SEC Review: Week 8

This is SEC football, people. No description necessary.

Game of the Week:

LSU 30, Auburn 24 – It probably wouldn’t be a huge stretch to say Auburn has played as well as anyone in the country over the five weeks since it lost to Mississippi State, but LSU won the battle of the Tigers with a huge (no, HUGE) 22 yard touchdown pass from Matt Flynn to Demetrius Byrd with just 1 tick left on the clock Saturday night in the Bayou. Down by 1 at the Auburn 22, Les Miles rolled the dice like he’s done so many times this year already, opting to run another time-consuming play instead of center the ball and set up a field goal. The move paid off as Byrd snuck by the Auburn defender and grabbing the ball tight for an LSU touchdown. This was SEC football at it’s finest. LSU can still win the national title, and the schedule is a lot easier from here on out, with 14 days to prepare for Alabama on October 3^rd.

Best of the Rest:

Florida 45, Kentucky 37 – Everybody in the East now has two losses after just five games, and Florida is probably now the team to beat after winning at Kentucky in a wild game. Tim Tebow had one of his best passing outings yet, throwing for four scores and running for another to lead the Gators to a clutch victory in the newest hostile environment in the league. Andre Woodson was magnificent, tossing 35 of 50 for 415 yards, and if this loss costs him a chance to represent the conference at the Heisman ceremony, it’ll be a crime. Now it’s the Cocktail Party and a well-rested Bulldog squad for Urban Meyer’s Gators. Are they fully Back to Good, or was this an aberration at the Commonwealth?

Vanderbilt 17, South Carolina 6 – I don’t think anybody really objects to seeing Steve Spurrier get a kick in the jaw, and that’s just what the Ol’ Ball Coach got Saturday as he watched his top-ten Gamecocks get smothered by a fast-started Vanderbilt squad and never fully recover. The Commodores poured on 17 points in a crazy first quarter, and somehow kept SC out of the end zone all day; Carolina got just two Ryan Succop field goals. Chris Smelley was pulled for Blake Mitchell after Smelley threw two stinkers for interceptions, but Mitchell wasn’t great either. SC was 1 of 12 on third downs, giving it no chance against a Vandy defense that came strapped in and ready to rumble.

Ho Hum:

Alabama 41, Tennessee 17 – Did we see it coming? Two weeks after Philip Fulmer sprung one on the ‘Dawgs and stayed ahead of the posse for awhile longer, his Vols laid a major league egg against an Alabama squad that is, I promise, not that good. Don’t get me wrong, the Tide are a quality SEC bunch that would be competing for a title in any other conference; but they’ve got at least two more losses on the schedule in LSU and Alabama, and I’m not sure Mississippi State can’t give them a run in Starkville on November 10^th. John Parker Wilson lit up an awful Tennessee secondary for 363 yards and ‘Bama’s best player, DJ Hall, caught 13 balls for 185 yards and two scores. No one from Tennessee deserves to be mentioned by name after this kind of outing.

West Virginia 38, Mississippi State 13 – You can’t find a game in the nation that went more precisely according to plan than this one. West Virginia, a 25-point favorite coming in, won by 25 points by doing what they do best: spreading you out and running you down. Pat White only threw 12 passes for 61 yards, but tossed 2 TDs and ran for a 64 yard TD as well. Steve Slaton galloped 23 times for 127 yards and a score. These two have fallen off the Heisman radar since the USF loss, but they’re still the most fun duo to watch in college football.

Boooooooooooooooooooring:

Arkansas 44, Ole Miss 8 – Here’s the Arkansas you know and love: beating up on ordinary teams, but unable to throw the ball and beat the better ones. Felix Jones outperformed Darren McFadden for the third straight week, and the duo combined for over 200 yards on 37 carries as Ole Miss had basically no chance from the opening gun. The Hogs led 37-nil before the Rebs notched a 37-yard pass from Brent Schaeffer to Mike Wallace late. Frame those three touchdown passes, Casey Dick. Memories are a beautiful thing.