SEC Football Daily: July 18th

Published July 18, 2012 - 4:41am

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A shooting in Tuscaloosa two nights ago injured 17 people. Included in those 17 people is new Alabama assistant coach Kelvin Sigler, who recently joined Alabama’s staff as an offensive analyst. The shooter eventually turned himself in yesterday and has been charged with attempted murder for shooting into an occupied building. Sigler was treated for non-life threatening injuries and is expected to recover. This could have turned out a lot worse than it did. [AL]

Mike Slive weighed in on the Penn State scandal at the opening of Media Days yesterday. “No one program, no one person, no matter how popular, no matter how successful, can be allowed to derail the soul of an institution. We must maintain an honest and open dialogue across all levels of university administration,” Slive said. “There must be an effective system of checks and balances within the administrative structure to protect all who come in contact with it, especially those who cannot protect themselves.” [AL]

TAMU head coach Kevin Sumlin prefers the Arkansas-TAMU matchup to remain a home-and-home series at this point. This game made sense to be at a neutral location when both teams were non-conference opponents. The game has been played at a neutral location for the past three seasons. “I enjoy playing in Jerry World as much as the next guy, but I’d rather it be home-and-home,” Sumlin said. [Arkansas Sports 360]

Mike Slive said the 2004 season when Auburn was denied a championship berth really got the ball rolling as far as a playoff was concerned. “In terms of post-season football, it’s no secret the SEC has supported a four-team playoff — the four best teams — for several years starting in 2004 when an undefeated Auburn, the SEC champion, was left out of the national championship hunt,” Slive said. [AL]

Texas A&M OL Luke Joeckel shows off his cowboy boots and says he is impressed with the SEC so far. “The SEC’s a defensive league, a defensive lineman’s league,” said Joeckel, an All-Big 12 offensive tackle last year for A&M. “There’s so much speed on the field in the SEC. Their defensive tackles can run with running backs.” He has not yet faced speed like he will face this year at DE. [Tennessean]