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 Georgia Bulldogs stepping up, the Vanderbilt Commodores stepping back, a lack of Tiger defense and something about a Cocktail Party. As usual the format is the same: please feel free to send me any comments or suggestions. Here we go…
The Weekend That Was
The next two weeks we essentially have two division championship games thanks to Georgia’s excellent showing against LSU. This weekend we get Florida/Georgia and next weekend we get LSU/Alabama. Georgia made this weekend a more exciting game vs. Florida by playing inspired football in the toughest of conditions. With a young untested offensive line, Knowshon Moreno ran all over the LSU defense, never going down after first contact and was always falling forward. In each of the last two previous UGA games Matthew Stafford had thrown two interceptions, against LSU he did throw a single pick and the team didn’t turn the ball over once while forcing three LSU turnovers.
After the Alabama debacle it was exciting to see how much better UGA played against a team that is built similarly to Alabama. LSU has a dominant defensive line, fast linebackers and a physical offensive line that wears opponents down. Georgia did give up a lot of yards in the game, but most of those yards came when UGA was up by two touchdowns late in the game. This was exactly what we wanted to see from UGA one week before Florida. They look like they are playing their best football of the season and that is all we can ask for before their biggest game of the year.
The Weekend That Wasn’t
Will the real Vanderbilt Commodores please stand up? There was nothing wrong with losses on the road to Mississippi State or Georgia, but to lose at home to Duke is a whole other deal. The Chicago Cubs of the South continue to tease their fans with the hope of a season past November, but then they go out and score 7 points against Duke. There have been some bad terrible efforts by a number of SEC teams this season, but this one ranks up there at the top. Vanderbilt did a great job all season of allowing other teams to make mistakes, but it was the Commodores making the mistakes this weekend.
Vandy turned the ball over three times against Duke and missed two field goals that would have been the difference in the game. The rest of the schedule is not easy and with three straight losses including this past weekend’s disappointment, it is hard to see where win number six is going to come from. Vandy’s remaining games include home battles with Tennessee and Florida to go along with road games at Kentucky and at Wake Forest to close out the year. The SEC’s loveable losers should be underdogs in each one of these games; they need to find that early season magic quick because a 5-0 start may be wasted yet again.
The Weekend That…What the Heck
Early in the season the two SEC Western division favorites were expected to be great because of the returning players they brought back, but mostly because both sets of Tiger defenses were down right nasty. Auburn and LSU seem to have forgotten their defensive swagger as teams are running all over their heralded D’s. For the second time in three weeks LSU has given up 50 points to a SEC Eastern division opponent and for the fourth time this season the Auburn defense has been unable to hold onto a halftime lead because of sloppy tackling and blown coverages.
What was amazing this week was how poorly Auburn handled West Virginia’s spread offense considering they practiced against is for nearly 10 months with Tony Franklin. Of course Auburn never ran the spread very well so it is easy to see the defense getting overconfident in stopping an offense that never looked impressive. Noel Divine ran for over 200 yards against a Tiger defense that seemed to think they were playing two-hand touch to get him down. LSU gave up 443 yards to UGA at home, the Florida game was supposed to be the exception, not the rule; but to play that poorly on defense in your own stadium has to make the Bengal Tiger faithful worried about the return of Saban. It has been shocking to witness two proud and dominant defenses get worn out numerous times this season, but that is SEC football. Come strong or don’t come at all.
The Weekend That Will Be
The University of Georgia deserves a thank you for the way they played against LSU this weekend, not just because they played a great game, because the excitement for the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party just got kicked up a notch. Florida and Georgia seem to have all their pieces moving in the right direction heading into this weekend’s game in Jacksonville and the preseason game of the year looks like it will match the early hype. Forget about the comments in Urban Meyer’s book, the entire UGA team running on the field and the fact that we really aren’t supposed to call this game a cocktail party (I am boycotting that request). This game matches up the two best teams in the SEC East, two of the top 3 teams in the SEC and two of the top eight teams in the country.
Thank you Georgia for strapping on your pads against LSU and giving us the game this weekend that we all knew was possible and we all wanted to see. Of course Georgia/Florida is the big dog of the weekend, but there are some other interesting match-ups in the SEC to start off November. Tommy Tuberville makes his fifth return trip to Ole Miss with the Auburn Tigers, he has never lost in Oxford as the head coach at Auburn, but if he does Auburn fans may leave him there in a pine box. Tulsa and Offensive Coordinator Gus Malzahn return to Fayetteville, how great would this have been if Houston Nutt were still coaching the Razorbacks? But one more game that must be mentioned is Steve Spurrier’s opportunity to stick the final nail in the coffin of Phil Fulmer when Tennessee heads Columbia for a night game in Williams Brice.
Big Men on Campus (BMOC)
The UGA Offensive Line
I mentioned in my Y’all Play Nice column this week that the key to the UGA/LSU game was going to be how the Georiga Offensive line protected Matthew Stafford and how they blocked for Knowshon Moreno. The young Bulldogs did a fantastic job and led the way for 194 rushing yards and kept Stafford upright for most of the game. This was a huge confidence booster for a young line in a very difficult environment. They were up to the task and played their best game of the year. Congratulation to Ben Jones, Clint Boling, Justin Anderson, Chris Davis and Cordy Glenn, this week’s Big Men on Campus.
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).
Kentucky Special Teams
Three blocked kicks in one season might be cause to re-evaluate blocking schemes, but three blocked kicks in one game shows there is something fundamentally wrong. Florida blocked three Kentucky kicks in the first half, two punts and one field goal; all three blocked led to Gator touchdowns and removed any momentum Kentucky had hoped to get in this game. Over the next week the Wildcats better shore up the kicking game before they get to Starkville. The game against the Bulldogs will be a crucial one for their chances for a third straight bowl game and another outing like this past weekend could have them doing Charlie Work for two straight weeks.
4 Downs with the SEC
First Down – One Half of the SECCG Is Decided
LSU’s loss to Georgia this weekend has assured Alabama a spot in Atlanta for the SEC Championship and there is really no way to deny it. Even if LSU is able to upset Alabama in two weeks for Nick Saban’s Baton Rouge homecoming, there is no one left on the Alabama schedule who is any kind of threat. Auburn may have won six straight against the Tide, but if you think they have any shot to stay within two touchdowns of Alabama this season when the Tide has a chance to get a SEC Western Division title by winning the game you are sorely mistaken.
No one saw this coming from the Crimson Tide in 2008, the job Nick Saban has done will likely earn him SEC coach of the year and unless Penn State slips up somewhere, likely national coach of the year. Don’t kid yourself thinking that this is not the best coaching job of his career. When he took over at LSU the Bengal Tigers had talent, all they needed was coaching. Alabama is a good team, but the talent they have is very young and this is the best coaching job Saban has ever done. He does not have an unbeaten season on his resume even though he does have a national title. Two more huge hurdles are left before he finishes the season unbeaten and maybe he will get the opportunity to finish up year two at Alabama in a BCS National Championship Game.
Second Down – Houston Nutt leaves Fayetteville a Winner
It must have been a great feeling for Houston Nutt to leave his first game back in Arkansas as a winner. Sadly this game was not on any national television station because it was a great game and an amazing thing to witness. Overall the game was well played by both teams, not a lot of penalties, not many turnovers and there seemed to be a lot of respect coming from the Arkansas players towards Houston Nutt. From reading the quotes from the Razorback players after the game two things were obvious. They wanted to win this game badly and they really have a lot of respect for Houston Nutt.
This is going to be an exciting rivalry to watch over the next couple of years because both schools are full of young talent and both coaches are excellent. Bobby Petrino will have Arkansas playing at a higher level each year he is there and Nutt will start taking advantage of the deep talent in the state of Mississippi. It was brought to my attention late last week that Mississippi is a lot more talent rich than we assume and if Nutt can keep those elite athletes in state instead of losing them to teams like LSU, Auburn and Alabama; the running Rebels may have some special seasons coming soon.
Third Down – Two Changes coming for Orange SEC Teams
Two coaches in the SEC have been at their schools for 10 years or longer, Phil Fulmer has patrolled the Volunteer sidelines for 17 seasons and Tommy Tuberville has coached on the Plains of Auburn for 10. It is hard to imagine either coach coming back in 2009 and frankly it would not be surprise if at least one of them is gone before the end of the season. The most likely to be let go early would be Tommy Tuberville for two reasons. The first is because the team has a bye week before the Alabama game and the second reason is Auburn does not want Tuberville to be coaching the Alabama game for his job.
Auburn made the mistake of searching for Tuberville’s replacement before he beat Alabama in 2003 and the fans backed him after the Jet-gate fiasco came out. Auburn officials can’t risk this blowing up in their face with another Iron Bowl win, no matter how unlikely it may be. It would not be a shock to see Tuberville step down during the bye week baring an improbably Auburn turnaround. Fulmer’s fate will be decided after the season, AD Mike Hamilton has said that one season cannot be the only reason for a decision; it must be the complete body of work. While Fulmer’s body of work is good, the last 5 years are what he needs to be judged on. If Hamilton looks at a smaller window it will not hard to see Fulmer being out at Tennessee shortly after Tuberville is let go by Auburn.
Fourth Down – Vanderbilt Will Play in a Bowl Game
Someone has to make a stand and if that person needs to be me that is fine. Vanderbilt is going to make a bowl game this year. Sure the Commodores have looked terrible for the last three weeks, listless on offense, confused on defense and outmatched by other schools with actual athletic departments. But this team has come to close to not make it all the way. They have been close against Tennessee the last couple years, it will be a struggle in Lexington, but Vandy is going to beat one of those two teams to make it to a bowl game. Mark it down, send me an email, tease me later, but this is going to happen.
After another crazy week in the SEC, what do you think of the games? E-mail
me Brian Harbach
The Return of Houston Nutt, October 16, 2008
Y’all Play Nice - Week Nine, October 16, 2008
The SEC Bachstory, October 20, 2008
Y’all Play Nice - Week Eight, October 16, 2008
The SEC Bachstory, October 13, 2008
The Tony Franklin Fiasco, October 10, 2008
Y’all Play Nice - Week Seven, October 9, 2008
The SEC Bachstory, October 6, 2008
What is Wrong with Clemson, October 3, 2008
Y’all Play Nice - Week Six, October 2, 2008
The SEC Bachstory, September 29, 2008
Pac 10, you have a problem, September 26, 2008
Y’all Play Nice - Week Five, September 25, 2008
The SEC Bachstory, September 22, 2008
Harbach’s Picks - Week Four, September 18, 2008
Y’all Play Nice - Week Four, September 18, 2008
The SEC Bachstory, September 15, 2008
Y’all Play Nice - Week Three, September 11, 2008
The SEC Bachstory, September 8, 2008
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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