THE BIG STORY
South Carolina starting quarterback Blake Mitchell lost his appeal to have his one-game suspension for violating the athletic department’s class attendance policy overturned. Mitchell appealed after Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier announced Thursday that Mitchell, cornerback Chris Hail and tailback Bobby Wallace would miss Saturday’s opener against Louisiana-Lafayette due to excessive class absences during summer school.

“I told the father and I told Blake I’d review it,” South Carolina athletic director Eric Hyman told the Columbia (S.C.) State newspaper.

Mitchell and his father, Alvin “Nugget” Mitchell, met Friday with Hyman and academic support director Raymond Harrison, who succeeded Harold White this year after White retired. Hyman said he reviewed Mitchell’s situation twice over the weekend before he reached his decision.

Reached by phone Sunday, Mitchell’s parents criticized USC’s athletics officials for failing to communicate with them as Mitchell’s absences in a three-hour English class accumulated.

“I don’t understand why no one called us. There’s nothing Blake’s ever done or been involved with that we haven’t received a phone call,” Nugget Mitchell said. “I feel like if this thing had been communicated we would have never gotten to this point.”

“I’m not really clear of the procedure and how it should be handled. I’m clear with what Blake should have done. He should have gone to class. But why wasn’t Blake notified by Raymond Harrison that this was going to happen?”

The rest of the teams:

ALABAMA

Alabama’s players are much touch in reality than their fans. ‘Bama fans were agog over new coach Nick Saban being on the cover of Sports Illusrated. But Tide quarterback John Parker Wilson said, “We haven’t even played any games yet. Last year we were 6-7, so we wouldn’t say we’ve got any national prominence back. We’ve got to win some football games before we can say that.”

ARKANSAS

How dumb is Arkansas senior defensive end Marcus Harrison? The supposed team leader was suspended indefinitely after being arrested late Friday night in Fayetteville on a felony drug charge and several misdemeanors. He was driving near his apartment when an officer stopped him just after 11 p.m., according to a Fayetteville police report. The officer reported a strong smell of marijuana coming from the car when Harrison rolled down his window. The officer asked Harrison to step out of the car. Harrison consented to a search and told the officer he had “just a pill” in a pocket of his cargo shorts, the report said. The officer found a small plastic bag containing one blue Ecstasy pill. The officer reported finding one partially smoked marijuana cigar under the front seat of the car and another unsmoked cigar. Both tested positive for marijuana, according to the report. The Washington County jail listed Harrison as being held on charges of possession of a controlled substance, speeding, driving with a restricted driver’s license and not wearing a seat belt. He was also charged with failure to appear for a court date in another case. Harrison was freed Saturday afternoon on $5,290 bond. Arkansas coach Houston Nutt immediately suspended Harrison.

AUBURN

Senior fullback Carl Stewart, who has had since suffering a hamstring injury on the third day of preseason camp was going full speed again on Sunday. He should be in the lineup for Saturday’s season opener against Kansas State. “He’s back close to 100 percent,” Auburn coachTommy Tuberville said. “We are excited about him. He’s excited. You can tell his legs are fresh.”

FLORIDA

Florida coach Urban Meyer named freshman Cameron Newton as the Gators’ backup quarterback. He beat out fellow freshman John Brantley. Meyer is open the possibility of Brantley playing this season. “We are not redshirting Johnny Brantley,” Meyer said. “But if he doesn’t play, I guess that’s a redshirt. We won’t play Johnny in a mop-up role. We’re preparing him to be a starting quarterback. Meyer said Newton will play Saturday, assuming he has a good week at practice. Meyer added that he doesn’t have any special packages for Newton much like he did last year with Tim Tebow. “He’s not as far advanced as Tim was last year,” Meyer said.

GEORGIA

Georgia coach Mark Richt criticized his school on Friday for the lack of indoor facility, then apologized for it on Sunday. He said he had knee-jerk reaction to a series of events that happened throughout Friday ending with the cancellation of practice due to a storm. “When I actually read my comments late in the day on Saturday I was very disappointed in what I said and the way I said it. It appeared to be someone who was ungrateful for what he had and that is certainly not the case. For that, I want to apologize to President [Michael] Adams, [athletics director] Damon Evans, and the Bulldog Nation. “I am very proud to be at the University of Georgia,” Richt said in the Sunday’s statement. “I poured a lot of my life and energy into this program and I’m thankful every day for where God has placed me.” On Friday, Richt wasn’t happy this past Friday after a late-afternoon thunderstorm finally cancelled practice. The Bulldogs had practice twice on Saturday, once in the morning and once late in the evening, and many coaches and players had to change Saturday evening plans. “It’s just a royal pain to have to deal with this kind of stuff,” Richt said on Friday. “It would be nice to have a little indoor facility nearby where you wouldn’t have to spend your whole life trying to figure out a new plan. It’s very frustrating, it gets very old and I’m about tired of it. Maybe one day we’ll get that done.”

KENTUCKY

The Wildcats are starting to get some of their injured players back on the field. Middle linebacker Braxton Kelley (high ankle sprain) began individual drills over the weekend. Also, junior defensive tackle Ventrell Jenkins may be back earlier than expected. Jenkins, who underwent off-season shoulder surgery, has been working out and will be able to begin individual drills soon. Freshman running back Moncell Allen has been cleared to play and is back in practice. True freshman defensive end Greg Meisner will undergo shoulder surgery to repair a small labrum tear and will redshirt this season.

LSU

So where is LSU senior Jacob Hester starting? He’s listed on the preseason depth chart as the No. 1 fullback. But coach Les Miles told listeners to his radio show last Wednesday night that Hester leads a crowded field at tailback. “That’s the first time I’ve ever heard of it, when you just said it right then,” Hester said in response to a reporter’s question after practice a few days ago. . .Derrick Odom’s status hasn’t changed and won’t until LSU coach Les Miles can “figure out what happened.” Miles spoke about the suspended linebacker for the first time Saturday after the Tigers went practice leading up to Thursday’s season opener at Mississippi State.

OLE MISS

Freshman Chris Strong is so good that Rebels’ coach Ed Oregeron can’t decide where to play the 6-3, 265-pound standout. He’ll start at middle linebacker, but also is strong enough to line up as a defensive end. “He’s exactly what you want in a (middle linebacker), lighter,” Orgeron said. “He’s exactly what you want in a defensive lineman with the weight he has now.”. . .Ole Miss worked on game day situations during a non-contact scrimmage on Saturday. All the plays were scripted and run against the scout team offense and defense.

MISS. STATE

Derek Pegues told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger he likes his move from cornerback to safety. “I think it went well,” Pegues said. “I think I fit into the safety role pretty good,” he said. “The corners are playing great so it’s allowed me to stay in the safety position. I think I would really rather prefer to play safety than cornerback anyways, because I like to watch the quarterback a lot and I think I’ll get the opportunity to put my hand on the ball more and make more big plays.”

SOUTH CAROLINA

Suspended South Carolina safety Emanuel Cook underwent an appendectomy over the weekend, shortly after being released from jail on a gun charge. Cook, who was arrested Thursday night after a USC police officer observed him and another student with a gun outside a dorm, remained hospitalized Sunday night in Columbia, according to USC media relations director Steve Fink. Cook, 19, spent a night at the Richland County jail after being charged with unlawful possession of a pistol by a person under 21, a felony punishable by a maximum five years in prison and $2,000 fine. Lowell Bernstein, Cook’s attorney, said the gun belonged to the other student, James Edward Gore of Chester. The 21-year-old Gore is charged with unlawful carry or display of a firearm.

TENNESSEE

Punter/placekicker Britton Colquitt, who strained a quad muscle in the preseason, may or not play in all or part of his roles in Saturday’s season-opener against No. 12 California. “Do we risk him kicking off… and perhaps causing a problem for the rest of the season?” Tennessee coach Fulmer said during his Sunday teleconference. “That’s going to be up to the trainers and him and how things go. I do believe he’ll be available to do everything.” Fulmer said he now has confidence in nfreshman Daniel Lincoln as the starter at kicker, both the placement kicks and kicking off. “I’m pretty comfortable with Daniel kicking extra points and field goals, and perhaps even kicking off,” Fulmer said. “Kicking off might be the most strenuous thing to a quad injury you could do. We’ll see how that shakes as we go through the week.”

VANDERBILT

Sophomore Brandon Bryant, despite a sprained left wrist, looks like he’ll start at weakside linebacker in Saturday’s opener against Richmond. . . .Sophomore Greg Billinger looks to be the third defensive tackle behind starters Theo Horrocks and Gabe Hall. . . .Freshman tight end Brandon Barden is no longer wearing a protective boot after suffering a sprained left ankle during last weekend’s scrimmage.