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:
We could go with Auburn University, for making the correct decision to fire Tommy Tuberville. Or we could also go with reader Brian in Kentucky, who insisted before the season that the Wildcats would go bowling. Y’all limped in with a 2-6 conference record, Brian – but good call. Or perhaps even Arkansas freshman TB Dennis Johnson. Filling in for the injured Mike Smith, Johnson accounted for 231 all purpose yards, including 127 yards rushing on just 18 carries, and a TD. But is there really any doubt: Tim Tebow weathered expectations, an injured Percy Harvin, and, well, the weather, in trouncing #20 FSU 45-15. IN Tallahassee. Mr. Heisman’s stat line? 12-of-21 passing for 189 yards and 3 TDs, to go with 80 yards rushing on just 16 carries (5/ypc) – plus another TD. That’s right – 4 TDs.
Brian Harbach:
I always have a soft spot for seniors, especially embattled seniors. And there may be no better example than Arkansas’ Casey Dick. Dick has been killed every year he's been the starter for the Razorbacks. He was blamed for the team not going as far as they could because he was holding back the offense. He was behind true freshmen Mitch Mustain back in 2006, and had to deal with the pressure when Houston Nutt put him in to replace Mustain late in the season. He was a pretty polarizing character in Fayetteville, and he never seemed to get the chance to run an offense that wasn’t simply handing the ball off. Until this season.
Early in the year he led two amazing fourth quarter comebacks that would have been disastrous losses for Bobby Petrino. He also led the Razorbacks to a huge win over Auburn in Jordan Hare stadium this season. However, his best moment may have been the 24 yard touchdown pass he threw to London Crawford this past Saturday against LSU. With 30 seconds remaining, down by six points in front of a home crowd, Dick threw a TD to upset the LSU Tigers that will be remembered by Hog (and Tiger) fans forever. As a senior, you really can’t go out any better than that. Casey Dick was a good college quarterback, not a great one, but his performance against LSU was great and so was that last throw. I was glad to see his last moment in a Razorback uniform be a touchdown pass to win a game at home. Arkansas fans should appreciate him for what he did, not what he didn’t.
(ii) "What was the key moment/play for Alabama and Florida this season?"
Mitchell:
The key moment for Alabama was the first half of the first game of the season – Clemson. Looking back, the rest of America now knows just how over-rated Clemson was, but at the time, this performance rallied the ‘bama players. Coming off a 7-6 season, it instilled confidence in not only the system, but it cemented their confidence in Saban. It wasn’t just going up 23-3 – it was the way they did it. Virtually stifling the Clemson offense – certainly it’s talented tailbacks. Bama rode that momentum/confidence through a sloppy September, and never looked back. Remember, they’re kids – confidence is half the battle.
We nearly went with the emergence of Rainey and Demps in the second half of that Arkansas game (which if you watched it, was much tighter than the final score suggests). But since Harbach's already taken that, we’ll add depth to the obvious... The defining moment was Tebow’s reaction following the loss, at home, to Ole Miss. Tebow is this team’s best player. It's undisputed leader - both on and off the field. He has the complete respect of his fellow players, as well as the coaches. Name another college player who has that; or is that important to his team. If he reacted that passionately afterward in front of us, just imagine what it must have been like in that post-game locker room. What practice was like the following week... Since that game, Florida has simply dismantled its opponents, averaging 52 points a game. And its defense hasn't allowed a team other than LSU to even get out of the teens. Georgia’s been over-rated all season, but it’s a good squad, and Florida held the ‘Dawgs to virtually a FG, while posting 49. Don’t kid yourself – that fire is Tebow’s, not Urban Meyer’s. And his teammates are eating it up.
Harbach:
If there was one moment that made me believe this was the year for Alabama it had to be their overtime win in Baton Rouge. Crimson Tide teams in the past would have lost that game in overtime after the blocked field goal, but Nick Saban had them so prepared and so focused that they were able to avert disaster and finish that game in the toughest of environments. Of course Jarrett Lee was terrible, but everything was going wrong for Alabama in that last quarter and when they had a chance to win the game with a field goal, it was blocked. People could sense after that play that LSU was going to steal that win away from Alabama, but after another huge play from senior Rashad Johnson in overtime it was obvious this Alabama team was different and Nick Saban had finished their turnaround well ahead of schedule.
For the Gators the moment happened in the Arkansas game when they were finally able to get the running game in high gear, instead of relying exclusively on Tebow. Both Chris Rainey and Jeffrey Demps rushed for more than 100 yards; even against an average Arkansas team, the fact that the Gators had found a rushing attack completely opened up their offense. The first five games of the season they averaged 36.2 points a game and those games would have to be considered the softer part of their schedule. After the Arkansas game when the Gator rushing attack woke up the Florida averaged 53.7 points a game. The rushing attack added a new threat to the Gator offense, a threat they have not had in Urban Meyer’s four years as head coach. That game against Arkansas woke up a good offense and turned it into a great one.
(iii) What everyone should be talking about after Week 14, but isn’t?
Mitchell:
Well that leaves out Big Game Tommy, the SECCG, and anything to do with LSU’s defense: (i) Our inbox has been full with correspondence the past 24 hours suggesting that Longhorn DC Will Muschamp is, well, let's just call it "less than masculine" for not wanting to return to coach at Auburn. COME ON, Will baby! This is it, man! Auburn! You started your coaching career here. You DC’d here. You played at Georgia. You’re an SEC man. What have they put in the water out there? Wake up!! Quite it with this Texas nonsense and come on home, (ii) LSU is the first National Champion since OSU in 1943 to follow up a #1 season with a losing conference record. Ouch, (iii) GT only had 19 yards passing but still beat Georgia between the Hedges. The Jackets ran virtually unstopped in the second half, (iv) The SEC doesn’t have enough eligible teams to field its full allotment of bowls. Ouch, (v) VANDY’S GOING BOWLING! Happy days, (vi) The SEC West only had two teams .500 of better in conference (‘bama and Ole Miss); the East had four (Florida, UGA, South Carolina, and Vandy), (vi) Bama's D is ranked #2 against the rush, #20 against the pass, and #3 overall… Plus it’s the nation’s #3 scoring defense. Versus, (vii) Florida O is #61 in passing, #10 rushing, and #17 overall… Plus it's the nation’s #3 scoring offense. The difference? (viii) Florida Defense is also excellent – ranked #7 overall. While Alabama’s offense is only #53, (ix) The conference has just one team in the Top 20 in Scoring and Total Offense (Florida, #3 and #17, respectively), and (x) five teams in the Top 20 in Total Defense (‘bama, UT, Florida, USC and Ole Miss).
Harbach:
One of the more surprising outcomes of the weekend was South Carolina’s terrible effort against Clemson. Once again, Quarterback play doomed the Gamecocks. But more of the blame needs to be put on Steve Spurrier for the terrible job he has done in Columbia. It may be a little early for this discussion, but no one is talking about how unimpressive Spurrier has been in now four seasons with South Carolina. Obviously, South Carolina is not in any position to fire a coach like Spurrier, but if this was any other man, the Gamecocks would be the in same position as Tennessee, Mississippi State and Auburn. Ignore the name and look at the numbers...
South Carolina is 1-3 against Clemson the last four years, their SEC record is 15-17 and they have no lost fewer than 3 SEC games in a season and have not lost less than 5 games in any of the last 4 years. The offense has been a consistent struggle while the defense plays great. South Carolina has had inconsistent quarterback play in each of the last four seasons and there is still not a quarterback on the roster that can inspire any confidence in future Gamecock teams. If this was any coach other than Steve Spurrier, he would have been fired this season. Carolina fans insist they are giving him time to build the program, and Lou Holtz left it in shambles when he retired. That may be true; however, how much longer can that excuse be used? If Spurrier returns next season he will have to make a huge improvement to warrant a sixth season. Moreover, the schedule is tough for the Gamecocks, with games at North Carolina State, at Georgia, at Alabama, at Tennessee to go along with Florida and Clemson to close out the season. We know what Spurrier can do as a coach, we just haven’t seen it at South Carolina.
IN FOCUS: Which Coach / Player is in the Spotlight this week?
Mitchell:
Jeffrey Demps, TB, Florida. Yes, not Chris Rainey, and here’s why. With Harvin likely gimpy at best, the Gators will have to lean on someone, and they’re already leaning on Rainey. Florida struggled earlier in the season without a rushing attack, and with Harvin’s impact questionable, someone will have to emerge and play the "tag-team" partner for Rainey. In the two games (Arkansas & LSU) before Rainey and Harvin took all the reps, Demps carried 17 times for 232 yards, or 13.7 /ypc. With Harvin banged up Saturday, Demps got nine carries for 89 yards; roughly ~10 /ypc. He doesn’t need 10 yards per carry, but he needs to show up big. A few catches out of the backfield wouldn’t hurt either; he’s averaging nearly 10 yards per touch there as well.
Harbach:
Rolando McClain, LB Alabama. As only a sophomore, Rolando McClain is one of the leaders of an excellent Alabama defense. McClain has been a great player for the Tide all season long, but his play this weekend will be crucial to the Tide’s chances of a victory. He will be huge in short yardage situations when Tebow would be running the ball and his size will be a factor because he is big enough to handle Tebow one on one if he gets the chance to bring him down. The Alabama outside linebackers will need big games to control the outside running plays of the Gators, but a game like this will likely come down to short yardage plays on third down. McClain will be huge on short third downs and if he can make some big stops Alabama might have a great shot to win this game.
SEC POWER RANKINGS
Mitchell
1 Florida – Averaging 50+ yards per game since Ole Miss. How ‘bout w/o Percy?
2 Alabama – Hasn’t played a team even close to Florida’s caliber this season
3 Ole Miss – (up from 4) As noted all season, UGA is over-rated
4 Georgia – (down from 3) It’s the same play. They run the same play over and over. You had two weeks to prepare for that!
As noted a few weeks ago, we can no longer in good conscious rank any other SEC teams on a list with the word “Power” in the title.
Harbach
1 Alabama – The Tide wasn’t looking ahead to Florida against Auburn
2 Florida – Offense is humming; putting the Gators indoors on a fast track is scary
3 Georgia – Richt’s best team finishes with 3 losses; Will the juniors return?
4 Ole Miss – Nutt has this team in a January bowl and well ahead of schedule
5 LSU – For Miles’ sakes the young QB’s better grow up this spring
6 South Carolina – Something's wrong with Spurrier; another disappointing season
7 Vanderbilt – Even with late season slump, the Dores are heading to a bowl game!
8 Kentucky – See: Vanderbilt
9 Auburn – Be careful what you wish for Auburn fans, this new hire is crucial
10 Tennessee – Glad to see Fulmer go out with a win
11 MSU – Sylvester Croom will be missed, but he just didn’t win enough
12 Arkansas – Another upset win over LSU, the Ryan Mallet era can officially begin
ONE GAME TO DVR
Mitchell:
1) No. 1 Alabama (12-0) v. No. 4 Florida (11-1), December 6. Tebow may have less than his obscene TD total from last year (32 Passing / 25 Rushing), but his 25 passing TDs this season have come with only two INTs. Don’t think we’ll see the 4 INT day we saw in Baton Rouge, Tide faithful. Florida wins this game for one simple reason: Alabama has won with defense this season, and Tebow will nullify that advantage. Alabama’s one defensive weakness is passing, and even without Percy, Tebow will do fine. Moreover, while Alabama’s defense is ranked #3 overall, its offense is a pedestrian #53. Florida Overall: Offense #17; Defense: #7.
But it’ll be closer than people think. Florida struggled in the early part of the season when it had trouble establishing the run. With Harvin’s impact questionable, Florida will rely on Demps. In the two games (Arkansas & LSU) before Rainey and Harvin took all the reps, Demps carried 17 times for 232 yards, or 13.7 /ypc. With Harvin banged up Saturday, Demps got nine carries for 89 yards; roughly ~10 /ypc. He doesn’t need 10 yards per carry, but he needs to show up big. And he will. Florida pulls away, but only at the end…
Florida 41, Alabama 28
Season Record: 30-12
Harbach:
1) Alabama (12-0) v. Florida (11-1), December 6 The two styles these teams will bring to the Georgia Dome this weekend could not be any more contrasting. Florida is fast, explosive and creative; Alabama is physical, calculating and methodical. Florida can score on any play and Alabama can control the game to keep Florida off the field. Nick Saban is a master of creating game plans and putting his players in a position to be successful while Urban Meyer is a genius play caller who dials up the right play at the right time consistently. This game is a battle between two giants of the SEC and it is the most exciting SEC Championship game we have had in years. This game is going to have a lot of points and probably a lot of turnovers. Both defenses are aggressive and opportunistic, but the game will come down to the team that can score when it absolutely has to. I like Tebow and the Gator offensive weapons over John Parker Wilson who is playing very well right now. This game will go all four quarters, but the Gators will pull away at the end. Florida heads to Miami and Alabama heads to New Orleans, great seasons for both teams.
Florida 41, Alabama 31
Season Record: 25-17
email Brian: Brian Harbach
email Russ: Russ Mitchell
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