THE BIG STORY

Auburn defensive end Quentin Groves got a sack at LSU on Saturday, his 26th career sack, tying the all-time Auburn record set by Gerald Robinson in 1985.

The sack had been a long time coming after Groves was injured on the final play of the third quarter Sept. 29 at Florida. He said when a Florida lineman stepped on his foot, he immediately heard a crackle and assumed a bone or bones had broken. Instead, three toes had been bent back and dislocated — a less serious, but equally painful outcome.

“I heard it crack, and I was like, ‘Oh, no,’” Groves told the Mobile Register. “I was just thanking God that my foot wasn’t broke.” Groves, a senior defensive end, returned to action in Baton Rouge after missing two games with three painfully dislocated toes.

“I’ve never missed a game before, aside from these two games, my whole career here,” Groves said. “You never want to be on the sideline. You feel like you’re a loser, basically.”

He played largely in pass-rushing downs, but expects to have a larger role this week when Auburn plays Ole Miss. A native of Greenville, Miss., Groves is playing in his last game against a team from his home state. But he’s also trying to re-energize a senior season that’s been plagued by frustrations since his two-sack performance in the opener against Kansas State. Groves said he’s now about 90 percent, but the two-week recovery hasn’t been easy.

“Yeah, I promise you, after those first two games (this season), I was like, ‘Oh man, I think I can set a benchmark record here,’” Groves said. “But things don’t go as you plan. God does a great job of humbling you. Don’t get too far ahead of yourself and just stay focused. I kind of lost focus during that stretch where I didn’t have any sacks — South Florida, Miss. State, all of those. It took me getting injured to realize, ‘OK, I needed to come back down to earth a little bit.’”

A look at the league:

ALABAMA

While he is clear that five University of Alabama football players used “poor judgment,” coach Nick Saban said the system of textbook distribution for athletes failed the players, too “No one at the university wants me to say it,” Saban told the crowd in a speech to the Monday Morning Quarterback Club in Birmingham, “but it’s true.” The internal review, which began Friday, turned up a violation of institutional policy involving impermissible receipt of textbooks and led to the suspension of five football players - starting guards Antoine Caldwell and Marlon Davis, backup running back Glen Coffee, reserve cornerback Marquis Johnson and special teamer Chris Rogers - for the Crimson Tide’s 41-17 win over Tennessee Saturday. The length of the suspensions has not been determined, the release said. The players will, however, be allowed to practice with the team, which has a bye this week and hosts LSU on Nov. 3. There have been no other suspensions announced of athletes from other sports, or when the review will be completed. “We had some guys use poor judgment in how they did it,” Saban said. “Now, the NCAA might see it as an extra benefit. When we saw it, we reported it. But the system failed the players, too. If we call a bad play and it doesn’t work, we’re responsible.” The release does not say how the improprieties were discovered. Questions to officials at the bookstore that distributed the textbooks were deflected to the university’s media relations staff. The ongoing internal review is a “cooperative effort” by the UA athletics compliance office, run by Chris King, and the UA Office of Financial Affairs, which is run by vice president Lynda Gilbert. They will coordinate their findings with the Center of Athletic Student Services led by Jon Dever and the University Supply Store, whose director is Teresa Shreve.

ARKANSAS

Sophomore London Crawford is the latest Arkansas receiver to get hit by the injury bug. Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said Crawford is questionable for Saturday’s game vs. Florida International after sustaining a pinched nerve. “We’ll probably have to hold him (today),” Nutt said. “We’ll see. We’ll go from there.” Crawford caught one pass for 13 yards at Ole Miss. He leads all Arkansas wide receivers with eight catches for 147 yards and a touchdown. If Crawford can’t play, Nutt said the Razorbacks would lean on sophomore Lucas Miller and senior Chris Baker against FIU. They’d also try to get tight ends Andrew Davie and D.J. Williams more involved in the offense. . .Center Jonathan Luigs was named Southeastern Conference Offensive Lineman of the Week on Monday. The junior graded out at a team-high 90 percent in Arkansas’ 44-8 win at Ole Miss last Saturday. He was part of an offense that bounced back from a disappointing performance at Auburn to pile up 437 yards. “Jonathan has really been a guy that we really lean on,” Nutt said. “He’s a great leader. He’s the quarterback of the offensive line. He calls out the fronts and finds the (linebackers) for us and does all the little things.”

AUBURN

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said his team’s offensive problems in the second half have more to do with execution than play-calling. Tuberville said he doesn’t believe Auburn’s calls were much different — or much more conservative — in the third quarter than they were in the first. “We just didn’t execute as well,” he said. “I don’t know whether we’re feeling our way around. We’ve talked to our players about this. It’s no different feeling or actions or anything. If you look at (LSU), they struggled for a half and then they got it going in the second half. You’re not going to play good every quarter. You just hope that you’re going to be able to put together four quarters and be able to put somebody away. (LSU) was too good to do that, we know, but at least we could have scored a few more points.”

FLORIDA

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow has a sore shoulder. “It’s sore, but it’s good,” Tebow said. Tebow won’t say it, but his teammates will. They claim opponents have take cheap shots at Tebow all season.
Center Drew Miller said Tebow gets his late when he’s on the ground. “In piles, people are grabbing (him),” Miller said. “It’s just the way it is. They are trying to get any edge they can. (Tebow) never really says anything about it. Every time he’s in a pile, I try to push people off and try to get him up. We need him on this team and we definitely don’t want to see someone get hurt over something like that. I just do everything I can to make sure it doesn’t happen. I’m sure it will continue. We’re just going to try to limit it a little bit.” Receiver Percy Harvin said LSU players tried to knock Tebow out of the game three weeks ago.
“They were hitting him and trying to twist his legs at the bottom of the pile,” Harvin said. “They were trying to pick him up, drag him and fall on top of him.” Tebow said he isn’t concerned about Georgia coming after his shoulder on Saturday. “If they come after my shoulder, then I guess they will not be hitting me straight up and I will have a very good chance of breaking that tackle,” he said. “I’m not too worried about it.” Tebow says he won’t change his style of play, but said he realizes he needs to take care of himself. “(The coaches) would like to get it out of my hands and not take as many hits,” Tebow said. “But you don’t want to change the way you play when you are worried about hits, which I am not. I just go out there and play the way I play and don’t really think about it much. You just have to be responsible for your teammates and try to stay healthy and go out there and not take too many hits. I have to be smart about it, but not change the way I play or play conservatively.”

GEORGIA

Extra preparation time for coaches and more downtime for players have brought Georgia success under coach Mark Richt, who is 13-4 with more than a week to prepare for a game. For the first time in Richt’s seven seasons, No. 20 Georgia will get to experience what that’s like going up against No. 9 Florida, which has owned the Bulldogs winning 15 of the last 17. Georgia heads into Saturday’s game against the Gators in Jacksonville, Fla., off an open date for the first time since 1991. Florida is coming off a 45-37 nationally televised win over then No. 8 Kentucky. “(With) them coming off a big game last week … a lot of them are beat up and we’re fresh,” Georgia safety Kelin Johnson said Monday night. “So put that in your mind. We’re fresh and you play like you’re fresh. That’s huge.” Richt can’t be sure if it will make a difference in the rivalry game. “I don’t know,” Richt said. “Let’s hope so, huh?” Florida has enjoyed a bye week before the game in 13 of the previous 14 seasons. “Technically, we’ve got the edge if you think about it,” Georgia cornerback Thomas Flowers said. “We’ve got the bye week. We’ve got an extra week to prepare. We’ve got the edge.” Georgia last beat the Gators in 2004, 31-24, after the Gators lost to Mississippi State the previous week and Ron Zook coached after being told he was fired.

KENTUCKY

Kentucky still has a legitimate chance to win the East division and earn a trip to the Georgia Dome for the Southeastern Conference Championship Game on Dec. 1. It won’t be easy, though. Kentucky will most likely have to win out and get some help from some other teams to get to Atlanta. The only part the Wildcats can control is winning, and the players say they have adopted the mindset that they must run the table if they realistically want to win the East. “You’ve got to take that mentality,” sophomore linebacker Sam Maxwell said. “We’ve got to win out.” “We know we can’t win the SEC East if we lose another game,” sophomore defensive tackle Corey Peters said. UK has four games remaining: Mississippi State this weekend, at Vanderbilt (Nov. 10), at Georgia (Nov. 17) and then the regular-season home finale with Tennessee on Nov. 24. The Wildcats figure to be favored in three of those four games, with the lone exception being the road trip to Athens to face Mark Richt’s Bulldogs. If UK wins out, it would finish at 10-2 overall and 6-2 in the SEC East.The Wildcats also would need certain chips to fall into place. There’s currently a five-way tie atop the division with UK, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. Since Florida and South Carolina both beat the Cats, they own the head-to-head tie breaker. There are two inter-division games this weekend that Kentucky will definitely have its eye on. Georgia and Florida will clash in Jacksonville while Steve Spurrier will take his Gamecocks to Neyland Stadium for a Saturday night showdown with Tennessee. If Georgia and Tennessee both win, and UK takes care of business against Mississippi State, the Wildcats would be in a three-way tie with Tennessee and Georgia for first place. That would allow them to control their destiny in winning the East and getting to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game.

LSU

LSU quarterback Matt Flynn was rewarded Monday for the greatest game of his life so far. The Southeastern Conference named Flynn its offensive player of the week after the fifth-year senior from Tyler, Texas, collected career highs in completions with 22 in 34 attempts and yards with 319 and tied a career high with three touchdown passes in the Tigers’ 30-24 victory over Auburn Saturday. Flynn drove LSU 58 yards in nine plays in the final minutes for the victory. He hit wide receiver Demetrius Byrd on a 22-yard touchdown with one second to play for the victory. He also rushed 10 times for 53 yards, including two scrambles for 17 yards on the last drive. The game came a week after Flynn was criticized by media, fans and coach Les Miles after the Tigers’ loss at Kentucky. Flynn completed 17 of 35 passes in that game but underthrew an open Brandon LaFell for an interception and missed on several other passes. Miles said on the Monday after the game that backup quarterback Ryan Perrilloux would starting throwing more in practice and in games. Flynn came into the Auburn game as the No. 93 ranked quarterback in the nation in passing efficiency with a 110.3 rating. A week later, Flynn has risen to 71st in the nation in passing efficiency at 120.4. He has completed 106 of 190 passes for 1,266 yards and eight touchdowns with five interceptions. Despite the advertisement, Perrilloux threw only one pass against Auburn. “I never listened to anyone but my coaches and teammates,” said Flynn, who has fought off an ankle injury suffered in the second game of the season. “It was frustrating at times, but I didn’t let it get to me. We struggled in the first half of this game (down 17-7), but I said to the team at halftime, ‘Let’s end this right here. Let’s show people what our offense is in this half.’”

OLE MISS

Ole Miss middle linebacker Tony Fein is out of coach Ed Orgeron’s doghouse. Fein had been on the bench becuase early in the season, he was one of the most inconsistent players on the field. Sometimes he’d make big plays, but other times he’d blow assignments. But Fein had his best game of the season with 13 tackles against Arkansas. “I was really proud of Tony,” Ole Miss defensive coordinator John Thompson said. “Tony’s been getting himself ready the last few weeks. There’s been some snags here and there in practice, but Tony and I are seeing eye to eye on how he’s practicing.”

MISS. STATE

Freshman quarterback Wesley Carroll, who earned his fourth start Saturday in the loss at West Virginia, has already entered the Mississippi State record book. Carroll has 109 pass attempts without an interception, marking the school record for most consecutive pass attempts without an interception in a single season. He passed Derrick Taite (96 in 1996). Wayne Madkin, with 122 attempts without an interception, holds the school record, but that was completed over the course of two seasons, in 2000 and 2001. . .Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom gave his Bulldogs the day off from workouts, choosing instead to watch film and visit with the team in a meeting. “I feel like we just need a day off,” Croom said in a Monday teleconference. “It’s been a long grind this year.” Defensive end Titus Brown told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, “I think coach understands it’s been a grueling season of eight weeks.”

SOUTH CAROLINA

For the second consecutive week, a South Carolina quarterback is getting a second shot. Besides holding for field goals and extra points, Tommy Beecher has not been heard from since committing two turnovers in a 38-3 win against South Carolina on Sept. 15. But Beecher shared reps on the first team Monday with Chris Smelley and Blake Mitchell as the Gamecocks search for a spark to an offense that has not scored a touchdown in six quarters. USC coach Steve Spurrier said Beecher is getting a look in part because of his mobility. The Gamecocks allowed seven sacks in a 17-6 loss to Vanderbilt. Whatever the reason, Beecher is excited about his increased practice role. He said the three quarterbacks split the snaps evenly. “It’s good to be back out here, practicing with everybody,” Beecher said. “We just came out here, normal Monday practice, and I got a couple more reps than usual.” Beecher, a redshirt sophomore from Concord, N.C., was 3-of-7 passing for 38 yards with an interception against the Bulldogs. He also lost a fumble. “It was rough the last time I was in there,” he said. “But I put that behind me and kept my head in the playbook. So I’ll be ready to go if my name’s called.” The right-hander was sharp in a season-opening win against Louisiana-Lafayette, completing 11 of 15 throws for 137 yards and a touchdown. Smelley has a 4-1 record this season as a starter, while Mitchell played for the first time in a month against Vanderbilt. Spurrier said he would decide on a starter later in the week. “We’ll find one to start somewhere in that group, hopefully by Saturday night.”

TENNESSEE

Injuries to regular receivers Lucas Taylor and Josh Briscoe forced UT to use some young, unproven players at Alabama. Quarterback Erik Ainge said freshmen Denarius Moore and Gerald Jones performed well, but it’s going to take time for everyone to feel comfortable. “I think physically they’re ready,” Ainge said. “Those guys could be ready if they take this week and watch film, if they go out to practice everyday and say, ‘Did I get better today and make any mental mistakes?’ “. . .After being shut out by Alabama in the second half, and after the UT defense regressed to early season form, the Vols are now facing do-or-die time with games against South Carolina, Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Kentucky looming. Some new tactics are being used. UT Coach Phillip Fulmer told his players Sunday that there are 35 days remaining in the regular season and full-time effort will be demanded from this point forward. It clearly resonated with the team. “We’re going to have a little chart and fill it out every day,” Ainge said. “We’re going to say, ‘Did I get better today?’ If you can’t give it all, everything you have, going to bed earlier, waking up earlier, trying to see more film, trying to get your body feeling better, getting yourself mentally ready to play for 35 days, then you’re not very dedicated.”

VANDERBILT

After starting 18 straight games at quarterback for Vanderbilt — he’s still the answer to the trivia question of ‘Who succeeded Jay Cutler?’ — Chris Nickson sat and watched as former backup Mackenzi Adams took every snap in leading the Commodores to a 17-6 road win over No. 6 South Carolina. The performance solidified the status of both principles for the foreseeable future, as Adams is expected to start Saturday against visiting Miami (Ohio) with Nickson serving as his backup. “It was indescribable,” Nickson said. “It was just a feeling I never thought I’d have to have. It was challenging. The win helped a lot.”