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.

College Football Wrap-Up: Week 8

Photo Credit: Nelson Chenault/USA TODAY Sports

The Dawgs won for the 2nd consecutive week on the road without their star running back, Todd Gurley. The first half (minus the very 1st drive) was a dominating performance which allowed the Dawgs to take control and finish off the Razorbacks in Little Rock. Here were my takeaways:

• Is our defense improving or what? I felt like we would see improvement as the year progressed, but the Dawgs have exceeded my expectations on that side of the ball.
• We didn't quite execute that onside kick, but I really liked the call.  Between the long completion to Chris Conley, on the first drive, and that onside kick, you could really sense that Richt wanted to be aggressive and take control of the game.
• Speaking of Conley, he easily had his best performance of the game - 5 receptions, 128 yards, and 1 TD.
• Nick Chubb is a stud! He had a great game with 202 yards on 30 carries with 2 TDs. T.J. Yeldon and Derrick Henry combined to rush for only 70 yards last week versus Arkansas. 
• Chubb joined Herschel Walker and Rodney Hampton as the only freshman to rush for 200 or more yards in a game.  Oh, and by the way, Chubb is now the 8th leading rusher in the SEC, with 569 yards, and he only has 2 starts.
• Without a doubt, Gurley and Chubb are special backs, but you have to give kudos to the offensive line. Coach Friend and center David Andrews do not receive enough credit for the jobs they do.
• This is the biggest reason Georgia sits at 6-1. The Dawgs defense has forced turnovers in bundles and the offense has done an outstanding job of protecting the ball. This year we lead the nation in TO margin (+13) while we finished 102nd last season (-7).
• Saturday was the third game out of the last 4 that the defense has scored a touchdown. Last year we could hardly create a turnover, much less turn one instantly into points.
• Pruitt is coaching up the secondary and you can see vasty improved safety play the last few games. Quincy Mauger and Dominick Sanders are really coming along and playing very well.
• Georgia's 38 point outburst in the first half was the most the Dawgs have scored in the first half of an SEC game since 1984, when they put up 42 points versus Vanderbilt.
• While everyone talks about the struggles the SEC East has versus the SEC West, Coach Richt improved to 28-10 versus SEC West teams in the regular season.

This was fun to watch...

but I enjoyed this even more...

College Football Wrap-Up: Week 4

Georgia dismantled Troy, 66-0, to move to 2-1 on the season. As I indicated last week, this is a bad Troy football team, but it was nice to see the Dawgs put them away early and clear the bench.  It was Georgia's largest margin of victory since 1958 and the first time they've scored more than 60 points since 2011. It would have been easy to come out flat for this cupcake opponent, particularly after a tough loss, but the Dawgs cruised to a 45-0 halftime lead and never looked back.  It was the first time Troy had been held scoreless in 99 games, which dates back to when Nebraska shut them out in 2006.

Photo Credit: AJC/Brant Sanderlin

Here are some quick observations on the game:

• Sony Michel sure did have a nice afternoon with 10 carries, 155 yards, and 3 rushing TDs. Michel and Chubb are going to be fun to watch the next 3 years.
• Isaiah McKenzie had his first collegiate punt return for a TD. I have a feeling this may the first of many punt return TDs he will have in Athens.
• Another game with no turnovers. Georgia is at +4 Turnover Margin on the season through 3 games. That was a nice interception from Tramel Terry in the end zone. Hopefully he can make some strides in becoming a contributor to this defense.
• I'm curious to see if the Dawgs will try to utilize Sony Michel in the wildcat formation, or Faton Bauta under center, when they're in the red zone down the road.
• Coach Richt indicated that Keith Marshall's injury doesn't appear to be serious. I hated seeing him on crutches after the game. 

Looking ahead for the Dawgs

Tennessee travels to Athens on Saturday, after enjoying a bye week. Unfortunately, it was picked up by CBS for a Noon start. I would much prefer a 3:30 or later start, where the home field becomes a much bigger advantage. Georgia has won 4 straight versus Tennessee, and the Vols are still looking for their signature road victory in the Butch Jones era.   Hopefully, the Dawgs are focused and ready to take on the Vols. 

Through three games, Georgia's offense is averaging 7.7 yards per carry and 304 yards per game. As a matter of fact, Todd Gurley is leading the nation with 9.8 yards per carry.  However, it is critical that Georgia become more consistent in their passing game. It would be nice if Scott-Wesley or Mitchell would return to action this week, but I'm not very hopeful based on what the coaches have shared.  Justin Worley has played fairly well, thus far, and Jalen Hurd is likely a future All-SEC type player, but the Vols are average along their offensive line.  In order for Georgia to win this game, their front seven needs to win the line of scrimmage.  It will be the first time Willie Martinez and John Jancek have returned to Athens since Coach Richt fired them in December 2009.

Around the SEC

Auburn at Kansas State

Auburn survived versus Kansas State on Thursday night.  The Wildcats did a marvelous job of shutting down the Auburn rushing attack, but couldn't overcome so many critical mistakes. They missed 3 field goals, had a turnover deep in their own territory, which led to an early Auburn field goal and then there was this:

It was the first non-conference win on an opponent's home field since the Tigers beat Virginia in Charlottesville in 1997.

Florida at Alabama
Blake Sims threw for 445 yards, Derrick Henry rushed for 111 yards, and Alabama overcame 4 turnovers in the first 32 minutes of the ballgame to cruise to 42-21 victory. Alabama's 645 yards of total offense are the most they have allowed in school history. Muschamp and his quarterback, Jeff Driskel, are both in their 4th years at Florida and it seems that the Gator fans are losing faith quickly in their ability to turn around the program.

Put Jeff Driskel on the bench please, I have seen enough.
— Emmitt Smith (@EmmittSmith22) September 20, 2014

Mississippi State at LSU
The Maroon Bulldogs went into Death Valley and took it to LSU. They lead from beginning to end, but after leading 34-10 early in the 4th quarter, they had to hold off a furious rally from LSU and escaped Baton Rouge with 34-29 victory.  This was a statement game for Dan Mullen. It was their first victory against LSU since 1999 and the last time they won in Baton Rouge prior to this week was 1991.

Other SEC Action

• Vanderbilt played their best game of the season and returned two kickoffs for touchdowns but the Gamecocks held off the Commodores for a 48-34 win.
• Missouri embarrassed the SEC by losing at home to a bad Indiana team 31-27.
• Arkansas and Texas A&M cruised to easy non-conference victories.

Around the Nation

Clemson at Florida State
The game I anticipated watching the most this week did not disappoint as Florida State escaped with a 23-17 overtime victory.  Clemson went into Tallahassee and outplayed the Seminoles for the vast majority of the game. Clemson's defense, in particular, played lights out and dominated the line of scrimmage during regulation. Critical mistakes made by Clemson's offense were the difference in the game.

Clemson reached the red zone 7 times vs Florida State and scored on just 3 of those drives. #CLEMvsFSU
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 21, 2014

In summary, Cole Stoudt underthrew a wide open TE in the first quarter, which would have been a touchdown, the kicker missed 2 field goals, a high snap cost them another opportunity to score a touchdown, and then a late fumble deep in FSU's territory cost them a chance to put the game away. You cannot fault Dabo Swinney for going for it on 4th down in overtime.  His kicker badly missed those two field goals.  Furthermore, you're a heavy underdog on the road and the home team has just seized the momentum. What I don't understand is why Chad Morris decided not to put Watson under center on that 4th and 2 play.

Get. Under. Center.
— Pat Forde (@YahooForde) September 21, 2014

Apparently, that sentiment was widely shared.  If you're a Clemson fan, you have to put this loss behind you. Sure, it's easy to get down after starting the season 1-2 with losses to Georgia and Florida State, but they have found a future star at quarterback and you can still have a decent season. They will likely win the next 8 games and be 9-2 when South Carolina comes to town on November 29th.


Other Action

• Forget what I wrote about Virginia Tech after their upset of Ohio State.  They have now lost two straight home games and fall to 0-1 in ACC play, after the loss to Georgia Tech. Virginia Tech's QB, Michael Brewer, who played with such confidence against Ohio State, threw 3 interceptions versus the Jackets and now has 8 on the season.
• Oklahoma survived a tough road game versus West Virginia with a 45-33 victory.  It looks like the toughest games that lie ahead for the Sooners will all be played in Norman (Kansas State, Baylor, and Oklahoma State).
• South Carolina's week 2 victory versus East Carolina is looking stronger each week.  A week after defeating the Hokies, the Pirates took UNC to the woodshed by outscoring them 70-41. They are now in this week's AP Top 25 Poll.