SEC Review: Week Ten

Game of the Week:

LSU 41, Alabama 34 – The Tigers are an instant classic every time they step on the field, and the only ones disappointed Saturday were ‘Bama fans, as the Bayou Bengals kept their national title hopes alive and well by scoring the last 14 points to beat Alabama. Things looked bleak when Javier Arenas returned a punt for 61 yards and a TD to give Bama the lead with 7 and a half to play. But LSU came back as usual, getting a 32-yard TD pass from Matt Flynn to Early Doucet on fourth down to tie it. Then Christmas came early in Baton Rouge, as John Parker Wilson coughed up the ball inside his own 10 with two minutes left, leading to Jacob Hester’s winning 1-yard plunge. Really, LSU should have won by a lot more; they outgained the Tide by 220 yards, but Flynn’s 3 picks and some special teams breakdowns were costly.

Best of the Rest:

Arkansas 48, South Carolina 38 – Darren McFadden finally got uncorked, and just in time for the big stage, going off for an SEC record 323 yards. McFadden threw for a TD, too, and we’ll see if the horse has left the barn on his Heisman candidacy. If the enormous outing gets some run in the national media, he’s got a great chance to be in New York. SC’s offense had no problem, but the Gamecock defense was chicken feed against the Hog rushing game, surrendering 650 total yards, 541 of which came on the ground. This game should serve as some measure of proof that time of possession is the dumbest stat around: Arkansas had the ball just 22 minutes, but they were scoring so quickly, they didn’t have the pig that often.

Georgia 44, Troy 34 – This one got a little dicey for the ‘Dawgs, but in hindsight, Georgia fans should look at this one as a slightly off day against a very sound, talented, motivated opponent. If I had a vote (and I don’t, damn the AP), Knowshon Moreno would be easily a top-three choice for national Freshman of the Year, and a lock for the freshman All-America team. The kid cemented his candidacy with a 26 carry, 196 yard, 3 TD performance that included the put-away score late in the fourth. Omar Haugabook lit up the Bulldog D with 310 passing yards, a figure that has to alarm the Georgia secondary just a little. The only place more exciting to watch this than Stanford was Las Vegas: Troy scored with 5 seconds left to cover the game’s 16 point spread.

Ho Hum:

Florida 49, Vandy 22 – The Gators did what they needed to do, beating up on a less-skilled opponent to the tune of a 2-1 yardage ratio and a 27 point win. Vandy’s defense had been solid to date, but was absolutely no match for a motivated Florida squad. Gator offense got a lift from Percy Harvin and Kestahn Moore, who both rushed for their highest totals since September, as Florida continues to search for ways to leave Tim Tebow with fewer Sunday bruises. Vandy’s offense went pretty much nowhere, but Jeff Jennings looked solid in limited duty, getting 37 yards on 6 tries.

Ole Miss 38, Northwestern State 31 – The Rebs will take whatever they can get right now, and good thing too: this was an ugly old win over a bad, bad opponent at Vaugh-Hemingway. The Rebels led by 17 twice, but couldn’t exorcise the Demons, letting NW State back to within a touchdown on each occasion. Oh, and they were outgained by 112 yards and 9 first downs. The best thing Ole Miss can do for their future right now is to start doing whatever they can to prepare for Mississippi State and the Egg Bowl. Ruining their rival’s season is their best get some attention and public respect this year.

Booooooooooooring:

Tennessee 59, UL-Lafayette 7 – The Vols got a perfectly useless win headed in to next week’s showdown with Arkansas. Tennessee only needed 460 total yards to crush the Ragin’ Cajuns, getting two non-offensive TDs and 100 rushing yards from both Lennon Creer and Adrian Foster to win easily. On the other hand, UT surrendered 234 rushing yards to the Cajuns, a number that doesn’t bode well with Arkansas coming to town next week.

Auburn 35, Tennessee Tech 3 – The Tiger defense is playing absolutely amazingly right now, and even though the opponent wasn’t high quality, it’s still so impressive how the Auburn D seems to bring it week after week. With the exception of the LSU, Auburn hasn’t surrendered more than 7 points since September, and their across the board excellence (3^rd SEC in rush D, 3^rd SEC in pass D, 1^st in scoring D) will present Knowshon Moreno, Matt Stafford and the Georgia offense their stiffest test.