THE BIG STORY

Auburn running back Brad Lester is eligible for the first time this season, but Tigers’ coach Tommy Tuberville said the junior running back will have to take a number in Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt.

“He’ll have a role to play,” Tuberville said during his weekly Tuesday press conference. “This is the first game of the season for him. First games are tough because you’re usually not in playing shape, even though he has been practicing a lot.”

Sophomore Ben Tate and redshirt freshman Mario Fannin, will get the first snaps against Vanderbilt.

“(Lester) will play some depending on how he does, and how he handles the situation will determine how much,” Tuberville said. “He’ll earn more and more playing time. The other two guys have put a lot into the first five games.”

A look at the league:

ALABAMA

Alabama is familiar with Houston’s spread offense, as the Tide looked at it during preseason camp, along with most of its 2007 opponents. “We did a couple of things on Houston and the formations they do,” Alabama safety Rashad Johnson said. “It was so long ago, I remember a little bit of it, but not a lot. But once (coaches) bring it back up, it will be a lot easier to remember it the second time around.” Houston’s offense ranks No. 15 nationally with 483.5 yards per game. The Cougars run and throw for at least 200 yards per game and have tallied at least 27 points in each of their four contests.

ARKANSAS

The Razorbacks will again be heavy favorites when they host Division I-AA’s Tennessee-Chattanooga (1-3) in Little Rock on Saturday night, and because of that maybe Tuesday’s practice was awful. “Just to be real blunt, that was the worst practice we had probably this year,” Arkansas offensive coordinator David Lee said. “Definitely the worst Tuesday (practice). Maybe they’re looking ahead, I don’t know. I’m 54 (years old), and they’re 21 and 19 and 18. They’ve been there with us, and they weren’t there today.” Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said he was particularly disappointed with the effort considering that he was able to give his starters some rest during last Saturday’s 66-7 win over North Texas. “They should be very fresh,” Nutt said. “We didn’t play that much Saturday. We acted like we were too sore today. We’ve got to come out here with a much better frame of mind.”

AUBURN

Auburn is going to “mix it up” on the offensive line and could add one or two new starters to the lineup, coach Tommy Tuberville said Tuesday. Tuberville’s unprompted prediction conflicted with offensive line coach Hugh Nall, who said Sunday that his starting five would remain the same. “We are going to change our offensive line this week,” Tuberville said. “We’re going to mix it up and it could be that we have one or two new starters in the lineup. We just have to get it to where we can create competition. If you have competition, then it’s just amazing how much better both players get. Everybody wants to be a starter, and we’re going to give it to the ones that are trying their best, earning that position and making this team better.”

FLORIDA

Starting strong safety and team captain Tony Joiner’s status with the University of Florida football team is uncertain following his arrest Tuesday morning for felony burglary of a business. Joiner was not allowed to practice Tuesday afternoon after being released from the Alachua County jail on his own recognizance. UF coach Urban Meyer said Joiner’s status would not be determined until he’s heard all the facts in the case. Joiner, a senior from Haines City, was arrested around 5 a.m. outside the fenced impound lot of Watson’s Towing at 516 SW 1st St. He was accused of pushing open a heavy electric gate in an attempt to retrieve his girlfriend’s car. The vehicle was being held in lieu of a $76 towing bill, according to police reports. The owner of the property, Stan Forron, said he left the gate open when he left Watson’s Towing at 3 a.m. and doesn’t understand why police arrested Joiner. Forron said he is going to urge the State Attorney’s Office to drop the charges. Forron said Joiner had made arrangements to pay the towing bill and pick up the car Tuesday morning, but that Joiner showed up later than expected and the Watson’s Towing employee on duty at the time was not in the office. “I don’t understand why this kid was arrested,” said Forron, who owns two other towing companies in Gainesville. “I’ve been paid; I’ve been made good. I’m not interested in pursuing charges. It’s all a miscommunication. One of the dispatchers knew (Joiner) was coming. My employee was in the break room and I’d left the gate open. It’s like going to a restaurant to eat and you go to the cashier to pay and no one is there. Eventually, you’re going to walk out.” Forron said he’s been in the towing business for 20 years and has never heard of anyone getting arrested for stealing their own car from a compound lot. “I don’t remember that ever happening,” he said. “A girl stole her car from the lot about three weeks ago and she wasn’t arrested. Why would they arrest this kid? I’m a Gator fan, but I’m also a right and wrong fan, too. What the kid did is wrong, but does it warrant a second-degree felony charge? Not even close.” Forron said it’s fairly common for owners to “steal” their own cars from towing lots in town. “It happens 15 to 20 times a year,” he said. “It’s pretty prevalent. I don’t believe what this kid did is right, but he doesn’t deserve to be arrested.”

GEORGIA

Georgia defensive line coach Rodney Garner plans a change in the starting lineup Saturday going up against an offensive line that coaches feel is the most formidable the Bulldogs will have faced so far this season. Sophomore Geno Atkins will replace junior Kade Weston as starting defensive tackle. Atkins leads Georgia with six tackles for loss and has 11 tackles. Weston has nine tackles, but just one each against Ole Miss and Alabama. “Geno and Jeff (Owens) have been the most productive of the guys and I’m going to award him,” Garner said of Atkins. Tennessee is ranked next to last in the SEC in rushing at 132.2 yards per game, but the Volunteers have given up only two sacks, tied for least in the nation. “This is going to be the biggest test we’ve had to date,” Garner said. “Tennessee is the best offensive line we’ve faced. Are they as big as Ole Miss? I wouldn’t say that. But are they more powerful than Ole Miss? I would definitely say that.”

KENTUCKY

The Wildcats were one of the country’s worst run defenses in 2006, and one year later, UK still finds itself near the bottom of the rankings. Kentucky is giving up 203.2 yards a game, which places them 103rd in the Bowl Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-A). That total is also about 20 yards higher than last year’s defense allowed (184.5). UK Coach Rich Brooks said the defense is more stout overall against the run, but a handful of big plays have skewed the statistics. While the Wildcat defense shut down the Arkansas running game in the latter stages of a 42-29 comeback win, backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones did break off runs of 56 and 73 yards. Eliminate those two big runs and Kentucky gave up 209 yards on 49 carries, a 4.3 average. That’s not too bad when you consider that McFadden and Jones are widely regarded as the best backfield combo in the country. “Overall our run defense has been adequate,” Brooks said. “Now Arkansas is going to run the ball on everybody they play, and if it weren’t for a few long runs we’d have played well that game. Nobody has really lined up when it counts and run the ball down our throats when it counts at this point in time. We just need to eliminate two or three plays a game that we get gashed.”

LSU

LSU wide receiver Early Doucet may still be iffy for Saturday’s game against Florida. Doucet suffered a freak groin injury on Friday, Sept. 14 at a practice the day before the Middle Tennessee game. He has not been spotted practicing since. In the past, though, Miles has had players held out of the early practice periods for media only to bring them onto the field to practice later on in secret. Multiple teammates of Doucet have said the senior from St. Martinville has a groin injury, though Miles has never confirmed that as he often is evasive about injuries. Doucet is second on the team with 15 catches for 153 yards, though he only played in the first two games. LSU coach Les Miles is expected to update Doucet’s condition today. Miles said on Sunday that he questioned whether Doucet would be ready for Saturday when No. 1 LSU (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) plays No. 9 Florida (4-1, 2-1 SEC) at 7:30 p.m. in Tiger Stadium on CBS. “I don’t know the likelihood of this week,” Miles said. “I think Early will be day to day still. I still question whether Early will get there, and I want to do what’s right for him because we have a long season. And he’s certainly going to be important to us as we go forward.”

OLE MISS

Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger that some of his players might not have liked Tuesday’s physical practice, but he knows one group of people that loved it. “The coaches …,” Orgeron said with a grin. “There were some good tackling drills out there. We let the young guys scrimmage a little bit. It was fun.” On Monday, Ole Miss cornerback Dustin Mouzon said that in the wake of Saturday’s 45-17 loss to Georgia, he figured there could be some strategy or personnel changes this week. But Orgeron said he kept it simple on Tuesday. “I might make them do (what we’re already doing) better - but no changes,” Orgeron said.

MISS. STATE

Senior safety Demario Bobo earned his first start of the season in Saturday’s 38-21 loss at South Carolina. Bobo suffered from mononucleosis and tonsillitis for much of August, causing him to miss plenty of preseason practice. “He’s still, I guess you could say, knocking a little rust off,” coach Sylvester Croom told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. “He didn’t play well early in the game the other day. Some of it is probably because of the time that he missed. Again, the details.”

SOUTH CAROLINA

The Gamecocks will be excused from class, at least by the coaching staff, in order to prepare for Thursday’s home game against Kentucky. Previous coach Lou Holtz usually held his players out of class before Thursday games, but Steve Spurrier has not made it a rule. “We’re going to be like basketball. Basketball never goes (to class) on the road,” Spurrier said. “They may go at home. I don’t know what they do at home. But when they’re on the road, they don’t go.” There will be some exceptions. Spurrier said a few players who are not scheduled to play much will take tests with their classes. Otherwise, the team is treating it like a normal Saturday, spending it at a hotel before going to the stadium.

TENNESSEE

Vols’ coach Philip Fulmer said he was as excited as any UT fan after Auburn’s 20-17 upset of No. 4 Florida on Saturday.”I actually said, ‘War (Damn) Eagle,’” Fulmer said. “That’s the first thing I said, to be honest with you.” Quarterback Erik Ainge, who was watching the game with his girlfriend in San Diego, said he was just as happy — but not when Auburn kicker Wes Byrum was forced to re-kick the game-winning 43-yard field goal after Florida Coach Urban Meyer called a timeout on the first attempt. “The first one, I was pretty ticked off,” Ainge said. “But after he made that second one, I tell you what, for an 18-year-old to make both of those, that was impressive. Obviously, we were excited because we know it gave us a chance (in the SEC East).”

VANDERBILT

Vanderbilt Coach Bobby Johnson said that the positives of Chris Nickson’s performance Saturday shouldn’t be overshadowed by the four pickoffs he suffered. “Chris made some big plays running the ball for us, and he had two touchdown passes,” Johnson said. “You’ve got to remember that, too. The one he threw to Sean Walker, he stood in the pocket, waited for him to come open. They were putting a pretty good rush on right there. That’s just what you want him to do. He can do those things. He’ll do them again.” Johnson said he doesn’t expect any hangover from the interceptions when Nickson goes against Auburn this weekend. “Chris knows you’ve got to go back and start fighting again, learning what to do and do it better,” he said. “He doesn’t dwell on previous mistakes too much.”