It seems the Tennessee Volunteers have now saved me from eating crow. As did Alabama against USM, the Vols mounted a very late charge against LSU and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

In reality, LSU snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Having been raised in east Tennessee, I know variety of crow is a tough old bird, but at least it could have been tempered by some good Cajun cooking in Baton Rouge had the Tigers held on.

Tennessee and LSU both seemed to have bounced back strong from that draining Monday night battle as neither had any trouble with this state’s two big guns. It is obvious neither Ole Miss nor State have the players to compete with the real powers in the SEC.

And didn’t Alabama take Florida apart? Too bad the Tide lost its big-play receiver for the season. He was making Brodie Croyle look really good.

I was not surprised Auburn handled South Carolina easily, but I was disappointed Steve Spurrier’s troops showed no spark at all. Steve will have to recruit his own style of players to be win at South Carolina.

Still on the SEC, I was disappointed Vandy was unable (for the third year in a row) to handle Middle Tennessee State. The Commodores lost their chance to go 5-0 for the first time since World War II. Sometimes the little dogs bite the hardest.

I have heard some questions lately about the illegal substitution rule. I believe the rule is similar in high school and college, but the only rulebook I have is the NCAA college rules.

The rule is designed to prevent a team from rushing different personnel onto the field at the last second, which doesn’t allow the opponent to make any adjustments to their own personnel.

While substitution is completely unlimited, NCAA Rule 3, Section 5, Article 2 c states, &uot;An incoming legal substitute must enter the field of play directly from the team area, and a substitute, player, or replaced player leaving must depart to the sideline nearest his team area and proceed to his team area. A player who is replaced must immediately leave the field of play, including the end zone. A departing player who leaves the huddle or his position within three seconds, after a substitute becomes a player, is considered to have left immediately. Team A (team which puts the ball in play) may not break its huddle with 12 or more players.&uot;

The official’s signal for this violation is placing the hand over the opposite upper chest.

A number of years ago Air Force was playing in an Independence Bowl contest. Several times in the game, when the Air Force team was faced with fourth down and short yardage, their coach would wait until the last seconds before sending in either his punt team or short yardage personnel, placing the defense at a real disadvantage.

Strict ruling would have seen flags against that team under the rules at that time, but I don’t believe it was ever called.

Air Force went on to win the game, but that type of situation led to the discussed rule entering the book a few years later.

And that’s official.

Al Graning is a former SEC official and former Natchez resident. Reach him at

AlanWard39157@aol.com

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