Off the typewriter...

LSU's starting tailback for the season-opener on Thursday night at Mississippi State? We've been getting glaring reports on Keiland Williams, Charles Scott and Richard Murphy, but the starter will be senior Jacob Hester, who has had a relatively quiet preseason camp working at both fullback and tailback. Hester did not even appear at tailback on the Tigers' depth chart going into camp. He was listed as the first team fullback. Williams was listed as the first team tailback after ending the 2006 season with a flourish, and he was followed by Scott and Murphy. But coach Les Miles said Hester would be his No. 1 tailback against the Bulldogs on Thursday night.

"I think we're still a little bit running back by committee, but Hester is a quality ball carrier and receiver and there just are so many things he can do," said Miles on his weekly radio show. "He's got great eyes, great vision and he runs tough, strong.." Hester led LSU rushers last season with 440 yards.

Scott was fourth in rushing with 277 yards. Murphy is a redshirt freshman and made a major impact over the spring and is LSU's fastest back. "I think Scott had a great camp," said the coach. "Keiland Williams had a great camp and I wouldn't be surprised to see Richard Murphy get some carries in the first game. So if I had to put an order to it, it would be Hester, Scott, Williams and Murphy in that order." Miles favors Hester in the first game because it is on the road,. a SEC game, and the Tigers will be breaking in a new quarterback in senior Matt Flynn.

The Tigers have altered their playbook now that JaMarcus Russell has gone. "Last year you watched an offense that had two first-round receivers (Dwayne Bowe and Buster Davis) and a big quarterback (Russell) who about every seventh play rolled to the left and rolled back to the right and threw it about 70 yards in the air, but that play's not going to be a call," said Miles. "But we will have a very efficient, balanced offense."

John Curtis is ranked No. 22 in SI.com's preseason prep poll. The Patriots under coach J. T. Curtis were 14-0 last season and ranked No. 2 in the country. Coach Curtis has won 21 state titles and 443 games. The Patriots have Jonathan McKnight listed as a wide receiver and defensive back and he is the younger brother of Joe, the USC freshman, who has missed a week of practice with a strained knee ligament....South Panola of Batesville, Miss., is ranked No. 5 in the country and that team has won 69 straight games....Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, whose leadership ability was  once questioned by a teammate,  has joined the fray between Eli and former Giants running star Tiki Barber. Peyton took a shot a former players who join the news media after their playing careers and then criticize current players...Did you see where legendary Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt filed for divorce after 27 years of marriage? I'm not sure exactly "the irreconcilable differences" were. but I'm guessing her husband objected to running wind sprints every time he forgot their anniversary. And I'm not saying Summitt is obsessed with coaching, but word is she's not really looking at this as a divorce, she just thinks of it as rescinding his scholarship.

Michael Vick is out of the NFL until at least 2009 and probably much longer. His suspension by the league frees the Falcons to pursue before an arbitrator a portion of Vick's $37 million signing bonus because he is now in default of his 10-year. $130 million contract. New Falcons coach Bobby Petrino was going to look at Vick this season and decide if he wanted to go another direction at quarterback. And speaking of Vick, the word going around college football message boards is that Steve Spurrier also has been linked directly to the Vick animal-abuse case. Citing beatings in and around Jacksonville in the 1990s. That is where the George Bulldogs play Florida every year. I can hear the feds making a deal with Vick: "Forget the dogs, do you know anything about Barry Bonds using steroids?" I can hardly wait to hear Bud Seling's excuse when Bonds gets inducted into the Hall of Fame: "Uh, I wanted to be there, but that was the day my wife told me I had to clean out the garage."

Micah Owings, the former Tulane baseball player, put on a "The Natural" show the other day for the Diamondbacks against the Braves with his pitching and hitting. By the way, Robert Redford turned 70 the other day...Joe Garagiola in his new book "Just Play Ball" writes "these young players think we're antlques. I tell them we had pitchers who threw 90 mph. We just didn't a fuss about and they did it for nine innings."...Market experts rate the five most difficult college game tickets to come by and Notre Dame is in four of them...Most inane interview question put to an athlete after he was won the big one: "What does this mean to you?"...Since he balked at the Raiders' offer of $62 million, Russell has missed all of training camp and Oakland's first three preseason games. ESPN reports that progress had been made in the negotiations and a deal could be done --  get this  --  in a "couple of weeks." Doesn't the season start in a couple of weeks? Raiders backup quarterback Josh McCowan is holding down the Oakland fort while while Russell stages his holdout. He wonn the 2007 NFL Quarterback Challenge, one of those equally brain-dead, made-for-TV competitions ESPN saturates its airwaves with. Unfortunately for McCowan, the skills event won't even be seen  --  probably ever. Turns out the NFL decided that ESPN could not air the show because a certain Falcons quarterback took part.