THE BIG STORY

Georgia coach Mark Richt, readying his team for Saturday’s game at Alabama, is battening down the hatches. On Monday, he closed the entire week of practices to the media.

Practices are usually open during the first 25 to 30 minutes when the team stretches and typically works on special teams.

“I wish I could just close it down completely, but it’s kind of hard to do with our setup,” said Richt in the preseason when talking about Virginia Tech limiting media access to its practices. “I can understand why every coach would want to close everything that they do especially with the Internet.”

This is the first time that Richt has shut down an entire week of practices. Former Georgia coaches Vince Dooley and Ray Goff have closed practices for an entire game week before, sports communications director Claude Felton said.

A look at the league:

ALABAMA

ESPN has caught the Nick Saban Fever. ESPN’s GameDay is headed to Tuscaloosa for Alabama’s home game on Saturday against Georgia. “It’s special exposure for us,” Saban said. “That goes without saying that our fans will welcome them and create an atmosphere that’s special for everyone to see.” Saturday’s game just the fifth time the teams have faced each other with both in the Top 25. “Georgia is a good team and everybody knows that,” Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson said. “The more we hang on this win (Saturday’s 41-38 victory over Arkansas), the worse it’s going to be on our team.”

ARKANSAS

Freshman wide receiver Crosby Tuck has been moved into the starting lineup after making a big touchdown catch for the second consecutive game. He will replace sophomore London Crawford as the starting split end for Saturday’s game against Kentucky. Though he’s only a freshman, Tuck caught a 42-yard touchdown pass in a 46-26 win over Troy University in the Sept. 1 season opener, then followed that with a 40-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Casey Dick in last Saturday’s 41-38 loss at Alabama. “He’ll start this week, and we’ll get him of course a lot more snaps and he’ll hopefully continue to get better,” Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said of Tuck. “He’s doing a good job, and we’re going to get him more snaps this week.” Crawford is listed as Tuck’s backup at split end. Junior Reggie Fish and senior Robert Johnson are listed as co-starters at flanker.

AUBURN

CBS has placed a six-day hold on television rights for Auburn’s Sept. 29 game at Florida. That means CBS has until Sunday to decide whether to televise the game. The Tigers’ game at the Swamp will be broadcast either at 4 p.m. by CBS or 7 p.m. by ESPN, according to Auburn officials. Also involved is the Alabama at Florida State game. . .An infection on Auburn defensive tackle Pat Sims’ left hand has resulted in his hand being heavily taped to look like a club. Still, he had five tackles against Mississippi State, including a game-high four tackles for loss. Sims suffered an infected finger last summer that carried over into the early part of the season.

FLORIDA

Beat Tennessee by 39 and Florida coach Urban Meyer still isn’t happy. He doesn’t like his team’s lack of a pass rush during the first three games of the season. “We’re not even getting to the quarterback,” Meyer said. “Some red flags are going up right now. We have to create pressure against teams. That will come back to get us. I grade that area of our team right now as a negative. We all know at some point pressuring the quarterback will get you if you can’t get it right.” Florida’s D-line has three new starters. The Gators are seventh in the SEC with five sacks. Last year, Florida was third in the league with 37 sacks. . .Florida will be without senior receiver Andre Caldwell (knee) and safety Bryan Thomas (knee) for Saturday’s game at Ole Miss, but several other injured players are expected to play. Receiver Riley Cooper (ankle sprain) did not practice Monday but is expected to play Saturday. Freshman offensive lineman Maurkice Pouncey is expected to play after suffering a low ankle sprain against Tennessee. Defensive tackle Brandon Antwine missed the Tennessee game with a hyper-extended elbow, but should play this week. Cornerback Markihe Anderson, however, is not expected to play against the Rebels. Anderson suffered a sprained PCL against the Volunteers.

GEORGIA

Tailback Kregg Lumpkin practiced Monday with a cast on his broken right thumb. Lumpkin is expected to play special teams on Saturday at Alabama and possibly could work in the backfield. He said he’ll have to carry the ball exclusively with his left hand.. . .Georgia’s starting guards Monday were Clint Boling and Chris Davis with Trinton Sturdivant and Chester Adams at tackle. Redshirt freshman Akeem Dent, who started Saturday, said he worked again at first-team strongside linebacker on Monday. Cornerback Bryan Evans, who sat out Saturday with a hyperextended knee, said players rotated with the starting unit at his position.

KENTUCKY

The Southeastern Conference has fined the University of Kentucky $25,000 for its second violation of the league’s policy on access to the competition area. Thousands of Wildcat fans stormed the field after UK’s 40-34 win over Louisville on Saturday. The $25,000 fine is a result of a second offense of the policy. UK’s first offense occurred last year when fans stormed the field after a 24-20 win over Georgia. “This policy is designed to create a safe environment for everyone who participates and attends our athletic contests,” said SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. “I understand the exuberance of the moment but the security and protection of our student-athletes, coaches, officials and fans is our primary concern. UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart said in a statement, “The University of Kentucky takes its responsibility to protect participants and spectators at its home athletic events seriously. The incredible energy and passion Wildcat fans displayed at Commonwealth Stadium Saturday night were integral parts of the victory over Louisville. We’ll continue working to ensure a safe environment for our players and fans to celebrate future wins.”

LSU

LSU quarterback Matt Flynn, who missed last Saturday’s game against Middle Tennessee because of a sprained ankle, said he thinks he will start Saturday against South Carolina. “I’m very optimistic about it right now,” he said. “It’s been fast recovering. It’s felt a lot better each day, each day I’ve rested it. I feel like it’s going to get better and I’ll be 100 percent soon. The swelling’s a lot down. It’s still getting treatment, but swelling’s way down.” LSU coach Les Miles said last week that he did not know on what play the injury occurred, but Flynn said it was on LSU’s last offensive play of the first half against Virginia Tech. That was a third and seven from the Tech 39. Flynn was sacked on the play by defensive end Chris Ellis for a yard loss. “I just kind of got flipped and it (his ankle) got twisted up,” Flynn said. Miles has said Flynn is his starting quarterback and if he’s ready to play, he’ll start.

OLE MISS

Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron and defensive coordinator John Thompson have decided to simplify the defense to reduce missed assignments. Ole Miss is last in the SEC in most statistical categories, including total defense (466 yards) and pass defense (291). Those stats are 104th and 106th in the nation, respectively. “Instead of trying to so much outsmart them, we’ve just got to play better,” Thompson told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. “It’s obvious that that has happened to us the last couple weeks. We spent so much time on game plan we haven’t gotten down to the nuts and bolts of getting off a block, making a tackle.”

MISS. STATE

Mississippi State junior defensive back Derek Pegues was picked by the Southeastern Conference as Defensive Player of the Week, the league office announced. Pegues recorded five tackles in the Bulldogs’ 19-14 win over Auburn on Saturday. The Bateville, Miss., native was also credited with one pass deflection when he delivered a jarring hit on the Tigers’ tight end. But the play of the day for Pegues, was his record-setting third interception return for a touchdown. On Auburn’s first pass attempt of the game, Pegues grabbed a tipped pass and raced 20 yards to give the Bulldogs a 10-0 lead just seven minutes into the game. “I didn’t think I had that good of a game,” Pegues said. Pegues joins senior linebacker Gabe O’Neal as recent SEC Defensive Players of the Week as O’Neal was honored after returning an interception for score against Tulane a week prior. It marks the first time Bulldogs have earned the award in back-to-back weeks since Daniel Boyd (Oct. 1, 1992 win over Florida) and Kelvin Knight (Oct. 10, 1992 win over Auburn) were selected fifteen years ago. . .Mississippi State quarterback Michael Henig underwent successful surgery Sunday morning to repair a bone fracture on his right throwing hand, MSU spokesman Mike Nemeth said. Henig said after Saturday’s game that trainers told him to expect to be sidelined for two to four weeks. Henig, a junior, was injured in the first half of Mississippi State’s win at Auburn.

SOUTH CAROLINA

The Gamecocks are still searching for a reliable wide receiver other than junior Kenny McKinley. Carolina coach Steve Spurrier appears to be losing patience with the veteran Browns — Moe and Freddie — and is turning to the freshmen Barnes — Mark and Jason. Mark Barnes caught two passes for 12 yards on Saturday, including a touchdown. Jason Barnes caught a 34-yarder. Both entered Saturday’s game without a catch. “You’re going to see more of the Barnes duo,” Spurrier said. “I think they can play. They haven’t had much opportunity yet. We’ve just got to let them go play. We’ve seen a lot of the other guys, and a lot of them are struggling, so we’ve got to see the young guys more.”

TENNESSEE

Senior defensive end Xavier Mitchell says the most important thing for the Vols is how they respond after starting 1-2 for just the second time under Phillip Fulmer. In 1994, the Vols started 1-3 with losses to No. 13 UCLA, No. 1 Florida and unranked Mississippi State. “It’s how you react to this situation. That’s our focus right now,” Mitchell said. “We’re not going to stay down. That’s the biggest thing we know about ourselves: We’ve been knocked down, but we’ll never stay down.”

VANDERBILT

Cassen Jackson-Garrison’s 119 yards and three touchdowns in Saturday’s 31-17 victory over Ole Miss marked the team’s first 100-yard game by a running back since Jackson-Garrison gained a career-high 142 against Temple on Sept. 30, 2006. With Jackson-Garrison leading the way against Ole Miss, Vanderbilt finished with 183 rushing yards and 383 total offensive yards. The 183 ground yards was the most for the Commodores since posting 235 in the Oct. 28 Duke win last year. Jackson-Garrison, who got the starting nod in the absence of Jeff Jennings, ran for 13 yards on Vanderbilt’s first offensive play. On the night, 10 of his 23 runs were for six yards or more, including a 21-yarder in the fourth period. “I felt like we ran everywhere,” said Jackson-Garrison. “Everybody did what we needed to do.”