By
Brian Harbach
The SEC Bachstory will be a weekly SEC recap posted every Monday morning breaking down all the big events from the previous weekend. In order to eliminate all confusion, the Bach in Bachstory is pronounced like back (Back to the Future, The Empire Strikes Back, Back in Black), you get the picture.
This week we take a look at the resurgence of Vanderbilt, the decline of South Carolina, and the SEC’s leading passer Casey Dick. As usual the format is the same with one minor change, this week we will go over some recommended reading that College Football fans need to know about. Please feel free to send me any comments or suggestions. Here we go…
The Weekend That Was
This isn’t your Grandaddy’s Vanderbilt any longer; the Commodores took out previously ranked South Carolina in the SEC regular season opener by punching the Gamecocks in the mouth. The Vandy game plan on offense was brilliant, using DJ Moore as a decoy really held off some of the USC pass rush and the trick plays they called seemed to work time and time again. This was a huge step forward for a program that has not been to a bowl game since 1982 and speaking of bowls, the postseason is not out of the question for the Commodores.
With games left against Ole Miss, @Mississippi State, Duke, Rice, @Kentucky and the season finale at Wake Forest, it isn’t out of the question they win four of those six for a six win season and maybe they win five game to guarantee themselves a bowl game. Of course some things have to break in Vandy’s favor, they will probably need to win seven overall to guarantee themselves a game since ticket sales may be a problem for a relatively small fan base. How exciting for the boys in Nashville to be in the hunt for a bowl game. After two weeks of the SEC College Football season, the SEC East leaders are your Vanderbilt Commodores.
The Weekend That Wasn’t
The media has been killing the ACC for the last two weeks and I was willing to go out on a limb last week to pick an Ole Miss upset over Wake Forest in Winston Salem. Jevan Snead lead Ole Miss to within a minute of the upset until the Demon Deacons hit a game winning field goal with 2 seconds left on the clock. The rest of the SEC needs to take notice that Houston Nutt has his team in a great position to be very competitive in SEC this season.
The Rebels of old would not have been able to drive down the field to take the lead with under two minutes left in that game. Jevan Snead looked poised against a good Wake Forest defense and he showed his arm time and time again. Snead’s accuracy was extremely impressive and Houston Nutt has the best quarterback in the SEC West right now. The Ole Miss running game didn’t look great, but Snead was able to find receivers down the field and he showed great mobility. They may not have won the game, but they put up a great fight and should be proud of the effort the team put in and the direction the program is going.
The Weekend That… What the Heck
As good as Alabama looked two Saturdays ago, they looked equally terrible this past weekend against Tulane. A win is a win, but Tide fans were hoping not to be reminded of last year’s offense and the youth of the team really seemed to show. It is hard to expect a team to get up for a game against Tulane after such an emotional win over previous Top 10 Clemson, but 172 total yards is flat out embarrassing. John Parker Wilson looked like the quarterback we have seen the last two seasons and not the QB we saw in the Georgia Dome last week.
Wilson completed 11-23 passes for 73 yards against the Green Wave. As bad as Auburn quarterbacks looked in their home opener against LA Monroe, this was worse. For such a young team, the Clemson win was a step on the right direction, but Alabama has played down to their competition the last couple years. Overlooking teams like Tulane got them a loss to Louisiana Monroe last season. As mentioned earlier, a win is a win, but Tide fans better temper their expectations of Atlanta and division championships until this team starts playing with some consistency.
The Weekend That Will Be
We had one SEC matchup last week and this week we are slowly starting to add more games that really matter to SEC fans. Conference play is what defines a team and this weekend we have two good ones with Georgia traveling to South Carolina and Auburn traveling to Mississippi State. UGA and Auburn are top 10 teams with revenge on their mind after losing to their opponents last year. SEC Football on CBS debuts in Columbia and the Auburn/MSU game will be on ESPN2 later that night. Both home teams have something to prove after losing games that were thought to be impossible to lose and a win over a Top 10 team is the best way to get back on track.
Big Man on Campus (BMOC)
Casey Dick, Arkansas
If there is one thing that Bobby Petrino hates more than anything, it is fans leaving a game with time still left on the clock. That probably isn’t true, but from his first two games at Arkansas he is making sure that the fans stay in their seats until the time has run out. Both Arkansas wins have come in the closing minutes with the home team Hogs trailing to a team they should not lose to under any circumstances.
The hero of both those games is none other than Casey Dick. For the second week in a row he threw for over 300 yards and led his team to a last minute come from behind victory. It is hard not to cheer for this kid when he has been dogged for his entire career at Arkansas for not being a good enough passer. He isn’t an NFL prospect, but when given the chance to throw the ball all he has done is complete 63% of his passes while being responsible for six touchdowns. The competition doesn’t matter, the results do, enjoy the BMOC status Casey Dick.
Player Now Doing Charlie Work (PNDCW)
As a note to those who do not know what “Charlie-Work” is, do yourself a favor and start watching It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (the episode called “Dennis and Dee go on Welfare” explains it perfectly).
Captain Munnerlyn, South Carolina
One player never causes a team to lose a game, unless that player is the kicker. South Carolina DB Captain Munnerlyn had probably the worst game of his career against Vanderbilt Thursday night. Starting with the touchdown he was beaten on to tie the score at 10-10 and moving on to the penalties he was called for late in the game, Munnerlyn was terrible against the Commodores. Last year Munnerlyn did a lot of talking after Carolina was embarrassed by Vanderbilt at home and now after losing to the Commodores for the second time in a row the only thing he should be talking about is his poor play in the game.
Recommended Reading
The Maisel Report, College Football’s Most Overrated and Underrated Players, Coaches, Teams and Traditions
All college football fans know the name Ivan Maisel, from his previous work writing for Sports Illustrated to his current work on ESPN, he has covered the sport we love for over 25 years. In my lifetime he has been the best college football writer I have read and over the years I have searched out his columns. Columns like the 3 Point Stance, his CNNSI.com Mailbag, For Argument’s Sake and currently the appropriately named I-Formation are always a must read for me. A couple years ago I was fortunate to talk to him for a few minutes at a book signing when “A War in Dixie, Alabama v. Auburn” was released and I walked away very impressed.
“A War in Dixie” is a book that I read every November and when I saw that he had a new book coming out last month, I was immediately interested in picking up a copy. “The Maisel Report” is an in-depth look at every part of the sport we all love and obsess about. Maisel discusses every topic that college football fans care about: Heisman winners, coaches, rivalry games and national champions are all listed as overrated or underrated and discussed in a way that both young and old fans can appreciate. There is not a more qualified author out there to write a book like this and Maisel doesn’t leave out a thing.
The thing that stood out the most to me was the balance between current topics/players along with the historical moments of College Football. As a younger college football fan, it is nice to read about the stuff I have been discussing with friends the last couple years and also learn about some of the plays and players that made the sports what it is today. College football fans will love this book, no team is ignored, no team is given a free pass and every page is full of great insight and opinion. You can feel his passion for College football in every page of this book, I learned a lot from reading it and I am confident you will feel the same way.
4 Downs with the SEC
First Down – Where does South Carolina go from here?
Lose to Vandy once shame on you, Lose to Vandy twice shame on me, South Carolina has no one to blame for the loss to Vanderbilt but themselves. In a game that Carolina needed to make a statement, they did, only the statement was “Uh-Oh.” For a team that many in the meda (not me) thought would have a special season, this looks like a team going backwards, not forwards. Columns in the local Columbia newspaper with titles like, “This Year Is Next Year” were written to let the Gamecock fans know that their cries of “Wait til next season” were no longer needed because this was that season.
Carolina looks unorganized on offense and devoid of talent at every position with the exception of two players; hurt WR Kenny McKinley and TE Jared Cook. The offensive line is awful and the running game is non-existent. Carolina is going to struggle to get back to a bowl game this year, obviously you don’t count anyone out after two games, but it won’t be easy. This is going to be Spurrier’s biggest challenge so far in Columbia; these are his players so there are no excuses. A win over Georgia removes all the memories of a second straight loss to Vanderbilt. Playing UGA this weekend should be viewed as a blessing, not a curse.
Second Down – Auburn finally has found a quarterback
Just before the third game of the season Auburn has decided they are safe to announce a starting quarterback, the winner of the QB battle on the Plains is Juco transfer, Chris Todd. With Kodi Burns hurt and largely ineffective coming off the bench against Southern Miss, Todd went 21-31 for 248 yards. He took a large step forward after his opening game against LA Monroe, but he is not yet where Auburn needs him to be in order to compete for an SEC Championship.
Todd holds onto the ball too long in the pocket and looks scared to make the tough throw in good coverage. Auburn goes on the road for the first time this season to play at MSU Saturday night and if Todd does not look better against an SEC team it is hard to see him handling the LSU Tigers on September 20th. This is a statement game for Auburn’s offense, MSU won’t be able to score much on the Tigers, will Todd’s offense be able to score on Mississippi State?
Third Down – Moreno is SEC’s best Heisman Hope
In the pre-season there were three likely candidates for the Heisman trophy out of the SEC, Tim Tebow, Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno. After 2 games it seems pretty certain that if any SEC player is going to have a shot at winning the Heisman it is going to be Knowshon. This is not a shot against Tebow or Stafford, but they are both at distinct disadvantages to win the award this year. Starting with Tebow, Tim is not going to have the same year statistically that he had last year. Florida just has too much talent in the backfield and at the wide receiver position to let him get the same stats he had in his Heisman winning season in 2007. It is an unfair standard he set for himself, but that just shows you how impressive his 2007 season way.
As far as Stafford goes, he may be the most NFL ready quarterback in College Football, but his stats are not going to match up to the QB’s in the Big 12. That leaves us with Knowshon who already has 227 rushing yards and six touchdowns. He is rushing for about 9 yards a carry and with the games left on the UGA schedule, there will be plenty of time to discuss this talented sophomore. The backs behind him are young and inexperienced which means in the big games it will be up to Moreno to carry the load. He has some great highlight plays two games in and we haven’t seen the best from him yet in 2008.
Fourth Down – A bye week at the worst time
All SEC teams played this weekend except for the one team that probably needed to get on the field more than any other. Tennessee lost a terrible game to UCLA last Monday and by the time they get on the field to play UAB they will have had to listen for two weeks about how bad a loss that was and how daunting their next 5 games will be. Tennessee seemed like the perfect fit for an underrated team going into the season, as defending SEC East champions it was hard to understand why they were thought to underachieve so much. After their play in the first game it is easy to see why they were overlooked.
Right now the Volunteers are staring down the barrel of a 2-4 start to the season, 3 of their next 5 games consist of top 10 teams and 2 of them are on the road. The Vols get Florida in two weeks with the Gators having a bye week the week before, they play at Auburn the 27th, but at least the Tigers have to battle LSU while UT plays UF. After playing at Auburn they get a home game against Northern Illinois before traveling the Athens on October 11th and you guessed it, UGA has a bye week before the Vols come to Sanford Stadium. Phil Fulmer’s team is in trouble. Typically Tennessee plays better when not much is thought of them and that is why the UCLA loss was so shocking. The next 5 weeks are crucial to Fulmer and his team’s season.
After two full weeks of games what do you think about the SEC so far? E-mail
me Brian Harbach
Harbach’s SEC Picks Week Two, September 3, 2008
Y’all Play Nice Week Two, September 3, 2008
The SEC Bachstory, September 1, 2008
SEC Picks Week One, August 28, 2008
Y’all Play Nice, August 28, 2008
The SEC Bachstory, August 25, 2008
Y’all Play Nice, August 21, 2008
The SEC Bachstory, August 18, 2008
Has Spurrier Failed at USC?, August 15, 2008
The SEC Bachstory, August 11, 2008
The SEC Bachstory, August 3, 2008
Harbach's Top 5 SEC Offensive Players by Position, July 27, 2008
Harbach's Top 5 SEC Defensive Players by Position, July 27, 2008
Harbach's Top SEC Games, July 13, 2008
Championship Game Hurts SEC, July 6, 2008
Harbach's 2008 SEC Preview, June 30, 2008
Let's Get This Started, June 9, 2008
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