COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -South Carolina receiver Moe Brown wasn’t sure he could listen to any more of Marine Corporal Steven Diaz’s presentation this week.
Diaz is among three wounded military veterans chosen as honorary Gamecock captains for Saturday’s game at Williams-Brice Stadium against No. 1 Florida. The others are Army Staff Sgt. Dan Nevins and Air Force Tech. Sgt. Michael Williams.
Diaz, born in Columbia on Veterans Day 1984, shared some of his experiences while serving in Iraq. In 2005, Diaz was caught in an IED blast in Al Asad. As a result, he suffered a traumatic brain injury, is blind in his left eye and has limited movement in his right foot among other maladies.
Brown said he’s got an uncle and a brother in the military and understands the importance selfless men like Diaz make to keep Americans free.
And along with Diaz’s words was a video of The Wounded Warrior Project, which along with Under Armour, has undertaken the effort to honor veterans at home game for South Carolina and Maryland.
Brown said watching them is an inspiration.
what have you,” he said. “But they don’t let that defeat them. They keep living life and keep doing things they do and keep finding a new way to do it.”
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GREEN GOOD TO GO: Good news for the Georgia Bulldogs: A.J. Green will be back on the field for Saturday’s game against Auburn.
The sophomore receiver sat out last week’s 38-0 rout of Tennessee Tech to recover from a bruised lung doled out by No. 1 Florida. It was the first game at any level of football that he’s missed because of injury.
“A.J. Green has been able to practice at full speed,” coach Mark Richt said.
The Bulldogs (5-4, 3-3 SEC) also are counting on the return of defensive end Justin Houston, who didn’t play last week because of a hyper-extended elbow.
“I think everybody will be ready to play,” Richt said.
Green is Georgia’s top receiver 44 receptions for 732 yards and six touchdowns. Houston leads the team with five sacks, even though he’s only played in six of nine games.
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LASHING OUT: Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy let loose on his critics a bit in the aftermath of the third-ranked Crimson Tide’s 24-15 victory over No. 9 LSU.
He vented to reporters that “it really ticks me off” that some people lost faith in him.
“I’ve had to deal with a lot of animosity and a lot of hatred,” McElroy said.
performance against the Tigers following three games with modest passing numbers.
He was apologetic to reporters two days later, saying his comments were “really just kind of an emotional statement.
“It wasn’t supposed to be a take-that moment by any means, but sometimes your emotions just get the best of you,” McElroy said. “Obviously I never meant it to be hurtful towards anybody.”
McElroy said he stopped reading his own press clippings in recent weeks, but hears about things that are written and said from friends. Alabama coach Nick Saban said he and others talked to McElroy about dealing with the criticism.
“Sometimes when you’re prideful … it bothers you a little more when you’re not satisfying everybody,” Saban said. “At the same time he needs to satisfy himself for himself and his teammates. That gets you back on track to focusing on how you do what you do and not how you’re doing. I think that got Greg a little bit off-track.”
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RUNNING RIDLEY: No. 9 LSU’s loss of starting tailback Charles Scott for the remainder of the regular season likely will mean more opportunities for sophomore Steven Ridley.
After tearing right knee ligaments during spring football last March, Ridley did not play in the first seven games this season. Coaches finally were ready to give him a chance during a 42-0 victory over Tulane and he had 73 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.
Miles then gave Ridley a couple more carries against Alabama, and he scored his second touchdown in as many games on an 8-yard run.
“I like Stevan Ridley. I think he makes a really accurate cut. I think he’s a physical runner, and I think he is getting better,” LSU coach Les Miles said this week. “He’s a guy who has continued to work hard. He’s coming off injury if you recall. He didn’t really have the spring. He’s a guy that is really just rounding into shape and getting his speed back. I think we’re pretty optimistic there, and I’m not ready to say that Keiland Williams won’t get some more carries, but I think Stevan Ridley has proven that there is some exciting things that he can do.”
LSU hosts Louisiana Tech on Saturday night.
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SOUND ADVICE: Lane Kiffin turned to one of Mississippi’s legendary players before deciding whether he’d accept the job at Tennessee.
Kiffin shared some mutual acquaintances with former Rebels and NFL quarterback Archie Manning, so he phoned Manning to ask him about Tennessee, where Manning’s son Peyton had his own legendary collegiate career.
“I knew he knew a lot about the job and the school, and I’d already talked to Peyton, so I just wanted to get his thoughts on what needed to happen here to make Tennessee be able to make a run at a bunch of championships,” Kiffin said. “It was good talking to him.”
rip to the Oxford campus – where the speed limit is 18 in honor of Archie Manning’s jersey number – when his Vols (5-4, 2-3 SEC) face the Rebels (6-3, 2-2).
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AVOIDING SEC SHUTOUT: This isn’t the situation the Vanderbilt Commodores expected for 2009. They came into this season off a 7-6 record that was their first winning mark since 1982 and the program’s first bowl victory in 53 years. They also won four SEC games in 2008.
Now the Commodores (2-8, 0-6) are facing what seemed impossible back in September: Being shut out in league play.
“It seems unbelievable,” senior defensive lineman Broderick Stewart said. “These next two games are going to be so important for us. As a matter of pride, I don’t really care about whatever Kentucky’s record is or trying to beat UT is always, always a goal. But I definitely couldn’t see us going 0-fer in the SEC.”
Vanderbilt hasn’t been shut out in SEC play since 2002.
The Commodores host Kentucky (5-4, 1-4) on Saturday, then they wrap up the season at Tennessee. That will mark the 12th straight week of football for Vanderbilt, a staggering stretch for a team that started losing players in the spring.
“We never really got some people back that we expected,” Stewart said. “It was rough, but that’s the game of football. I guess for this season we’re just going to have to do our best.”
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ally be healthy to get back on the field for Kentucky. Yet the junior quarterback might have been gone just long enough to find himself out of a job.
Freshman Morgan Newton has slowly but steadily improved since Hartline went down with a knee injury against South Carolina on Oct. 10.
Newton got the start the next week against Auburn and over the last month has grown into the position. He threw for 187 yards and the first two touchdowns of his career in a win over Eastern Kentucky last week. While he’s not making many plays downfield, he’s also avoiding major mistakes. Newton has two interceptions in 66 attempts this year while Hartline had six in 127 attempts before the injury.
“I see a guy (in Newton) who has always had some confidence but had trouble adjusting to the speed of the decision-making,” said coach Rich Brooks. “Whatever happens the rest of the year he has advanced his progression a great deal for the future. He still has a long way to go.”
Brooks said he’d only play Hartline on Saturday against Vanderbilt if “he can get out of his own way.” Newton’s mobility could be another reason to leave him on the field against the Commodores.
“(Hartline) is going to have to throw the ball accurately, manage the offense, hand off, sprint out and do the things that our offense is going to require him to do without hobbling around and without really favoring his knee,” Brooks said.
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AP Sports Writers Pete Brett Martel in Baton Rouge, La., Paul Newberry in Athens, Ga., Beth Rucker in Knoxville, Tenn., Teresa Walker in Nashville, Tenn., John Zenor in Auburn, Ala., Pete Iacobelli in Columbia, S.C., Will Graves in Louisville, Ky.
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