MSU releases statement on Newton

There seems to be news (or rumors) about Cameron Newton every hour. Here's the latest: Mississippi State has taken the unusual step of releasing a statement to confirm that it forwarded the SEC information on Newton's recruitment, along with an explanation of the timeline.

The statement in full:

Mississippi State University acknowledges that it contacted the Southeastern Conference office in January of 2010 regarding an issue relating to its recruitment of Cam Newton.

Shortly after the initial call, the SEC office requested specific information to include interviews with involved staff from MSU.

Due to MSU dealing with ongoing and time-consuming eligibility issues involving non-football matters in the winter and spring of 2010, the specific SEC request went unfulfilled. Some additional information was provided to the SEC during July of 2010. Once the NCAA enforcement staff became involved, Mississippi State University cooperated fully with its investigation. MSU is confident the SEC office has managed this process consistent with its established procedures and the university is committed to the conference’s ongoing efforts to ensure compliance with SEC and NCAA rules.

So does this change anything, as far as Georgia is concerned? Probably not.

Earlier in the day, Auburn head coach Gene Chizik reiterated that Newton "will be playing" against Georgia on Saturday.

That is still more than likely to be the case. But let's just say the situation bears watching over the next 72 hours.