SEC East notebook

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Posted 6:29AM on Thursday, October 28, 2004

FLORIDA: Not much has gone right for the Gators this week. They gave up more than 250 yards rushing, committed three turnovers and lost 38-31 Saturday against Mississippi State the worst team in the conference and maybe the country. A few players pointed fingers, but coach Ron Zook received all the blame getting fired two days after the latest in a growing list of embarrassments. Not even Zook, who is usually ultra-optimistic, could come up with anything positive. ``We got back safely and didn't crash,'' he said, referring to the return flight from Starkville, Miss. Yep, that's about it. Players have strongly defended Zook since his dismissal, questioning the reasoning and timing of the decision. Some even walked out of a team meeting when athletic director Jeremy Foley took the floor. ``They don't even want to see his face,'' safety Jarvis Herring said. The Gators (4-3, 2-3) have tried to regroup since, but the real chance to eliminate all the distractions will come Saturday against No. 10 Georgia in Jacksonville, the annual rivalry known as The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. GEORGIA: David Pollack insists he's not keeping count of his quarterback sacks. League officials aren't doing much better. Georgia (6-1, 4-1) announced late Tuesday that Pollack's sack total from last week's win at Arkansas had been reduced from 2.0 to 1.5. As a result, Pollack dropped back into a tie with Richard Tardits for Georgia's career record of 29.0, and he dropped into a tie for the SEC 2004 lead. Pollack and Auburn's Quentin Groves each have 5.5 sacks this season. ``I don't even know and I don't care,'' Pollack said. ``If I get the record, somebody is going to break it anyway. As long as we win, I'm a happy man.'' Pollack was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week after he had eight tackles, including three for losses, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Pollack has downplayed the sack record all season. ``You get it all figured out,'' Pollack said to reporters. KENTUCKY: Mississippi State's 38-31 upset of then-No. 20 Florida last week certainly caught the attention of Kentucky players, who said the result would cause them to take their game this Saturday at Mississippi State more seriously. The last time Kentucky (1-6, 0-4) played a team coming off a win over a ranked squad the Wildcats recorded their only win of the season, beating Indiana 51-32. Indiana had beaten then-No. 24 Oregon the previous week. Wide receiver Scott Mitchell said that, in a quest to help end a five-game losing streak, he's thought back to that week. ``I look to that sometimes, to try to find something that maybe we did differently during the Indiana week,'' Mitchell said. ``But everything seemed routine as far as our preparations. It's just hard to figure out what we're doing wrong at this point. SOUTH CAROLINA: The question many South Carolina fans and apparently Tennessee players, too are wondering: How hurt are the Gamecock quarterbacks? Senior Dondrial Pinkins has a partially torn rotator cuff and sophomore Syvelle Newton has a sprained left ankle, but there's no definite word on who will be playing Saturday when the Gamecocks (5-2, 3-2) host the Volunteers. Newton said he received a phone call over the weekend from Tennessee linebacker Robert Ayers, who was Newton's teammate at Marlboro County High School in South Carolina. ``He told me he wasn't trying to call for the coaches or nothing,'' Newton said. ``He's my buddy. I'm not going to lie to him. I told him, 'I don't know. I ain't sure, yet.''' Newton said Tuesday his left ankle was feeling better, but he didn't participate team drills. South Carolina coach Lou Holtz was less optimistic. TENNESSEE: The lack of experience in the Volunteers' secondary was a big concern at the start of the season, and it showed in early games. With four games left, the secondary has shown vast improvement from the beginning of the year. ``It's the biggest difference in our defense. That and defensive tackle. We have become much more disciplined in keeping ourselves on top of routes,'' coach Phillip Fulmer said. No. 11 Tennessee (6-1, 4-1) travels to South Carolina on Saturday, trying to solidify its hold on the East division with a tiebreaker advantage over Georgia. Tennessee has changed the secondary lineup five times since the opener. Junior Jason Allen, the most veteran of the bunch, was moved from corner to safety. Both corners are freshmen, and the other safety is a sophomore. The Vols' secondary was exposed in a 34-10 loss to Auburn on Oct. 2, and that seemed to be a turning point. Tennessee allowed 16 passes of 21 yards or more in the first four games, including pass plays of 46, 42, 38 and 31 yards against Auburn. Tennessee's last three opponents totaled six passes of at least 21 yards. VANDERBILT: Kwane Doster finally is running like he did as a freshman two years ago for the Commodores. Doster made his first start as the featured tailback, just his second start this season, last weekend in their 19-7 victory over Eastern Kentucky, and he turned in his best rushing game in nearly two years. He ran 15 times for 117 yards, a yard short of his career-high 118 against Georgia as a freshman. Coach Bobby Johnson said he thinks that performance earned Doster some more work in a crowded backfield with freshmen Jeff Jennings and Cassen Jackson-Garrison have been earning more carries. ``He did exactly what we wanted him to do,'' Johnson said of Doster, the SEC freshman of the year in 2002. Doster bruised a thigh, but was able to practice Sunday. Johnson thinks he will be all right. The Commodores (2-5, 1-3) will need all the offense they can get Saturday night when they visit No. 19 LSU (5-2, 2-2). The last time they played in Baton Rouge, they lost 35-0 in 1996.