SEC Recap: Week 7

(Mr. Hooch) Wow.  What a weekend!  I said there would be some good football, and the SEC did not disappoint.  Both the Professor and I missed only one pick (LSU/SC), and I even said it could easily go the other way, so I feel pretty good about my choices.  So, let's take a closer look at what happened...


(Professor D) The TV peoples got exactly what they hoped for this weekend: two great primetime SEC matchups. LSU v. South Carolina and Mississippi State v. Tennessee were both great games. Texas A&M had their hands full in an out of conference match up, Arkansas finally started playing football, and Auburn took their second loss of the season to a team from Mississippi. Oh yeah, and Missouri returned a kickoff for a touchdown. They also gave up 21 in the first half.




Bama 42 - Missouri 10

Hey look, Alabama rolled Missouri.  So what else is new?  Alabama didn't do anything cute or fancy, and they didn't need to in order to deal with these clawless kitties who call themselves Tigers.  I'm not even going to bother rehashing this game since it was expected and there is little to nothing worth mentioning from either team.  Meh.

Yeah yeah, Alabama wins again,
we get it... meh.

I don’t blame you Mr. Hooch. I’ll get into it a little bit before moving on to bigger and better… wait we haven’t been through Arkansas yet… before we move on to other things. The only two things that anyone looking at this game three weeks ago wouldn’t have guessed were the weather and Missouri scoring a touchdown. But if you had told them the Tigers would get into the endzone, I bet they would have told you it would be on a kickoff return. Missouri couldn’t get anything going against Alabama’s defense all game. They amassed just 129 yards of offense in the game. You heard me. One Hundred and Twenty Nine total yards of offense, in the game. 126 of those yards came through the air too. Some third grade math will tell you Missouri couldn’t run the ball for anything against the Tide. Corbin Berkstresser, Missouri’s freshman quarterback, totaled -50 yards rushing for the game. He almost spent more seconds on his back than he threw incompletions, and he threw a lot of incompletions on route to 12 of 19 passing. Alabama’s offense slowed down after scoring 21 in the first, but still totaled 533 yards of offense. They had almost triple Missouri’s total offense just on the ground as the Tide’s backs ran behind a very talented offensive line for 362 yards and 6 touchdowns. This game was as lopsided as everyone outside Columbia expected it to be (in fact, if Mizzou hadn’t scored that touchdown on special teams, I would have nailed the score 42 – 3).




Ole Miss 41 - Auburn 20

Now this game, on the other hand, was fairly interesting, at least in terms of defining the bottom half of the SEC West totem pole.  Ole Miss snapped a 16 game SEC losing streak dating back to 2010 at the expense of Auburn.  That's not the kind of stat/fact/fun figure you wanna be involved in if you're Auburn.  Credit the Tigers what little you will, but they were within striking distance, being down only 1 TD early in the fourth quarter, but the Rebels reeled off back to back TD drives and put the game away.  And with this loss, Auburn has all but solidified their position as the low man on the SEC West totem pole this season.  Oh how the mighty have fallen...

Twemble in fear of da Awbuwn Tiguhs!

Yeah it’s amazing how far Auburn has come from that national championship; of course it’s also pretty amazing how far Ole Miss seems to have come this year. Bo Wallace has proven to be a legitimate threat for Ole Miss at quarterback as the rebel what-evers finally pulled themselves up out of the bottom of the SEC West. Wallace had just five incompletions in 22 attempts against Auburn’s awful defense. The Tigers on the other hand have nothing going on either side of the football. The offense can’t score and the defense can’t stop anyone else from scoring. All in all it is going to be a rough year for Auburn fans (unless they pull an Arky, but I just don’t see that happening). Ole Miss should take a hard look at the film though as they scored 14 points on what I would call “fortunate” plays. Auburn fumbled a snap in the endzone which was recovered for a touchdown. Then an Ole Miss player rolled over the Auburn defender, never touching the ground, and in the confusion took off for a score. That’s 14 points that may not be there against better opponents. But that’s for the coaches to worry about; the fans should just enjoy having something to cheer about for the first time in three years.




Florida 31 - Vanderbilt 17

Florida is flourishing under Will Muschamp, and the Gators are becoming known as a '2nd half' team.  With a 4 point lead at the half the Gators weren't exactly in control, but Florida has been outscoring it's opponents 98-23 in the second half this season, and they did it again on Saturday.  You may remember the fun fact I put forth a few weeks ago when Florida played Kentucky.  Going in to that game Florida had a 25 game win streak going in that series.  It's now 26.  Well, going into this weekend's game Florida also had a 21 game win streak going over Vandy.  It's now 22.  Ouch.

The sad part about those streaks is they don’t seem to be coming to an end anytime soon. Florida seems to be at the beginning of a major upswing this year. Many analysts were looking for Florida to stumble a bit on the road against Vanderbilt, and I’ll be honest, I probably didn’t give the Commodores the home field advantage they deserved. After all they did put up 11 more points than I expected. Florida however, was exactly what I thought they would be(THEY WERE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!). 31 points scored, all on the ground, by the running tandem of quarterback Jeff Driskel and running back Mike Gillislee. The gators ground game has been dominant this year as both Driskel and Gillislee have emerged as legitimate running games. Driskel has also been effective with his arm, amassing 74 completions in just 111 attempts. Vanderbilt’s Jordan Rodgers had a decent game with 17 of 31 passing and 237 yards. The problem was a complete lack of run defense as Florida totaled 326 rushing yards. The Commodores are still trying to figure out what kind of team they are going to be this year, while Florida is proving just how tough and well coached they are every week. Will Muschamp should be a midseason favorite for coach of the year in the SEC (with honorable mention of course being Dan Mullen, but we’ll have to see how the rest of the season goes for that). The Gators were rewarded for their efforts by jumping Oregon in the BCS for a number 2 ranking in the computers.

THEY WERE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!!!

Arkansas 49 - Kentucky 7

Well, if Arkansas can keep playing like this they may yet salvage what started out as a dismal, disappointing season.  The Razorbacks reeled off a staggering 533 yards of total offense on the hapless Wildcats.  Relatively unknown before this game, freshman receiver Jonathan Williams caught 3 passes. Two of them

U mad, bro?

were TDs.  And they averaged 50 yards per catch.  This is very much what the talking heads expected of this Arkansas team in the preseason, so there's every possibility that the Hogs could get back to .500 with a win over Ole Miss this weekend.  If they manage that I promise I will retire the moniker of 'Dumpster Fire' for the rest of the season... or at least until they fall below .500 again.


It’s really too bad wins against Ole Miss aren’t as easy to come by as they have been the last three years. Mr. Hooch said it though, Arkansas is starting to look like the team they were supposed to be this year. The Piggies certainly didn’t need that canceled 4 th quarter to put this one away. Kentucky might have preferred to call this one after the first, when they trailed 28 – 0. Arkansas has started playing football in the past two games. We still don’t know if that is the product of Arkansas finally remembering they have talent, or if it’s a result of Auburn rolling over and Kentucky’s slew of injuries. Everyone with Arkansas on the back half of their SEC schedule is hoping it’s the latter. The better teams in the conference got comfortable counting on that one as a win. Kentucky meanwhile is having the worst defensive season a team not named Baylor can have. The freshman starters just can’t stop anyone on third down where teams have converted almost 56% of their attempts. They also allowed Tyler Wilson to throw for 372 yards and five touchdowns. Granted Tyler Wilson is one of the better quarterbacks in the SEC, five TD’s is still a little much. Arkansas did exactly as I predicted and started running Dennis Johnson over Knile Davis, and it has worked. Johnson had 12 carries for 82 yards and 2 touchdowns against Kentucky. Joker Phillips is going to have a long year ahead of him, but with all the freshmen he’s playing you would think the Wildcats have something along the lines of a promising future. Arkansas meanwhile, is starting to put together a decent season, but they’ve still got some tough opponents to face in the latter half of the season.




LSU 23 - S. Carolina 21

LSUFreek's gifs are 'freeking' hilarious...

LSU managed to screw up my picks for the second straight week by defeating the Gamecocks at home.  Jeremy Hill had 2 TDs and 124 yards on 17 carries for the Tigers, and QB Mettenberg threw for 148 through the air with no TDs and one INT.  South Carolina ended their 10 game winning streak, which was the longest active winning streak in FBS until Saturday.  As we mentioned last week, Death Valley is one of the toughest places in all of college football to play, especially at night, and the Gamecocks learned that the
hard way.  This is still a VERY good S. Carolina team and they will need to put this loss behind them if they hope to beat Florida this weekend.  And this LSU team, which let Auburn hang around the entire game and lost on the road to Florida, has finally shown they deserve their ranking.


This was a game of Juggernauts and LSU was not to be denied the win in Death Valley. The Tigers came out livid after last week’s loss to Florida, accepted the fact that they cannot pass, and ran the ball straight down the throat of the number 2 rush defense in the nation. I was happy to see South Carolina remain in the top ten, there is no shame losing to LSU at night in Death Valley. Les Miles’ quote (which was just amazing, especially after he backed it up) “This is where opposing teams dreams come to die” was spot on. After such a hoe-hum start to the season I fully expected LSU to drop two in a row against the East, but the Mad Hatter proved again that despite having played for two national championships, he is still an underrated coach. Even without two starters on the offensive line LSU had their way with the Gamecocks front seven, piling up 258 yards of rushing against one of the top defenses in the SEC, and by extension the nation. Mettenberger had another down day but as LSU has done for two seasons the Tigers left their quarterback in the dust as they plowed through defenders. South Carolina should take solace in the fact that they were able to put up 21 points against this defense. Sure the Gamecocks could have played better defensively but 21 points is impressive against LSU.




Texas A&M 59 - La. Tech. 57

Johnny Football and the Glass Cannons just managed to outpace Louisiana Tech. in their footrace Saturday, and it all came down to a failed 2 pt. conversion attempt by the Bulldogs at the end of the fourth, which, if successful, would've forced the game into overtime.  Manziel broke his own school and SEC records which he set earlier this season by going 576 yards and notching 6 touchdowns in this game.  As impressive as that is, it's worth noting that while A&M appears to be able to score practically at will, their defense bears a striking resemblance to swiss cheese.  Also, the one solid defense that the Aggies have faced thus far, Florida, held them to 17 points in their own stadium to open the season.  TAMU is good, no doubt, but games still looming with LSU, MSU and Alabama are likely to have a much lower numbers in those offensive statistical columns.


For the second week in a row Texas A&M went on the road and grabbed a tough win. This team is showing some second half grit they were certainly lacking last year, and most of that is due to the sensational Johnny Manziel. I’m going to get the fan boy talk out of the way now and just say wow this kid can play ball. There is no way Johnny Football stays four years at College Station. The freshman quarterback accounted for 576 yards of offense and six touchdowns. He’s the type of run and gun athlete teams dread facing at quarterback. With that out of the way let’s move on to what Aggie fans should be worrying about. TAMU is not the same team on the road that they are at home. At home the Aggies are one of the best teams in the nation with only a loss to current top 5 Florida. On the road they’ve struggled to put away Ole Miss and La Tech, both of which are having better than expected years, but with the schedule A&M has left their road difficulties may become a problem. After LSU at home they get Auburn, Mississippi State, and Alabama all on the road. That’s tough. For now though there is plenty to celebrate for A&M fans as they boast an offense that can score with ease and a defense that plays hard and well above their talent level. That was the story as the Aggies did just enough to contain the bulldogs ferocious offense and give Johnny Football the chance to get the win. For Louisiana Tech this means a probable permanent drop from the top 25 (fun while it lasted I guess) this season, while for A&M it is a much needed win against a non-conference opponent; the Aggies get into the meat of their schedule next week with four straight games against SEC West opponents.




MSU 41 - Tennessee 31

What a game.  What.  A.  Game.  This game had Mr. Hooch on the edge of his seat (actually, on his feet) practically the entire time.  The Bulldogs opened with a strong drive which stalled late, forcing a FG.  Tennessee's ensuing drive gave the Vols their only lead of the night at 7-3, but MSU answered later in the first when Josh Robinson scampered into the endzone to put the Dogs on top for good.  Tight end Marcus Green would catch 2 TD passes from Tyler Russell, much to the delight of Bulldog fans everywhere.  LaDarius Perkins broke the century mark again with 101 yards and 1 TD on 23 carries, although the Vols managed to limit MSU to 142 total rushing yards this game, making this the first game of the season Mississippi State has not run for 150+ yards.  Other big players included Chad Bumphis who made several key catches at critical moments and caught 7 passes for 93 yards on the night, and Johnthan Banks who had a relatively quiet night... until the forced fumble he recovered late in the fourth quarter put the game away for MSU.

This was an all around solid performance by the Bulldogs, and it came at just the right time.  Although the win won't convince much of the national media that the Bulldogs deserve to be a top 15 team it does prove that their 6-0 record is not a fluke.  This weekend MSU will face a Middle Tennessee team which managed to defeat Georgia Tech's triple option on Tech's home field a few weeks ago.  If the Blue Raiders can catch the Bulldogs looking ahead to a possible showdown of SEC West undefeated teams with Bama next week things could take a turn for the worse.  But with pragmatist Dan Mullen at the helm it's unlikely that he will allow his team the luxury of looking too far ahead.  As fans, however, we can enjoy postulating the 'what ifs' until next Saturday...


Mr. Hooch summed up most of the important stats pretty well there. This was a huge game for the Bulldogs. The defense gave up over 200 yards on the ground, but they were facing possibly the best offensive line in the SEC and everybody was more concerned with the pass. It seemed like the mindset was “If you think you can run the ball the whole game and come away with a win, have at it.” To the defenses credit it worked. Continuing with the defense Johnthan Banks had another outstanding game. Despite all the talk before the game Tyler Bray was very reluctant to throw the ball in the vicinity of Banks. One of the few times he did Banks made such a good play on the ball the receiver patted him on the helmet after the play. Darius Slay also had an impressive game, despite giving up a touchdown late in the game, and was also an avoided target by Bray. So if he wasn’t throwing to the corners, who was the amazing Bray throwing to? Short answer is no one. Bray totaled just 148 yards in the air, his least prolific game as a starter to date. The few passes he did throw picked on line backers and safeties. Speaking of safeties! Corey Broomfield got his interception! It was one of two take aways by the Bulldogs. The other came from the previously mentioned Banks. For four years this kid has been the clutch player for Mississippi State. When the offense is down and in need of a break, Banks is the return guy you send in to get some field position back. When the offense can’t score and the Bulldogs need points, Banks gets the pick 6. When the Bulldogs are gunning for a comeback, Banks forces the turnover. When opposing teams are charging down the field and the defense is on its heels, Banks comes up with the turnover. I’ll stop now, but seriously each of those examples has happened in the last four years. At the end of this I’ll come up with a list of games Banks has single handedly kept Mississippi State in, whether we came out with a win or not.

Offensively Mississippi State could not have looked much better in the first half. The Bulldogs ate time with the run game and yards with the pass. Tyler Russell was brutally efficient and Perkins kept grinding yards. Chad Bumphis continued to have an incredible senior season and the tight ends were almost flawless. Marcus Greens drop on an easy floater on 3rd and 8 was the only blemish I can remember from the TE position. The offensive line certainly plays better with Tobias Smith in the game. When he came out, the offense stalled. The third quarter belonged to Tennessee. Lucky for fans, this isn’t your daddy’s Mississippi State team. This team found a way to win the game. The final drive began with 5:22 left on the clock. Somehow with only 60 yards to work with, Russell and company managed to eat all buy 9 seconds and come away with a touchdown. That touchdown was on 4th and 9 on a pass to Malcolm Johnson in the last 6 inches of the endzone. Johnson made a one handed grab and Davis-Wade Stadium exploded. The number three crowd in history (2010 was one heck of a year for attendance) was on its feet and roaring as Mississippi State closed the game with a kick off. All of a sudden the Bulldogs are 6 – 0 with just one out of conference game at home standing between them and the biggest game Mississippi State has played since the 1999 SEC Championship. I’m sure me and Mr. Hooch will spend quite a bit of time later this week telling you how this team cannot overlook an upset happy MTSU, but for now I’m going to go to sleep with dreams of College Game Day in Tuscaloosa and analysts drooling of Johnthan Banks and Tyler Russell.

Here is that list I promised you:

October 24, 2009 Banks gets two pick 6’s off of Tim Tebow to keep Mississippi State in the game. The offense just wasn’t able to get it done.

September 25, 2010 Banks and Whitely smash Georgia’s receiver in the endzone to force a fumble, recovered by State.

October 30, 2010 Banks gets a game ending interception against Kentucky who was marching down the field for a comeback score in the 4th quarter.

November 20, 2010 Banks forces a fourth quarter fumble against Arkansas to help send the game to overtime.

September 10, 2011 Banks gets his 3rd career pick six to break a 14 – 14 tie in the eventual loss to Auburn.

September 15, 2011 Banks follows a second down pass break up with an interception to give the bulldogs the ball down 6 – 12 in the second half against LSU.

September 24, 2011 Banks picks off ferocious La Tech with the game tied at 14 to give the Bulldogs 3 points in a game that was sent to overtime.

October 15, 2011 Banks ends a South Carolina drive with an interception to keep the game 12 – 7. If Banks had been on Jeffery on that final play things could have been different, but the bulldogs lost 12 – 14.

October 29, 2011 Banks forces a crucial fumble to help State on to a win against Kentucky.

November 19, 2011 Banks sacks and forces a fumble in the first half against Arkansas to give the Bulldogs a chance to make it 14 – 10 before halftime.

September 8, 2012 Banks records two interceptions to stop any chance for Auburn to come back.

September 22, 2012 After the offense came out lackluster in the second half Banks picked off South Alabama to end any chance of a comeback.

October 13, 2012 Banks forced a fumble in a crucial Tennessee drive to set up a much needed Bulldog touchdown on route to a 6 – 0 start.

Of course the rest of the team contributed to all of those plays, but it was a lucky day when Mississippi State made the trip to Maben, Mississippi to offer quarterback/corner Johnthan Banks a scholarship.


I have to hand it to the Professor, that is an outstanding write up with some solid info... I'm sure you're all enjoying his contributions as much as I am, so with that I'll leave you to ponder all things Maroon and White.  As always, if you like it, share it on Facebook, Twitter or whatever ya got.  Have a great week and check back on Friday for our weekend preview!