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Culture  |  Magnolia Tribune  • 
July 21, 2008

SPORT CHECK: USM’s DeAndre Brown gains eligibility

http://www.sunherald.com/238/story/693427.html Top football recruit DeAndre Brown has been ruled eligible by the NCAA to play for Southern Miss this fall. Associate athletic director Jason Gray says Sunday that Brown has met eligibility requirements after taking a pair of classes online through Brigham Young University. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound wide receiver from Ocean Springs was among the top recruits available last year. He spurned LSU and other top programs to join first-year coach Larry Fedora's wide-open offense. MORE FOOTBALL • Redskins get Jason Taylor from Dolphins- Jason Taylor is leaving the only NFL team he's known, going from the Miami Dolphins to the Washington Redskins in a trade Sunday. The Redskins gave the Dolphins a second-round pick in 2009 and a sixth-round choice in 2010 for Taylor. The six-time Pro Bowl defensive end - who was the 2006 NFL Defensive Player of the Year - fell out of favor in Miami after spending his offseason on the TV show "Dancing With the Stars" rather than working out with teammates. • Gordon makes oral commitment to Arkansas - Cornerback David Gordon has made an oral commitment to Arkansas over LSU and Oklahoma, among more than 20 scholarship offers. SunHerald.com 7/21/08
Culture  |  Magnolia Tribune  • 
July 21, 2008

C-USA sets goal of BCS bowl bid

http://www.sunherald.com/sports/story/693442.html MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Conference USA football enters the 2008 season a league in search of a new set of marquee players - and perhaps a marquee team to push it onto the Bowl Championship Series radar. Gone are consensus All-America running back Kevin Smith of defending league champion Central Florida, NFL first-round draft pick running back Chris Johnson of East Carolina and 5,000-yard passer Paul Smith of league runner-up Tulsa. George O'Leary, 0-11 his first season at UCF in 2004, coached the Knights to the league title a year ago, led by Smith's 2,567 rushing yards and 30 touchdowns. O'Leary told reporters at the league's media day on Sunday that he believes his team will keep its balance. "You don't replace a consensus All-America, but we have two-three guys who can produce by committee, and a defense with nine starters who we think will be very, very good," said O'Leary of a unit led by cornerback Joe Burnett, who intercepted six passes last season. He is also the preseason C-USA Special Teams player of the year, averaging better than 13 yards a punt return with three career return TDs. "Coach O'Leary has taught us the things we needed to do to win," Burnett said. "To see it happen has been special." UCF is favored in the coaches' poll to win the league's East Division title again over East Carolina and Southern Mississippi. Tulsa is a unanimous choice of the league's 12 coaches to repeat in the West, ahead of Houston. SunHerald 7/21/08
Culture  |  Magnolia Tribune  • 
July 20, 2008

Tigers’ West understands longevity isn’t security

Tigers’ West understands longevity isn’t security You can ask Tommy West about his newly christened title as Conference USA’s Dean of Coaches at today’s football media day function at The Peabody, but don’t expect him to be impressed with the distinction. ”It usually means you’re the next guy (to be fired),” he said. ”You’ve got…
Culture  |  Magnolia Tribune  • 
July 20, 2008

LSU Tigers: A BCS Repeat?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/39067-lsu-tigers-a-bcs-repeat The last time we saw Les Miles and Co. they were hoisting up the Waterford Trophy that is given to the BCS National Champion. LSU had a dominating performance over Jim Tressel's Ohio State Buckeyes, as they beat them with a little bit of trickery mixed with hard-nosed SEC football. Now they've reloaded and seek to not only become the first team in the BCS era to win three national titles, but also to win two straight. Though many of the LSU faithful believe that Miles can "get 'er done", it's going to take a little more than just belief and a warm fuzzy feeling for them to repeat. LSU will have to traverse the shark-infested SEC waters without their All-American Glenn Dorsey and stud running back Jacob Hester. Both brought toughness and swagger to their respective units, as well as quarterbacks Matt Flynn and Ryan Perrilloux. One might say, "Well, this is LSU and we don't rebuild, we reload". That definitely is true, however, having a team littered with seniors, All-Americans, and All-SEC players is invaluable and can't easily be replaced by just talent alone. Even with a team that had so many standout players, LSU still managed to lose twice, and it took a few teams to lose for them to get a spot in the BCS game. Oh...did I mention Bo Pellini is coaching Nebraska? With all that said, can LSU actually repeat and win the SEC? Lets look at a few factors. Experience Looking back at past champions in the BCS era, they all had a good or dominate defense and a good or dominate offense. Some might argue that Ohio State had a dominate defense but a terrible offense, however, a good offense to me is one that A) doesn't turn the ball over, B) plays smart, and C) wins games when it counts. You can put up all the points in the world, but if it doesn't win games, then it's meaningless. In '07, LSU had both in spades, however, this year, they have five returning starters on both offense and defense. Yes, they have stars waiting in the wings, however, last time I checked, freshmen and sophomores win games, not championships. With no Flynn and Perrilloux, Miles has to turn to either Jarret Lee or Andrew Hatch to run the show. bleacherreport 7/18/08