THE BIG STORY

South Carolina will probably announce today that senior quarterback Blake Mitchell, suspended for last week’s season opener, will start on Saturday at Georgia.

“Yeah, in all likelihood,” Florida coach Steve Spurrier said of whether he will start Mitchell. “We’ll probably announce that (today). He’ll take back over with Tommy Beecher ready to go. Chris Smelley sort of sprained his shoulder in the game the other day and hasn’t thrown the ball all week.”

Mitchell is ranked seventh on USC’s career passing list with 4,245 yards as he enters his third year as a starter (he’s 11-6 as a starter).

But he has been suspended twice in two years. He was suspended for last year’s Wofford game after his arrest for punching a bouncer at a Columbia nightspot. Though the charge was later dropped, it took Mitchell seven weeks to reclaim his starting spot from Syvelle Newton. His suspension last week was for missing too many summer school classes.

The State newspaper reported Mitchell being ragged by Carolina students at last week’s opener against Louisiana-Lafayette. USC linebacker Dustin Lindsey, who was out with a knee injury, said he stood next to Mitchell as “student-section kids” lobbed insults at Mitchell such as “Loser” and “Go to class, Blake.”

“It’s no big deal,” Mitchell said. “I don’t let that kind of stuff get to me.”

A look at the league:

ALABAMA

Kicker Jamie Christensen is back working at practice after being sidelined with a strained quad muscle. He did not dress for the Western Carolina game. His availability Saturday against Vanderbilt is questionable. “Christensen is doing a little kicking,” coach Nick Saban said. “He’s not 100 percent yet. He’s very questionable for this game.”. . .Saban called his defense “soft” after Western Carolina had 15 first downs and 247 yards in last week’s opener. In 12 regular season games last year, Alabama allowed more than 15 first downs only five times. “Personally, I don’t (think we were soft),” defensive end Wallace Gilberry said. “But Coach Saban is a perfectionist.” You definitely give him what he wants and that’s what we’re going to do.”

ARKANSAS

Arkansas defensive coordinator Reggie Herring said his team panicked in the second quarter of last weekend’s opener against Troy. “We did a little bit of everything you could do wrong: We busted some coverages, we had some penalties in holding (and pass) interference when we didn’t have to,” Herring said. “We had them covered. If we just cover them and leave them alone and get our hands off, the balls are five miles over the heads or incomplete and we live another day.”. . .Arkansas cornerback Matterral Richardson (wisdom tooth) and backup free safety Kevin Woods (strained hamstring) missed Wednesday’s practice, but both are expected to return for Alabama next week.

AUBURN

Freshman placekicker Wesley Byrum, who made 3-of-4 field goal attempts in last Saturday’s 23-13 win over Kansas State, sustained a sprained ankle helping make a tackle on the opening kickoff. He has not kicked this week. It may mean that junior Zach Kutch will kick on Saturday against South Florida. “We’ll just have to wait and see,” Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said. “That’s going to be a game deal. If we kicked today, Zach would probably get the nod. We’ve got three days left. (Byrum has) come a long way.” . . .Also, linebacker Tray Blackmon and safety Aairon Savage, both nursing ankle injuries, practiced on a limited basis Wednesday. Wide receiver Montez Billings (hamstring) practiced full speed Wednesday. Redshirt freshman quarterback Neil Caudle, who suffered a shoulder separation in the first scrimmage of preseason camp, is back at practice and working with the second and third teams.

FLORIDA

Florida coach Urban Meyer said Percy Harvin’s Achilles’ tendinitis, which gave him problems during the preseason, has flared up again. He will be restricted to only playing on offense this week. “Percy’s got a little tendonitis issues, but I think he’s going to be OK,” Meyer said. (He practiced) off and on. He’ll be able to go.” Harvin was bothered for most of last season with an ankle injury, despite accumulating 864 total yards. . .Redshirt freshman safety Jamar Hornsby could see a little action on defense. . .Sophomore cornerback Markihe Anderson (MCL sprain) is expected to play Saturday, but redshirt junior defensive back Markus Manson (ankle) won’t.

GEORGIA

The Atlanta Journal-Constiution reported that Antavious Coates, who never got to put on a Georgia uniform because of four ACL tears, will be honored as a team captain before Saturday’s South Carolina game. “He will pad up and be there for the coin toss this game,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “We want to honor Coates. He is from South Carolina and he never got to play. He got to practice but he never really got to put his pads on and come out and run out there before the game with the crowd noise.” Coates was on the sideline last week and has been helping with some coaching duties ever since his latest ACL tear Aug. 25. . .Redshirt freshman Brandon Wood is moving back from defensive tackle to defensive end. “He looks more comfortable there,” Richt said. “Quite frankly, he wanted to move back out.”. . .Richt said on Wednesday’s SEC teleconfernce that he isn’t planning on signing a quarterback in this year’s recruiting class, Richt said. Matthew Stafford and Joe Cox will be juniors next season, Blake Barnes will be a senior and Logan Gray a redshirt freshman.

KENTUCKY

One reason for Kentucky’s improved running game is better athletes on the line of scrimmage. Center Eric Scott and left guard Zipp Duncan are both former tight ends and high school basketball players. Right guard Jason Leger is also agile enough to get outside. “Some of the offensive linemen in the past had trouble getting out there, so we had to change our scheme up,” Scott said. “But now it’s working out good for us.”

LSU

LSU strong safety Craig Steltz tied a school record last week with three interceptions in the No. 2 Tigers 45-0 victory at Mississippi State. He intercepted four passes last season and in so doing became the first player in LSU history to intercept one pass in four straight games. He had one in 2005 and has eight for his career, which is just two away from tying for fifth place on LSU’s all-time list at 10. “Never before have I had three in one game,” Steltz said. “Sometimes you’ve got to be lucky out there and be in the right place at the right time.”. . .First-time starters for LSU against Mississippi State were, on offense, right guard Lyle Hitt, right tackle Carnell Stewart and fullback Quinn Johnson. On defense, free safety Curtis Taylor made his first career start. Six true freshmen played: wide receiver Terrance Toliver, offensive tackles Joseph Barksdale and Jarvis Jones, safety Chad Jones and kickers Josh Jasper and Andrew Crutchfield.

OLE MISS

The Jackson Clarion-Ledger reported that two NCAA committees are scheduled to hear appeals in Jerrell Powe’s academic eligibility case today. The defensive tackle, who is attending classes at Ole Miss, was ruled ineligible to practice and play with the Rebels last week. Also, the high school coursework he completed in the past year was invalidated. Both decisions are subject to appeals and Powe’s attorney, Don Jackson, said he has been informed the NCAA will hear the cases today. He’s hoping the committees will make a decision soon. “I just hope this review committee is more open minded about this young man than these folks over at (NCAA) membership services staff,” Jackson said.

MISS. STATE

Mississippi State is 99.9 percent healthy heading into Saturday’s game at Tulane. Only tight end Derek Sherrod was limited during Wednesday’s practice. “We’re as healthy as we’ve been since we started training camp,” MSU coach Sylvester Croom said. “We’re actually healthier today coming out of the game than we were going into the game,” Croom said. . .The inaugural North Mississippi MSU alumni golf tournament sponsored by the DeSoto Dawgs will be held on Wed, Sept. 26th, at River Bend Links in Tunica with a shotgun start at 1:00PM. I will be the featured speaker. Entry fee is $100/player or $400/team. To register, call 662-910-0035 or email desotodawgs@hotmail.com.”

SOUTH CAROLINA

Redshirt freshman starting right offensive guard Kevin Young will miss the next two-to-three weeks after injuring his left ankle, just a day after moving up to first string on the depth chart. He will be replaced by Lemuel Jeanpierre, a converted defensive tackle who started the opener. Jeanpierre had replaced James Thompson, the annointed starter after preseason camp who was then suspended three games for a violation of team policy. Junior Gurminder Thind, the backup at left tackle and left guard, could also see action at right guard. . .If South Carolina beats Georgia on Saturday, the win would put the USC’s all-time record at 517-517-44, making it .500 for the first time since the 1988 season.

TENNESSEE

Tennessee defensive end Xavier Mitchell was cleared for contact and practiced Wednesday, five days after suffering a concussion against California. “We’ll see how that goes,” Mitchell said. “It’s kind of a progression thing. If I don’t have any problems, I feel real good that I’m going to play.”. . .Punter Britton Colquitt said the quadriceps muscle injury he suffered in preseason practice didn’t hurt in Saturday’s opening loss at Cal, but he said he did hold back, which is why he didn’t kick away from Cal’s DeSean Jackson on the first kick that Jackson returned a punt 77 yards for a touchdown. “If I had hit it perfect,” Colquitt said, “it would have turned over and gone out of bounds.” If Colquitt can’t punt in Saturday’s home opener against Southern Miss, then freshman Chad Cunningham will handle the punting.

VANDERBILT

Vanderbilt quarterback Chris Nickson said Alabama’s defense looks a lot different this year under new coach Nick Saban. “Their technique is different,” Nickson said. “It’s hard to really see exactly what’s going on sometimes. They hide things a lot better. Their defense is probably more effective with the scheme they are doing. It’s just the way they operate and do things. Their scheme is a little bit different.”. . . Vanderbilt is using a spread offense to maximize the effectiveness of quarterback Chris Nickson and, hopefully, keep opposing defenses from zeroing in on Earl Bennett. But if the Commodores are going to be successful against SEC defenses, they’ll need solid production out of the running game. That’s why the return of tailback Jeff Jennings from ACL surgery is so vital. Jennings ran 11 times for 67 yards and a touchdown against Richmond.”When he’s playing well, the sky is the limit for the offense,” said Nickson. “He’s very effective in the short-yardage game. We really need him to play well. He makes things so much better for us. We’re excited about what he brings to the offense.”