Well this weekend wasnt as much of a roller coaster ride as last weekend. I am a little disappointed as any of you may guess. Ole Miss loses at home to South Carolina on our Homecoming. It was another day of critical turnovers which SC took advantage of. I have decided to recap the weekend action on Sunday since my wife and I will be going to the Saints game on Monday night. I thought about possibly writing a blog entry for that game. I know this blog is about SEC football but I have never been to a Monday Night Football game and I just thought I might want to share the experience .
The Rebels took the opening drive and marched in for a touchdown. Then the defense held SC to a field goal on their opening drive. The Rebels then score another touchdown putting them up 14-3. Thats when the wheels fell off. A fumble by Jevan Snead leads to a South Carolina touchdown and the downward spiral had begun for the Rebels. I will not take anything away from South Carolina, they played a great game and didnt let their mistakes kill them. They took great advantage of the Rebel mistakes and that is what you are supposed to do. I find it hard to believe after watching them execute that they are only 1-2 in the SEC. With 2 losses I don't forsee them competing for the Eastern champioinship, but they can certainly spoil some hopes of other contenders. With almost all other stats being pretty even the only stat that sticks out are the turnovers. The Rebels turned the ball over 3 times and the Gamecocks ony once. Turnovers have been the Achilles heel of the Ole Miss football team all year. I know that Jevan Snead is only a sophomore but he has had 6 games to learn how to protect the ball. Dexter McCluster fumbled as well on the Gamecock 6 yard line. McCluster is one of the most exciting athletes on the Ole Miss team but his fumbles are always at the most critical of times. He fumbled going in for the go ahead score against Vanderbilt as well. The Gamecocks played a good game and came away with a great victory for their program on the road. Final Score: 31 to 24.
Alabama 17 - Kentucky 14.
The surpise of the weekend for me was the Alabama, Kentucky game. I predicted the correct winner but I sure thought it would be by alot more than 3 points. As the score shows the game was actually played pretty even. Alabama has a slim edge in all statistics the same as on the scoreboard. As stated on Fridays column, Alabama QB: John Parker Wilson is the question mark on the Tide team. But not to worry Bama fans, Every quaterback has bad days and JPW's led to a win anyway despite the flat play. Bama has an off week to correct mistakes and then my Rebels will be coming to town with another upset on their mind. I am sure that coach Saban will have his team ready to play.
Florida 38 - Arkansas 7.
This game was an all around whoopin' as the scoreboard shows. Florida out gained the Razorbacks 514 yds to 361. The rest of the statistics are just that whopsided. Arkansas turned the ball over twice. The lone Florida turnover, a Tim Tebow interception, did not lead to any points as the Florida defense held Arkansas. As predicted Friday, the R-Backs made a pretty good game of it early, but Florida's motivation to right the ship after last weeks upset to Ole Miss proved too much for Arkansas. One other stat that sticks out shows that this had to be one of the most penalized games this year. Both teams were highly penalized, Florida: 12 penalties for 112 yards, Arkansa: 9 penalties for 75 yards. What could this game had been like if the penalites had not been a factor?
Auburn 13 - Vanderbilt 14.
Here is my one chance to gloat on the weekend. I predicted upset on Friday and I was glad to see it come to fruition. Auburn had a good first quarter and jumped out to a 13 point lead. But you have got to give those Commodores credit. They held the #13 team in the nation to no points in the remaining 3 quarters. Auburns offense has been their big question mark all season. The Commodores took advantage of this, scoring one touchdown to end the first half and again with just over 7 minutes left in the third quarter. The PAT after the second touchdown put the Dores up 14 to 13 which would prove to be the final score. The telling mistake in this game for Auburn would be the missed extra point by Auburn kicker, Wes Byrum. Auburn was penalized 11 times for 81 yards and Vandy out gained the Tigers. Vanderbilt had 263 total yards and Auburn had 208 yards. This was the first win for Vanderbilt over Auburn since the 1955 Gator Bowl. The Dores are now 5-0 and well on their way to becoming a driving force in the Eastern Division. Watch out Georgia and Florida, here comes the Commodores.
Tennessee 13 - Northern Illinois 9.
I sure thought that the Volunteers would take care of business better than they did in this game. I called it a cruise control game for UT but it turned out to be a squeaker instead. UT is definately missing David Cutcliffe as offensive coordinator. The stats in this one look pretty even, but NI had more first downs but were penalized 7 times for 90 yards. I dont know what UT is going to do to correct this anemia but they dont get much time to think about it as they travel to Georgia next weekend.
Well that ends weekend #6. Check back on Wednesday for my commentary on the good of the conference. Possibly I will find some good stuff to write about my trip to Monday Night Fooball, that will be wrote on Tuesday.
Hotty Toddy
Darryle "Speedy" Clark
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