Well there was definitely some good football to be had this past weekend... unfortunately only one team in Starkville delivered that level of quality, and it wasn't the Bulldogs. I'd like to get in to more detail but real life is demanding far too much of my time lately so I'm not able to deliver the usual goods. Hopefully the dust will settle soon and I'll be able to get back to this but this time around I'm going to let the Professor handle the recap. I hope I can put something together for the weekend preview, but it just depends on how far over life intends on bending me and how much (if any) lube it plans on using... anyway, that being said, I'll hand you over to Professor D for your recap.
After one heck of a busy week last week I’m back to recap what I call “one super
depressing day of football”. The SEC overall did well, winning a slew of out of conference
games, despite some of them being closer than we would have liked. I give the conference a
solid B for the weekend. Titans Alabama and LSU flexed some impressive muscles, but close
victories by Tennessee and Arkansas over Troy and Tulsa, respectively, cast a slight shadow
over the conference.
Auburn 42 – New Mexico St. 7
Auburn finally caught a break when the 1 – 7 Tigers took on the 1 – 7 Aggies. Auburn
finally got their offense going over the 7th ranked team in the WAC, totaling 475 yards of
offense and putting up 42 points. The Tigers still didn’t do well through the air as they put in
freshman Jonathon Wallace at quarterback and totaled just 164 passing yards. Auburn definitely
won this game on the ground as their running backs put up over 300 yards rushing against one of
the worst defenses in the country. The most impressive thing about this game was Auburn’s
ability to limit New Mexico State through the air. The Aggies are in the top 50 when it comes to
passing yards and Auburn was able to hold them to just 7 points in the game. That’s real
progress for this unit. Unless they can pull off a miracle against Georgia or Alabama Auburn is
still looking at a winless SEC record, and they may have to worry about Alabama A&M robbing
them of their third win.
Kentucky 0 – Vanderbilt 40
The Commodores went on the road and shut out Kentucky Saturday, pulling them one
win closer to back to back bowl games, a rare thing in Vanderbilt’s history. The Commodores
have quietly put together one of the better defenses in the nation, ranking in the top 15 in points
against. The offense has done enough to give them a better than 50% record and fourth place in
the SEC East behind three top 25 teams. The ‘dore’s are laying a foundation for what could
become a legitimate football team, a strong running game and good defense. The bread and
butter of SEC teams. We’ve talked enough this season about how bad Kentucky is. Hopefully
they can get healthy and put together a better team next year, but there is no future for this team
in 2012. Samford may give the Wildcats a chance at two wins this year before heading to
Tennessee, but we’ll see.
Ole Miss 10 – Georgia 37
Ole Miss may have had the firepower to make this a football game if it were played in
Oxford. On the road Ole Miss just couldn’t compete with Georgia, who seem to have put there
South Carolina woes behind them. The bulldogs ran the ball effectively against Ole Miss’
defense, which is actually improving as the year goes on. Aaron Murray had a career day,
passing for 384 yards and 4 TD’s. It’s about time. Georgia fans were probably more excited
about their defense, which held Ole Miss’ normally prolific offense to just 10 points. The
bulldogs have the East in their pocket. All they have to do to get that short trip to Atlanta is not
lose….
Arkansas 19 – Tulsa 15
Arkansas played a rough game at home against Tulsa to try and keep their hopes of a
bowl game alive. The Razorbacks have 4 wins this year and would need to win two of their last
three games, against South Carolina, Mississippi State, and LSU. Good luck with that. The
defense looked better this week for Arkansas, but still allowed over 300 yards of offense by
Tulsa. The offense surpassed 100 yards rushing, a rare occurrence despite Knile Davis’ return.
Tyler Wilson had a decent day, passing for 272 yards but no TD’s and one interception.
Arkansas twice turned the ball over against the Golden Hurricanes. Turnovers are not something
they are going to be able to afford against the teams left on their schedule. Overall the
Razorbacks played well enough to win, but look dangerously close to slipping back into the
habits they started the year with.
Tennessee 55 – Troy 48
Remember back when Tennessee was scoffing at Mississippi State for almost losing to
Troy? At least we played them in Troy. Tennessee trailed for much of this game as their defense
surrendered play after play to the Trojans. The Volunteers only saving grace was their
quarterback, who threw for 530 yards and 5 TD’s. I think we know what happened to West
Virginia. Come on though Tennessee, you have to at least play defense against your out of
conference foe. An SEC team giving up 721 yards to Troy is just unacceptable. This win means
the Vols will probably make a bowl game this year, needing two wins in their final games
against Missouri, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky. If Tennessee can’t get two wins out of that schedule
then they have some serious work to do on the recruiting trail while everyone who matters is
getting ready for a bowl game.
Florida 14 – Missouri 7
Florida came out slow against Missouri, still looking hung over from the world’s largest
outdoor cocktail party. The Gators again had turnover issues, fumbling on the opponents 18 yard
line, but not anything compared to Mizzou, who threw 4 interceptions against the Gators
defense. Missouri should be proud of how close they kept this game. In fact, they should throw
out those We Beat Kentucky or whatever they said 1st SEC win T-shirts in favor of some We
Only Lost by 7 to Florida T’s. Florida has fallen far in two weeks and they have a lot of work to
do if they don’t want to embarrass the conference in a (possibly BCS) bowl game.
LSU 17 – Alabama 21
It seems like every year college football gets a new instant classic when these two teams
face off. I wish I had some more time to write the analysis this game deserves but alas I do not.
LSU by far played the better game. Les Miles’ gambles didn’t pay off, but they showed a
confidence in his team the players have been missing this year, and they responded by racking
up 300 yards against the number one defense in the land and forcing 3 and outs all over the place
against a Heisman candidate. I don’t know how Alabama pulled a win out of this one, but it sure
did bite to watch. Hopefully LSU stays hung up on this game for a week to allow Mississippi
State to get back into relevance. I think Yeldon might be the most overrated running back
Alabama has ever had. The kid is quick, but he lacks the iconic power Bama backs have had
recently. He’s fortunate this year to be playing behind a great offensive line that allows him to
run through gaping holes, but he lacks the ability to break tackles and get serious yards after
contact. If Alabama can get through Texas A&M and the championship in Atlanta teams are
going to have a tough time beating them in the National Championship. I don’t think anyone
other than LSU in Death Valley at night has a shot at beating them, and that chance has come
and gone for the Tigers.
Mississippi State 13 – Texas A&M 38
I’m sort of glad I don’t have enough time to really delve into this game. The Bulldogs
looked hung over and Chris Wilson called the sorriest defensive game I’ve seen out of
Mississippi State. Outside of Cameron Laurence Mississippi State didn’t really seem to want to
play football on Saturday. Offensively the tight ends disappeared again and the running game
stalled. Nothing was clicking other than opponents helmets against Tyler Russell’s pads.
Defensively Johnny Manziel shredded the Bulldogs, who couldn’t protect the run or the screen
pass. The Aggies got away with a few holds but the Bulldogs couldn’t get off a block to save
their lives. A&M game planned for Mississippi State, the Bulldogs looked like the win would
just come to them. Baker Swedenburg looked good though, as did Chad Bumphis, and the
afore mentioned Cameron Laurence. Mississippi State needs to refocus and regroup, and get out
of Death Valley without any major injuries. Beating Arkansas and Ole Miss to close the season
will give the Bulldogs a chance to get 10 wins in the bowl game. That’s one heck of a season for
Starkville.
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