SEC football notes

TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - Alabama held its third scrimmage of fall camp on Tuesday, and the first at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

"I think we were a little lethargic at first," Shula said. "I don't know why, maybe because of coming over here to the stadium for the first time."

Shaud Williams led all rushers with 81 yards on six carries, while Kenneth Darby had 14 carries for 76 yards. Passing, Brodie Croyle was 7 for 16 with 58 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

"What we start doing now is getting ready for South Florida," Shula said. "We won't give them full scouting reports tomorrow but we'll start."

Alabama will begin the 2003 season on Aug. 30 against South Florida at Birmingham's Legion Field. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN, with kickoff scheduled at 2 p.m. (CDT).

AUBURN FINISHES TWO-A-DAYS

AUBURN, ALABAMA - Auburn concluded its fall camp on Tuesday afternoon with a two-hour session on the intramural fields. The Tigers will take Wednesday off for the first day of classes before returning to the practice fields Thursday.

"It was the last of two-a-days today," Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville said. "It's been a good camp. The players have done a good job. We've had some good practices and some that were not so good, but we've survived and we're better than we were two weeks ago. We still have a lot of work to do in some areas. We'll take tomorrow off for the first day of school and have meetings tomorrow night."

The Tigers will begin preparations for the season opener against USC on Thursday. Thursday's session will begin at 4:30 p.m. CT on the practice fields behind the Athletic Complex. Practices for the remainder of the year are closed to the public.

"Thursday we'll start (game preparation) on USC," Tuberville said. "We'll start dividing scout teams and start all preparation for the opener on Thursday and Friday."

The sixth-ranked Tigers host eighth-ranked Southern California on August 30 at 5 p.m. CT at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The game will be televised by CBS.

UK'S COOK OUT AFTER SURGERY

Junior wide receiver Tommy Cook is expected to miss at least three weeks after undergoing surgery Tuesday to remove a bone spur in his ankle.

The procedure was performed by Dr. Darren Johnson at the University of Kentucky Hospital.

"Tommy will miss the Louisville game and probably miss the Murray State game," Coach Rich Brooks said. "We'll see how it goes after that."

Cook started all 12 games for the Wildcats last season. He caught 22 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns. He also was a standout special teams performer. An ace cover man on the punt team, he made seven tackles and recovered a fumble in 2002. He also was a blocker on the kickoff return unit.


RAIN COOLS OF REBELS

OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI - Rain was a welcome addition to Mississippi practice on Tuesday.

A passing storm cooled temperatures and didn't force the Rebels inside to finish their workout.

"We got a little break in the weather today," Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe said. "I told our players, "I don't know who ordered that up, but it was cold enough to put a coat on out here today.' I thought the cooler weather excited the players."

The Rebels will scrimmage on Wednesday. Cutcliffe said the scrimmage will involve as "many game-like situations as possible."

Ole Miss opens at Vanderbilt on Aug. 30.