By
Brian Harbach
By
Russ Mitchell
3 SEC QUESTIONS THAT NAG MORE THAN YOUR EX
(i) What was the best performance from last weekend?
Russ Mitchell:
It could go to reader Jeff from Georgia who bet me the ‘Dawgs would beat the Tigers. Well done, Jeff. Or perhaps UGA's Darryl Gamble – he tied a record for LBs with 2 INTs returned for a TD, to go along with 13 tackles. Or perhaps Tim Tebow, who’s 2 rushing TDs tied Emmitt Smith for the most in Florida Gator history. Or LSU’s Chuck Scott, who ran for 144 yards and 2 TDs in the loss. But is there really any doubt: Knowshon Moreno’s 168 yards and 2 TDs in Baton Rouge gets the nod for week nine. The Tigers D may be struggling, in part due to an inexperienced Secondary unable to consistently help on the run, and LBs that look a step slow, but it says something when a running back puts up numbers like that on the road in the SEC.
(Unsolicited aside... You want to respect the Troops? Then get out and vote on Tuesday.)
Brian Harbach:
The most impressive thing I saw this past weekend was the Georgia offensive line. The young line made up of three freshmen, Ben Jones, Cordy Glenn, Justin Anderson and two sophomores, Chris Davis and Clint Boling, did a masterful job keeping Matthew Stafford upright and carving up holes for Knowshon Moreno to gain 163 rushing yards. LSU has the best defensive line in the country and even with this being Ricky Jean-Francois’ first game back from an injury the Tigers have a talented and deep group of defensive linemen. The UGA offensive line played their best game of the year and they needed that kind of play to continue if they are going to stay in the SEC East race. A loss would not have ended their chances at the Eastern Division title, but it would have hurt it with LSU being the first of 4 straight games away from home. If the Bulldog line can play with that kind of effort this weekend in Jacksonville they may be two for two in this late season road trip.
(ii) "What will the SEC Championship Game look like?"
Mitchell:
Florida v. Alabama - with Florida taking the title. Florida is playing like a team on fire. Tebow is making all the right decisions, and the Gators have a chip on their (collective) shoulder when it comes to UGA (never discount the motivating influence of “respect” on the modern athlete). Considering UGA is recovering from a physical game with LSU while Florida coasted in a 63-5 win over Kentucky, we’ll give the nod to the Gators. Out West, LSU has a fighter’s chance of beating the Tide in Baton Rouge. But it doesn’t matter - the loss to UGA gives the Tigers two conference Ls, and Alabama won’t succumb to either MSU or AU. Everyone being healthy, Florida beats Alabama head-to-head. The Gators will have finished with a harder slate of competition than the Tide. Moreover, while Florida has played several teams that, like ‘bama, want to pound it on the ground, ‘bama has seen no one with the sheer number of weapons/speed Florida puts on the field. But we imagine we’ll have time to break this down later.
Harbach:
One half of the SEC Championship game has pretty much been decided after LSU’s loss to Georgia this past weekend. Alabama hasn’t clinched the West yet and I do believe that LSU will beat Alabama in Baton Rouge next week, but no other team is going to compete with the Tide for the rest of the year until the Championship Game in Atlanta. Auburn has no shot of upsetting Alabama, the Tide plays Mississippi State at home and it is hard seeing them losing three times in a row to the Bulldogs. This is essentially a done deal and Tide fans can start looking for tickets to the Georgia Dome.
The other half of the game will be decided this weekend in Jacksonville for the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party between Georgia and Florida. This is going to be an amazing game and it is so great to see that stadium from the blimp view with the colors cut right down the middle with Red and Blue. My favorite part of the game is an extra point or field goal because it is so cool to see the division between the colors all the way through the uprights. Florida should win this game and with this win they will earn their ticket to play Alabama in the Georgia Dome for the first time since 1999.
(iii) What should every SEC fan be talking about after Week 9, but isn’t?
Mitchell:
Well, that leaves out LSU’s D-line (third week in a row), The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, and the future of Fulmer… (i) Talented Kentucky freshman Randall Cobb gets the starting QB job this week when the Wildcats arrive in Starkville, in place of, (ii) Mike Hartline. The sophomore could apparently use some Ms. Manners training, as he allegedly had this to say of his demotion, “I’m disappointed. It stinks. You don’t ever expect to win that starting job and then lose it because guys around you aren’t performing like they should.” Wow. Anyone got duct tape?, (iii) Until Saturday’s 52-38 defeat to UGA, LSU had gone 30 straight Saturday games in Death Valley without a loss… dating all the way back to the only loss of the 2003 National Championship season – 17-9 to Florida, (iv) The monkey on Vandy’s back just became a Gorilla. With the loss to Duke, the Dores drop to 5-3 - after starting with five straight Ws. Still on the docket: Florida, @ Kentucky, Tennessee, @ Wake Forest. HEY COACH - who was the QB for all those W's again?, (v) Pride wasn’t the only thing lost by the Hogs in the matchup with ex-coach Nutt – starting freshman FS Elton Ford is done for the season, and starters OG Grant Cook, DE Adrian Davis and OT Ray Dominguez are likely unavailable for Tulsa, (vi) If we liberally include South Carolina DB Carlos Thomas’ INT return to the LSU 8 yard line, then Tiger RSFr QB Jarrett Lee has thrown at least one “Pick Six” in every SEC game this season/his career. Who says experience matters?, (vii) Once again, the conference has just one team in the Top 20 in Scoring Offense (Florida, up to #7), and none in Total Offense, (viii) Moreover, we have dropped from seven to five teams in the Top 20 in Total Defense.
Harbach:
This weekend we have the return of two coaches, one for the first time and the other for his fifth return trip back to his first place as an SEC head coach. The coach returning to his old stomping grounds for the first time is none other than the vilified Gus Malzahn who left Arkansas after one season as the offensive coordinator to take the same position with Tulsa. The Arkansas/Tulsa match-up would have been classic is Houston Nutt was still coaching the Razorbacks, but since he is not this game has moved out of the realm of epic and into the area of interesting. It should fun to see how the Hog fans react to Malzahn’s return. He has a lot of history coaching High School football in the state of Arkansas and he did a good job in his one year leading the Arkansas offense. The other coach making a not so triumphant return is Tommy Tuberville heading back to Ole Miss.
Eight years ago Tuberville made his first trip back to Oxford in a game that was amazing to witness and a great atmosphere. The animosity has been much more subdued over the last 7 seasons, but with a lot on the line this weekend for both the Tigers and Rebels it should be a hotly contested game. Ole Miss is favored and should be since they are playing much better football than Auburn and they are playing at home. Tuberville is under a lot of pressure to win this game because a loss all but seals his first losing record at Auburn since 1999. If Auburn goes from pre-season SEC West favorite to out of the bowl picture completely don’t be surprised if Tiger fans try to leave Tuberville in Oxford nailed in a pine box.
IN FOCUS: Which Coach / Player is in the Spotlight this week?
Mitchell:
Kodi Burns, QB, Auburn. Don’t listen to what any Auburn Trustee tells you – Tuberville needs to win this game. His Tiger team sits at 4-4, with games remaining against UGA and ‘bama. Lose in Oxford, and there’ll likely be no bowl game for a team picked by most on Media Day to win the West. The Tigers have lost three consecutive games, including “Spotlight” ones to Vandy and WVU. Somewhere along the way, they lost an OC, along with the offense itself. In Morgantown, Burns was an unimpressive 13/21 for 111 yards, and 1 TD/INT. While he had some bright moments in the 1H, he failed to get anything going in the 2H; the Tigers finished the final 40 minutes without a point, and less than 50 yards in the 2H. It’s not all his fault – certainly the underperforming OL and RB corps need to produce to take pressure off the struggling QB. And the coaches need to simplify the playbook even further, like LSU is doing for Jarrett Lee this week. But if the Tigers are to have a chance of beating the Rebels, Burns will have to bring his A game – and we’re not talking A for Auburn.
Harbach:
Jeffrey Demps, Florida Running back . There has been something missing from recent Florida Gator teams and that has been an elusive running back. Even in the 2006 National Championship season the Gators didn’t have a feature back, now they do with Jeffrey Demps and if he can have another great game for Florida there is no way UGA can beat the Gators. Demps is probably the fastest player on the team and Florida should use him early to open up the secondary for Percy Harvin, Louis Murphy and Aaron Hernandez. If Demps is shut down early, Florida will become a much more predictable team. This young freshmen should show us early in the game how Florida will attach Georgia and possibly lead the Gators to victory.
SEC POWER RANKINGS
Mitchell
1 Florida – One year later, payback
2 Alabama – At least ASU has a winning record
3 Georgia – Looking for another great road performance
4 LSU – Would drop the Tigers… but who would you move higher?
5 USC – Keep an eye on this OL – it’s worse than last year
6 Ole Miss – (up from 8) Big win against the Hogs; AU would be even sweeter
7 Vandy – (down from 6) Time to go back to the winning QB
8 Kentucky – (down from 7) Ouch
9 Arkansas – Competitive in conference; that’s a good result for this season
10 MSU – (up from 11) Chance for a conference home game W
11 Tennessee – (down from 10) Shallow performance against ‘bama
12 Auburn – "Don’t embarrass the conference"; too late
Harbach
1 Alabama – Could lock up the SEC West next weekend
2 Florida – Could lock up the SEC East this weekend
3 Georgia – Amazing performance in Baton Rouge
4 LSU – LSU seems to be hot or cold this season in big games
5 Vanderbilt – The Commodores ship is sinking fast
6 South Carolina – The Old Ball Coach gets another shot at Fulmer
7 Ole Miss – Will Ole Miss finally beat Tubervile in Oxford?
8 Kentucky – Special Teams disaster last weekend, three blocked kicks
9 Arkansas – Will Malzahn be as motivated with Nutt being at Arkansas?
10 Auburn – Yet another second half disaster for the Auburn Tigers at WVU
11 Tennessee – Just when it couldn’t get worse, here comes Spurrier
12 MSU – Can Croom take another step forward by beating Kentucky?
THREE GAMES TO DVR
Mitchell:
1) No. 6 Georgia (7-1) v. No. 8 Florida (6-1), November 1. Wow – still can’t get past Florida ranked behind UGA. Too much love for ‘bama and LSU by the national pollsters. Florida is the better team. It has a better, more versatile QB. It has more RBs. It has more weapons period, and its defense is playing a whole lot better that Georgia’s. And that’s what this game comes down to – Defense. It’ll still be a high scoring affair, but the Gator defense is just better than Georgia’s. Throw in a little motivation from last year’s end zone Macarena…
Florida 35, Georgia 28
2) Tennessee (3-5) v. South Carolina (5-3) November 1. Wow, this is ugly. The Tennessee players have to know they’re playing in part for Fulmer’s job. The question is – do they care? This is “The Fulmer Hot Seat; Year 5”. How many times can one cry wolf before folks stop paying attention. This game is going to be about weaknesses, not strengths. USC’s OL is terrible – and UT has a good defense. However, USC’s D has been very solid, and UT’s offense is putrid. Simply putrid. Look it up…
South Carolina 21, Tennessee 13
3) Auburn (4-4) v. Ole Miss (4-4), November 1. First, Nutt knows how to play Tubby. They’ve split the last two matchups, but Auburn squeaked by in Arkansas last year (9-7). And this year’s a whole new ball game. New Location. New Colors. New Players. Same Coaches. Auburn will try to run like a five-legged rabbit chased by a rabid hound, but without a credible passing threat, Ole Miss will prevail - at home. Expect some Rebel TOs to keep this close, but…
Ole Miss 21, Auburn 13
Season Record: 18-9
Harbach:
1) Georgia (7-1) v. Florida (6-1), November 1. This has been the most difficult game to pick so far this season. I went back and forth a number of times and it all came down to intangibles for me. I think both teams are evenly matched at nearly every position. For all of the Florida speed on the field, there is a ton of UGA size and strength. Both teams have great offenses, led by great quarterbacks and relatively young running backs. Neither team really has a weakness right now, but the intangibles in the Gators favor gives them the edge. The incident last year is going to have Florida so motivated for this game it is difficult to go against them. Richt is a great road coach, but not so much on neutral fields where he is only 9-7. The Gators use the motivation from last season and a healthy Tebow to essentially clinch the SEC East title.
Florida 38, Georgia 31
2) Tennessee (3-5) v. South Carolina (5-3) November 1. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for Phil Fulmer he gets to travel to Columbia to face Steve Spurrier who has had two weeks to prepare for this game. Tennessee is coming off another bad loss to Alabama and the team is reeling. South Carolina lost their last game against LSU, but the team has shown improvement over the last couple games. Tennessee has not improved in any phase of the game and a night game at William’s Brice is not the way to start a new win streak. Last year Carolina lost a heartbreaker in Knoxville, this year they just hold on for the win.
South Carolina 20, Tennessee 15
3) Auburn (4-4) v. Ole Miss (4-4), November 1. The Running Rebel faithful must be licking their chops with the Auburn Tigers coming to town for yet another homecoming for former coach Tommy Tuberville. Both teams are 4-4, but the similarities stop with the record. Ole Miss has played good football nearly all season, but turnovers have killed them. Auburn has yet to play a complete game and as bad as they look in the first half of games, they play worse in the second half. Tuberville has never lost in Oxford as the Auburn head coach, but that will change this weekend. Auburn gets the lead at the half, but Ole Miss wins the game in the fourth quarter.
Ole Miss 27, Auburn 24
Season Record: 17-10
Yell at Brian: Brian Harbach
Yell at Russ: Russ Mitchell
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Y’all Play Nice Week Four, September 18, 2008
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Y’all Play Nice Preseason, August 21, 2008
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