jones' dismissal, and Miles did not elaborate in a statement issued by LSU. "The issues we had with Jarvis were internal and ones that we dealt with within the framework of our team," he was quoted as saying. "However, we just felt like it was time to go in a different direction. We wish him well in any of his future endeavors." The future endeavors of the team, meanwhile, also got shuffled a bit this week. The 2010 game against Louisiana-Lafayette was moved to 2009, leaving one opening on next year's schedule and two in 2010. times-picayune 7/18/08