Tuesday from the Murphy Athletic Complex . . .

A look at some offensive changes (and non-changes) to the Tiger depth chart as the U of M prepares for Saturday’s opener against Ole Miss:

OFFENSIVE LINE: The biggest change here — and biggest being the key phrase — has been the progress of left guard Dominik Riley. Riley, 6-4 and 300 pounds, opened fall camp as a backup, but his solid play forced the Tigers to relocate Michael Denning from starting left guard to backup to Andy Smith at right guard.

RECEIVER: To emphasize the depth and experience here, the depth chart is virtually unchanged from the opening of camp.

QUARTERBACK: It’s Martin Hankins, Will Hudgens and Matt Malouf, another unchanged position. And with Hankins earning praise from Tiger coach Tommy West (West said he has as much confidence in Hankins as he did in Danny Wimprine), there’s not likely to be much change here.

BACKFIELD: Joseph Doss, recently named to the Doak Walker Award watch list, is solidly entrenched at No. 1. He’s backed by T.J. Pitts and Miguel Barnes, who have shown flashes of adding power and speed respectively. West said junior college transfer Curtis Steele has potential to be a productive tailback, but West would like to redshirt Steele and toss him in the mix next year with Pitts and Barnes.

CENTRAL FLORIDA: George O’Leary begins his fourth year for the Knights. Year one was a winless disaster. Year two brought about a bowl game. Year three saw a backslide. What’s in store year four?

UAB: It will be tough enough for the Blazers to open the season on the road against Big 10 foe Michigan State. It will be tougher without playmaker Will Dunbar, a starting safety who was suspended for the opener by new coach Neil Callaway.

EAST CAROLINA: Ditto for the Pirates, who may be without starting quarterback Rob Kass, who was arrested over the weekend with a reported blood alcohol content of .019, twice the legal limit in North Carolina. Skip Holtz has not made a public announcement of his decision on how to punish Kass before the Pirates’ first game against Virginia Tech on Saturday.

MARSHALL: It’s not like the Thundering Herd have an easy opening task either. Marshall will visit Miami. The challenge has some Florida natives excited.

HOUSTON: Kevin Kolb, the 2006 Conference USA player of the year, is gone. Who replaces him under center for the Cougars? It’s anybody’s guess, but it will be Art Briles’ decision.

RICE: Under Ken Hatfield, the Owl’s defense worked against the Owls’ option offense daily in practice. Hatfield’s gone, a passing offense is in place. But the Rice defense will need to remember those practices when it tangles with Nicholls State.

Now that we’re done previewing the 2007 season and finally playing games, I thought we might take a look back at the weekend that was Week 0.

Hunter is special: It doesn’t take a football expert to tell you Kingsbury’s Gabriel Hunter may just be the next big thing in terms of Memphis’ next high-profile running back recruit. I liken Hunter, who rushed for 229 yards, three touchdowns and four 2-point conversions Kingsbury’s win Friday over Central, to former Melrose running back Graig Cooper, who’s now at Miami (Fla.). Cooper’s greatest asset was his field vision, and that just may be Hunter’s, too.

Spartans off and running: If there was any question whether White Station has come far enough football-wise to be ranked No. 1 in The Commercial Appeal’s Preseason Dandy Dozen, that question was answered Saturday, when the Spartans ran over Covington, 46-6, in Game 2 of the Bridges Kickoff Classic. Things could have been worse for Covington had it not been for a Justin Calloway interception return in the fourth quarter. In all, White Station totaled 363 yards (199 rushing, 164 passing) and limited the Charger offense to eight first downs.

CBHS down, but not out: The Purple Wave managed just 28 yards and two first downs in its first-ever Bridges Kickoff Classic loss, an 18-0 defeat Saturday at the hands of Melrose. However, don’t count out the Brothers yet. CBHS was without several starters in that game, including its starting quarterback, and star sophomore running back Eric Watson fumbled three times, with two of them leading to two Melrose touchdowns. Bottom line: The Purple Wave is a much better team than Saturday’s effort indiciated. Check back in Week 4, when CBHS opens its league schedule against MUS. That’s when things will really matter.

I just got the results from the Crappie Masters tournament held Saturday on Sardis Lake.

It’s amazing to me that people can catch so many crappie in this awful heat.

Here’s how it came out:

The Bass Pro Shops Crappie Masters tournament trail held a divisional qualifying event Saturday on Sardis Lake.
Read the rest of this entry »

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission will meet Wednesday and Thursday to finalize the dates for the upcoming state waterfowl hunting seasons.
Here’s a look at what’s been proposed:

Tennessee will again have a 60-day duck season. In the statewide zone, the season will be open Nov. 24-25 and Dec. 1-Jan. 27, 2008. In the Reelfoot Duck Zone, the dates will be Nov. 10-11 and Dec. 1-Jan. 27, 2008.
The youth waterfowl season will also be similar to last year. For youth ages 6-15, the statewide zone is Feb. 2-3 while the Reelfoot Zone is Feb. 9-10. Read the rest of this entry »

THE BIG STORY
A plane carrying Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville to a speak engagement to Mobile on Tuesday was struck by lightning shortly after takeoff, forcing the pilot to turn the plane around and head back to Auburn. After the plane landed, Tuberville boarded a second plane, but mechanical problems were discovered on it, ending his chances of making it to Mobile.

A look at the league: Read the rest of this entry »

From Monday’s press luncheon at the U of M . . .

* Here are some alterations to the Tiger defensive depth chart as game preparations for Ole Miss begins:

DEFENSIVE LINE — When fall camp began, junior Clinton McDonald was listed third at left end. He was moved inside and will start at left defensive tackle, ahead of Ryan Williams. Freddie Barnett, listed No. 1 at left tackle when camp began, will back up Steven Turner at right tackle. Barnett, expected to be a force in the middle of the line, was slowed by missing most of the spring with a torn pec muscle. The two-deep at the defensive end positions remain unchanged: Corey Mills and Jada Brown at left end (health permitting) and Josh Weaver and Greg Terrell at right end.

LINEBACKER — The only shakeup here was at middle linebacker. Junior college transfer Tommy Phelps entered camp atop the depth chart, but fell back due to a pre-camp illness that robbed him of 10-12 pounds. Redshirt freshman Winston Bowens jumped ahead of Phelps and veteran Heath Grant.

DEFENSIVE BACK – The safeties (Brandon Patterson and backup Tony Bell at free and Dontae Reed and backup Bernard Key at strong) are roughly as they were from early in the camp. Alton Starr, who entered camp as a backup at strong safety, was moved to cornerback and emerged from preseason practice as the starter at right corner. LaKeithrun Ford opened camp at left corner and is set to start at left corner against Ole Miss. Michael Grandberry, who worked with the No. 1 defense most of the preseason, opens the season as Ford’s backup.