TIGERS, DAWGS AND HOGS MAKE MAJOR MOVES
Monday 10/14/02
I wish I could insert an audio bit here of the intro to the old “Wild World of Sports” show… “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat”. Not many weekends in SEC football completely illustrate that slogan better than this weekend. There were 4 SEC games and there were 4 thrilling victors and 4 agonizing losers (although some of those are in more agony than others). To the games… The Georgia Bulldogs are now in a prime position to break the Florida/Tennessee stranglehold on the SEC East. The Bulldogs are now undefeated with a victory over Tennesse going into the second half of the season. They beat the Vols the last 2 years but had a loss to South Carolina already on the books plus they had a Steve Spurrier to deal with. Not this year. The Dawgs do have a tough schedule and I don’t think they will go undefeated but they are closer than ever to their first trip to the SEC title game.
UT is now left to wonder what might have been in a season that has already dashed the high expectations. UT will not be in Atlanta barring a Georgia collapse. However they do have a big home games against Bama and Miami that could definitely help make this a better season. To make a run though the Vols are going to need Casey Clausen back. Their offense really hit the skids without him. In other SEC East action Kentucky missed a great opportunity to beat South Carolina after the Gamecocks missed a PAT and Kentucky had 1st and goal with little time left. The Wildcats couldn’t get it in and have to be very disappointed. Meanwhile Lou Holtz continues to roll along turning a bad start into a decent season…
If Georgia holds up it is looking more and more like their opponent will be the defending SEC champion LSU Tigers. I have harped and harped on the LSU passing game but hey they are so good elsewhere it might not matter. They absolutely crushed the Gators at home in a game that truly ended an era. It might have ended in Spurrier’s loss to UT last year but this game put the exclamation point on it. The Gator dynasty is over. The Florida fans are not taking it well either as the stadium was completely empty by time the game ended. I think the question of whether it was the system or the player has been answered for Rex Grossman. The guy is absolutely dying outside of Spurrier’s system. In fact it was reported that a play was signaled in at one point and he ran the play that the signal stood for last year with Spurrier.
Grossman threw 4 INTs for the second straight week and the highest rated passer in the NCAA last year is now one of the lowest rated passers in the SEC. Unbelievable. The LSU defense looks to be pretty stout though. I had my doubts about young Will Muschamp at defensive coordinator for LSU but so far he has done the job. If LSU can win consecutive West titles Nick Saban might be very close to taking the “best coach in the SEC” title away from Fulmer. Meanwhile Ron Zook is looking like he might not last the season. However his opposing coach this week might not be too far behind him…
For the second time in as many years Auburn and Tommy Tuberville were absolutely humiliated at home by a divisional foe where Auburn was ranked and the other team wasn’t. Again Auburn didn’t just lose but were just utterly embarrased. The last time it was arch rival Bama, this time it was Arkansas. The Razorbacks after going 6 OTs with UT last week came in and ran up 400 YARDS RUSHING (!!!). Not 400 yards total offense but 400 yards just running the ball. It was the worst performance maybe ever by an Auburn defense at home and it came after Auburn had an open week to prepare. This wasn’t the 1995 Nebraska team, it was a decent but one-dimensional Arkansas team. There has to be a lot of bad coaching in there to let it get so ugly. Part of the blame can also be laid on Tuberville’s unwavering commitment to putting smaller faster players at every defensive position. Auburn has LBs at DE, safeties at LB and converted corners at safety. Arkansas’ hulking OL and outstanding 315 lb TE Jason Peter proved that speed isn’t everything as they destroyed the smaller Auburn line.
It is just one game but any game you give up 400 yards rushing really puts up a red flag. In fact the disturbing trend for Tuberville is the way Auburn is getting regularly blown out and his plummeting record against divisional foes. If LSU beats Auburn in 2 weeks Tuberville will only have a winning overall record against Ole Miss in the SEC West. He may have a great record against Georgia but divisional foes are most important. Tuberville currently has only 1 win against Arkansas and Bama in 4 years and would be 2-2 against LSU and Miss St. If Ole Miss beat Auburn this year he would not have a winning record against any divisional foe. You are just not going to last long at any SEC West school with a divisional record like that. This game might be an anomaly but Auburn will not be favored in another SEC game all year long. They are also guaranteed to see several OLs that are even better than Arkansas…
Right now in the West LSU and Ole Miss are on top with maybe Arkansas making a late run. Auburn is still there right now but must win at Florida or against LSU to keep their hopes alive. In the East it is Georgia followed by Florida, UT and South Carolina. That is the way it looks at the moment but as always stay tuned…