Afternoon Kickoff 8/25 (Footblog)

It appears that the war of words between Florida coach Urban Meyer and his Gainesville predecessor Ron Zook has reached its conclusion.

The exchange began last Friday, when Meyer said the following -- while never actually mentioning Zook specifically:

From David Jones of Florida Today:

"When we first got here five years ago they had freshmen in a separate locker room and it was a bunch of tin lockers over there and they weren't allowed to walk (into the regular locker room). Think about this for a minute: this is a big-time college football program and we had some fights because they treat their freshman like they were non-people.

"'Don't walk through here, we'll kick your tail, we'll shave your eyebrows.' It took us awhile to break that great culture we had here. That was tremendous. You don't win many games, but you beat up freshman and shave eyebrows. Absolutely unbelievable."

Harsh words, from one great recruiter of "non-people" indirectly to another. Meyer then issued a statement Saturday saying he had not meant to criticize Zook specifically.

Meyer and Zook spoke on the phone Saturday and made peace, but Zook released a statement of his own Saturday night.

Again, from Florida Today:

I was surprised to see that, once again, five years later, we're blamed for something else at Florida. But by now I guess I shouldn't be. This one was most disappointing because it implies we didn't look out for our players. From someone who wasn't there at the time. I can assure you I've never, ever been accused of that. I thought I was too much of a players' coach...."

And no one can argue with Zook saying he likes to have fun.

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Quick Hits:
-Lane Kiffin has named Jonathan Crompton Tennessee's starting quarterback. A highly touted recruit, Crompton struggled last season, completing 51.5 percent of his passes for 889 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions. Crompton beat out junior Nick Stephens, who didn't fare any better in his time in '08 (48.5 percent, 840 yards, four touchdowns, three interceptions). Further complicating matters are the injury problems at receiver, with Gerald Jones and Denarius Moore out until sometime in September and Austin Rogers gone for the season.

-Some people have high expectations for California. Not surprisingly, Jeff Tedford has named incumbent junior Kevin Riley the starting quarterback. Riley split time with Nate Longshore last season, completing just 50.7 percent of his passes for 1,360 yards, 14 touchdowns and six interceptions. He bat out 6-foot-5, 237-pounds sophomore Brock Mansion for the job. The Golden Bears' passing offense was mediocre last season, and while there should be some improvement this season, Riley must simply avoid mistakes and get the ball in the hands of dynamic tailback Jahvid Best.

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Video of the Day:
Evan Royster's 44-yard touchdown vs. Michigan in '08: