Boy! What a weekend that was. There were a few nail biters and one run-away but we all have come to expect that out of South Eastern Conference football games. I ended up the weekend winning 6 out of the 7 games, with only Tennessee failing to give me a perfect Pick-Em record. Last weekend I picked a Non Conference Tulsa team to win against Arkansas, I vowed to not do that again, but by doing that I allowed the Wyoming Cowboys to spoil my record. Well without any further delay, let’s get started re-capping the action.
Alabama 27 – LSU 21: This is what SEC football is supposed to be like. Two evenly matched teams, slugging it out over 4 quarters of football, and it still taking an overtime period to decide
who wanted to win it the most. In the end, coming off a Rashad Johnson interception in the first OT, Johnson’s third of the game, the Crimson Tide scored the game wining touchdown on a John Parker Wilson quarterback sneak form one yard out. The win secured the SEC western division title for Alabama and they will be headed to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game on December 6th. The win also ended an emotional week for Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who just 4 short years ago was the coach of the LSU Tigers. After losing last years “Saban Bowl” in Tuscaloosa, this victory was made it all worthwhile. The stats in this game are a little bit misleading, most of which lean towards the advantage of the home team, but turnovers were the major one here. Both teams turned the pigskin over numerous times but LSU seemed to do it at the worst of times. The last turnover was the worst of all, after blocking a game winning field goal attempt by Leigh Tiffen to keep the score tied at the end of regulation, Jarrett Lee threw his 4th pick of the day in overtime. Alabama only took 3 plays to get it into the end zone for the winning score. Alabama remains unbeaten at 10 – 0 and defends the №1 ranking. The Crimson Tide cannot relax yet, for it isn’t just about winning the SEC, it’s about the BCS National Championship. To win that they will have to continue to dance with the one that brought them, fundamentally sound football. One other note worth mentioning: Congratulations are in order for Alabama’s Safety Rashad Johnson whose 3 interception game earned him the National Defensive Player of the Week award. KUDOS
Florida 42 – Vanderbilt 14: When I say the University of Florida football team is on a mission I am not kidding around people. These Gators are not leaving anything up for doubt as they are chomping opponents down at an amazing clip, winning the SEC Eastern Division along the way. Saturday night’s victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores clinched the division for the Gators. Florida started out like a house on fire against the Dores and just never relented. In my opinion nation, Tim Tebow is the most phenomenal college quarterback to play the game in a long time. Saturday, Tebow threw 3 touchdowns and rushed for 2 more, and he done all that in only a little more than one half of the game. Tebow was given the rest of the night off after only a little more than 5 minutes into the 3rd quarter. Vandy had not allowed an opponent to score more than 24 points on them all year, but the Gators had no problem. Florida out gained Commodores with 422 yards of total offense versus 264 yards for Vanderbilt. As I stated about Alabama, Florida cannot relax just yet either, they still have a conference match-up with South Carolina coming up as well as their annual rivalry game with Florida State and we all know that nothing would please the Gamecocks and Noles more than to spoil Florida’s year.
Georgia 42 – Kentucky 38: Now this was an SEC slobber knocker. I, as was a lot of SEC Nation was very surprised as Kentucky came within1:54 of knocking off the №14 team in the nation. Randall Cobb, Wildcat freshman quarterback, looked great all day. Cobb rushed for 82 yards and 3 touchdowns but with only 46 seconds left and the game in his hands, Cobb threw an interception to DeMarcus Dobbs at the Bulldog 13 yard line. Matthew Stafford looked wonderful as well, He threw for 376 yards and 3 touchdowns, and when you add in Knowshon Moreno rushing for 123 yards, that makes for a very exciting day of football, If you like offense that is. Defensively both teams struggled as the offensive numbers reflect. Georgia was able to amass 520 yards of total offense and Kentucky put together 331 yards. The Wildcats won the first downs (20 – 17), third down conversion (47.1% - 40%), as well as time of possession (34:50 – 25:10), but once again the scoreboard is them most important stat.
Arkansas 21 – South Carolina 34: Musical quarterbacks, a 54 yard field goal, a suffocating defense, and a fist fight. All of these things helped make up the events of the 34 to 21 South Carolina victory over Arkansas. Steve Spurrier would rotate his two QB’s, Chris Smelley and Stephen Garcia almost on every other snap. South Carolina got it done on defense as well, stopping Arkansas’ SEC leading rusher Michael Smith and holding the Razorbacks to only 54 yards rushing. Week in and week out every person who writes anything about football stresses the turnover statistic. This game will be no different; Arkansas thrice turned the ball over to South Carolina and in the SEC that will not win you any ball games. The Gamecocks improve to 7 – 3 on the season and will look to better advance their bowl possibilities as they move onto an SEC eastern showdown with Florida next weekend. T
Wyoming 13 – Tennessee 7: What a year for Phillip Fulmer and his Volunteers. The Wyoming Cowboys came to Knoxville and spoiled Homecoming for Tennessee. It was the end of a very emotional week for the Tennessee team, fans, and coaches, as Phillip Fulmer announced his resignation, effective at seasons end, on Monday. Miscues and a stagnant offense were the real undoing of the Vols. Tennessee quarterback Nick Stephens was picked off twice which directly led to the Cowboy’s 13 points. The first INT was returned to the UT 4 yard line, scoring on the next play. The second was a “Pick 6” interception by Ward Dobbs, the PAT would be missed and the score would remain 13 – 0. Backup Volunteer QB Jonathan Crompton replaced Nick Stephens after the second interception and accounted for the only Tennessee score of the day; An 8 yard touchdown pass to Gerald Jones in the 3rd quarter of play. For the most part the statistics look about as exciting as the score but Wyoming did hold a slight edge in the 3rd down conversion, turnovers, and time of possession categories. I picked UT to win this game and the loss is the only one I acquire on this weekend.
Tenn. Martin 20 – Auburn 37: The UTM Skyhawks came to Auburn with winning on their minds and for the most part stayed with their SEC foe for longer than anyone imagined. The game was actually tied at 20 all halfway through the third period. Auburn QB, Kodi Burns though finally was able to break free and score from 31 yards out to give the Tigers a 27 – 20 advantage. UTM had other second half opportunities but interceptions killed promising drives. On the statistical side of the game though, Auburn pretty much man handled the Football Championship Subdivision Skyhawks. The Tigers finished the day with 452 yards of total offense, 290 of which were on the ground. Auburn had 26 first downs, and converted on 3rd down 61.5% of the time. Auburn also held the ball almost a full 10 minutes more than did Tenn. Martin. Former Ole Miss receiver, Mike Hicks, had a big day for the Skyhawks though. Hicks came down with 12 receptions for 132 yards with 2 touchdowns. Auburn now is 5- 5 on the season and will try to reach bowl eligibility next week when they play host to Georgia down on the Plains.
Ok SEC Nation, there you have it. The opponents in the SEC Championship game are now decided and the jockeying for bowl position has begun. I am looking forward to what our 12 teams have in store for us the rest of the year. I would love to hear comments on who you think will win between Bama and the Gators come December 6th in Atlanta. Come back to the Nation on Wednesday as I will have my usual commentary about the good of the conference. Until then…..Hotty Toddy
Darryle “Speedy” Clark
Alabama 27 – LSU 21: This is what SEC football is supposed to be like. Two evenly matched teams, slugging it out over 4 quarters of football, and it still taking an overtime period to decide
who wanted to win it the most. In the end, coming off a Rashad Johnson interception in the first OT, Johnson’s third of the game, the Crimson Tide scored the game wining touchdown on a John Parker Wilson quarterback sneak form one yard out. The win secured the SEC western division title for Alabama and they will be headed to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game on December 6th. The win also ended an emotional week for Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who just 4 short years ago was the coach of the LSU Tigers. After losing last years “Saban Bowl” in Tuscaloosa, this victory was made it all worthwhile. The stats in this game are a little bit misleading, most of which lean towards the advantage of the home team, but turnovers were the major one here. Both teams turned the pigskin over numerous times but LSU seemed to do it at the worst of times. The last turnover was the worst of all, after blocking a game winning field goal attempt by Leigh Tiffen to keep the score tied at the end of regulation, Jarrett Lee threw his 4th pick of the day in overtime. Alabama only took 3 plays to get it into the end zone for the winning score. Alabama remains unbeaten at 10 – 0 and defends the №1 ranking. The Crimson Tide cannot relax yet, for it isn’t just about winning the SEC, it’s about the BCS National Championship. To win that they will have to continue to dance with the one that brought them, fundamentally sound football. One other note worth mentioning: Congratulations are in order for Alabama’s Safety Rashad Johnson whose 3 interception game earned him the National Defensive Player of the Week award. KUDOSFlorida 42 – Vanderbilt 14: When I say the University of Florida football team is on a mission I am not kidding around people. These Gators are not leaving anything up for doubt as they are chomping opponents down at an amazing clip, winning the SEC Eastern Division along the way. Saturday night’s victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores clinched the division for the Gators. Florida started out like a house on fire against the Dores and just never relented. In my opinion nation, Tim Tebow is the most phenomenal college quarterback to play the game in a long time. Saturday, Tebow threw 3 touchdowns and rushed for 2 more, and he done all that in only a little more than one half of the game. Tebow was given the rest of the night off after only a little more than 5 minutes into the 3rd quarter. Vandy had not allowed an opponent to score more than 24 points on them all year, but the Gators had no problem. Florida out gained Commodores with 422 yards of total offense versus 264 yards for Vanderbilt. As I stated about Alabama, Florida cannot relax just yet either, they still have a conference match-up with South Carolina coming up as well as their annual rivalry game with Florida State and we all know that nothing would please the Gamecocks and Noles more than to spoil Florida’s year.
Georgia 42 – Kentucky 38: Now this was an SEC slobber knocker. I, as was a lot of SEC Nation was very surprised as Kentucky came within1:54 of knocking off the №14 team in the nation. Randall Cobb, Wildcat freshman quarterback, looked great all day. Cobb rushed for 82 yards and 3 touchdowns but with only 46 seconds left and the game in his hands, Cobb threw an interception to DeMarcus Dobbs at the Bulldog 13 yard line. Matthew Stafford looked wonderful as well, He threw for 376 yards and 3 touchdowns, and when you add in Knowshon Moreno rushing for 123 yards, that makes for a very exciting day of football, If you like offense that is. Defensively both teams struggled as the offensive numbers reflect. Georgia was able to amass 520 yards of total offense and Kentucky put together 331 yards. The Wildcats won the first downs (20 – 17), third down conversion (47.1% - 40%), as well as time of possession (34:50 – 25:10), but once again the scoreboard is them most important stat.
Arkansas 21 – South Carolina 34: Musical quarterbacks, a 54 yard field goal, a suffocating defense, and a fist fight. All of these things helped make up the events of the 34 to 21 South Carolina victory over Arkansas. Steve Spurrier would rotate his two QB’s, Chris Smelley and Stephen Garcia almost on every other snap. South Carolina got it done on defense as well, stopping Arkansas’ SEC leading rusher Michael Smith and holding the Razorbacks to only 54 yards rushing. Week in and week out every person who writes anything about football stresses the turnover statistic. This game will be no different; Arkansas thrice turned the ball over to South Carolina and in the SEC that will not win you any ball games. The Gamecocks improve to 7 – 3 on the season and will look to better advance their bowl possibilities as they move onto an SEC eastern showdown with Florida next weekend. T
Wyoming 13 – Tennessee 7: What a year for Phillip Fulmer and his Volunteers. The Wyoming Cowboys came to Knoxville and spoiled Homecoming for Tennessee. It was the end of a very emotional week for the Tennessee team, fans, and coaches, as Phillip Fulmer announced his resignation, effective at seasons end, on Monday. Miscues and a stagnant offense were the real undoing of the Vols. Tennessee quarterback Nick Stephens was picked off twice which directly led to the Cowboy’s 13 points. The first INT was returned to the UT 4 yard line, scoring on the next play. The second was a “Pick 6” interception by Ward Dobbs, the PAT would be missed and the score would remain 13 – 0. Backup Volunteer QB Jonathan Crompton replaced Nick Stephens after the second interception and accounted for the only Tennessee score of the day; An 8 yard touchdown pass to Gerald Jones in the 3rd quarter of play. For the most part the statistics look about as exciting as the score but Wyoming did hold a slight edge in the 3rd down conversion, turnovers, and time of possession categories. I picked UT to win this game and the loss is the only one I acquire on this weekend.
Tenn. Martin 20 – Auburn 37: The UTM Skyhawks came to Auburn with winning on their minds and for the most part stayed with their SEC foe for longer than anyone imagined. The game was actually tied at 20 all halfway through the third period. Auburn QB, Kodi Burns though finally was able to break free and score from 31 yards out to give the Tigers a 27 – 20 advantage. UTM had other second half opportunities but interceptions killed promising drives. On the statistical side of the game though, Auburn pretty much man handled the Football Championship Subdivision Skyhawks. The Tigers finished the day with 452 yards of total offense, 290 of which were on the ground. Auburn had 26 first downs, and converted on 3rd down 61.5% of the time. Auburn also held the ball almost a full 10 minutes more than did Tenn. Martin. Former Ole Miss receiver, Mike Hicks, had a big day for the Skyhawks though. Hicks came down with 12 receptions for 132 yards with 2 touchdowns. Auburn now is 5- 5 on the season and will try to reach bowl eligibility next week when they play host to Georgia down on the Plains.
Ok SEC Nation, there you have it. The opponents in the SEC Championship game are now decided and the jockeying for bowl position has begun. I am looking forward to what our 12 teams have in store for us the rest of the year. I would love to hear comments on who you think will win between Bama and the Gators come December 6th in Atlanta. Come back to the Nation on Wednesday as I will have my usual commentary about the good of the conference. Until then…..Hotty Toddy
Darryle “Speedy” Clark
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