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 Florida Gators awakening in 2008, Tommy Tuberville’s stubbornness, South Carolina finally finding a quarterback and Bobby Petrino shows Auburn what they could have had. As usual the format is the same: please feel free to send me any comments or suggestions. Here we go…

The Weekend That Was

This is the Florida we have been waiting for. This is the team we expected to see from the start of the year and this is the team that was picked to win the SEC before the start of the season. Tebow stepped up, the young running backs stepped up and most importantly the offensive line stepped up against LSU’s excellent defensive front. It is so important for Florida to be able to run the ball effectively with the young freshmen because when Tebow and Percy Harvin are the primary running backs it makes them take unnecessary hits.

Harvin has a history of injuries and Tebow really wore down late last year after taking all those brutal shots, but if Chris Rainey and Jeffrey Demps can be the ones taking the hits it will be better down the road for Florida. Tebow was a very effective 14 of 21 for 210 yards and two scores to go along with his one rushing touchdown, but he only ran the ball 12 times. The running backs have been the primary rushers for the Gators the last two weeks and that is great for Florida and bad for the SEC.

The Weekend That Wasn’t

It wasn’t surprising to see Vanderbilt lose this weekend, struggling on offense and defense was going to catch up with them at some point and a Mississippi State team that had two weeks to prepare for the Dores was a perfect upset opportunity. Bobby Johnson has a very difficult decision to make with his quarterback position and if he makes the right one it is going to disappoint a senior, but coaches have to make the tough decision. Chris Nickson is a good player and a great young man, but he is not helping the Vanderbilt team win games right now. It was surprising to see Mackenzie Adams come into the game so late against MSU, but Nickson deserved every chance to play in that game.

Adams should be the starter the rest of the year and he should be able to lead Vanderbilt to a bowl game. This is a step back, but it doesn’t change the fact they are 5-1 and still ranked in the top 25. Adams looks like he has a better grasp of the passing game and he seems to bring more energy to the offense. Nickson is obviously hurt and this is not a knock against him as a player, but it is time to let Adams take the reigns. A true team player cares about winning, especially for a Vanderbilt team. Nickson might fit into a package or two during a game, but it is obvious Mackenzie Adams should be the starter next week against Georgia.

The Weekend That…What the Heck

It may have been the sloppiest game all year, but the Kentucky/South Carolina game was fun to watch. The first half contained a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown, an interception returned for a touchdown, six missed field goals and six turnovers. The offense was ugly for both teams and it was not because of great defense. Quarterbacks turned the ball over, they missed open receivers and both starters combined to complete fewer than fifty percent of their passes. Chris Smelley looked the worst of the two starters and was replaced by the hopefully new starting South Carolina QB Stephen Garcia.

Kentucky’s Mike Hartline really never got any downfield passing to work out and he was only getting about six and half yards per completion. The overall sloppy play made for one heck of a game to watch, unless you were a Kentucky or South Carolina fan. The text messages that were sent from my South Carolina family members were priceless, but this crazy game was another reason to love SEC football.

The Weekend That Will Be

This week there are two games that could be considered marquis games in the SEC, the first being the only mathcup between ranked teams with Vanderbilt traveling to Georgia. The Commodores have given UGA fits the last two season, upsetting them in 2006 while Georgia kicked a last minute field goal to win last year. Of course we all remember the Bulldogs stomping on the Vandy field, so maybe we will get a physical game with the emotions running high.

The next big game is a rematch from a classic last year between LSU and South Carolina. Spurrier’s team had one of their best efforts of the year against the Tigers in Baton Rouge last season and you can bet that the Gamecocks will be ready for any fake field goals. The only other game that is an attention grabber is Misissippi State traveling to Tennessee. Yes, both teams are 2-4, but Tennessee will be desperate for a win and Mississippi State is coming off a good outing vs. a ranked Vanderbilt team.

Big Man on Campus (BMOC)

Stephen Garcia, South Carolina QB
No player listed in the BMOC has gone through more than Stephen Garcia has and maybe that is why he deserves this spot over many other performances. He hasn’t been the perfect player at South Carolina and he has made some mistakes. Garcia is young and every young kid does things they regret when they are eighteen or nineteen. Seeing him come in against Kentucky in a tough environment and watching him play well was a great sight for SEC fans and a great sight for Gamecocks. He looked calm and under control while playing, he made some great throws right off the bat when he was brought in and the team seemed to rally around him. Players get fired up seeing passing quarterbacks making plays with their feet and the Gamecocks rallied around Garcia. If he can keep on the right path off the field he has a bright future in the SEC and this won’t be the last time he is the Bachstory’s BMOC.

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).

Ricky Jean-Francois, DT LSU
One things you can’t do before a huge game is give any team bulletin board material and RJF managed to make some pretty silly comments regarding taking Tim Tebow out of the game. Were they taken out of context, maybe, but he should have never said them. To make matters worse RJF didn’t even play in the game due to a groin injury. An injury is never any player’s fault, but RJF hurt his team this weekend with his mouth and by not being able to play. Both of those things were positives for Florida since Jean-Francois is a dominant force at defensive tackle when he is in the game and they were obviously fired up for the game. RJF didn’t make the trip, but I am sure he had plenty of Charlie Work to do back in Baton Rouge.

4 Downs with the SEC

First Down – Tuberville’s Stubbornness will cost him his job and Auburn
There is no reason to rehash for the thousandth time how horrible the Auburn offense is or how much worse it is going to get with the team minus Tony Franklin. With Franklin gone, no one on the Auburn team knows how to coach, call or run the spread offense. With that in mind Auburn attempted to run the spread offense against Arkansas for some insane reason. The stubbornness of Tommy Tuberville by insisting to make Auburn a spread team is going to cost him his job and Auburn is more than justified to do so.

The best the Auburn Tigers have looked all season was the first quarter against Vanderbilt when they physically banged their way to a 13-0 lead. Up against an Arkansas team that was giving up 200 rushing yards a game was a great opportunity to go back to that physical running game, but Auburn didn’t. Tommy Tuberville believes that the spread is the future at Auburn, but what he doesn’t realize is that he is not the future of Auburn. This decision will cost him his job a the end of the season and this is going to set Auburn back years.

Alabama has turned the corner with Saban, LSU is still the most talented team in the West, Ole Miss has a coach for all its young talent and Bobby Petrino may end up being the new Spurrier in the SEC. Auburn has no identity, no offensive coordinator and a likely coaching change looming on the horizon that will kill a decent recruiting class and give every rival a chance to get ahead while Auburn plays catch up. Tuberville won’t be in Auburn to witness this, but the next coach has a mountain to climb because of Tuberville’s colossal mistake.

Second Down – Arkansas is going to be good
As mentioned in the first down, Bobby Petrino is the best offensive coach the SEC has had since Steve Spurrier was running wild at Florida. He is innovative, intelligent and knows how to call a game. Casey Dick has had an amazing turn around under Petrino and while the team is still seriously rebuilding, sooner rather than later Arkansas will be competitive with the rest of the SEC. The two play calls Petrino dialed up against Auburn yesterday with the throwback to Dick and the read option with Dick running the ball for the score were perfect.

Former Auburn employees knew what they were doing when they tried to hire Petrino in 2003, they just didn’t know the right way to do it. If Petrino can stay with the Razorbacks for a number of years, something he has obviously struggled to do, Arkansas will be a threat to win the SEC. Next year they will have a true weapon at QB with Michigan transfer Ryan Mallett and with the coaching behind Mallett, the Hogs will be dangerous.

Third Down – Will Georgia have enough players to finish the season?
It has been well documented how many injuries UGA has had to deal with in the first half of the season, but another loss came this weekend to starting offensive tackle Vince Vance and on the kids birthday. The UGA offensive line is being held together with duct tape and paper clips and this loss is going to hurt even more. UGA has a number of games left against very good defensive lines and all of those games come right next to each other.

We hammered on the Georgia schedule in the preseason, but now the games at LSU, at Kentucky, Florida in Jacksonville and at Auburn look even more difficult with all of those teams having very good front fours defensively. Mark Richt is too good a coach not to figure out put Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno in a position to be successful in those games, but the line is going to get reshuffled once again and the injury bug doesn’t seem to want to leave Athens.

Fourth Down – Spurrier may have found a QB
Seven games into the season, Steve Spurrier has his starting quarterback for South Carolina. Stephen Garcia came late in the game against Kentucky and added a spark to a team that was done on itself once again after the QB position tried to hand over the game to the opposing team. Chris Smelley threw picks, fumbled the football and missed wide open receivers all game against Kentucky. Garcia came in and was shockingly calm against a good Wildcat defense and made plays with his feet and his arm.

Gamecock fans have seen glimpses of greatness from Garcia this year, but it looks like the light has officially turned on. There is no doubt that he should be starting this weekend against LSU and it will be a huge challenge for him with the Bengal Tigers coming off a disappointing loss to Florida. Against a team like LSU Garcia is going to make mistakes, Spurrier needs to give the kid the same leash he has given Smelley and Beecher early in the year and let him finish the game regardless of his play. Garcia needs to be out there and he needs to battle through this game to become a better player. Spurrier better give him his change.

A lot of stuff went on this past weekend, what were your thoughts? E-mail me Brian Harbach

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 18, 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