ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

A sampling of what all's out there in the world of SEC football:

• The national champion Florida Gators are honored at the White House by President Barack Obama.

• Columnist Kevin Scarbinsky of The Birmingham News writes that the Alabama fans outdid the team last season.

• Boyhood NFL dreams are about to come true for former Tennessee defensive lineman Robert Ayers.

• Despite a solid career at Mississippi State, Derek Pegues' NFL draft stock appears to be slipping.

• Kentucky's Ricky Lumpkin isn't looking to replace Myron Pryor at defensive tackle. At least, not right away. But Lumpkin hopes to grow into that role.

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

Making the rounds to see what else is stirring in the realm of SEC football:

• Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino isn't happy about losing another assistant to an SEC rival.
• Auburn coach Gene Chizik moves closer to completing his staff with the hiring of Jeff Grimes to be his offensive line coach.
• The father of one of LSU's top commitments says a potential job interview with Tennessee wouldn't have been a good deal for his son, heralded cornerback prospect Janzen Jackson.
• Florida coach Urban Meyer puts the squeeze on the state of Georgia's top uncommitted prospect.
• Former Mississippi State star Derek Pegues hopes to make more memories in Mobile.

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

Here's a sampling of what else they're saying and writing around the SEC:

• Ousted Auburn offensive coordinator Tony Franklin says he was told to get lost. 
• Randy Rosetta of the Baton Rouge Advocate writes that Ricky Jean-Francois was just speaking his mind, but his comments were still ill-advised.
• Mississippi State is looking for more game-changing plays on defense after specializing in interception returns for touchdowns last season.
• Special teams move to the forefront this week for Florida in its showdown with LSU.
• Offensive letdowns are tormenting Arkansas, which has scored just 10 offensive points in its last two games.

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

Defense continues to take center stage in the SEC, while offense remains hit and miss around the league. Auburn is searching frantically for any offensive continuity. Tennessee is searching frantically for any SEC win, and South Carolina looks like it might be making a move after a key road win at Ole Miss. Here's our "Internal Affairs" look at the conference:

Whittling down the spread: Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville insists that the Tigers are committed to the spread offense and aren't scrapping it in midseason. That said, the Tigers continue to whittle down the playbook in an effort to find something that works for them consistently. They had success in the first quarter against Vanderbilt in their two-tight end run formation, something Arkansas can expect to see more of this Saturday. The Tigers are still going to be in the shotgun a bunch, but look for more power running sets along the way.

Lightening the load: LSU has used a quicker, smaller defensive line at times this season to better be able to get to the quarterback. When the Tigers, who haven't racked up big sack numbers, go to that set, they slide Tyson Jackson inside from end to tackle and bring Rahim Alem into the game at end. With Tim Tebow's penchant for getting out of the pocket and scrambling for yardage, the Tigers may turn to that quicker lineup more than normal Saturday to try and keep him at bay. The Gators also don't have one of those bruising running games where they just keep pounding on you.

McKinley's influence: With star receiver Kenny McKinley back to full health after injuring his hamstring against Vanderbilt on Sept. 4, look for the Gamecocks to take a few more shots down the field this Saturday against Kentucky and look for them to use McKinley as that hybrid player they've been missing. Steve Spurrier even threw out there this week that the Gamecocks might run a few reverses or even fake a few, especially now that McKinley has played some and is back closer to 100 percent. They've yet to run a reverse this season, which is unusual for Spurrier's offenses.

Colquitt's back: Tennessee will welcome back punter Britton Colquitt against Georgia after a five-game suspension stemming from his drunken driving arrest back in the spring. It's no secret the Vols have struggled in the punt game, and Colquitt has the leg to be a weapon and help Tennessee with field position. He'll probably also kick off. The Vols have already had two punts blocked this season, one of those returned for a touchdown by UCLA, and also gave up a punt return for a touchdown to Florida.

Going to the zone: To help eliminate the big play, Mississippi State will likely use All-SEC free safety Derek Pegues as more of a center fielder this week against Vanderbilt. Pegues told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger that the Bulldogs were putting in more zone coverages and were going to get away from some of the man coverage with no safety help that has burned them at times this season. Mississippi State has had trouble getting to the quarterback, which has made man coverage even more difficult. The Bulldogs are 10th in the SEC with eight sacks through five games.

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

All our best to the people in Louisiana and everybody on the LSU campus. The city of Baton Rouge took a pretty hard hit from Hurricane Gustav, and they're still trying to sort through all the damage. Here's a look around the conference:

* The LSU team had its individual position meetings Tuesday and went through a walk-through at the indoor practice facility, but very little is normal this week in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav. Officials will meet again Wednesday to decide if the LSU-Troy game should be played this Saturday as scheduled or pushed back to Nov. 15.

* Jon Solomon of The Birmingham News writes that Tennessee's loss on the West Coast to UCLA will be another excuse for the SEC not testing itself outside the conference. Actually, the SEC has gotten better when it comes to playing marquee national games. Tennessee has always done it, and Nick Saban wants to play at least one big game out of conference every year. You can't forget about Florida, either. The Gators play Florida State every year and still play Miami occasionally. Both of those programs will cycle back to being strong. There's no way they can't being in the state of Florida with all that talent.

* Auburn nose guard Tez Doolittle beat the odds to return from a torn Achilles to play again for the Tigers.

* Florida's Percy Harvin says he's on his way back to being 100 percent and expects to play Saturday against Miami.

* Kevin Brockway of The Gainesville Sun has an informative piece on the risk of coming back too soon from heel and ankle injuries.

* Vanderbilt's D.J. Moore gets another shot at the team he grew up rooting for, and South Carolina gets another shot at Moore, who called the Gamecocks' receivers "average" following the Commodores' 17-6 win in Columbia last season.

* Mississippi State's season-opening loss was especially difficult for All-SEC safety Derek Pegues to swallow. He was suspended for the game and had to watch on television.

* Georgia is not fazed by the drop in the polls. At least, not now.

* Is Tennessee staring down the barrel of an 0-3 start in the SEC by mid-October? Mike Strange of the Knoxville News Sentinel weighs in on where the Vols go from here after a disappointing start to the season.

* Hey, what about the defense? Kentucky's Rich Brooks wants the Wildcats' fans to get excited about the defense, which was dominant in the 27-2 win over Louisville.

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

	Icon SMI
	Ricky Jean-Francois (90) moves to the interior of LSU's defensive line this season.

No disagreements on the top 10 offensive players in the SEC, right? OK, let's move on to defense. You might be surprised at who's No. 1 and No. 2 on our list. You won't be, though, at season's end.

Defensive Players

1. Ricky Jean-Francois, DT, LSU: His performance in the BCS national championship game last season was just a glimpse. He's moving inside to tackle, where he'll be a terror against both the run and pass.

2. Sen'Derrick Marks, DT, Auburn: Moved back to tackle this spring after playing end last season. Similar to Jean-Francois, Marks is one of those disrupters who can rush the passer from the interior and stuff the run.

3. Greg Hardy, DE, Ole Miss: One of the best pure pass-rushers in the SEC, Hardy gets a clean slate with Houston Nutt after staying in Ed Orgeron's doghouse last season. He still finished with 10 sacks.

4. Eric Berry, S, Tennessee: The best defensive back prospect at Tennessee since Deon Grant, Berry can play both cornerback and safety and he's fearless when it comes to taking on a ball-carrier.

5. Brandon Spikes, LB, Florida: He's what everybody's looking for in a middle linebacker with terrific tackling skills and great speed. Finished second in the SEC last season with 131 total tackles.

6. Rolando McClain, S, Alabama: Along with Berry, McClain is the best sophomore defender in the league. At 255 pounds, his blend of size, speed and instincts make him almost impossible to block.

7. Derek Pegues, S, Miss. State: Maybe the best all-purpose defensive player in the league. Pegues can play cornerback and safety and also excels on special teams. Scored touchdowns on interceptions and punt returns last season.

8. Darry Beckwith, LB, LSU: One of the cornerstones of what should be the best defense in the league. Beckwith has battled knee injuries during his career, but is still one of the SEC's most dynamic defenders.

9. Antonio Coleman, DE, Auburn: Didn't even start until the middle of the season last year, but still led the Tigers and was fourth in the SEC with 18.5 tackles for loss. A quarterback's worst nightmare coming off the edge.

10. Jasper Brinkley, LB, South Carolina: Brinkley's stock might have dropped some after blowing out his knee last season, but he insists he's all the way back and ready to prove that he's still one of the SEC's best linebackers.

In closing: It was difficult to leave South Carolina cornerback Captain Munnerlyn off this list. He's probably the best cover corner in the league. If LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson returns to his 2006 form, he'll quickly find his way on to this list.