THE BIG STORY

Clemson defensive coordinator Vic Koenning, according to The State newspaper in Columbia, spent more time than he cared to Tuesday smothering a firestorm he contended was sparked by “cutting a joke” about a couple of University of Alabama recruits. Clemson plays the Tide on Saturday.

After Monday night’s practice, Koenning responded to a question about Crimson Tide star freshman Julio Jones by saying he had seen Jones and fellow blue-chip receiver B.J. Scott get in Cadillac Escalades on separate occasions — a shot at Alabama’s recruiting methods.

Koenning sought out reporters later Monday night, suggesting he had been “kidding around,” but the damage had been done.

The comment rippled through the state of Alabama and led Scott’s prep coach, Vigor High’s Kerry Stevenson, to tell the Mobile Press-Register that Koenning “better not come back on campus.”

Koenning said Tuesday he has no idea what vehicles those players drive.

“I’ve had occasions in my past where I knew another coach was doing something wrong, and I communicated with that coach,” Koenning said. “So I would never throw somebody under the bus like that.

“I thought I was so off the wall that I thought it was tongue-in-cheek and even went back to make sure that those around knew I was joking.”

The involved parties did not share that interpretation.

Stevenson, in an interview with The State later Tuesday, said he received an early-morning call from Scott, who could not believe the accusation.

Koenning’s visit to Vigor happened about the time of the school prom, Stevenson said, and Scott had rented a sport-utility vehicle — a GMC Envoy, he thought — to drive to the event. Scott’s car, a 1980s Cutlass, was stolen recently, Stevenson said.

Stevenson said Koenning returned his phone call late Tuesday morning — after Stevenson spoke to the Press-Register — and Stevenson accepted Koenning’s explanation.

Asked if Koenning was again welcome on campus, Stevenson replied: “I can’t count the number of times the good Lord has forgiven me. … I took it for what it is. That’s just Vic being sarcastic like Vic always is.”

Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said he has never had a problem with Alabama or Auburn in 10 years recruiting against those schools.

“Here’s a school (Clemson) that’s had zero bad blood and has recruited that state actively,” Bowden said. “That’s why I was kind of surprised it snowballed and got the momentum it did. We didn’t even recruit him — Julio Jones. So that shows you how insignificant the statement is.”

ALABAMA: The multiples of this team are probably as great as anybody that we play,” Saban said of Clemson.
Alabama’s defense, thin at linebacker, has a huge challenge in the season opener against Clemson, Three Clemson offensive players — quarterback Cullen Harper, tailback James Davis and tailback C.J. Spiller — finished 1-2-3 in the preseason voting for Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year. And don’t forget senior receiver Aaron Kelly, who caught a school-record 88 receptions last year. With Davis and Kelly, Clemson is one of only two teams in Division I-A that feature 1,000-yard rushers and receivers (Tennessee is the other). Said Alabama coach Nick Saban of Clemson, “The multiples of this team are probably as great as anybody we play.”

ARKANSAS: The Razorbacks have seen the return to practice of freshman running back De’Anthony Curtis who missed last week to an injury. Hogs’ coach Bobby Petrino commented on Curtis’ return on Monday, but said that he wanted to see how the Camden, Ark., native rebounded after his return to the field. Offensive coordinator Paul Petrino liked what he saw on day two. “I thought he moved around well,” Petrino said. “I thought that the last two days were very encouraging with De’Anthony.”

AUBURN: Senior receiver Robert Dunn has nosedived down the depth chart. Recently considered a starter, he’s now on the fourth-team, behind even true freshman Darvin Adams. Dunn will return punts. “He’s in the doghouse,” Tigers coach Tommy Tuberville said. “What else can I say? On offense, he hasn’t performed up to his abilities. We’ve got a lot of players at that position, and we’ve even got a true freshman on second team that’s played awfully well and will be a heck of a football player. Even our older players can find out very quickly how important it is to be consistent. You can’t rest on experience. You can’t rest on, ‘Hey, I’ve been here.’ You better play and you better perform.”

FLORIDA: June Jones may be gone as head coach and Colt Brennan may be gone as quarterback. But Florida coach Urban Meyer suspects his team will still be challenged by Hawaii in the season opener. “It’s the same system,” Meyer. “It’s much harder to prepare for a team where the coach was thrown out of there because they weren’t very good and then they change everything up. We’re playing as if there’s no changes in their offense, defense and special teams.” Meyer said he expects to see is a lot of short, quick passes.

GEORGIA: Tailback Knowshon Moreno has been on the cover of ESPN The Magazine, The Sporting News and Sports Illustrated. The SI cover is his favorite, because it’s with a couple of teammates. . .Georgia coach Mark Richt anticipates playing eight to 12 first-year freshmen will probably play Saturday. Georgia hasn’t had more than six play in a season since 2003.

KENTUCKY: Quarterback Mike Hartline and center Jorge Gonzalez are two of the Wildcats who are getting their first career starts. UK also will be throwing several true freshmen into the mix at receiver, and none of the three candidates to start at right guard has ever started a game. “For a lot of guys, this is going to be their first real experience of playing a lot or starting in a game,” UK coach Rich Brooks said. “It’s on the road, it’s going to be real noisy. It’s always interesting to see if what happens in practice carries over to games. Practices and scrimmages are different.”

LSU: With a 4 p.m. kickoff on Saturday in Baton Rouge against Appalachian State, LSU officials are taking every step possible to help fans from avoiding heat-related problems. LSU will open the Pete Maravich Assembly Center at kickoff for fans with tickets to the game who want to cool down and watch the game on big screens. Fans should take note that SEC rules prohibit re-entry to Tiger Stadium after a ticket has been used. Also, there will be misting tents at five spots outside Tiger Stadium, to give the first 30,000 through the gates a hand-held fan, to provide free sunscreen at Tiger One Village (near the PMAC) and provide free PowerAde samples near the airplane on the south side of the stadium. Officials said 12-ounce bottles of water will be available at a 2-for-1 price of $3 and that concession stands will have three times the usual amount of drinking water. LSU promised extra doctors at First Aid stations and said event staff, security personnel and EMS will be on site watching for fans in heat distress.

MISS. STATE: Kyle Veazey of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports that Jamayel Smith, Mississippi State’s leading receiver from a year ago, won’t start in Saturday’s season opener at Louisiana Tech. He missed Tuesday’s practice battling tendinitis in his left knee. Smith caught 33 passes for 510 yards and three touchdowns last season. Though he didn’t return any kicks or punts, Smith is the first option at returner with Derek Pegues suspended for the first game. Also, projected starting left tackle Derek Sherrod missed a second straight day of practice with an infection in his left foot. Croom hopes to have him back by Thursday, but on Tuesday again laid out his backup plan: Mark Melichar would move to left tackle; Quentin Saulsberry would start at right tackle. That would put a combined eight games’ experience and no starts at State’s tackle positions.

OLE MISS: According to the Jackson Clarion Ledger, 20 of 22 starters are healthy for Saturday’s game. The only two that are out are defensive linemen Greg (foot) and Peria Jerry (knee). Both are out until the first SEC game against Vanderbilt. “We’re starting to get healthy,” coach Houston Nutt said. “I told the guys that we had all the injuries we could have for the year. Nobody else can get hurt. We’re done with that stuff.”

SOUTH CAROLINA: Carolina coach Steve Spurrier is introducing a new gameday tradition at Williams-Brice Stadium that will take place in the shadow of the Cockaboose Railroad a couple of hours before the fog-filled, player entrance to “2001.” Following in the foot paths of a number of SEC schools, including Georgia, Tennessee and Ole Miss, South Carolina will do a “Gamecock Walk” around 5:45 p.m. Thursday before the N.C. State opener. Fans are encouraged to line up in the parking lot on the southwest side of the stadium to greet players during the 30- to 40-yard walk from the team buses to the locker room entrance. “If our players want to high-five the fans and give ‘em a fist bump or something like that, we’re going to do it,” Spurrier said Tuesday. “Seems like every school in the nation’s doing that now and we’ve not done it. We’re going to start doing that. I think our players need to know the importance of playing football for the University of South Carolina. And our fans are the ones that have demonstrated how important it is.”

TENNESSEE: UCLA’s offense is a mystery to the Vols, since UCLA has a new coach in Rick Neuheisel, a new offensive coordinator in Norm Chow) and a transfer at starting quarterback in Kevin Craft. “It has been like a scavenger hunt,” Tennessee safety Eric Berry of finding the right film to study. “We looked at USC, when (Chow) was with the Titans and we had to find a San Diego State film for the quarterback (Craft) to see his tendencies and stuff like that.”

VANDERBILT: Heading into Thursday’s visit to Miami (Ohio), Vandy coach Bobby Johnson said his team has full respect for his season-opening opponent. “It’ll be hard,” he said. “They’re always hard to me. I don’t care what conference or what division. It’s been proven a bunch in the last few years that anybody can beat anybody. Appalachian State beat Michigan. Louisiana-Monroe beat Alabama. You’ve got to be ready to go every week. At the same time, you’re trying to get really ready for your conference games. These guys are really tough. But you don’t want to say ‘it’s a nonconference game, we’re not worried about that.’ We worry all the time.”