THE BIG STORY
Florida senior offensive lineman Phil Trautwein, a preseason first-team All-Southeastern Conference left tackle and team captain, suffered a stress fracture in his foot. He’ll miss the season opener Saturday against Western Kentucky and possibly more time.

Trautwein had been bothered with a minor ankle sprain that he rested a couple of weeks ago. He had played through the injury. Trautwein, a fourth-year senior, has a medical redshirt year available, and stress fractures take more than two months to heal. His foot is in a cast.
“We’ll know more here the next couple of days, the length of it,” Florida coach Urban Meyer said following Wednesday’s practice. “But that’s what they tell me. He’s in a cast.”

“It’s a big loss, a huge loss,” Meyer said, “but the good thing is it’s an area where there’s a little bit of depth, a little bit of competition.”

With Trautwein out, junior Jason Watkins will move back to left tackle, Carlton Medder will move out to right tackle from right guard and freshman Maurkice Pouncey will start at right guard. Pouncey is the first true-freshman offensive lineman to start a season opener at Florida since Reggie Green started at left tackle in 1992.

A look at the league:

ALABAMA

Alabama is undergoing some last-minute personnel tweaks befoe Saturday’s season opener against Western Carolina. Redshirt freshman nose tackle Brian Motley underwent surgery Wednesday, a day after breaking his ankle during practice. He had a screw placed in the ankle and he will be out at least six weeks. . .Also, freshman nose tackle Josh Chapman of Hoover may not play Saturday. Chapman’s eligibility is an issue because questions have arisen regarding his high school transcript. An amended transcript was sent to UA after the school raised questions about the original. The issue arose when his senior year math grade averaged 89.5, which is a B. But it was rounded up to a 90, which is an A, on the second transcript. The change made Chapman eligible to play at Alabama.

ARKANSAS

Wide receiver Marcus Monk underwent another arthroscopic surgery to remove loose particles in his right knee.Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said Monk, who had the first surgery on Aug. 13, noticed some discomfort in his knee on Monday after putting a sock sleeve on his knee. Monk hurt his knee on Aug. 9 when he was hit by free safety Michael Grant. Nutt said the second procedure on Monk went well. “They took out two floating bodies, and they weren’t very big,” Nutt said. “The good news is, there’s good healing going on now with the cartilage. I’m excited about that. I can’t put a timetable on his return yet, but he is healing good.”

AUBURN

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville insists that junior Brad Lester is still the team’s No. 1 tailback, but that could could change before Saturday’s season opener against Kansas State. “He’s our starter,” Tuberville said after practice on Wednesday. If anything changes, I’ll let you know. Right now, he’s our starter. We’ll just have to wait and see how things work out.” Lester may be looking at a suspension because of the same academics-related problems that led to his being suspended from the Cotton Bowl game against Nebraska at the end of last season.

FLORIDA

Sophomore cornerback Markihe Anderson will miss the season opener with a sprained knee and sophomore Wondy Pierre-Louis is expected to start in Anderson’s place. . . .Freshman defensive tackle John Brown is still awaiting word from the NCAA Clearinghouse on whether he can enroll at Florida. Florida coach Urban Meyer said freshman running back Bo Williams will miss the next six weeks with a dislocated ankle. . .USC transfer running back Emmanuel Moody was at practice in street clothes on Wednesday, but has yet to officially enroll at Florida.

GEORGIA

Freshman Bruce Figgins will start at tight end on Saturday against Oklahoma State, but only because Tripp Chandler is suspended for the opener for a summer alcohol arrest. . .Redshirt freshman NaDerris Ward would be the No. 2 tight end if Figgins starts. Georgia coach Mark Richt said reserve fullback Jason Johnson is questionable with a shoulder “burner” after colliding in practice with Rennie Curran and Dannell Ellerbe. …Linebackers Darius Dewberry (shoulder) and Akeem Dent (concussion) and receiver Kris Durham (concussion) will play.

KENTUCKY

Kentucky suspended starting defensive tackle Myron Pryor for the Eastern Kentucky game. Pryor led the team with five sacks last season. Redshirt freshman Ricky Lumpkin will take his place. “That thins us at a position where we don’t have a lot of experience going into this game,” Rich Brooks said.. . .Linebacker Wesley Woodyard had a cast removed Sunday. He’ll wear a small pad on his surgically-repaired broken hand. . .Kentucky’s seniors say they came to UK to turnaround the woebegone football program. Last season’s 8 wins, including the much-celebrated Music City Bowl victory over Clemson did not do the job. “This is our last chance,” tight end Jacob Tamme said. “This is the legacy we’re going to leave.”

LSU

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit loves LSU’s defense, particularly Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson. He called Dorsey, a senior from Gonzales, a “300-pounder with a first step of a defensive back.” He predicted Jackson will become as prominent as Dorsey by midseason. “If you double-team Tyson Jackson,” Herbstreit said, “Glenn Dorsey’s going to get free. If you double-team Dorsey, Jackson will get free. I just think the two complement each other really well.”

OLE MISS

Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron said he plans to play Greg Hardy on both sides of the ball in Saturday’s opener at Memphis. “I don’t know how many plays he’ll get on each side of the ball,” Orgeron said. “It depends on the flow of the game.”

MISS. STATE

Mississippi State quarterback Michael Henig has never said he’s not impressed with LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey. It more like he’s not intimidated. “He puts his pants on the same way I do and the same way Titus (Brown) does,” the Starkville Daily News quoted Henig as saying about Dorsey. “He’s a good athlete, he’s got a lot of name recognition, he’s got a lot of awards, but he’s coming to our house. I’ve been going against Titus for four years now, and I don’t think I’ve seen any better than Titus.”

SOUTH CAROLINA

Steve Spurrier, in his third year at USC, is 16-1 all-time in opening games. The lone loss came in 1989 in Columbia when the Gamecocks knocked off Spurrier’s Duke squad 27-21. That game represented one of only five times a Spurrier-coached team began its season against a school from a BCS conference. “I started usually getting the schools where we opened up at home, not against as big an opponent,” Spurrier told TheState newspaper in Columbia this week. After beating Kentucky in the 1992 opener, Florida hosted small conference schools to begin each of Spurrier’s final nine seasons in Gainesville, winning by an average margin of 48-16. Included in that row of cupcakes was a 55-21 thrashing of Louisiana-Lafayette, then known as Southwestern Louisiana. USC opens Saturday vs. the Ragin’ Cajuns.

TENNESSEE

Vols’ quarterback Erik Ainge’s pinky finger on his throwing hand is broken, but he plans top play in Saturday’s season-opener at No. 12 California. Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said that Ainge threw the ball well during Wednesday’s practice, but that sophomore Jonathan Crompton will be ready in case Ainge is unable to play effectively at Cal. Ainge said playing hurt is part of football. “I’m not concerned about being able to play and being ready to play,” Ainge said. “You never know. You’re always one play away. Anything could happen, but right now I feel confident that I’ll be ready to play.”

VANDERBILT

Vandy has cut down on preseason injuries this year. “I think the coaches took care of us through camp this year,” senior defensive tackle and co-captain Theo Horrocks told The Tennessean. “Everybody was in better shape coming into camp, so I don’t think there were as many injuries. We didn’t really get beat up in camp.” Added Vandy coach Bobby Johnson, “”We’ve been fortunate. We have some guys right now that have some chronic injuries that could flare up and keep them out of games.” Sophomore linebacker Patrick Benoist (foot) and freshman tight end Brandon Barden (ankle) are the only players who stand to miss Saturday’s openr against Richmond. Benoist was battling Brandon Bryant for the starting weakside linebacker spot, while Barden was being considered for a backup spot.