What a week in the SEC! Auburn bounced back from a disappointing start to remind the world, and the Gators, just how tough this conference is top-to-bottom. Most of the other favorites survived, but not without some fireworks. Here’s a rundown:
Game of the Week
Auburn 20, Florida 17 – The Gators lost to Auburn for the second straight year, losing Urban Meyer’s first game at the Swamp, and finally coming off last year’s National Championship cloud. With 6 of the top 13 teams losing Saturday, Florida’s hopes to repeat aren’t dead, but like last year, they’ll need a lot of help and an unblemished mark the rest of the way, which begins with a brutal three game road stretch through LSU, Kentucky and Georgia. Ben Tate and Mario Fannin combined for 127 yards rushing, and Auburn QB Brandon Cox played a near flawless game, going 17-26 for 227 yards, a great outing for a signal caller that had been criticized endlessly in the last few weeks. Florida’s Tim Tebow was great, as usual, but the Gators got too little production from anyone else to sustain scoring drives until it was too late.
Best of the Rest
Florida State 21, Alabama 14 – Give the cat two weeks to prepare, and ol’ Bobby Bowden can still craft a pretty nice game plan. Xavier Lee played for the first time in 2007, and led the ‘Noles in the air (12-18, 224 yards) and on the ground (11 cars, 59 yards). Lee connected on long pass plays to Greg Carr and De’Cody Fagg. Despite a respectable 677 yards of offense, these teams were scoreless until the 10:50 mark of the third period. Alabama’s John Parker Wilson went 28-53 for 240 yards and two late scores, but you know that Nick Saban isn’t dreaming up 53 pass game plans at night. ‘Bama has to run better to be a championship SEC team. They will run better eventually, with freshman Terry Grant, but that time isn’t now, and Wilson isn’t a QB able to carry a great SEC team.
South Carolina 38, Mississippi State 21 – The visiting Bulldogs led deep into the third period, getting two short Anthony Dixon TD runs to go up 21-17. But new Gamecock QB Chris Smelley kept throwing, and Mike Davis scored twice in the fourth as USC won by 17. MSU was really close in this game, but the defense broke down late and couldn’t stop Carolina on third down, surrendering 9 of 18 on possession downs. The Gamecocks probably found a QB, as Smelley threw pretty well, but K/P Ryan Succop may follow Blake Mitchell to the chopping block: Succop missed a FG and punted weakly, for just 33.5 yards per kick. MSU punter Blake McAdams, by contrast, helped his team’s weak offense stay in the game with a 46 yard average on 6 kicks.
Ho Hum
LSU 34, Tulane 9 – The Tigers struggled with their instate kin, trailing 9-7 before Colt David hit a FG with 3 seconds left in the third. Tulane was still in it until Charles Scott galloped 35 yards with 12 minutes left to give LSU a 27-9 win. The Tigers certainly didn’t overwhelm Tulane, but they fought till the end, and dominated the Green Wave yardage wise, 391-227. Tulane’s Matt Forte, coming off a 303 yard, 5TD outing, mustered a respectable 73 yards on 16 carries, but Tulane had zero success through the air, netting just 12 of 32 completions for 139 yards. Still, the slow start for LSU has to have some in Bayou wondering if this team had some weaknesses exposed, or was just looking ahead a bit to Florida.
Georgia 45, Ole Miss 17 – The ‘Dawgs remained tied in to the third quarter against Ole Miss, the worst team in the nation’s best conference, but Georgia put on the afterburners to win going away, 45-17, with four running TDs in the last 18 minutes of the contest. Thomas Brown ran wild (16 cars, 180 yards), getting almost as many yards on 16 carries against Ole Miss as he had on 54 carries in the first four games. Knowshon Moreno was also solid, going for 90 yards and a score. Georgia could have been a little better on defense, however, as Rebel QB Seth Adams completed almost 70% of his passes for 228 yards, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis got 108 yards on the ground. Still, this was a solid win, an SEC win, and a nice springboard to the tougher battles that lie ahead.
Vanderbilt 30, Eastern Michigan 7 – The score doesn’t look like a total blowout, but Vandy destroyed the Eagles on Parents’ Weekend in Nashville, holding EMU to just 173 yards of total offense, including just 62 yards on 30 carries on the ground. Vandy won on first downs, 23-10 and in total yardage, 341-173. So, the defense looked as much like a bruising SEC unit as it ever will, and QB Chris Nickson ran for 67 yards on 12 carries . But where did all the INT come from? Nickson tossed 4 picks in to the porous Eagle D in just 28 attempts. That’s not gonna fly when the Commodores head to Dixie.
Boooooooring
Kentucky 45, Florida Atlantic 17 – Andre Woodson finally threw an INT, but he was exceptional nonetheless, throwing 26-33 for 301 yards and 5 TDs. Rafael Little was good again, getting 112 yards on 20 carries, but I’d still contend that the Wildcats haven’t faced a real defense, but they’ll get their chance, going to South Carolina next Thursday, and getting LSU and Florida at home to follow. Right now, the Wildcats are the only SEC East team without a loss, and they’ll be chased like a front runner for as long as their lead lasts.
Arkansas 66, North Texas 7 – This was as boring as boring gets, with the Hogs jumping out to a 45-0 lead with 5 minutes left in the first half, and the scoring didn’t stop until Jerell Norton returned an INT 100 yards with just 31 seconds left in the contest. Arkansas ripped off 713 yards, including seeing Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Brandon Barnett all hit the century mark on the ground. This team won’t convince me until it can pass against a good defense.
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