Wednesday at the Murphy Athletic Complex . . .

* Tiger coach Tommy West tried, but he couldn’t. West tried desperately to not respond to a recent ESPN.com story written by Mark Schlabach listing West as one of four college football coaches on the hottest seat. Tuesday he began to craft a retort and then changed his mind, deciding discretion was the better option. So he said nothing for publication.
But when the topic was brought up again Wednesday by a television reporter, he couldn’t hold back. He took his shots at Schlabach for not doing his homework and realizing Memphis isn’t Clemson. One bad season doesn’t result in boosters and fans calling for your head.

* Wednesday’s practice highlight reel was dominated by sophomore running back Miguel Barnes, who broke several lengthy runs, including one of about 50 yards that showcased his breakaway speed. Receiver Dave Thomas also got into the act with an impressive over-the-shoulder grab near the sideline. Defensively, Freddie Barnett was active with a pass deflection at the line and defensive back Alton Starr added a pass deflection.

ALABAMA

Control freak ‘Bama football messiah Nick Saban is mad at the media. A couple of Alabama players revealed on Monday, without being asked, information on the depth chart spots of three players. That sent Nicky into a tizzy on Tuesday. “If they make a comment about the depth chart, you’re just putting them in harm’s way,” Saban said. “We don’t have a depth chart and our players are not supposed to evaluate other players. You guys are going around the back door and you’re putting them on the spot and I don’t think that’s fair to them. We don’t have a depth chart now. I don’t know why (you) guys can’t get that out of your minds. The depth chart means nothing until the first game. Why does something have to be final before it’s final? It’s not final until we play the game and then it’s final for that game. Then it may change after that. You guys are so result-oriented. You have to know what it is right now and the final results. We’re still training for the race and trying to get everybody to improve.

Alabama’s opener against Western Carolina will be a pay-per-view affair after Lincoln Financial decided to televise the suspenseful Western Kentucky at Florida affair on Sept. 1.

ARKANSAS

Arkansas junior Darren McFadden is featured on this week’s edition of Sports Illustrated. McFadden is one of five regional covers for the publication’s college football preview issue on newsstands this week. Inside the mag is an in-depth feature on the 2006 Heisman Trophy runner-up by Sports Illustrated writer Phil Taylor. McFadden becomes the first Razorback football player to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated since Ben Cowins and Ron Calcagni joined former Arkansas coach Lou Holtz on the cover of the magazine on Sept. 11, 1978. McFadden becomes only the second individual football player to grace the cover by himself in school history. Harry Jones was Arkansas’ first cover boy on Nov. 8, 1965. . .No doubt losing senior wide receiver Marcus Monk with torn knee cartilage for four to six weeks is a blow for the Hogs. But look for sophomore London Crawford and junior Reggie Fish to step up. Crawford, at 6-2 and 200, had two TDs catches last season out of season-total of five receptions, and had a couple of 40-yard plus receptions. He might be the big play maker to fill in for Monk. Fish is the 5-7, 156-pound motor school best remembered for fumbling the punt in the SEC championshhip game against Florida that turned momentum the Gators’ way. He’s had a big preseason camp so far.

AUBURN

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville likes to run physical preseason practices, and he’s paying the price. So far, he’s lost starting center Jason Bosley (hurt left knee), backup quarterback Neil Caudle (Grade II shoulder separation, out for a month), senior defensive tackle Tez Doolittle (a career-ending torn Achilles), junior tailback Tristan Davis (broken toe, out six to eight weeks), junior linebacker Steve Gandy (recurring concussions, quit football), sophomore defensive tackle Jermarcus Ricks (hamstring), redshirt freshman DT Zach Clayton (neck injury) and freshman DT Kyle Coulahan (broken finger). Bosley came back to practice on Tuesday, which was a good thing. The Tigers don’t have an experienced backup center. The second teamer is true freshman Ryan Pugh of Hoover (Ala.) High. . .The Tigers were picked ninth in the nation by Playboy Magazine, and Tuberville was playfully asked whether his wife Suzanne would let him take a peek at the mag. “I don’t think she’ll give me a subscription to it, but maybe she’ll buy me this copy,” he said. “We won’t look at the pictures.”. . . We’ll read it.”
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