Media Days Notebook

It’s Mallet time!

Though Casey Dick finished second in the SEC in passing yards per game with 235.1, the consensus in Fayetteville is that Michigan transfer Ryan Mallet will take the snaps in Bobby Petrino’s offense this season.

The 6-foot-7 pocket passer has a howitzer for an arm and wanted to go to Arkansas out of Texarkana (Texas) High School, but elected to sign with Michigan instead, due in part to the Razorbacks landing Mitch Mustain, who transferred to Southern California, where he is now third string.

Petrino talked about his new gunslinger.

"The first thing we did with him was try to get him to lose some weight,” Petrino said. “He did a nice job of that. When we got him, he was 265 pounds. He's just below 240 now. One thing Ryan can really do is throw the deep ball. If we can run the ball better and run the ball more consistently, it should open up our deep passing game and our ability to get the ball down the field, something I've always loved to do and really believe in doing, because then you don't have to call so many plays.

"In him losing the weight, being more mobile, we're not gonna lose our movement game. Our ability to run sprint-outs, run the bootleg game, be able to move the pocket will still be there. In this league, with the defensive ends we face, the speed and athleticism of the defensive fronts, it's important that you change the launch point, and you can set your quarterback at different spots. That takes some pressure off the offensive line and running backs at times."

Tight end D.J. Williams, who ranked second in the league only to Carolina’s Kenny McKinley in receptions-per-game last season, is excited about what Mallet brings to the table.

"He's got one of the strongest arms I've ever seen,” he said. “In practice, I've got to bring a couple of pairs of gloves because he tears the gripping off with his passes. I know he had some problems at one team, but he's got great character.

“I'm glad he's a Razorback, and he'll be something to watch (this) year."

Arkansas defensive lineman Malcolm Sheppard, one of the team leaders for the Hawgs this year, commented on Mallet’s adjustment to fitting in with the rest of the Razorbacks.

"He definitely brings a lot to the team,” he said. “He's a great quarterback with a strong arm. He's a great leader in the weight room."

South Carolina plays Arkansas on Nov. 7 in Fayetteville. The Gamecocks have won three of the last five against the Razorbacks, including last season’s 34-21 win in Columbia.

Arkansas opens its season at 7 p.m. on Sept. 5 against Missouri State.

Spreading it out

The spread offense has been quite the topic of conversation both in Columbia, where South Carolina expects to add some elements of the spread run game to Steve Spurrier’s passing attack this year, and also nationally. ESPN.com actually has an ongoing series on the general idea of the spread.

New Mississippi State head coach Dan Mulllen, who was the offensive coordinator under Urban Meyer at Florida, talked about his definition of the spread. Mullen is considered the architect of Meyer’s attack, which worked well at Utah and Bowling Green before Gainesville.

"I'll give you my definition of a spread offense,” he said. “I don’t know if we're spread option, spread passing, spread running or just spread. To me, we're a multiple spread team. I want to make sure the defense has to defend the entire field sideline to sideline. Through personnel and through formations, we want to create advantageous one-on-one matchups, where I get a player in the open field matched up against someone that he's better than That's the spread offense, the offense we're going to run. The biggest thing we have to do is make sure our personnel will fit that.

"You don't have to be five receivers or four receivers to run a spread offense. We could run it with three backs, two tight ends, get in the wishbone formation one time and spread the field to create the matchups the next time."

For Mullen, personnel also will dictate what plays he ends up using in his attack.

"I can tell you this, as an offensive coach, we use about 60 percent of our offense each year,” he said. “Take our playbook, only 60 percent of it applies to each given team you have. What we have to do is make sure we pick the right 60 percent of it to apply to the personnel that we have, the use that 60 percent to the best of our ability, have our players execute at a high level. If we do, we'll have the opportunity to be successful."

Tyson Lee takes over as the Bulldogs’ quarterback this season. He is an unknown, but according to Mullen has one advantage going for him.

"That was the offense he had to run in high school and junior college,” he said. “Last year was his first year in a non-spread offense. So that adjustment for him I think makes life a little bit easier coming out of it."

Mississippi State used to be (from 1992-2000) one of two permanent opponents for the Gamecocks from the SEC West, but they rotate on and off now. Current Carolina assistants Ellis Johnson and Shane Beamer coached at MSU before heading to Columbia. Johnson was the defensive coordinator on the 2007 team that won the Liberty Bowl.

Commodores up and coming

Last season, Vanderbilt went 7-6 and won the Music City Bowl. They also had big home wins against South Carolina (where they beat the Gamecocks for the second straight year, 24-17) and Auburn (14-13).

It was the first bowl trip for Vandy since 1982 and because of the success the Commodores have had a ton of success on the recruiting trail thus far for 2010.

Head coach Bobby Johnson, a native of Columbia, talked about last season.

"I think it was satisfying, but it was also necessary I think for our program to move forward,” Johnson said. “Anytime you do better than what you have been doing in the past, I think it's satisfying, sort of a way to test your program to see if you're making progress.

"We probably had some chances the two previous years before that to make that step, and didn't quite get it done, take advantage of our opportunities to do it. But I was really proud of the team last year. They stepped up when we had a lull in the middle of the season, came back, became bowl-eligible. I think they know what it takes. So, yeah, it is satisfying, but not satisfying enough."

In a recent article on ESPN.com, Vandy recruiting coordinator Warren Belin made note of the fact that Johnson is not satisfied just making it to 7-6. The Dores have 18 starters back this year and figure to be a tough out again in 2009.

Cornerback Myron Lewis talked about being part of Vanderbilt’s emergence.

"It brought excitement to the team,” he said. “It put us on cloud nine. It was about being able to succeed and overcome obstacles. It had been 25 years since we had last made it to a bowl game. Being able to make it to a bowl game was a blessing and everybody is excited about it."

The Gamecocks play host to the Commodores this year on Oct. 24. Vandy opens its season on Sept. 5 against Western Carolina in Nashville.

Brooks expects improvement

Kentucky under Rich Brooks has quietly been a good storyline in the SEC East. The Wildcats have been to three straight bowls (two Music City, one Liberty) and are a solid football team for the most part.

"I think that this year's Kentucky football team going into this season is a better team than I had going into last season,” Brooks said. “The reason I feel that way is I believe our offense will be much more productive, which it needs to be, because we were not very good a year ago. Mark Hartline should show marked improvement, and I believe he will. The people around Mark Hartline will be more experienced and better, as well."

Tackle Zipp Duncan has been a part of the mini-emergence of the Cats.

"Being from Kentucky and growing up a Kentucky boy, I take a lot of pride in how far this program has come,” he said. “We've set the expectations high in the younger guys and that's really what I signed on to do, to turn this program around."

Brooks has coached long enough to know that the SEC East is brutal

"The SEC East to me has been, and continues to be, the toughest division in college football, in the toughest conference in college football,” he said. “We've changed some history at Kentucky but we have to change more. That would be beating some of the teams in our league that we've struggle to beat over a number of years. We are a lot more capable of having that happen now than we were three or four years ago. We've had success against a few teams, but we have to continue to build on that and beat more of them, because our goal is obviously to be a factor and have a chance to win the SEC East. To do that, we have to climb over the teams that have ruled the roost, if you will, and ruled it very well I might add, in the last 10, 15 years."

One of those teams Kentucky has struggled to beat is South Carolina. The Gamecocks have defeated the Wildcats nine straight times and have not lost to UK this decade. Last year, quarterback Stephen Garcia came off the bench and led Carolina to a 24-17 win in Lexington, where USC has not lost a game since 1998.

Did cornerback Trevard Lindley forget about the streak when he did not mention the Gamecocks when talking about the tough teams the Wildcats face?

"Playing Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, and Vanderbilt each week leaves you with injuries, or I should say battle wounds,” he said. “You get past it by knowing you are going to have a good game. No fear."

Carolina plays host to UK this season on Oct. 10. The Wildcats play host to Miami (Ohio) at noon Sept. 5 for their season opener.