Headlinin': New life for Auburn's terminal oaks?

Making the morning rounds.

• Apropos of nothing in particular… … we lead Monday with a picture of Auburn coach Gene Chizik feeding a calf in a Cam Newton jersey:

No, that's not a metaphor for the weekend's NFL Combine. Why do you ask? [@DawgFarker, via @edsbs]

• Not dead yet. Elsewhere on the Plains, there is hope yet for the most celebrated trees in the history of Alabama, slim though it may be. Soil samples from 6-8 inches below the surface of the 130-year-old oaks at Auburn's Toomer's Corner – infamously poisoned by a disturbed Crimson Tide fan after the Tigers' comeback win at Alabama last year – showed lower levels of herbicide than the initial surface tests, raising the odds of their survival. "The good news is the concentrations are much lower than we initially detected in the beds around the trees. The bad news is we still detected herbicide," horticulture professor Gary Keever told al.com. "Is your glass half full or half empty? … I choose to be an optimist because we're doing the right thing." Officials will test Monday for contamination of ground water, which they don't seem to view as a very likely threat. [al.com]

• Get behind me, Washaun. Georgia running back Washaun Ealey (right) has been reinstated to the team "in full standing," according to coach Mark Richt, this less than three weeks after being suspended for an undisclosed violation of team rules. His return as the Bulldogs' No. 1 back in spring practice should ward off the feared transfer, but only until hyped, puppy-hoisting freshman Isaiah Crowell hits campus in the fall with high aims of his own. "I want to be a freshman All-American," Crowell said Saturday, after accepting an award from the Atlanta Touchdown Club as the national high school back of the year. "I want to run for more than 1,000 yards," easily beyond Ealey's team-best totals the last two years. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

• Jacquizz Rodgers is composed of iridium. Oregon State defensive lineman Stephen Paea stole headlines by setting an NFL combine record with an astounding 49 bench-press reps at 225 pounds, but at the other end of the scale, OSU running back Jacquizz Rodgers measured in slightly below 5-foot-6, the shortest official height available. But Quizz is also packing 196 pounds into that frame, or roughly three pounds per inch, making him one of the densest players on hand – one explanation, perhaps, for his distinctly non-blistering 40-yard dash time. [NFL.com, The Oregonian]

• Players are getting slower. Or else the timing is getting much better, to the detriment of their boasted speed. Fifteen guys were clocked with sub-4.4-second 40 times in 2006; another 15 came in under 4.4 seconds in 2007, and another 15 in 2008. Beginning in 2009, though, the peak times have plummeted with the move from the RCA Dome to Lucas Oil Stadium: Only four players beat the 4.4 mark that year, followed by four more in 2010. Over the weekend, new membership in the sub-4.4 club was up to five: Maryland's Da'Rel Scott (4.34), Abilene Christian's Edmond Gates (4.37), Fort Valley State's Ricardo Lockette (4.37), Auburn's Mario Fannin (4.38) and Alabama's Julio Jones (4.39). [NFL.com]

• RIP. A volunteer intern at Ohio State, Jake Nickle, collapsed Friday during a pickup basketball game in the football facility and was later pronounced dead at Ohio State Medical Center. The cause of death wasn't immediately known. Nickle, a former defensive end at nearby Capital University, was 22 years old. [Associated Press]

Quickly… Miami athletic director Kirby Hocutt, a Texas native, is leaving for Texas Tech. … Julio Jones gets his first Under Armour commercial. … The SEC Championship Game isn't going anywhere anytime soon. … Tracking the final days of Dave Duerson. … And Charlie Weis is still making way, way more money than you.

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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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