Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

9/8/2010 at 9:45pm

While Ole Miss fans try to come to grips with losing to Jacksonville State, former Arkansas coach Jack Crowe, the head man for the past 10 years for the winning FCS Gamecocks, feels some redemption, and maybe some empathy for Houston Nutt, who was a Crowe assistant 18 years ago when the Hogs lost to I-AA The Citadel 10-3. That got Crowe fired, or forced to resign, or however it was that Frank Broyles dropped the hammer.

"Houston is there," said Crowe earlier this week, referencing that lonely emotional state. "But at least he doesn't have to go talk to Frank Broyles."

Crowe recounts for the Huntsville Times that fateful weekend in Fayetteville in 1992 when the Hogs lost and the next day, he found himself face-to-face with Broyles and obviously in a powerless state as head coach.

Meanwhile, Georgia awaits word from the NCAA on receiver A.J. Green's eligibility. No doubt Arkansas's Ramon Broadway and the other short d-backs probably hope he has least two more weeks to wait before playing. Green  allegedly sold one of his game jerseys on eBay. The University of Georgia, College Sports Licensing and the NCAA have probably made untold thousands on the Georgia No. 8 jersey sales. I mean, does anybody rush to be a No. 52 Bulldog jersey? Does Arkansas enjoy having closets full of No. 15 jerseys to sell, and no money goes to the guy wearing No. 15?

Because Georgia is first up on the Arkansas SEC slate, on Sept. 18, it's time for Arkansas fans to familiarize themselves with the Bulldogs. Mark Richt looks back on an impressive opener, a 55-7 slaughter of Louisiana-Lafayette (which happens to be Arkansas State's next opponent). And the Dawgs should get tailback Waushan Ealey and receiver Tavarres King back after a game suspension, Richt said, "if they behave."

UPDATE: Now, word is that the NCAA has suspended A.J. Green for an additional three games. Georgia will appeal. That loud sigh you heard this afternoon was probably from Willy Robinson and his Hog d-backs, probably echoed from Columbia, S.C., and the office of Gamecocks defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson.

He was Michael Dyer for the four years he played at Little Rock Christian Academy, becoming the all-time leading rusher in Arkansas high school football. Now, after one game as an Auburn Tiger, Dyer wants to be know simply as "Mike," according to Charles Goldberg at the Birmingham (Ala.) News.

"Michael Dyer" has a better ring to it than "Mike Dyer," no? And Michael is a name that carries some weight. You have a beer with a "Mike." You beg for mercy from Michael. Michael Corleone. Michael Jordan. Michael Jackson. You don't call them Mike. He's lucky we don't referring to him as Mikey - lil' Mikey Dyer.

Dyer had 95 yards rushing on 14 carries in Auburn's 52-26 win over Arkansas State on Saturday. Auburn head coach Gene Chizik had good things to say about the freshman Tuesday, according to the News:

"As we went back and reevaluated the film, Michael did a lot of nice job for us,'' Chizik said. "He really ran well, and we anticipate really getting him in the offense. As time goes on, with more experience, we think he'll be a good back."

Dyer said Arkansas State defenders made it difficult by ripping and clawing at the ball.

"Every play, they were trying to get it regardless if we were on the ground of not,'' he said. "They were trying to pull for it. We've worked on ball control and trying to control it and lowering your shoulders to keep from fumbling.

"I didn't fumble much in high school. I'm 5-9. I'm short for a running back. It's easy for me to stay low to the ground. That's probably one of my good qualities.''

Up the road at Tuscaloosa, Mark Ingram looks iffy at best to play for Alabama in the Crimson Tide's battle with Penn State on Saturday. He could be back for Duke on Sept. 18, which would have him ready for the Tide's first SEC game, at Arkansas on Sept. 25.

Jon Solomon at the Birmingham News has his 5 Things to Watch in the SEC this week. He notes that the Alabama-Penn State game is the second and last SEC-Big Ten matchup of the regular season (Northwestern beat Vandy 23-21 last weekend), though the leagues have the holiday bowl tie-ins. The Big Ten is 9-6 against the SEC over the past five years. In bowls last year, Penn State beat LSU while Auburn beat Northwestern. But the SEC is 7-5 vs. the Pac-10 in the same period, and Tennessee plays host to Oregon this weekend. That's surprising; with all the Pac-10 talk in recent years and Southern Cal's success, while the Big Ten (re: Ohio State) has been pounded by the SEC in the BCS title game, you'd figure those numbers would be flipped.

Solomon offers this tid-bit:

SIGN OF THE TIMES

Someone created a firestevead­dazio.com website to "Save Gator Football" from Florida's offensive coordinator. While it's true the Gators haven't been the same since Dan Mullen left, it's odd -- but not surprising -- to see these web sites filter down to coordinators now. Some coordinators now get paid the type of money head coaches used to make, so in­creased scrutiny was inevi­table.

The hot pick among SEC media this weeks seems to be an upset in Starkville on Thursday night, Mississippi State over Auburn. Did those guys see Cam Newton's debut performance at quarterback for Auburn? This blogger says Newton is perfect for offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn's system. What we think is that Newton is Auburn's best quarterback since Jason Campbell in his senior season on the Plains.

Tagged: A.J. Green, Mark Richt, Houston Nutt, Jack Crowe, Mark Ingram, Gus Malzahn, Cam Newton, Michael Dyer