2009 SEC ... Week 3
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West
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Ole Miss
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Miss State
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Week 1
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2
GAME OF THE WEEK
Georgia 52 … at Arkansas 41
In a wild game with 783 passing yards, ten passing scores, and 25 penalties, Georgia pulled ahead in the back-and-forth shootout with Joe Cox fifth and final touchdown pass of the game on a 28-yard throw to A.J. Green. Ryan Mallett also threw for five scoring passes including a 40-yarder to Greg Childs and a two-yarder to D.J. Williams in the third quarter, but Cox and the Georgia passing game kept up the pace with a 44-yard play to Orson Charles and a 50-yarder to Tarvarres King in the crazy third quarter. Georgia averaged 20.8 yards per completion while Arkansas averaged 19.4 yards per catch.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Georgia QB Joe Cox completed 18-of-26 passes for 375 yards and five touchdowns with an interception in the win over Arkansas.
CONFERENCE ROUNDUP
Alabama … at Alabama 53 .... North Texas 7
... The Tide showed nearly perfect offensive balance with 260 rushing yards and 263 passing with Greg McElroy picking apart North Texas. The key to the easy win was McElroy on third downs, helping the Tide convert 10-of-14 chances. He had the time to work, and he was terrific just when the team needed to show something different. Everyone knows Bama can run, but now Arkansas has to prepare more for the short to midrange passing game.
Arkansas … at Arkansas 52 ... Georgia 41 ... Eventually, the Bobby Petrino offense will match up with a not-that-bad defense and the results will be terrific. Ryan Mallett,
showing off his next-level arm, was sensational in his first game in SEC play and he did a great job of using his receivers to spread the ball around. However, the offense finally slowed down late while the defense couldn’t shut down Georgia completely. But this was a great sign and a good jumping off point for a program that’s going to be bombing away from everyone week after week. With this offense, the Hogs have a puncher’s chance against everyone.
Auburn …at Auburn 41 ... West Virginia 30 ... Auburn proved how versatile it could be. The running game that carried the team over the first two games was shut down, and Chris Todd came through with an effective passing day. Basically, players stepped up on both sides of the ball to get the win. While there will be concerns after having so many problems with the West Virginia offense, it was a victory that last year’s team wouldn’t have had the firepower to come up with.
Florida … at Florida 23 ... Tennessee 13 ... This wasn't good. Florida was never really threatened by Tennessee and the defense kept the game from becoming tight enough to worry about, but the offense had problems with Tim Tebow needing to do everything. Chris Rainey ran well when he got the chance and Jeffrey Demps was shot out of a cannon on his scoring dash, but if the offense is going to be Tebow for 24 carries and everyone else waiting their turn, the Gators will get tagged by someone.
Georgia … at Arkansas 52 ... Georgia 41 ... So this is how it’s going to be for Georgia this year. The defense is struggling mightily against the pass, but unlike last week when the offense sputtered in the win over South Carolina, the Dawgs came up with some offense. The Georgia receivers made big things happen with midrange passes, while the running game did a good job of providing some consistent help with Richard Samuel leading the way to a nice day. As good as this win was, Georgia won’t win too many shootouts and must find a way to start generating more pressure, stop someone’s passing game, and has to slow down with the penalties. 14 for 93 yards was a problem.
Kentucky … at Kentucky 31 ... Louisville 27
... Kentucky wasn’t exactly sharp defensively in the rivalry game, but the offense got the plays needed to pull off the win. There was a solid balance helped by the accurate short-range passing from Mike Hartline, while the special teams provided the pop with a Derrick Locke kickoff return for a score. Micah Johnson had a great day for the UK defense, but to have any shot against Florida next week, the D has to do far better against the short to midrange passes and has to be better at getting off the field. Louisville came up with one big play, but was effective on third downs and was able to keep the chains moving in the second half.
LSU … at LSU 31 ... Louisiana-Lafayette 3
...The LSU defense is hitting its stride at the right time. While Louisiana was able to move the ball a little bit, the Tiger defense didn’t allow anything big and never let the game get close. Charles Scott has yet to become the runner he was expected to be starting the season, but he should be good and rested for the start of the SEC season coming off a 63-yard performance on just 12 carries. The offense could stand to use more pop, but if the defense is playing like it did this week against Mississippi State, there won’t be any problems.
Ole Miss … at Ole Miss 52 ... SE
Louisiana 6 ... After the way the team played at Memphis for the first three quarters it needed some tuning up. While it took a little while to finally make the SE Louisiana game a laugher, Jevan Snead went well into the third quarter to get on the same page with his targets before next week’s showdown at South Carolina. The secondary hasn’t been tested yet, but it will be. The Ole Miss offense has to be ready for a shootout.
Miss State … Mississippi State 15 ... at
Vanderbilt 3 ... MSU couldn’t convert on third down, successful on just 2-of-15 chances, and the passing game is non-existent, but the running game is fantastic, with Anthony Dixon and Christian Ducre each producing well against the Commodores. The running of Chris Relf and the mobility of Tyson Lee helped give the Bulldog attack enough of a dimension to make LSU a little bit concerned next week, but the passing game has to start cranking out more yards to have any hope of more SEC wins.
South Carolina … at South Carolina 38 ...
Florida Atlantic 16 ... The South Carolina offense is humming at just the right time. This might not be like a vintage Steve Spurrier attack, but after struggling so much in the opener against NC State, the Gamecocks are rolling with Stephen Garcia playing extremely well. There’s a nice offensive balance, the defense is changing games by making big plays, and the secondary is doing a great job, helped by the pass rush. Watch out on Thursday night. The team is good enough to beat Ole Miss.
Tennessee … at Florida 23 ... Tennessee 13 ... The Vol offense needs a quarterback the coaching staff can trust, after Jonathan Crompton has thrown five interceptions in two games, but it's not like the receiving corps is doing much of anything to help him out. The passing game is going to be about hoping for short plays to turn into long ones, but those aren't going to come against a defense as fast as Florida's. The defense, led by the magnificent Eric Berry, did its job against the one-dimensional Gator attack (all Tebow, all the time), and now if the O can do something, anything, the season will turn around with Ohio coming up next before dealing with Auburn.
Vanderbilt ... Mississippi State 15 ... at
Vanderbilt 3 ... Basically, Larry Smith couldn’t carry the entire offense on his shoulders against Mississippi State, with the running game unable to come through when the passing game sputtered. The Commodore passing game hasn’t shown up yet this season, while the ground attack has to get rolling against Rice to be fully tuned before dealing with Ole Miss. When the offense isn’t working, everything else has to be in line. The punting game and the return game are awful; the Commodores can’t afford to not be great in all the little areas.
Saturday, Sept. 26
Arkansas
at Alabama
Ball State at Auburn
Florida at
Kentucky
Arizona State at Georgia
LSU at Mississippi State
Ole Miss at South Carolina
Ohio at Tennessee
Vanderbilt at Rice
Saturday, Oct. 3
Alabama at Kentucky
Auburn at
Tennessee
LSU at Georgia
Georgia Tech at Mississippi State
South Carolina State at
South Carolina
Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (in Arlington)
Ole Miss at
Vanderbilt
Saturday, Oct. 10
Alabama at Ole Miss
Auburn at
Arkansas
Florida at LSU
Georgia at Tennessee
Kentucky at South Carolina
Houston at Mississippi State
Vanderbilt at Army
Saturday, Oct. 17
South Carolina at Alabama
Arkansas at Florida
Kentucky at Auburn
Georgia at Vanderbilt
UAB at Ole Miss
Mississippi State at Middle Tennessee
Saturday, Oct. 24
Tennessee at Alabama
Arkansas at Ole
Miss
Auburn at LSU
Florida at Mississippi State
UL Monroe at Kentucky
Vanderbilt at
South Carolina
Saturday, Oct. 31
Eastern Michigan at Arkansas
Ole
Miss at Auburn
Florida vs. Georgia
(in Jacksonville)
Mississippi State at Kentucky
LSU at Tulane
South Carolina at Tennessee
Georgia Tech at Vanderbilt
Saturday, Nov. 7
LSU at
Alabama
South Carolina at Arkansas
Furman at
Auburn
Vanderbilt at Florida
Tennessee Tech at Georgia
Eastern Kentucky at Kentucky
Memphis at Tennessee
Northern
Arizona at Ole Miss
Saturday, Nov. 14
Alabama at Mississippi State
Troy at
Arkansas
Auburn at Georgia
Florida
at South Carolina
Kentucky at Vanderbilt
Louisiana Tech at LSU
Tennessee at Ole Miss
Saturday, Nov. 21
Chattanooga at Alabama
Mississippi
State at Arkansas (Little Rock)
FIU at Florida
Kentucky at
Georgia
LSU at Ole Miss
Vanderbilt at Tennessee
Saturday, Nov. 28
Arkansas at LSU
Ole Miss at
Mississippi State
Alabama at Auburn
Florida State at Florida
Georgia at Georgia Tech
Tennessee at Kentucky
Clemson at South Carolina
Saturday, Dec. 5
SEC Championship Game (Atlanta)