News of the day, 12/28

Hey everyone. Today's schedule is a bit funky. Auburn held a press conference around lunch time and Clemson followed a few minutes later. I attended both. You can read coverage of those functions below.

Auburn is practicing in the Georgia Dome today from 1 p.m. CST until 3:30 or so. I'll be talking with players at their hotel afterward. You can expect a second wave of blogging goodness around 6 p.m.

OK. On with the countdown.

Thanks for making this the HOTTEST Auburn blog on the 'net.

A somewhat touching moment from the press conference: DE Quentin Groves was asked to describe what it's been like playing alongside QB Brandon Cox for five years. His answer:

They said he couldn't play. They said he has a disease that he couldn't bounce back from. Look at him – he's our starting quarterback. A 22-period practice is nothing compared to what he's been through his whole life.

Decatur Daily ace Ross Dellenger said Cox seemed shaken (in a good way) by the comment. I wasn't watching Cox at that point, so I'll defer to my colleague.

Tommy Tuberville was asked about TE Cole Bennett and the season he had. I enjoyed this portion of Tuberville's response: "He wanted a little big more college football. I think some guys should look at that and use all five years of eligibility before they leave and start working for Uncle Sam."

Clemson linebacker Courtney Vincent was pulled over for drunken driving earlier this month. Coach Tommy Bowden hasn't yet made a decision about Vincent's status for the Chick-fil-A Bowl, which is THE hot topic at Clemson right now. Bowden gets a handful of questions about this every day. It's weird to me. Drunken driving is a terrible offense, no doubt, but it's not like this kid was dealing drugs or selling intelligence to Iran or anything like that.

Keep in mind that Vincent is the only eligible starting linebacker. The other two, including the team's leading tackler, have been ruled academically ineligible.

Anyway, here is one such Bowden-reporter exchange as it unfolded this afternoon:

REPORTER: Have you made a decision on Courtney?
BOWDEN: Nope.
REPORTER: When will you make a decision?
BOWDEN: Before kickoff.
REPORTER: Do you lose any sleep over this issue?
BOWDEN: Lose sleep? I go to be fairly early, around 10. We meet as a staff at 7 in the morning. I get up at 6 to get to the 7 o'clock meeting. I don't lose sleep.
REPORTER: Did he practice today?
BOWDEN: Yep.
REPORTER: Is there a difference between alcohol and marijuana? (Bowden suspended CB Duane Coleman this time last season for a similar offense involving marijuana.)
BOWDEN: There are differences. I'm not a doctor. I've never smoked -- inhaled or exhaled. I can't tell you the difference from first-hand experience. (Penalties) are based on track records. (Coleman) had a history of offenses. I don't want to make light of the seriousness of either issues. I haven't done that. I'm going to treat this in a private way until we decide to go public.

Tuberville was asked about his policy regarding drug or alcohol situations. Here's what he said:

"Anything associated with misconduct, we do as much investigating as we can. It takes longer in some situations than others. It might drag out. I've taken my stance on this from (previous bosses Jimmy Johnson, Dennis Erickson and R.C. Slocum) -- treat each situation different in terms of making sure you're coming up with the right answer. You're dealing with people's lives. DUI is a major rule for us. You will miss games. You just have to make sure you get it correct."

Photo credit: Todd Van Emst/Auburn University