College Football Wrap-Up: Week 9

The Dawgs enjoyed an open date before next weekend's matchup with Florida in Jacksonville. Saturday night was another excellent night of football!

Ole Miss at LSU
The Bayou Bengals upset the third-ranked Rebels in another classic game in Death Valley.  It was a defensive battle between the two teams that slugged it out all night before LSU took the lead 10-7 on a touchdown, with only 5:07 remaining in the game. Ole Miss had an opportunity to tie the game with a 42 yard field goal attempt. A delay of game cost them 5 yards and, instead of trying for the 47 yard FG attempt, they decided to run one more play (really, Hugh Freeze?). Unfortunately for Ole Miss, Bo Wallace made a poor throw that was intercepted with only 3 seconds remaining and LSU held on for the victory.

Photo Credit: The Advocate/Travis Spradling

Ole Miss has a championship caliber defense, but their offense was average on Saturday night and Bo Wallace seems to be easily flustered. The Rebels drop to 7-1 on the season, but they still control their own destiny. Their two toughest remaining games will be played at home -- Auburn  next weekend & Mississippi State on November 29th. Meanwhile, LSU enjoys an open date before hosting Alabama on November 8th. LSU's team is improving and would love to play spoiler again when the Crimson Tide roll into Baton Rouge.

South Carolina at Auburn
Steve Spurrier proved once again that he's still one of the best playcallers in America. Unfortunately for Gamecock faithful, their defense is probably one of the worst in Spurrier's ten seasons in Columbia. The two teams combined to roll up nearly 1,100 yards of offense in the 42-35 Auburn victory. 

In a contest that went back and forth all night, Spurrier pulled out all the stops and converted an onside kick and four fourth down plays in their own territory. On the night, the Gamecocks converted 5 out of 6 4th down plays. If it weren't for 3 interceptions, Dylan Thompson had his finest game as a quarterback with 402 yards passing and 5 touchdowns. South Carolina drops to 4-4 and will host Tennessee this coming Saturday night.

Alabama at Tennessee
Lane Kiffin made his return to Knoxville and he had Alabama's offense firing on all cylinders to begin the game. Alabama opened a 27-0 lead on the road by scoring touchdowns on 4 out of their first 5 drives. Tennessee deserves credit for fighting back to cut the lead to 10 midway through the 3rd quarter, but the Crimson Tide were too much for the Vols to handle and eventually won 34-20.

The Volunteers dropped to 3-5 on the season and will need to win 3 out of the 4 remaining games to become bowl eligible. After their road trip to South Carolina next weekend, they host a vastly improved Kentucky team and a Missouri team that currently sits at 6-2.  They finish the season in Nashville versus Vanderbilt. Tennessee hasn't reached a bowl game since the 2010 season and they haven't enjoyed a winning season since 2009.

Mississippi State at Kentucky
The Bulldogs held off the Kentucky upset bid in another SEC contest, where teams combined for over 1,000 yards of total offense. Sophomore quarterback Patrick Towles lead Kentucky in passing yards (390) and rushing yards (76) and accounted for 4 touchdowns. The Wildcats dropped to 5-3 on the season and play 3 out of their last 4 games on the road, beginning with a trip to Columbia, MO next weekend. Mississippi State, which remains as the only undefeated team in the SEC, hosts an Arkansas team on Saturday that is still searching for their first conference victory under Bret Beilema.

Tennessee's Misery
The Volunteers three biggest conference rivals are Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.  Butch Jones has been creative each time those teams have traveled to Knoxville in order to fire up the fans. The Vols sported their new "Smokey Grey" uniforms for UGA in 2013, they did the orange and white checkerboard for each section of Neyland Stadium for the Florida game this season, and on Saturday night the Vols wore all orange uniforms versus Alabama for the first time since 1988. Unfortunately for the Jones, Tennessee has lost each contest.

From 1998 through 2004, Tennessee had a 13-8 combined record versus Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.  Since then, they're combined record against those same teams is a putrid 4-26. They've lost 10 straight to Florida, 8 straight to Alabama, and 5 straight to Georgia.

Trick Play of the Year
If you missed this play on Saturday then you really need to see it for yourself...



One former, hefty quarterback was ecstatic to see the TD pass!

Congrats to the Arkansas OL that threw the TD. That's one record I'm happy to give up. #fatmanthrowingtd #BBN
— jared lorenzen (@JaredLorenzen22) October 25, 2014

Texas & Michigan
The Longhorns have fallen on hard times.  On Saturday they were blanked by Kansas State 23-0.  That was the first time Texas has been shout out since 2004.  As the Wildcats were securing their 7th win in the last 8 games versus Texas, this is the chant that broke out in Manhattan.




Meanwhile, Michigan State defeated Michigan 35-11 on Saturday. The Spartans have now defeated the Wolverines 6 out of the last 7 games in the series. Mark Dantonio indicated afterwards that he is tired of being disrespected by the flagship school in the state. While Dantonio has the Spartans on track for another successful season, it has become apparent that Michigan will be looking to replace their head coach after the season. Michigan fans have reached a new level of disgust with their team during Saturday's game.

RT if you want us to keep tweeting this game. Favorite if you'd rather we just stop.
— Mich. Daily Sports (@theblockm) October 25, 2014

Odds & Ends

• Josh Robinson, Mississippi State running back, quietly had another impressive performance on Saturday with 198 yards rushing.  He currently leads the SEC in rushing with 887 yards on the season.
• Amari Cooper will be a unanimous 1st team All-American player at the end of the season. On Saturday, he set a school record against Tennessee with 224 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns.  His stats for the season are absolutely ridiculous and Bama still may have as many as 7 games left on the schedule.
• Remember when TCU was known as a defensive-minded team under Gary Patterson? After their 82 point outburst versus Texas Tech on Saturday, they now lead the country in scoring offense at 50.4 points per game.
• If you missed this column late last, week please take a moment to read it. While Georgia still awaits word on when Gurley can return to action, Jameis Winston is busy preparing for FSU's game on Thursday night versus Louisville.
• Georgia's game versus Kentucky on November 8th will be televised at Noon by ESPN. 
• If UGA, Auburn, Mississippi State, and Alabama continue winning the next two weekends, then you will see two very highly ranked matchups on Saturday November 15th. That day would feature 8-1 Georgia facing off against 8-1 Auburn while 9-0 Mississippi State would squaring off with 8-1 Alabama. Both College Gameday and CBS would have tough decisions to make for those games.
• Looks like Georgia and Florida will both be wearing home uniforms on Saturday at the WLOCP.

Final Thought
It's Hate Week. Time for Jean Shorts, Mullets, and finally the infamous "Go Gata".

Until next time...Go Dawgs!!!