College Football Wrap-Up: Week 12

Heartbroken
Nearly 24 hours later and I'm still in shock!  I've never seen any play like Auburn's Hail Mary to win the game.  It was another classic game in the Deep South's oldest rivalry. Unfortunately for the Dawgs, they ended up on the losing side. I don't have a lot to offer in regards to the game, but here are my thoughts:

• Auburn won the 1st half and the Georgia won the 2nd half. The difference in the game: stupid luck
• For those fans in the DawgNation that complain about Mike Bobo, chew on this for a moment: Georgia has faced 5 teams in the current Top 18 of this week's Associated Press poll (Clemson, South Carolina, LSU, Missouri, and Auburn). In those 5 games the offense has averaged 512 yards of offense and 36.8 points per game. That's remarkable, especially when you consider all the injuries on offense this season.
• On the Hail Mary itself, I've heard a lot of criticism from fans and even former players that say the Georgia defensive backs should have just knocked the ball away.  I understand the argument but I'm not going to criticize the players.  In my opinion, Matthews was going for the ball (not knowing if the WR would be battling for it) and JHC came in to knock it away when they collided with one another.
• Now I do believe Georgia's defensive coordinator, Todd Grantham, deserves to be blamed.  Yes, the defense did play much better in the 4th quarter, but how do you expect to give up 566 yards of offense and win the game? You cannot rely on your offense to score 40+ points in these big ballgames every single time. There is simply too much talent on this defense to play so poorly on a consistent basis.
• You can't blame this loss on poor officiating, but when you know the name of the referee prior to the game, and you're already dreading the fact that he's officiating your game, it's not a good sign. I honestly don't know if the play should have been ruled a turnover, but I do know that the mild-mannered Mark Richt has never been penalized before yesterday. Let's face it, Penn Wagers will never get over the celebration in Jacksonville in 2007 and the SEC office is not going to hold their officials accountable.  
• This right here sums up the Hail Mary pass and our season in general.
• Ramik Wilson deserves to the SEC's Defensive Player of the week.  He had 18 tackles, 2 TFL, and 1 sack.
• If you're looking for a good recap from a professional writer then be sure to check out Seth Emerson's write-up from the Macon Telegraph.
• Aaron Murray is the greatest QB in UGA history.  He won't leave with an SEC Championship, but he holds every single significant SEC passing record, he is one of the toughest QBs I've ever seen play, and he leaves everything he has on the field every single time.  There is absolutely no way we have a chance to win that game yesterday without Aaron Murray. I don't know about you, but I plan on being in my seat early on Saturday night so that I can give him a standing ovation when they announce his name on Senior Day.

SEC Eastern Division

It's now down to Missouri and South Carolina and it's pretty straightforward to determine who will play the Alabama/Auburn winner for the SEC title the first weekend in December.  If Missouri wins their remaining two conference games (Ole Miss and Texas A&M) then they will win the division.  If they lose either one of those games then South Carolina will win the division. I believe Missouri will beat Ole Miss on Saturday and on the final regular season weekend, Carolina fans will be busy watching Texas A&M/Missouri, along with hoping that they can make it 5 straight versus Clemson.

Bowl Projections

Both ESPN experts are predicting a Georgia/Minnesota matchup in the Gator Bowl.  Earlier today came word of this:

According to a #GatorBowl ambassador I spoke to this weekend, #UGA and #Michigan are at the top of their "Big Board." #SEC #B1G
— Logan Booker (@LoganBooker_BI) November 17, 2013

CBS Sports projects us to play in the Music City Bowl versus Syracuse, while SB Nation projects a Georgia/Boston College matchup in the Music City Bowl, which would be a rematch of a bowl game played in Mark Richt's first season (2001) in Athens.

Odds & Ends

• Well, as bad as that fluke play hurt on Saturday night, at least I'm not a Gator or Yellow Jacket fan.  Florida lost to South Carolina, which virtually assures them of no bowl this season, and Clemson took Tech to the woodshed on Thursday night in front of a national television audience.
• Duke is now in sole possession of first place in the ACC Coastal division, with two games remaining and ranked #25 in the nation. It may be in David Cutcliffe's best interest to somehow finish 2nd in the division and not have to face FSU in the ACC title game.
• The Baylor/Oklahoma State game next weekend in Stillwater will be a de facto Big 12 conference championship game.  I really hope Baylor can finish the season undefeated, if for no other reason than I want them to finish ahead of Ohio State in the polls.  In spite of the Buckeye's 25 point road win, they dropped from 3rd to 4th in this week's AP Poll.  Baylor is currently #3.
• With Stanford's loss to USC, Oregon is now the favorite to head to the Rose Bowl since they will host the Pac 12 championship game.  This would likely match up the Ducks and the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl the week before the national championship game is played in Pasadena.

Notable Games Next Weekend

The game of the week is Baylor at Oklahoma State (as noted above).  Here are a few other notable games on the schedule next Saturday:

• Texas A&M at LSU: The Tigers are a 4 point favorite, but I'm curious to know the Over/Under on this game.
• Vanderbilt at Tennessee: The Commodores are bowl-eligible while the Vols need the win in order to have a shot to become bowl-eligible this season.  Can the Dores' make it two straight versus Tennessee for the first time since 1926?
• Missouri at Ole Miss: A loss for the Tigers will put South Carolina in the SEC Championship game for the 2nd time in four years.  A win for Ole Miss would help them move up in the bowl pecking order.