What have we learned after the first full week of practice in the SEC and ACC? Injuries and sickness have left many coaches scrambling to fill holes in their lineups. Let’s take a closer look at some of the issues that your favorite schools are dealing with this week.
THE DOCTORS ARE BUSY: Odd medical issues are cropping up in the SEC. Alabama defensive lineman Dakota Ball and Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel have missed time with appendectomies. Gator running back Matt Jones is out with a viral infection, and Auburn safety Demetruce McNeal is sidelined with a staph infection. Football often imitates life meaning the medical issues we see outside of football affect your favorite schools. Makes one wonder how complex sports medicine departments need to be in the future.
QUARTERBACKS ARE LIVE: This is something you won’t see very often. All of the Auburn Tigers’ four quarterbacks — Kiehl Frazier, Jonathan Wallace, Nick Marshall and Jeremy Johnson –faced live tackling in a scrimmage so coach Gus Malzahn could see what they could do and to expose them to the pass rush. Malzhahn is not close to naming a starter at this point in camp. The four quarterbacks threw a combined three picks.
DEBOSE INJURY: Florida redshirt senior Andre Debose will miss the season after tearing his ACL in a non-contact drill. Despite being a redshirt senior, Debose could request a medical redshirt and come back in 2014 if he decides to continue his college career. Debose will be missed, but the Gators divisional chances were not hinged on him having a stellar year simply because he is yet to have one. Debose has 29 career receptions for 543 yards and four touchdowns during his first three seasons in Gainesville. He entered fall camp battling Latroy Pittman and Solomon Patton for the starting spot at “Z” receiver. Debose will be missed mostly on special teams. He has returned 59 kickoffs for 1,592 yards and four touchdowns. Those four kickoff returns for touchdowns match the most in SEC history.
LSU OL CAREER IN JEOPARDY: What a shame to see the possibility of LSU left guard Josh Williford‘s career at risk after he sustained yet another concussion Thursday in practice. He sat out LSU’s last seven games in 2012 after suffering a concussion in a game against Florida on Oct. 6. On Thursday, he was unconscious for five minutes after a pileup in practice. Williford is the only senior set to start on LSU’s offensive line this season.
HOPING D.T. MAKES IT: Mississippi’s D.T. Shackelford was once one of the most promising young linebackers in the SEC before a serious knee injury caused him to miss both the 2011 and 2012 seasons. This is a similar situation to Missouri running back Henry Josey, who missed two seasons after a devastating knee injury. Shackelford made 48 tackles, including nine tackles for a loss and five sacks during a breakout sophomore season in 2010. Shackleford’s biggest hurdle is the mental approach of how to play full throttle without thinking about his knee.
THE BEAT GOES ON: South Carolina junior offensive tackle Mike Matulis, who has 10 starts, is expected to undergo shoulder surgery sometime in the next week or so. Matulis, who has started at left and right tackle for the Gamecocks during his career, has had surgery on both shoulders. If Matulis’ shoulder injury turns out to be more serious he could redshirt.
AND ON: Tennessee defensive end Jacques Smith is out for four- to- six weeks after undergoing surgery on a bro
ken thumb he hurt during practice. Smith finished the 2012 season with 33 tackles, five tackles for loss and two sacks. He should be back for Oregon and Florida.
FSU NEEDS TIGHT ENDS: If you are a tight end and have any eligibility left then you might call Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher. Another tight end has been hurt. The latest is freshman Jeremy Kerr, who was sidelined Wednesday with a cartilage tear. Before the Kerr injury, the Seminoles already had lost Christo Kourtzidis and Kevin Haplea during the offseason. Kourtzidis transferred because of a lingering shoulder injury and Haplea tore an ACL last month, sidelining him for the season.