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 Cocktail Party Beatdown, Mark Richt taking Georgia to the next level and Tommy Tuberville quitting on the Auburn players. As usual the format is the same: please feel free to send me any comments or suggestions. Here we go…
The Weekend That Was
Do any Georgia Bulldog fans really want to argue any longer that Florida was going to be a little more motivated for the Cocktail party after last year’s stunt by Mark Richt? A 49-10 de-pantsing of UGA is proof enough that Richt will never try another stunt like that again. The last three weeks that Gators have looked like the most complete team in the country, looking strong in every phase of the game and even after the LSU beatdown two weeks ago, this game meant more and was more impressive. This game pretty much sealed up the SEC East for the Gators and with Alabama in the same boat it looks like we will get a Gator/Crimson Tide matchup in Atlanta for the first time since 1999.
Urban Meyer is working on earning the same level of hatred from opponents that was deserved only by Steve Spurrier during his time on the Gator sideline. A man that Florida fans love and opponent fans love to hate. This started with the end of the Miami game in September and it culminated with his use of the Florida timeouts late in the game this past weekend. The final score really did enough to speak for itself, but for some reason Meyer insists on twisting the knife on teams that there is no reason to do so. This is going to hurt his team down the road, not this year, but in future games. But with a team so talented, he can risk being the Pete Carroll of the SEC since no team seems man enough to stop his boys on the field. The Gators are in a groove right now, does anyone plan of stopping them the rest of the year?
The Weekend That Wasn’t
Well well well Mark Richt, I hope you enjoyed that victory over Florida in 2007 and the subsequent Sugar Bowl appearance vs. Hawaii because you have made an enemy for life and he seems to have a very long and unforgiving memory. The 2008 Bulldogs were Richt’s most talented team during the eight seasons as the head coach in Athens. That pre-season number one team was laughed out of his own building against Alabama and then served a slice of humility by the best team in the SEC East. Matthew Stafford continued his torrid pace of throwing picks, he has now thrown 7 in his last 4 games and the Bulldog special teams fell apart in Jacksonville.
There are two points that Richt needs to be hammered on and the first is the onside kick in the first half. Teams that are pre-season picks to be national champions do not need to pull stunts like that so early in a game. There is nothing wrong with taking a chance to change the flow of a game, but to do it so early and have it backfire is coaching suicide. Les Miles is the king of the trick play and his timing is usually perfect, this was a desperate move by a coach who knew he was undermanned before his team stepped on the field. It would be nice to see Richt spend more time game-planning for big games and less time worrying about uniform color schemes and stunts to win.
The second issue with Richt is based on his career at UGA he seems to have at least one game a season where his team doesn’t show up and gets blown out of the water. We have seen this twice in 2008, but last year against Tennessee they were punked in Knoxville 35-14, in 2006 it was a 51-33 to the Vols in Athens and in 2005 it was a fourth and forever meltdown against Auburn between the hedges. Don't even get me started on the Auburn game in 2001, but that was a classic disaster as well. Richt is a great coach, a great man and a great motivator, but there are some serious questions about whether he can take UGA to the promised land.
The Weekend That…What the Heck
It is amazing what a little coaching can do for a quarterback with a little bit of a confidence problem, Casey Dick threw for over 300 yards for the third time this season against Tulsa. To be exact he threw for 385 yards against the Golden Hurricanes in the Razorbacks second win over a ranked team this season. The Hogs may be on the outside right now in terms of the bowl picture, but Dick would be my most improved player of the year without question. Every year during his time with Houston Nutt, Casey Dick was the problem in the Arkansas offense; he was the reason the team couldn’t get over the hump because he was such a liability in the passing game.
For every year during his time with Houston Nutt, Casey Dick was the problem in the Arkansas offense, he was the reason the team couldn’t get over the hump because he was such a liability in the passing game. Bobby Petrino comes in as a coach who knows how to work with quarterbacks and Dick has become a well-coached, confident SEC quarterback who is not a liability any longer. Casey may not be an NFL quarterback and he may not be on any All SEC lists at the end of the year, but he proved he can play the position in the SEC and he has earned a lot respect from the players and the fans.
The Weekend That Will Be
For the third straight week the SEC has the best game in the country and this week we get Alabama’s Nick Saban returning to Baton Rouge to face his old team. The only negative to this game is that it will be on in the afternoon instead of at night when it should be played. How great is it going to be when Saban brings in his new team, now ranked number one in the country, to face his old team that was never happy that he left and even more upset he came back to the SEC. This is a big game for Les Miles who was able to get out of Saban’s shadow with a National Championship last season, but it will be a huge deal if he can beat Alabama to reassure the LSU fans that they are still in great shape.
The next weekend’s lineup is void of any depth, there is the huge game in Baton Rouge and then a couple small appetizers happening earlier in the day. Florida travels to Nashville to face a Vandy team in need of anything positive to happen, Arkansas travel to South Carolina for a game that could eliminate them from the postseason and Kentucky gets a visit from Georgia who will be playing their third straight game away from home. It looks like a pretty slow weekend in the SEC, but the marquis game should be full of excitement and passion.
Big Man on Campus (BMOC)
Tim Tebow, Florida QB
Usually this award goes to a lesser known player to show we don’t only care about the big boys in the SEC, but this week Tim Tebow deserved this award more than any player in the country. Tebow took the loss to Georgia last season personally and he played with a chip on his shoulder all game long. Tebow was responsible for 5 touchdown against the Bulldogs, 2 passing and 3 rushing. He only had 3 incomletions the entire game and played mistake free football for four quarters, something that cannot be said for his Bulldog counterpart. Tebow is the anti-Urban Meyer, he is a good winner, a stand up person and a man you want to root for. The Gators earned that victory because of Tim Tebow and from listening to him talk after the game, there was no doubt in his mind the Gators were going to play well and they were going to win. Great effort by this week’s BMOC, Tim Tebow.
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).
Adam Carlson, Mississippi State K
Teams that are struggling need to have the routine plays work in order to win close games. Mississippi State is not a team that can afford to make a lot of mistakes and win football games and late in the fourth quarter after a great defensive play MSU had a shot to take the lead with a 27 yard field goal by Adam Carlson. Carlson missed that kick along with an extra point that was blocked earlier in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs lost the game 14-13 and all but sealed another year outside of the postseason for Sylvester Croom. You can’t miss 27-yard field goals, you just can’t and that is why Adam Carlson is this week’s PNDCW.
4 Downs with the SEC
First Down – Stephen Garcia Injury is a big deal
Stephen Garcia has yet to put together a complete game and light the SEC on fire, but what he does is energize a pretty lethargic South Carolina offense and show glimpses of genius during a game. As a redshirt freshmen, Garica is still going to make a number of mistakes, but some of his players look exactly like something you would see from Brett Favre. The touchdown pass to Mike Davis in the first quarter against Tennessee was gutsy and stupid at the same time, but it worked. Those kind of plays are what legends are made of and Garcia is off to a great start for the Gamecocks.
Garcia is the sole reason that South Carolina has been playing better and if his knee injury is significant that puts the rest of the Gamecock games in question because the options behind him cannot get the job done. Arkansas is coming in this weekend desperate for a win and unless Garcia plays, it is tough to see them winning this game. Carolina has a great shot a New Year’s Day bowl game and a strong finish to 2008, they need Garcia to get it and let’s hope he can play.
Second Down – Kentucky Loves Close Games
The University of Kentucky has turned into a very competitive football team this year and one that is pretty fun to watch. If you take away the special teams nightmare that took place in Gainesville two Saturdays ago they have played four SEC games that have been decided by a touchdown or less. They have two, one point victories over MSU and Arkanas to go along with a three-point loss at Alabama and a seven point loss to South Carolina. Kentucky has been the most competitive team that has gone up against Alabama this year in terms of margin of victory and at 6-3 they are in a great position for the post-season.
Last week I gave them the cliché’d nickname of the “Cardiac Cats” and once again they live up to that billing with another nail-biter victory this past Saturday in Starkville. The team has a lot of young talent at quarterback and running back, if this year the Wildcats are going through their growing pains, the next couple years might be even better.
Third Down – Tuberville Quit on his team this weekend
Auburn’s season has been an obvious disappointment this year, but for all that has gone wrong this weekend was the first time Tommy Tuberville actually quit on his team. Football is so emotional and players can get their hearts broken by turnovers or missed field goals and sometimes they just give up and lose focus. Coaches should never have their heads out of the game and they should never stop coaching. Down 10-0 at Ole Miss, Auburn had a minute left and three timeouts left in the first half. They had the ball on their own 35 yards line and after an 8 yard run by Mario Fannin, they had time to make a play for a last second field goal to end the half.
Tuberville walked the sidelines with no sense of urgency, as if it was the end of the first quarter, not the second. Auburn did not use a timeout; they snapped the ball with five seconds left and allowed the clock to run out. Having six timeouts in the second half would be a great advantage for any team, but not even Canadian football allows that to happen. Tuberville stopped coaching at that point, he let down his players and he let down the fans. Even in bad seasons, the players need to be coached up and shown that the coaches have faith in them. Tuberville showed none of that Saturday, he was probably debating what to do with the six million dollar buyout he will likely be given by Auburn in the next couple weeks instead of focusing on the game. What he did to those players was a complete disservice and he should be ashamed.
Fourth Down – Congrats to the Bowl Eligible Teams
The bowl picture is still an absolute mess for SEC teams, but two teams that are now bowl eligible deserve some props because I did not think they were going to get there before the season started. Congrats to Kentucky and South Carolina for likely heading to a good bowl game this winter. Both teams have been through some slumps during the season and have fought back with great effort and pride. South Carolina started the year with losses to UGA and Vanderbilt and looked ugly for the first month. They have now turned the corner and could very well end up in the Outback bowl.
Kentucky feasted on weaker opponents in September and lost their first two three games against good SEC competition, but the last two weeks they had great wins over SEC opponents to get to six wins and a possible bowl game in the Georgia Dome. This has been Rich Brooks best coaching job while at Kentucky and he deserves a lot of credit after losing so many great players to the NFL earlier this year. The Wildcats and Gamecocks should have a great destination in 2008 or 2009 and their fans should be happy about where they end up.
Another crazy weekend in the SEC, what did you guys think? E-mail
me Brian Harbach
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Harbach's Top 5 SEC Defensive Players by Position, July 27, 2008
Harbach's Top SEC Games, July 13, 2008
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Harbach's 2008 SEC Preview, June 30, 2008
Let's Get This Started, June 9, 2008
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