Chase Goodbread
TideSports.com Senior Writer

Talk about it in Talk of Champions
TUSCALOOSA | University of Alabama football players Darrington Sentimore and Keiwone Malone have been suspended indefinitely from the team, while already-suspended defensive back Robby Green will not return to UA this fall, UA coach Nick Saban announced Tuesday.

“Keiwone Malone and Darrington Sentimore have been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules and policy,” said Saban.

The nature the rules violations for Malone and Sentimore are unclear. UA players are not made available to media in the summer until the Southeastern Conference Media Days event next month.

Sources told Tidesports.com last week that Sentimore was exploring transfer options that included the University of Miami following a team-related disciplinary issue. Saban’s announcement marks the first time Sentimore has been publicly suspended since arriving at UA in 2009, but sources confirmed last Thursday that Sentimore has had disciplinary problems in the past, and that Green’s career at UA was all but finished.

Miami was among the other schools that recruited Sentimore out of Destrehan High in Louisiana. He also made official visits to Arkansas and LSU before signing with the Crimson Tide in February of 2009, but it remains unclear which if any other schools he is considering for a transfer.

The 6-foot-3, 273-pound defensive end drew praise from Saban for his on-field improvements during spring drills. He has three years of eligibility remaining if he were to remain at Alabama and return to the team in good standing, but would lose one year of eligibility under NCAA transfer rules if he were to leave UA for another FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) institution.

Although he has yet to record a sack in his career, Sentimore is considered among UA’s most promising pass rushers.

Green was suspended by the NCAA for the 2010 season, then again by the team prior to spring practice. Green made 33 tackles for the Crimson Tide during its national championship season in 2009, mostly as a situational player in UA’s dime defense.

With only one year of eligibility remaining, Green’s transfer options could be limited to non-FBS programs only.

If Malone returns from suspension, he would be a redshirt freshman this fall. The Memphis native did not play as a true freshman last year, but caught three passes for 53 yards in the annual A-Day scrimmage

AUBURN, Alabama — Running back Corey Grant is changing sides in one of college football’s fiercest rivalries.

The former Opelika High School and four-star player told AuburnSports.com in a story posted today he is transferring from Alabama to Auburn, and will be on the Auburn campus Monday for the start of the Summer Mini-Semester II. The move has been rumored for a few weeks, ever since he announced he had left Alabama.

He redshirted at Alabama last season, and he’ll start as a walk-on at Auburn. He’ll sit out the 2011 season per NCAA transfer rules.

Grant originally chose Alabama over Auburn and was part of the Tide’s 2010 signing class, but decided to switch back because he says he likes Auburn’s offense better. Alabama coach Nick Saban said two weeks ago it was “a little bit of a surprise” Grant had left his program. Grant said he doesn’t hold any ill will toward the Tide.

“I think sometimes you go to a place at the wrong time,” Grant told AuburnSports.com. “Alabama is a great place. I learned a lot of things. I got better in a lot of areas I needed to improve on.

“I don’t leave Alabama with any hard feelings. I just felt like I would be a better fit at Auburn.”

(Corey Grant back in the day at Opelika High (Birmingham News / Tamika Moore)

Rivals rated him the No. 5 player in Alabama and the No. 5 all-purpose back in the country his senior year at Opelika.

by Chip Towers

Georgia’s already-precarious situation on the offensive line just got more precarious.

Benedict

Brent Benedict, a redshirt freshman offensive lineman from Jacksonville and a former five-star recruit, left the team due to “personal reasons,” head coach Mark Richt said in a news release on Sunday. Benedict (6-foot-5, 312-pounds) was slated to back up Chris Burnette at right guard. He signed as a tackle.

Benedict did not return calls and texts seeking comment. Richt, who just returned from a mission trip to Honduras, was not available to comment.

Benedict was medically cleared this spring after a two-year rehabilitation of a major knee injury that occurred his senior year at The Bolles School. Indications are there has been some differences over how much and what kind of off-season training he should be doing as he prepared for his first active season on the field.

Georgia is now down to 13 scholarship offensive linemen, five of whom are true freshmen who just arrived on campus (not including Nathan Theus of Jacksonville, who signed as a long snapper). Incoming freshman tackle Xzavier Ward is also expected to miss the football season with a knee injury.

Georgia already had a major reshuffle of the offensive line when starting left tackle Trinton Sturdivant went down with his third major knee injury this past spring and tackle A.J. Harmon transferred to Alabama State. Redshirt sophomore Dallas Lee of Buford, who was listed as third-string left guard, will likely shift over to right guard.

Benedict’s departure is the second interruption of what had been a quiet offseason for the Bulldogs. A report out of Columbus on Sunday indicates there could be some eligibility questions for starting linebacker Jarvis Jones and five-star basketball signee Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

(Great for the Georgia bulldog fight song…)

By Marc Weiszer – marc.weiszer@onlineathens.com
Published Wednesday, June 15, 2011

MACON – Fans aren’t the only ones counting down to the start of the college football season.
“It’s hard when there’s about 80 days left and you think about what you have to do that day,” Georgia linebacker Christian Robinson said.

Getting through the dog days of sweltering summer workouts for Robinson and his teammates is easier knowing that this season begins with a 1-2 punch of Boise State and South Carolina.

“It gives us something to look forward to,” Robinson said Tuesday at the Peach State Pigskin Preview at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. “Something to motivate us every day.”

Moreso than early-season games against a Louisiana-Lafayette, Central Michigan or Western Kentucky.

“Everybody is alert and ready for the season,” senior offensive tackle Cordy Glenn said. “We’re not going to cruise into this year. Everybody’s ready to press on the gas and get going.”

The Broncos could be a top-five team when they play the Bulldogs on Sept. 3 in the Georgia Dome in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. South Carolina, which comes to Athens a week later, could be the team to beat in the SEC East and carry a top-20 ranking.

“You play teams that good that early, it will definitely give you a gauge about what type of team you are,” said Georgia coach Mark Richt, whose team is looking to bounce back from a 6-7 season.

Each has Heisman Trophy candidates. Boise State boasts quarterback Kellen Moore. South Carolina has super sophomore running back Marcus Lattimore.

Georgia’s first two games could be the most demanding any team in the country will face out of the gates.

Unless you think East Carolina (South Carolina in Charlotte, Virginia Tech), Florida Atlantic (at Florida, at Michigan State), Maryland (Miami, West Virginia) or Troy (at Clemson, at Arkansas) has it tougher.

Georgia’s schedule looks more manageable elsewhere.

Instead of an Alabama, LSU or Arkansas from the SEC West, there’s a road game against Ole Miss and Mississippi State comes to Athens. Coastal Carolina, New Mexico State and Georgia Tech fill out the nonconference slate.

“This first game, it’s very exciting for us,” Richt said. “To play in the Dome, it’s a big deal. To play Boise State is a big deal. To know that if we’re not ready, we’re going to get whipped; if we’re not ready, we’re going to get embarrassed.

“That should be a lot of motivation for our players and our coaches. It already is. Of course, game No. 2 is pretty big, too. We just can’t be warming up. We have to be ready to go from the very beginning.”

Georgia Tech opens at home against Western Carolina and goes to Middle Tennessee.

“We’ve had probably varying things through the years,” Yellow Jackets coach Paul Johnson said. “That’s just the way it gets set up sometimes. I think it’s beneficial if you can play most of your nonconference games early. … Middle Tennessee is a bowl team and we’re on the road so that won’t be an easy game. It’s just kind of the way the schedule fell.”

Richt said that Boise State and South Carolina back-to-back provides a good wake-up call to his players.

“I think it helps you roll out of bed in the morning and practice a little bit harder in the summer,” Richt said.

Robinson missed a 2 p.m. workout in Athens on Tuesday for the Macon event, but he was planning to go with the linemen at 5 p.m. instead.

“We’re working more efficiently right now and we have a mindset,” Robinson said. “We’re not just lifting weights. We’re lifting weights to win a game on Saturday.”