SEC West
Alabama — Grade: A+
Bama over Duke, 62-13
The Crimson Tide had this game won the minute they stepped off the bus. The Blue Devils were completely overmatched against a team that has more than proven they are deserving of the top ranked mantle. Alabama had hung half a hundred on Duke before halftime and finished with over 600 yards of total offense. David Cutcliffe’s bunch did not even manage to put up token resistance. Next week, the Tide travel to Arkansas which should be Alabama’s toughest test to date.
Auburn — Grade: B-
Auburn over Clemson, 27-24 OT
The Auburn Tigers were extremely fortunate to leave with an overtime victory against their ACC counterparts. The Tigers were saved by Clemson’s kicking woes in overtime combined with Clemson quarterback Kyle Parker being less than 100 percent due to what some might construe as a cheap shot in the back. The Tigers looked shaky on defense for the third consecutive week. Auburn gave up yards in bunches and failed to cause a turnover. In fact, Clemson marched down the field early in the game to take a 17-0 lead in the second quarter. To Auburn’s credit, they did bounce back to score 24 unanswered points of their own. One has to wonder if Clemson ripped them in the run game early, what in the world will Marcus Lattimore of South Carolina do to the Tigers next week?
Arkansas — Grade: A-
Arkansas over Georgia, 31-24
Any win on the road in the SEC is tough, and no team had more pressure to get that monkey off of their back than the Razorbacks. Ryan Mallett had never won a true road game as a Razorback, and Georgia is a rough place to turn that bit of luck around. But when you throw for nearly 400 yards and toss three touchdown passes to three different receivers, you give yourself a chance. Despite the yardage in the box score, the Arkansas defense played well for the majority of the game. Aside from a five minute lapse in the fourth quarter, Georgia found moving the football against the Razorbacks extremely difficult. There is work still left to do if Arkansas wants to beat number one Alabama next week in Fayetteville, however. The Hogs must run the football better and the extended defensive lapses must be eliminated.
LSU — Grade: B-
LSU over Mississippi State, 29-7
Don’t let the score fool you. LSU still hasn’t found their offense. The Tigers had nothing but field goals until deep into the third quarter. On a bright note, Josh Jasper set a school record for most field goals in a game with five. On a not-so-bright note, you should be scoring more than field goals against Mississippi State- especially when they turn the ball over five times. But the five forced turnovers highlights what LSU continues to do extremely well, and that is play great defense. They will certainly need it next week as West Virginia visits Baton Rouge for a Big East vs. SEC showdown this coming Saturday.
Ole Miss — Grade: F- (that is two of these for Ole Miss already this year)
Vanderbilt over Ole Miss, 28-14
There is no need for Ole Miss to continue with their mascot search. It appears that a middle-aged man with no cuticles on his fingers from chewing them to nubs and goes by the name “Laughing Stock” is head and shoulders the best choice. What is even better is that they won’t have to spend money on a mascot outfit. He’s already on the sidelines. But hey, that is what happens when you lose to Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt…at home. And Ole Miss didn’t just lose to Ole Miss at home. Oh, no. They lost by two touchdowns. It has gotten so bad in Oxford that Louisiana-Lafayette has circled Ole Miss on their schedule as a “w.”
Mississippi State — Grade: D
LSU over Mississippi State, 29-7
The Mississippi State Bulldogs are a team struggling to find an offensive identity. Do they want to run the option with their dual-threat quarterback Chris Relf or stay more traditional with pro-style passer Tyler Russell. Unfortunately, Relf really isn’t much of a dual-threat as his passing could hardly be considered a threat. The passing game did not fair any better with Russell behind center. LSU’s defense is too good for opposing offenses to be one-dimensional and expect good things to happen. MSU’s defense, however, was adequate to the job and the score was a bit misleading. Five turnovers on offense simply can’t be excused, but in the face of those turnovers, the Bulldogs stood firm most of the game and mostly surrendered field goals, not touchdowns.
SEC East
Florida — Grade: C
Florida over Tennessee, 31-17
Normally a win in Knoxville is worth at least a high “B,” but tough times have fallen on the University of Tennessee. Florida has taken advantage of inferior opponents the first three weeks, but Alabama and LSU loom in early October. If Florida wants to maintain their stranglehold on the SEC East, their offense better find itself and do it quickly. John Brantley has yet to look like a quarterback that carries a team on his shoulders, and this week, even Jeff Demps looked average with a fumble and a yard per carry average under three. The Gator’s defense is still extremely athletic and very fast, but they aren’t the caliber of years’ past and certainly not on par with Alabama. The defense did carry the team for this win, however. They held Tennessee to 29 yards rushing and picked Vol quarterback Matt Simms off twice.
Georgia — Grade: D+
Arkansas over Georgia, 31-24
With or without A.J. Green, the Bulldogs would have been in for a rough afternoon. The offensive line for Georgia, the highly touted unit that is supposedly the best in the nation, allowed the Hogs to sack Aaron Murray six times. They didn’t run block much better as Bulldog runners carved out only 3.4 yards per carry. And while the Georgia front seven did a fine job stuffing the run, they only sacked Arkansas’ Heisman hopeful Ryan Mallett once. The secondary will not have fun in the film room as they dissect this game. They gave up nearly 400 yards passing and three touchdown passes including a forty yarder to win the game with 15 seconds left. The only reason this game was in doubt in the fourth quarter was due to a five minute hiatus the Razorbacks decided to take because they thought their lead was safe. Georgia has a chance to right the ship with a five game stretch that includes Mississippi State, Colorado, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky.
Kentucky — Grade: A
Kentucky over Akron, 47-10
It’s hard to tell what the Wildcats can take away from this win over a Zips team that had about a Zippidy of a chance to have success against an SEC squad. Over the first two weeks, the Wildcats had been run all over even though they had won in somewhat convincing fashions. Not on Saturday. Kentucky was determined to stop the run and stop the run they did. The Zips carried the ball 37 times for only 67 yards. That’s impressive. The Wildcat defense even held Akron to 6 for 24 passing for a net of 105 yards through the air. The one touchdown was a meaningless pass in the last two minutes of the game. Kentucky is silently building a case to be a contender for the SEC East. Next week is their chance to take that case to the people as they travel to Gainesville for a game that might be the upset pick of the week.
South Carolina — Grade: B-
South Carolina over Furman, 38-19
Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks were never in any real danger of losing to the Furman Paladins, but nobody was breathing easy until a late, fourth quarter interception return for a touchdown put the South Carolina lead safely away. It was a bit of a letdown as some of the old South Carolina plagues returned. Quarterback Stephen Garcia was picked off twice, one inside their own five that was returned for a touchdown. South Carolina still took care of business, and Marcus Lattimore put in another workmanlike performance with 19 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown run. Sophomore wide receiver Alshon Jeffery fell just three yards short of his third straight 100 yard receiving performance of the year.
Tennessee — Grade: D-
Florida over Tennessee, 31-17
The Volunteers are obviously taking a few steps back from last year’s team that had a winning record and received a Chick-fil-A Bowl bid. Granted, the Volunteer defense was serviceable. They held the Gator offense to just over 300 total yards. They played fairly well against both the run and the pass. They weren’t great, but they weren’t bad. The offense even had its own share of moments. Matt Simms completed over 60 percent of his passes and threw for over 250 yards. He even had a pair of touchdown passes. Unfortunately, the rest of the offense stunk something awful. The Vols only put together 29 yards rushing and turned the ball over three times. The Volunteers never put together a drive that consisted of more than eight plays and let Florida hold the football for over 36 minutes. At home, that is simply not acceptable.
Vanderbilt — Grade: B
Vanderbilt over Ole Miss, 28-14
How about Vandy head coach Robbie Caldwell getting his team prepared this week? Vanderbilt jumped all over Ole Miss early, taking a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. Vanderbilt could have wilted when Ole Miss answered with 14 unanswered to tie, but Vanderbilt stiffened instead. The Vanderbilt defense was solid, holding Ole Miss quarterback Jeremiah Masoli to just over 50 percent in completion percentage and under 200 yards passing. Even better, they didn’t allow a touchdown pass but picked off the Oregon transfer twice. Vanderbilt’s offense did not exactly set the world on fire, but did rush for over 200 yards and more importantly, they did not turn the ball over.
SEC Stud of the Week
Ryan Mallett- QB Arkansas Razorbacks
21/33, 380 yards, 3 touchdowns
SEC Dud of the Week
Houston Nutt- Head Coach Ole Miss Rebels
Coached team to second embarrassing home loss this year. It has taken Houston Nutt only three years to accomplish what it took him seven to do at the University of Arkansas- divide the fanbase.
