Week 4 provided SEC fans with some great games that separated the contenders from the pretenders. Let’s look at what happened in the SEC this past weekend.
#1 Alabama Crimson Tide 24, #10 Arkansas Razorbacks 20
This game lived up to the hype as it was exciting from start to finish. Arkansas started out quick from the gate as the Razorbacks scored on their second play from scrimmage as Razorbacks QB Ryan Mallett threw a 43 yard TD pass to RB Ronnie Wingo to go up 7-0. For Alabama, it was the first time that the team has been behind in a game all season!
Even though this was the first moment in which the team was losing in a game, Alabama came back to tie the score at 7 when RB Mark Ingram turned a sweep to the right side into a 54 yard TD run in the middle of the first quarter. On the next drive, Arkansas was able to answer back with a 31 yard FG by Zach Hocker to make the score 10-7 Razorbacks at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was dominated by both defenses as Alabama’s first two drives ended with interceptions by Crimson Tide QB Greg McElroy. Mallett also threw a pick in this quarter as well. Nevertheless, Arkansas was able to bounce back quicker from the second quarter mishaps by putting a long drive together at the end of the quarter which ended with a 1 yard QB dive up the middle with 18 seconds remaining in the half. At intermission, the Razorbacks appeared to be closing in on an upset as they were ahead 17-7.
In the third quarter, Arkansas extended their lead to 20-7 with another Hocker FG around the midway point. From then on, the game belonged to Alabama. The Crimson Tide was able to put together a TD drive to end the quarter when McElroy threw a 20 yard TD pass to RB Trent Richardson. This score put Alabama back within striking distance at 20-14.
The fourth quarter was completely dominated by Alabama. During the fourth quarter, Mallett threw two interceptions. Those were the only two drives Arkansas had the entire quarter as Alabama had the ball in its possession for 13 minutes during the fourth. Alabama wore down the Arkansas defense by starting out the fourth quarter with an eight minute drive, which resulted with a Jeremy Shelley 36 yard field game to close the gap to 20-17.
After Mallett threw his first interception a minute later at the Arkansas 12, Alabama was able to take the lead with an Ingram one yard TD run with 3:39 left. Arkansas attempted to regain the lead, but Mallett threw his second INT in the quarter with 1:48 remaining. Alabama was able to run down the clock to avoid the upset.
This loss really hurts Arkansas because this one loss now places Arkansas fourth in the toughest division in college football: the SEC West. Arkansas would now have to win the rest of their games and hope Alabama loses twice in order for the Razorbacks to be eligible for the SEC Championship Game. For Alabama, the tide continues to roll as the quest for a repeat continues.
#17 Auburn Tigers 35, #12 South Carolina Gamecocks 27
After a hard-fought victory last week by Auburn, the Tigers turned around and beat another stellar team this week by upsetting South Carolina 35-27 in Auburn. This game was close all the way with Auburn winning in the fourth quarter.
Auburn started out the scoring with a 54 yard TD run by Tigers QB Cameron Newton at 9:18 in the first quarter. South Carolina was then able to score 20 unanswered points due to efficient passing from Gamecocks QB Stephen Garcia, as he threw two TD passes in the first half to WR Alshon Jeffrey. South Carolina capitalized on Auburn’s inefficiency during the first half as Auburn fumbled twice. However, Newton was able to score again on a 3 yard TD run late in the 2nd quarter. The halftime score was South Carolina 20, Auburn 14.
The second half brought about a calvacade of mistakes. Auburn’s usually reliable placekicker Wes Byrum missed two field goals in the quarter. Nevertheless, both teams were able to score a touchdown in the third quarter as the Cocks were ahead 27-21 as they penetrated on to the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was a heartbreaker for South Carolina due to the fact that the first play of the fourth quarter was a Garcia fumble that Auburn recovered on the South Carolina 26 yard line. Auburn was able to score a touchdown after that fumble to take the lead 28-27. On the next possession, Garcia fumbled again on the Auburn 47. Auburn was also able to turn this fumble into a TD as well to make the score 35-27.
After the two fumbles, the Ol’ Ball Coach Steve Spurrier was so infuriated with Garcia’s inability to not commit turnovers that he sat him for the rest of the game after the second fumble occurred with ten minutes left to play. Spurrier then turned the QB reins over to freshman QB Connor Shaw. Many will question this move because he went with an unproven freshman down the stretch with so much on the line even though Garcia was throwing the ball well; Garcia was 15-21 for 235 yards with 3 TD’s and no picks up to that point.
It was very possible that Garcia could have led another TD drive that would have tied the game. However, the freshman QB was jittery and threw two INT’s on the two drives he led. The flip-flopping of quarterbacks and the lack of depth on South Carolina’s team led to their demise. Once again, Auburn was able to survive against a ranked opponent.
As I have proven once again, South Carolina will not win an SEC Championship until the Confederate Flag is taken down in front of the State Capitol Building in Columbia, SC. If you are a Gamecock fan and if you really care about your football team, then please sign this petition that I have started to ensure that the Confederate Flag is taken down in front of the State Capitol Building at this link: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/take-down-confederate-flag/
It’s no wonder why South Carolina keeps losing so many huge games when they choose to continue to fly the flag of the losing faction of the Civil War. The state of South Carolina needs to no longer embrace losing.
As for Auburn, these two weeks have proven that the Tigers are the real deal and that the Iron Bowl game will eventually decide who will be the SEC West Division Champion at the end of the regular season.
Mississippi State Bulldogs 24, Georgia Bulldogs 12
Let’s take a look at the SEC upset of the week as Mississippi St. was able to double the score on Georgia even though Georgia had the advantages in time of possession and in total yardage in this matchup between the two Bulldog teams.
The key to Mississippi State’s win was the run defense. Even though Georgia was able to move the ball up and down the field during the first half behind the throwing arm of Georgia QB Aaron Murray, Georgia was never able to obtain the tough yards needed in the red zone to score touchdowns. At the end of three quarters, Mississippi St. was holding on to a 7-6 lead because of their run defense stifling Georgia when Georgia made it into field goal range.
As a team, Georgia only ran for 113 yards on 34 carries, a dismal 3.3 yards per carry in regards to the fact that Georgia has one of the best offensive lines in college football. Every time Georgia was in Mississippi St. territory, there was not enough room for Murray to throw the ball around. Settling for field goals earlier in the game led to Georgia’s demise in the 4th quarter.
The bruising run-first option style of offense implemented by Mississippi St. throughout the game took a toll on Georgia’s defense. The results were seen in the fourth quarter when Mississippi St. scored 17 unanswered points.
The critical part of the game occurred with 4:36 left to play as Mississippi St. QB Chris Relf hit WR Arceto Clark on a 33 yard TD pass to put Mississippi St. up 17-6. The pass surprised the Georgia defense because Mississippi St. threw the ball only 14 times the entire game while they rushed it 44 times. On the next possession, Georgia received the ball at its own 20. Instead of punting the ball away with it being 4th and 9, Georgia went for it. The result was an incomplete pass and Mississippi St. driving 20 yards for another score on a 1 yard TD run by Vick Ballard to make the score 24-6.
Georgia did not quit and was finally able to find the end zone when Murray found Tavares King on a 40 yard TD pass. The two point conversion failed, so the final score was 24-12. This game proves why the SEC is the best conference in college football. It doesn’t matter which team you go up against in the SEC; if you have a bad day running the ball in conference play, then you will lose the game.
For Georgia, this puts them at 0-3 in SEC play, ending all hopes of making the SEC Championship Game. You can thank WR AJ Green for being suspended for four games as to why Georgia lost all three of those conference games. If Green played this week instead of being suspended, then Mississippi St. would not have focused on stopping the run the entire game. However, Green made one of the dumbest financial decisions since TARP: selling a jersey for a thousand dollars in the offseason instead of waiting until he becomes a millionaire next season in the NFL draft. Who was giving this guy advice on money, Gordon Gecko?
For Mississippi St., this win gives them the opportunity to still have a chance to make a bowl game. By being 2-2 now, searching for that 6th win later on during the season could be difficult because Mississippi St. still has to play Florida, Alabama, and Arkansas.
#9 Florida Gators 48, Kentucky Wildcats 14
Many people were wondering when Florida’s offense would get back on track and begin to score a plethora of points. Well, that happened on Saturday as Coach Urban Meyer finally found the missing link to the offensive puzzle: freshman backup QB Trey Burton. In the previous three weeks, Meyer has gone completely with starting QB John Brantley under the helm with mediocre results because it is impossible to run all of Meyer’s offensive option schemes with a drop-back passer.
Coach Meyer finally handed over the option reins to Burton in spots to bring the offense the type of pizazz that it had lacked since last season. That key decision worked wonders as Burton ran for five touchdowns and caught a TD pass from Brantley. Whenever the Gators reached the red zone, Burton was brought into the game at QB to run the option. The option opens up defenses because it forces the defenses to become reactionary. That split second of indecision is needed in the SEC, a conference in which the best athletes in the country play defense. After Burton’s performance, Coach Meyer’s heart has stopped palpitating.
Having Burton switch with Brantley also took pressure off of Brantley. Brantley had his best passing day this season as he passed for 248 yards with one TD and one INT. Not having the pressure solely on his shoulders to score TD’s, Brantley took more chances down the field.
For Kentucky, this was a disappointing performance because it appeared that the Wildcat offense had turned the corner. Although Kentucky was able to gain plenty of yards throughout the day as Florida outgained Kentucky 466-352, those 352 yards only led to 14 points. A problem for Kentucky is the ability to sustain drives as the longest drive of the first half for Kentucky only had seven plays. That type of inefficiency on Saturday led to the defense being tired in the second half as Florida first three drives of the second half were 83, 80, and 51 yards for touchdowns. Kentucky should be better during the season if they make the offensive more cohesive around its talented players.
For Florida, they are already all alone in first place in the SEC East. Plus, they already have a two game lead on their two toughest rivals in the division in South Carolina and Georgia and they have the tiebreaker on the two teams they beat in back-to-back weeks in Tennessee and Kentucky. Vanderbilt also has one loss in SEC play, which was off this week. Even though the season is only a third of the way done, Florida already controls its own destiny in the SEC East. As of now, Coach Meyer’s heart is beating 72 times a minute in perfect fashion.
#15 LSU Tigers 20, #22 West Virginia Mountaineers 14
LSU faced another strong non-conference test as undefeated West Virginia came into town on Saturday. Once again, LSU dominated the first half by scoring the first 17 points of the game. Stephen Ridley started off the scoring with a one yard TD run in the first quarter. Ridley is having an amazing season even though the opponent knows that he is their main option on offense. Ridley had another awesome game, running for 116 yards on 20 carries.
After a Josh Jasper 48 yard FG early in the second quarter made the score 10-0 LSU, LSU fans became even more excited when CB Patrick Peterson returned a punt 60 yards for a TD with 9:55 left to play in the half to make the score 17-0. After Peterson scored, he struck the Heisman pose, which incurred a 15 yard penalty. It seems like in every LSU game, somebody on their team finds something dumb to do to take away their momentum during the game. After that boneheaded play, West Virginia began to fight back and scored a touchdown with 53 seconds left in the half. At intermission, LSU was up 17-7.
LSU almost collapsed again in the second half as West Virginia scored another touchdown in the middle of the third quarter to make the score 17-14 LSU. LSU fans were on edge the rest of the game as the Tigers offense was only able to generate a FG at the start of the fourth quarter to make the score 20-14. Fortunately for Tigers fans, the score remained the same the rest of the way.
Kudos to LSU’s defense for showing up once again in the second half. If it wasn’t for their defense, LSU would be 2-2 as LSU was once again outscored in the second half. LSU’s defense stepped up big against a potent Mountaineer offense, which looks like this season’s Big East Conference Champion. The lack of preparation and second half adjustments by Coach Les Miles throughout the start of the season will ensure that he will make another dumb decision at the end of a game later on during the season that will destroy LSU’s chances at a national title.
Oh yeah, please find somebody to fix the throwing accuracy of LSU QB Jordan Jefferson. Jefferson was abysmal once again. 10-22 for 75 yards with 2 INT’s will not cut it in the SEC. The Tigers wide receivers need to step it up as well as they have the speed, yet they don’t run their routes properly enough to gain separation away from defenders. If you don’t like LSU, then don’t worry; the annual Les Miles choke will be coming to you soon live either on CBS or ESPN.
Mississippi Rebels 55, Fresno State Bulldogs 38
The Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde season continues for Ole Miss as they continue to play good every other week. After being clobbered by Vanderbilt last week, Mississippi came out this week and destroyed a team many pundits thought that they would lose.
The key to this upset was to run it down Fresno State’s throat as Ole Miss only threw the ball 12 times the entire game. However, the Rebels didn’t have to throw the ball at all because Fresno St. couldn’t stop the Mississippi running game. Mississippi ran for 425 yards the entire game compared to the Bulldogs 30!
The running game was turned over to Rebel RB Brandon Bolden. Bolden ran for 228 yards on only 19 carries, including a 71 yard TD run and a 14 yard TD run. Bolden also caught a TD pass. Since the Masoli experiment has been an absolute failure, the Ole Miss coaching staff decided that the best thing that he can do now is hand the ball off to Bolden. Bolden absolutely shredded the Bulldog defense as the Rebel offensive line was pushing defenders back for the entire game.
This game also proves the point that you cannot defeat an SEC team without figuring out a way to run the ball. Fresno St. was behind the whole game, but one can never abandon the run against an SEC team. It was great that Fresno St. passed for 390 yards, but running for 30 ensures a loss in any game. Fresno State’s defense was tired the entire game since they were on the field for most of the game. Defending pass plays is way easier than having to defend against the run. Even if a team cannot run the ball, one still must try to in order to tire out the opposing defense instead of abandoning the run.
Since Ole Miss played good this week, Rebel fans are already cringing about next week because Ole Miss hasn’t played good two weeks in a row.
Tennessee Volunteers 32, UAB Blazers 29 (2OT)
Tennessee and UAB was involved in by far the most bizarre game of the week as this game went into double overtime. UAB clearly dominated play by outgaining Tennessee 544-287 for the entire game. So you may be wondering, “Well, how did this game end up being in overtime?” Well, the answer is UAB placekicker Josh Zahn.
Zahn missed five field goals throughout regulation for UAB as UAB was able to consistently drive the ball into Tennessee territory. Matter of fact, UAB only punted the ball four times throughout the entire game. Those fifteen points would have easily given the victory to UAB, but Tennessee was able to hold on for the double overtime victory. Zahn was an equal opportunity misser as he missed at least one field goal in every quarter.
Tennessee ravaged UAB in the first half as Tennessee was up 23-7 at half due to two TD passes by Volunteer QB Matt Simms and an INT return for a TD by defender Prentiss Waggner. The only scoring done in the second half was done by UAB. UAB scored two TD’s in the second half and completed both two-point conversions to tie the score at 23 with 9:41 remaining in the second half. UAB had a chance to win the game with 38 seconds left, but Zahn missed his fifth field goal.
In the first OT, Tennessee had possession first but they only kicked a field goal to make it 26-23. UAB was unable to get a TD, so they had to settle for a FG. The surprising thing about this event is that Zahn made his first field goal of the day to make the score 26-26 to send the game into the second overtime. This time, UAB had the ball first and had to settle for another FG. Zahn made another field goal to make the score 29-26 UAB. I was glad to see that Zahn nor UAB quit.
However, Tennessee was able to secure the win when Simms hit WR Denarius Moore for a 25 yard passing play for the clinching TD. Somehow, Tennessee escaped with a victory after being outplayed. Miracles still happen.
