The
“playoffs” begin…
By
Jeff Sallas
The upsets finally ended last week, barely… Louisiana Tech came so close to knocking off
Auburn, Bama had the lead on UT going into the 4th quarter and at
one point Kentucky was up on Georgia 22-7.
I think La Tech really blew it against Auburn when they decided to kick
for a tie in the closing seconds of the game.
That is usually the smart thing to do but in this case they should have
gone for 2. They had Auburn reeling and
scared they were fixing to lose. The
fans were in shock and things were happening so fast. I mean you have to thrilled if you are La Tech and you have a
chance to win the game with one play at the 2 yard line. Instead they gave Auburn another chance and
lost. Well I rebounded from my terrible
week 2 weeks ago to go 6-0 last week which puts me at 38-11 (78%) for the
season. Well we do enter a “playoff”
type mode this week with every team that has less than 3 conference losses playing
each other except for Arkansas). Let’s
take a look…
Florida
vs. Georgia in Jacksonville FL - The game of the week (Saturday at 2:30 on CBS)
“The World’s Largest Cocktail Party” reconvenes
again in Jacksonville. I wonder how long
this series will last in Jacksonville.
It has left once and it is just hard to believe that one of these teams
won’t want to bring this series to their stadium. Enjoy this while it lasts because it won’t I say… Florida has completely dominated this series
since Spurrier took over only losing once in 1997. Spurrier has irked teams all over the conference but has not hid
the fact that he has a special desire to keep kicking the Dawgs. It seems now that Florida has always
dominated this series but the truth is that Georgia dominated this series
before Spurrier got there and he reminds people of that frequently. That is the good thing about having a coach
who actually went to the school.
Florida should be chomping at the bit by
kickoff. They have had 2 weeks to stew
over the loss to Auburn. I am betting
that Spurrier was able to get these kid’s attention after a loss and do some
coaching plus breakdown a lot of film on Georgia’s defense. I look for the Florida air assault to
continued with a renewed desire to establish a running game as well. RB Ernest Graham will be back this week and
that should help. Georgia’s defense
better baton down the hatches. To date
they have given up almost 400 yards passing to Kentucky, over 300 yards passing
to Vandy and almost 300 yards to UT. I
think the Bulldogs will have a hard time holding the Gators under 30 points.
However the good thing for Georgia is they have a
much better offense this year. The main
reason for that the last 2 weeks is freshman Fred Gibson. This guy is looking as good as advertised
when he was being recruited last year.
He caught 9 passed for 201 yards last week against Kentucky and 2 TDs
over 50 yards. This guy is on
fire! He has had over 300 yards
receiving the last 2 weeks. The Gators
must also watch out for WR Terrence Edwards who has been pretty quiet over the
last 2 weeks. QB David Greene continues
to get better and better as well throwing for 300 yards 3 weeks in a row (and
having 298 the week before that). The
pivotal figure on offense might be TB Jasper Sanks. He has got to take up the slack for injured starter Musa
Smith.
This will be about the best offense that Georgia has
fielded against Florida in awhile. I
think we will find out a lot about this Gator defense. They shutdown a good LSU offense but I think
Georgia might be a bit better at this point offensively than LSU. This ought to be a pretty good game and a
tough pick. However I think the Georgia
defense is the weakest unit on the field and I don’t think Spurrier has ever
lost 2 conference games in a row. If he
has it sure hasn’t happened very often…
FLORIDA OVER GEORGIA
South
Carolina at Tennessee (Saturday at 5:00 on ESPN2)
The Gamecocks roll into Knoxville for a big-time
showdown. Both teams got back on track
last week after distressing losses.
South Carolina crushed Vandy while UT won a hard fought win over
Bama. I thought that offensive
coordinator Randy Sanders probably called his best game since he was promoted
to OC against Bama. The throws to the
TE were a great call with Bama loading up on the WRs. The naked bootleg on the goal line was perfect. He also seemed to go to Washington and
Stallworth at exactly the right times.
Maybe the guy is finally growing into the job after 2 inconclusive years.
The Vols defense was stung for the first time on the
ground by Bama but did seem to get better as the game went on. Meanwhile South Carolina had it’s best
offensive day of the season rolling up over 600 yards on Vandy. It was very balanced as well with 300 coming
through the air and 300 on the ground.
RBs Derek Watson and Andrew Pinnock both had 100 yards days and senior
Brian Scott had 143 yards receiving.
The only distressing trend for the Gamecocks is that Phil Petty has
thrown 3 INTs over the past 2 games.
They are the only ones he has thrown all year. South Carolina beat Georgia, Miss St and Bama by not making
mistakes.
I think that the South Carolina will have a tough
time running on the Vols. I don’t think
there OL or RBs are as good as Bama at running the ball. They are a bit better than Bama at passing
the ball but I just don’t know if it is good enough to get it done in
Knoxville. I think South Carolina’s
game plan would be to pretty much have a game like last year which was a
low-scoring slugfest. The Gamecocks
almost pulled it out but UT drove the length of the field in the final minutes
for the win.
The South Carolina defense is good but should have
their hands full. Again the UT offense
really started gel against Bama. Casey
Clausen had maybe his finest game as a Vol going 21 for 28 for almost 300
yards, 2 TDs and no INTs. Travis
Stephens has pretty much established that he is the best RB in the SEC,
period. Heck none of thought he would be
as good as Travis Henry or Jamal Lewis but he may just be better than both of
them. He is on track to break UT’s
single season rushing record. The guy
is just a workhorse that will not quit.
He pound Bama for 162 yards on 33 carries and 2 TDs.
I also got my first good look at WR Kelley
Washington during the Bama game and man he looked about as good as the
hype. I think South Carolina is a good
team but I think this Vol team just has too many weapons. I think Tennessee is on a collision course
to play Florida for the SEC East title…
TENNESEE OVER SOUTH CAROLINA
Ole Miss
at LSU (Saturday at 8:00 on ESPN2)
This is the biggest game in current Ole Miss history
or at least the last 20 years. This is
the first game I can ever remember Ole Miss playing that directly related to an
SEC title. If Ole Miss could pull this
one off then they would be in sole possession of second place in the SEC
West. They would then have Arkansas,
Georgia and Vandy in Oxford and a beleaguered Miss St team on the road. Ole Miss looks to be the favorite in all of
those games except for Georgia. Ole
Miss could then hope for Auburn losses at Georgia and LSU. I don’t think I would call that a likely
scenario but it is closer than Ole Miss has EVER been to Atlanta.
The same could be said for LSU. They have not been to the title game yet
either (Ole Miss and LSU are the only teams from the West to have not made
it). They have been very close and just
haven’t been able to get over the hump.
Despite having 2 losses to Ole Miss’ one and Auburn’s none, this may be
LSU’s best chance so far as well. All
they have to do is win out over the 5 SEC West teams and hope Auburn loses
once. It is still a pretty tough task
but they nearly control their own destiny.
This has the makings of a big-time shootout. Both defenses have not been that great. LSU’s defense has been awful against the
pass. Eli Manning should put on a
show. However Ole Miss has also had
several other guys step up as playmakers as well. RBs Joe Gunn and Charles Stackhouse have steadily improved as
have WRs Chris Collins and Jason Armstead.
Unfortunately for Ole Miss LSU brings an equally lethal offense of
All-SEC playmakers in Rohan Davey, Josh Reed and Labrandon Toefield.
LSU’s defense has been porous against the pass but I
think it still a better overall unit than Ole Miss’ defense. The Ole Miss defense has been just
adequate. I also think LSU has the
advantage being at home and the game being played so late at night. Of course, I wonder if some of the LSU fans
will be able to make it to the stadium after partying it up all day. I think LSU’s harder schedule will also
prepare them better for this game. Ole
Miss is so close but unfortunately I think the dream ends here…
LSU OVER OLE MISS
Auburn at
Arkansas (Saturday at 11:30 on
Jefferson Pilot)
Ah there is nothing like Fayetteville, Arkansas in
later October and November. Every year
some poor unsuspecting SEC West team goes into that hell hole and gets
ambushed. I mean it is almost as
regular as clockwork. The other team is
usually better or expecting a straight up game with the Razorbacks. However when they get there they find it is
either raining, snowing, freezing or any combination thereof.
In 1997, Miss St had the lead in the SEC West and
was on track for the SEC title game till they wandered into Fayetteville late
in the season. In 1998 Arkansas was
just very good. In 1999 they were back
down again but managed to knock off a better State team again that was running
neck-and-neck with Bama for the SEC West.
In 2000 they were down again but pounded a much better LSU team the last
game of the season in the rain and cold.
In 1998 and 1999 they also annihilated Tommy Tuberville 68-10 (one with
Ole Miss and one with Auburn). Both of
these games were played in driving rainstorms.
So while they have one of the worst offenses in the
country and they don’t look like they are near as good as Auburn, this will
still be a tough game. The weather is
supposed to be nice but Tuberville says he is expecting it to be rainy and
cold. Two weeks ago Arkansas pulled a
shocker and knocked off undefeated South Carolina. Their defense played a great game and the offense did just enough. I look for the same game plan.
Auburn’s game plan should be simple, GET AHEAD. If Auburn can get a touchdown or 10 point
lead in the first half, the Razorbacks will have a very hard time coming
back. Auburn really needs to focus on
starting well and really playing aggressive offensively. Auburn seemed to take a step forward offensively
last week though new QB Dan Cobb threw 4 INTs.
He finally started throwing the ball to Auburn’s talented WR corps for
the first time all season. Auburn would
be smart to keep doing this.
Meanwhile true freshman and top recruit Carnell Williams
continues to look better and better. He
and Cas Moore should split the carries at TB.
I think Auburn is a much better team but if the weather turns bad or if
they make some mistakes and struggle on offense they could get in trouble… However Auburn would have to screw up really
bad to get beat by this Arkansas offense.
I think Tub gets another monkey off his back.
AUBURN OVER ARKANSAS
Vandy at
Duke (Saturday at 12:00)
Ah a stirring interconference matchup… Yes this is a true “clash of the titans”
between the worst of the SEC and the worst of the ACC in football. Vandy comes in with a sterling 1-5 record
with their one win being over Richmond while Duke comes in 0-7. Vandy is awful but at least they have put a
scare into a few SEC teams just ask Auburn and Bama. Duke has pretty much been completely crushed by every ACC team
they have played other than the mighty Demon Deacons of Wake Forest. I mean I think an off-week is harder in the
ACC than playing Duke.
Of course these are the games that Vandy really
plays down for. There is no doubt that
no matter how bad this Duke team is they could pull the upset. However I am going to go out on a limb and
take the Commodores. If they lose this
game I don’t know how they will be able to look at themselves in the mirror…
VANDY OVER DUKE