SEC RESEMBLES VOLATILE STOCK MARKET
Monday 10/01/01
The SEC does seem to resemble a volatile stock market. Overall it is down but some of it’s “companies” are up and some are down. Here is a look at each game played this last Saturday and where the teams seem to be headed at this point in the season…
LSU vs. Tennessee. A game that lived up to some of the hype but was quietly dominated by the Volunteers. Freshman WR Kelley Washington is living up to all of the hype. He grabbed 11 catches for 256 yards. He helped QB Casey Clausen to a very good day except for 2 INTs. Meanwhile Travis Stephens and the Vol offensive line kept pounding at LSU and Stephens almost got 100 yards. The real story for UT though was the defense. They completely shutdown LSU’s running game and made them pretty one dimensional. Rohan Davey and Josh Reed had a good game but it was not enough.
So how do these team’s look? Well I think UT is definitely a “buy” and a rising stock. Their defense is one of the best in the conference and the offense has a new superstar in Washington and one of the best running backs in the SEC. The Vols look to be getting better. They face a tough string of games but they still should be favored in each one and they have an open week after next week. How about LSU? The Tigers look to be pretty much as advertised except the defense is not quite as good as I thought. However Davey came though with flying colors. I think LSU is still a “buy” but do it with caution. They are still my favorite to win the West but if they lose to Florida they will have no margin for error. The good part though is that the SEC West teams aren’t even as close to as good as Florida or Tennessee so they should be battle-hardened after starting off with these 2 titans.
Miss St vs. Florida. Wow. I think the Gators could have beaten anybody in the country on Saturday. Steve Spurrier and his crew did one of their finest jobs on Saturday. After getting embarrassed last year Florida wanted this one and they wanted it real bad. It was obvious they challenged the defense big-time after Miss St just romped through them last year. Spurrier has a lot of pride and losses like last year really motivate him. He has paid back Auburn and Georgia the same way. Florida’s stock is going through the roof. The defense looks better than last year and the offense is starting to look very familiar. I have said it and will probably say it several more times this year, Grossman-Gaffney-Caldwell are starting to look a lot like Wuerffel-Hilliard-Anthony. There is no doubt what the key to a Steve Spurrier team is, it is the quarterback. Florida did not win an SEC title between Wuerffel and Grossman. Doug Johnson and Jesse Palmer were decent QBs but a special QB is needed to run Spurrier’s system, without it his offense isn’t quite the same. However he has the QB now. I am not sure about Florida’s national championship chances though. Unlike their rivals in Tallahassee they have to play a tough game just about every week the rest of the way.
As for Miss St, I wouldn’t buy or sell yet, I would put them as a “hold”. Everybody is bailing out on them but they have played the best 2 teams on their schedule. Like I said about LSU above, I think they should be battle-hardened after starting off with two good teams. I don’t think they have a good shot at the title game but I do think they have a good shot at a good season. Although I will say that I definitely think right now that the West winner will be 5-3 in conference. I think it could come down to some of those weird tie-breakers this year in the West.
Bama vs. South Carolina. Best game of the week. You just can’t find a team with more guts and heart than South Carolina. Like Lou Holtz said, for every special season you have to luck out and win one or two you shouldn’t. Bama whipped South Carolina most of the day. Up front Bama’s freshman OLs really dominated. However South Carolina QB Phil Petty is the model of the veteran overachieving gritty senior QB. The guy makes big plays when it counts. South Carolina just stayed in it and then struck when Bama kind of let down. I think both teams played really well except the Bama defense late.
South Carolina is definitely a “buy”. They are the hottest team in the SEC other than Florida. I would rate Bama a “hold” at the moment. They still have plenty of problems, especially in the secondary, but they are showing a lot of signs of improvement. Their only road games now are at Ole Miss and Auburn. They have the rest of their games at home including LSU, State and Tennessee. Anything could happen especially if things come down to the West winner being 5-3.
Auburn vs. Vandy. The worst game of the week. The playing, the coaching and especially the officiating was horrible in this game. Vanderbilt has a few good players but overall is just terrible. Their coaching is even worse. Not to mention they have no “home advantage” anymore. Any big team brings more fans than Vandy. It was pitiful on Saturday. I admire Vandy’s high academic standards but they really should be in another conference where they have a chance. Things look bleak in Nashville. Even if they beat Auburn or Bama this year it would all still be true in the long run.
Meanwhile cracks are appearing at Auburn. They are showing signs of getting ready to take a big fall. They are currently at the top of the SEC West with wins over Ole Miss and Vandy but have Miss St and Florida the next 2 weeks. The Auburn team looks completely devoid of leadership especially on defense. The defense that was so good against the run last year has given up almost 500 yards rushing in the last 2 games. I guess the preseason “experts” might have been right. I thought they were wrong but it looks as though the “curse of Bowden” is not over yet. Auburn hardly has any senior leadership and we are exactly 4 years from Terry Bowden’s last recruiting class. Maybe the worst in Auburn history and the reason he is not coaching there anymore. Next week’s showdown with Miss St could be the biggest game of they year for Auburn. It could really set the tone for the rest of the year. After the last two weeks I am almost ready to “sell”…
Lastly we have UK and Ole Miss. I don’t think anything else needs to be said about UK. I would rank Ole Miss as a “buy”. With Eli Manning looking as good as advertised plus their easy schedule, Ole Miss is looking good for a bowl game and a winning season.