By Holly Anderson

Dominique Booth is a four-star wide receiver prospect in the class of 2014. The Indianapolis native has offers from a couple dozen schools, per Rivals, including Alabama, Florida State, Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Wisconsin. He is also currently being targeted by one singularly dedicated Tennessee fan, in the reachiest case of Twittercrootin’ we ever hope to see:

Chipped my tooth though 😐—
Dominique Booth (@D1Bound721) April 21, 2013

@D1Bound721 Tennessee has a dental school to help with that tooth! #GBO—
Sandra (@SB4Vols) April 21, 2013

While we cannot endorse tweeting at recruits, we do want to point out that our dentist during our time in Knoxville was a chain-smoking, gold-chain-sporting NASCAR grandpa, and that we have admirable teeth.

[HT: @thekeyplay.]

Notre Dame defender Louis Nix stole the spotlight Saturday with this rumbling two-point conversion play. (USA Today)

By Zac Ellis

After yet another weekend full of spring football games, here’s a rundown of the latest news and notes from across the nation:

• Notre Dame: The Irish defense came to play in the annual Blue-Gold game on Saturday, accounting for 10 sacks, two interceptions and a safety in the scrimmage. The offense, however, failed to find its groove, with second-year quarterback Everett Golson finishing 6-of-13 passing for 98 yards with one interception. He was also sacked three times. Coach Brian Kelly said he wasn’t concerned with the offense’s struggles, admitting he’d seen improvement on that side of the ball throughout spring. But the offense did find a spark late in the game when nose guard Louis Nix III took a goal-line snap and rumbled in for a two-point conversion. Perhaps Kelly should consider that package for the fall.

• Alabama: The Crimson Tide were anything but streamlined in Saturday’s A-Day game. The Crimson and White teams combined for nine turnovers — six interceptions and three fumbles — in the contest, leaving coach Nick Saban understandably upset. “The biggest thing I was concerned about was how the team would go out there and what would be their energy, their enthusiasm, and their attention to detail,” Saban said. “I don’t think that there were enough guys that answered that question in a positive way to my liking. But I’m never satisfied.” SI.com’s Lars Anderson reported on the game from Tuscaloosa. Oh, and AJ McCarron’s famous female companion Katherine Webb also made an appearance.

• Penn State: Around 28,000 fans ventured to Happy Valley for the Nittany Lions’ spring game this weekend, braving the icy elements in State College. But there wasn’t much closure for fans hoping to get a feel for Penn State’s quarterback situation, in which Steven Bench and Tyler Ferguson are battling for the starting job. Coach Bill O’Brien was non-committal when discussing both passers after the game, but the competition may become more heated when five-star recruit Christian Hackenberg arrives on campus this summer.

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By Holly Anderson

We see no way this ends in heartbreak (or arm break) for Tennessee.

The drone getting warmed up. vine.co/v/bUAta0rlwZa—
Evan Woodbery (@TennesseeBeat) April 18, 2013

Once again, a reminder of why SkyCam and its ilk are to be feared:

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Most followed CFB Teams on #Twitter: 1. Michigan 132,074; 2. LSU 98,739; 3. Alabama 76,193; 4. Tennessee 63,824; 5. Auburn 58,864—
Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) April 01, 2013

Some thoughts:

• That’s a lot of keys to imagine jangling in the general direction of a lot of computer screens.

• Alabama is not the national champion at something, and we find this deeply unsettling.

• No, we don’t know why that many people want to know about Tennessee or Auburn football either.

Kindergartener: "What do you play?" UT player: "I'm an offensive lineman." Kindergartener: "My mom is an offensive lineman."—
Wade Rackley (@wwader) March 18, 2013

“Yeah, well, your mom has tremendous upside.” — the playground taunt of the future

#Gamecocks have wins over UGA, Tenn, Clemson, UF, Alabama, Nebraska & Mich. over past 3 seasons: twitpic.com/cary4j #Top10Program—
Gamecock Athletics (@GamecocksOnline) March 12, 2013

Look, South Carolina football has delivered a great couple of years, but we’re bound by heritage and geography to watch a frankly unhealthy amount of Tennessee football. So allow us to make an observation: While the Vawls are an SEC East division rival and all, they’ve suffered through three straight losing seasons. Beating Tennessee during the Derek Dooley reign puts South Carolina in company with Missouri, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. Just saying.

(Of course, if you go back one more season, you encounter the factoid that Steve Spurrier is 0-1 all time against Lane Kiffin. No matter where your allegiances lie, that will never not be funny.)

“With apologies to whoever wrote the otherwise forgettable 1994 movie Threesome, college football is like pizza. Even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.” – Andy Staples

So basically these fans paid the $5 baseball admission price to watch UT's first football practice. Well played. http://t.co/KJcQht4qfD—
David Cobb (@DavidWCobb) March 09, 2013

Kicking off spring ball this coming week/weekend: Arkansas State, Boise State, Bowling Green, UConn, Eastern Michigan, Louisiana, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma State, Toledo, Central Florida, Vanderbilt, and Virginia.

DeWayne Walker set the coaching carousel spinning once more with his late departure from New Mexico State. (AP)

Tommy Tuberville’s sitting by the phone* and Jimmy Sexton’s got that particular sparkle in his eye. It can mean only one thing: The coach firin’ season is upon us once more. We’ll be tracking the carousel of progress, right here, for as long as it takes to stop spinning. Raise a glass to times past, won’t you? * Well, not anymore, but never tell us we don’t have the gift of very specific prophecy through throwaway jokes.

New Mexico State [updated 02.01.2013]

• Who’s out: DeWayne Walker, who jumps to the NFL with less than two weeks remaining between now and Signing Day. And not even for a coordinating gig: Walker will coach defensive backs for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Walker released the following statement through the athletic department: “I really appreciate the opportunity that Dr. Boston and New Mexico State gave me to be a Division I head football coach. Unfortunately, I did not get the program as far as I would have liked from a wins and losses standpoint. But, we do have a better locker room, better kids and a better foundation for the program moving forward. There are a lot of people that I want to thank for their support and will be reaching out to those individuals in the coming days. They have helped me in moving the program forward. I am excited about starting a new chapter in my coaching career, as is my family. I wish New Mexico State great success in the future and wish everyone the best. Go Aggies!” • Who’s in: Doug Martin — the one who played at Kentucky, not the one who played at Boise State. Although if Martin The Younger is really so opposed to his excellent nickname, we’re gonna refer to Martin The Elder as coach Muscle Hamster instead. It’s been a whirlwind courtship for Martin and the Aggies: He was announced as offensive coordinator on January 17, temporarily promoted to interim head coach on January 24 and will be officially announced as DeWayne Walker’s successor on Monday, February 4. Martin’s previous head coaching experience consists of a seven-year stint at Kent State, from 2004-2010. Read More…

• You a Terp? Maryland has announced walk-on football tryouts for Wednesday, January 30. You must be a full-time, currently enrolled student to be eligible for consideration.

This is also your reminder that heading into Maryland’s last regular-season football game of 2012, this is what Maryland’s injury report looked like. So if you’re an aspiring quarterback, we’re honestly not sure whether to tell you to show up or stay away.

• Meanwhile, while the internet was caving in on itself …  Lost yesterday in the avalanche of news shocks was the announcement that the Mountain West has retaken San Diego State. (We’re choosing to picture this as a giant Risk board in action. The Big 12 is clearly Australia.) We have an MWC source who’s promised to tell us the second the conference poaches UCLA, and y’all will be the first to know after that.

• Coach-hirin’ follies! Go right on ahead and apply for Chip Kelly’s old job, and be sure and let us know how that works out … here is a magnificent lead followed by Rob Mullens’ insistence that he has no clubhouse leaders in mind for Kelly’s vacant seat … John-El lands at DII Fort Lewis College … Utah passing coordinator Aaron Roderick will take the OC slot at BYU [UPDATE: No he won't!] … Louisiana Tech won’t have to re-glaze any of its “I <3 OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR TONY” mugs … Tim Rosenbach joins the UNLV staff as OC.

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Five-star defensive end recruit Dee Liner has made a beeline away from Auburn. (Icon SMI)

• IMPORTANT DEE LINER, D-LINER NEWS. We did promise you at the end of the season that we wouldn’t get mired too deep in recruiting antics, not being super interested in prospects until they actually take the field in August, but exceptions will always be made for defensive ends named Dee Liner. Liner, a five-star prospect from Muscle Shoals who’s ranked by Rivals as the second-best overall recruit at his position, has decommitted from Auburn, citing the loss of his relationships with Gene Chizik and Trooper Taylor. This has been a public service announcement to remind you all that there is a defensive prospect out there named Dee Liner. Thank you.

• Coach-hirin’ follies! Coordinators snapped up by new schools since we last typed in this here box: Bill Cubit (OC) at Illinois, Josh Conklin (DC) at FIU, David Gibbs (DC) at Houston and — reportedly — Scot Loeffler at Virginia Tech.

• Roster blotter. Roster moves and non-moves since we last typed in this here box: Notre Dame’s Cierre Wood intends to turn pro; Oklahoma’s Aaron Colvin will return; Houston’s Charles Sims is staying a Cougar for one more year; and Nebraska’s Sean Fisher is forgoing a possible sixth season of eligibility in favor of medical school, the little scamp.

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