The ESPN.com Power Rankings are in so it's time to check out how Chris and I voted in our Top 25 polls this week:
Edward
1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Stanford
4. Ohio State
5. Clemson
6. Georgia
7. Texas A&M
8. Louisville
9. Florida State
10. LSU
11. South Carolina
12. UCLA
13. Oklahoma
14. Miami
15. Baylor
16. Michigan
17. Florida
18. Washington
19. Northwestern
20. Texas Tech
21. Arizona State
22. Oklahoma State
23. Fresno State
24. Ole Miss
25. Maryland
Chris
1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Clemson
4. Stanford
5. Ohio State
6. Georgia
7. Texas A&M
8. Louisville
9. Florida State
10. South Carolina
11. LSU
12. UCLA
13. Oklahoma
14. Baylor
15. Miami
16. Northwestern
17. Washington
18. Texas Tech
19. Florida
20. Michigan
21. Arizona State
22. Oklahoma State
23. Fresno State
24. Ole Miss
25. Northern Illinois
Edward
1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Stanford
4. Ohio State
5. Clemson
6. Georgia
7. Texas A&M
8. Louisville
9. Florida State
10. LSU
11. South Carolina
12. UCLA
13. Oklahoma
14. Miami
15. Baylor
16. Michigan
17. Florida
18. Washington
19. Northwestern
20. Texas Tech
21. Arizona State
22. Oklahoma State
23. Fresno State
24. Ole Miss
25. Maryland
Chris
1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Clemson
4. Stanford
5. Ohio State
6. Georgia
7. Texas A&M
8. Louisville
9. Florida State
10. South Carolina
11. LSU
12. UCLA
13. Oklahoma
14. Baylor
15. Miami
16. Northwestern
17. Washington
18. Texas Tech
19. Florida
20. Michigan
21. Arizona State
22. Oklahoma State
23. Fresno State
24. Ole Miss
25. Northern Illinois
From defensive struggles to quarterback quandaries to head coach hot-stove talk to even nature walks, there's plenty going on in SEC football this week. Here's a sampling of discussion points from around the league:
- The speed Alabama uses on special teams has helped its kickoff and punt coverage units play better this season.
- Now that they have seen some SEC action, Auburn freshman receivers Marcus Davis and Tony Stevens could play bigger on-field roles moving forward.
- Georgia got a huge defensive stop late to help secure a win over LSU. But if the Bulldogs have national title hopes, their defense can't allow as many points as it did Saturday.
- Texas A&M's defense struggled against Arkansas, but it continued to play hard every snap. And for that, Jackie Sherrill says it deserves credit.
- LSU coach Les Miles said the Tigers have to fix problems in their secondary that contributed to big pass plays allowed in the loss to Georgia.
- South Carolina's ability to close games has to get better and one player -- Jadeveon Clowney -- was making that point clear on the sidelines against Central Florida.
- Florida offensive coordinator Brent Pease took his quarterbacks on a nature walk in order to clear their minds during downtime leading up to the Gators' game against Kentucky.
- Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze is moving on from the Tyler Siskey controversy and will not ask the SEC to investigate the issue.
- Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said he saw a "feisty, aggressive, angry, competitive" spirit in quarterback Brandon Allen, who returned from a shoulder injury on Saturday against Texas A&M.
- Former Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer, who attended a Volunteers practice last week, said "it's going to take time" and that Butch Jones "has got lots of challenges" ahead of him in getting Tennessee back where it wants to be.
- Missouri has revenge on its mind against Vanderbilt, a team to which the Tigers lost 19-15 at home last season.
- Kentucky coach Mark Stoops would love to have a definitive answer at quarterback but feels it's "reckless" to name a starter right now just for the sake of naming one.
- James Franklin's name is a hot one being thrown around for the USC job, but the Vanderbilt coach deflected questions on the topic on Monday, saying he's focused on Missouri.
Jackson's swift rise began before Alabama
October, 1, 2013
Oct 1
12:00
PM ET
By
Alex Scarborough | ESPN.com
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- It's safe to assume that Eddie Jackson understands the opportunity ahead of him at Alabama. He can't say as much publicly because of the school's policy prohibiting freshmen from speaking to the media. But given all he's already gone through, it would be a wonder if he didn't look back on his road to Tuscaloosa and comprehend the enormous turnaround it took for him to get there.
It's a wonder he's wearing Alabama's signature crimson helmet in the first place. The fact that he's starting at cornerback for the defending national champions is something even more implausible considering where he was at this time last year.
Jackson needed a change of scenery before any of the chips fell into place. He likely learned the value of a fresh start from his brother, Demar Dorsey, a former blue-chip defensive back prospect who signed a letter of intent to play for Michigan in 2010 but never made it to Ann Arbor. Dorsey's past included poor grades and three felony charges that robbed him of the opportunity to play at a BCS-level football program. He failed to meet Michigan's standard for admission, announced he would transfer to Louisville, failed to make it there because of more issues and eventually landed at Grand Rapids Community College. Dorsey was supposed to transfer to Hawaii in 2012, but he never reached the Big Island and today is not listed on Hawaii's roster.
Wayne Blair knew of Dorsey's story when Jackson walked into his office at Boyd Anderson High in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., looking to transfer after becoming academically ineligible at his previous school. Blair saw Dorsey's "pitfalls" up close at nearby University School, where he was an assistant in 2009. He took a chance on Jackson, who was then a junior with serious eligibility issues. His grades were "way below normal standards," said Blair, who helped get Jackson eligible just in time for spring football.
Blair's investment and Jackson's hard work paid off instantly.
"He played free safety for us at the time," Blair said of the spring game against University School, a national powerhouse. "He had an interception, he returned one for a touchdown and then had another interception. And I realized then that I had something really, really special on my hands."
Jackson, though, had no college offers at the start of his senior season. Blair worked the phones, calling contacts at all the major conferences looking for someone to take a flier on his wide receiver/defensive back, a tall kid with enormous raw potential. Blair said he told them, "I got a guy that if I can get him NCAA eligible, you might want to go ahead and put your vested interest into him." Of course, no one took him seriously.
What Jackson did on the football field as a senior caught their attention, though, making him an increasingly rare sight in college recruiting: a late-blossoming prospect.
"Every game he either did something extraordinary offensively or completely excellent defensively or on special teams," Blair said. "And the buzz started growing as we had ourselves a good year. We went into the playoffs and he went off."
Jackson's grandmother passed away early in Boyd Anderson's postseason run. Blair said that's when "he went from good to great within a two-week span."
Blair had to chuckle when he retold his "folklore of Eddie Jackson" by telephone this week. He remembered how Florida State offered Jackson as a wide receiver, LSU wanted him as a defensive back and Miami looked at him as a wide receiver. Alabama had him strictly as a cornerback, though, drawn to his raw athleticism and 6-foot-1 frame.
"We thought Eddie was a good player," Alabama coach Nick Saban said Monday. "There were some academic questions and some of those things. We're always looking for longer corners, guys that have got a little bit more size. We had Maurice [Smith], who had committed to us. We were still looking for somebody else and we found Eddie. We'd known about Eddie, but we weren't sure we were going to be able to recruit him. As soon as we found out that he would be qualified and all that, we really jumped on him."
Being able to work closely with Saban, who coaches cornerbacks one-on-one at Alabama, was part of what swayed Jackson to sign with the Tide. The other factor was timing. With last season's top corner for Alabama, Dee Milliner, likely to enter the NFL draft and not much behind him in terms of depth, Jackson and Blair saw an opportunity to play right away.
"I knew he'd probably be jumping into the starting lineup; I just didn't know when," Blair said. "I was thinking by Week 6. Low and behold, here we are."
Blair's prediction was off by two weeks. Jackson accomplished the improbable, learning enough of Alabama's complicated defensive scheme by Week 4 that he was inserted into the starting lineup against Colorado State.
A week later he proved that his first start wasn't a fluke opportunity against a cupcake opponent, starting again against No. 21 Ole Miss. On Saturday, Jackson was fourth on the team in tackles, had two pass breakups and a key interception against the Rebels, prompting senior cornerback Deion Belue after the game to say, "We finally found a piece to our secondary so that we all can come together."
"He fit in perfectly," said safety Vinnie Sunseri. "Having Jarrick [Williams] and Deion [Belue] back was a huge part of it, too, but Eddie in there, and him getting comfortable and getting that one pick, kind of gave him that confidence booster that he needed. He played unbelievable. I was so proud of him."
Jackson's first-half interception was a defining moment. The rookie corner whiffed on Donte Moncrief, Ole Miss' veteran wideout, on the previous play, allowing a 36-yard gain and a first down. Coach Hugh Freeze then reached into his bag of tricks, calling for a backward pass to Laquon Treadwell, who looked toward Jackson's side of the field for a pass. But Jackson didn't bite on the fake, stuck to his assignment and secured the ball for the takeaway.
"He did everything perfect," Sunseri said. "He jammed the guy off the line, stayed, stepped in the divider, and he threw one right to him and he got the pick. It was a great momentum swing for us."
Saban, who covets long, aggressive corners such as Jackson, was pleased. He and his staff had been searching for an answer at the position after John Fulton and Cyrus Jones were torched by Texas A&M and Mike Evans, and in Jackson it appears they've found someone to work with. He's still just a freshman, but he's already done more in one game than all but Belue, Alabama's top on-ball defender.
"He played well," Saban said of Jackson. "Made a couple of mistakes, but I thought that most of those were because of communication, which is one of the things that we emphasize, where he wasn't sure about what the call was. But when it came to just his technique and what he was supposed to do and the way he competed in the game, I thought he did a really good job."
Blair, who talks to Jackson regularly, said it's now "his position to lose."
"Before it's all said and done, he could end up being the prototype defensive back like that guy over at Seattle, Richard Sherman," he said. "You have a tall, smart kid with good range, good hips. He can end up being the prototype Coach Saban has been looking for."
Reading into Blair's comments, it's clear he thinks that development could happen quickly. And why shouldn't it? It might seem improbable, but everything about Jackson's journey, going from academically ineligible with no college offers to a top prospect signing a letter of intent with Alabama, has been just that.
Jackson turned it around in a hurry in high school. What's to say he can't take the next step in just as timely a fashion? He's certainly showed he's no stranger to making the most of an opportunity.
It's a wonder he's wearing Alabama's signature crimson helmet in the first place. The fact that he's starting at cornerback for the defending national champions is something even more implausible considering where he was at this time last year.
Jackson needed a change of scenery before any of the chips fell into place. He likely learned the value of a fresh start from his brother, Demar Dorsey, a former blue-chip defensive back prospect who signed a letter of intent to play for Michigan in 2010 but never made it to Ann Arbor. Dorsey's past included poor grades and three felony charges that robbed him of the opportunity to play at a BCS-level football program. He failed to meet Michigan's standard for admission, announced he would transfer to Louisville, failed to make it there because of more issues and eventually landed at Grand Rapids Community College. Dorsey was supposed to transfer to Hawaii in 2012, but he never reached the Big Island and today is not listed on Hawaii's roster.
[+] Enlarge
AP Photo/Dave MartinEddie Jackson was a virtual unknown in recruiting at this point last year. Now he's a key piece on defense for the No. 1 team in the country.
Blair's investment and Jackson's hard work paid off instantly.
"He played free safety for us at the time," Blair said of the spring game against University School, a national powerhouse. "He had an interception, he returned one for a touchdown and then had another interception. And I realized then that I had something really, really special on my hands."
Jackson, though, had no college offers at the start of his senior season. Blair worked the phones, calling contacts at all the major conferences looking for someone to take a flier on his wide receiver/defensive back, a tall kid with enormous raw potential. Blair said he told them, "I got a guy that if I can get him NCAA eligible, you might want to go ahead and put your vested interest into him." Of course, no one took him seriously.
What Jackson did on the football field as a senior caught their attention, though, making him an increasingly rare sight in college recruiting: a late-blossoming prospect.
"Every game he either did something extraordinary offensively or completely excellent defensively or on special teams," Blair said. "And the buzz started growing as we had ourselves a good year. We went into the playoffs and he went off."
Jackson's grandmother passed away early in Boyd Anderson's postseason run. Blair said that's when "he went from good to great within a two-week span."
Blair had to chuckle when he retold his "folklore of Eddie Jackson" by telephone this week. He remembered how Florida State offered Jackson as a wide receiver, LSU wanted him as a defensive back and Miami looked at him as a wide receiver. Alabama had him strictly as a cornerback, though, drawn to his raw athleticism and 6-foot-1 frame.
"We thought Eddie was a good player," Alabama coach Nick Saban said Monday. "There were some academic questions and some of those things. We're always looking for longer corners, guys that have got a little bit more size. We had Maurice [Smith], who had committed to us. We were still looking for somebody else and we found Eddie. We'd known about Eddie, but we weren't sure we were going to be able to recruit him. As soon as we found out that he would be qualified and all that, we really jumped on him."
Being able to work closely with Saban, who coaches cornerbacks one-on-one at Alabama, was part of what swayed Jackson to sign with the Tide. The other factor was timing. With last season's top corner for Alabama, Dee Milliner, likely to enter the NFL draft and not much behind him in terms of depth, Jackson and Blair saw an opportunity to play right away.
"I knew he'd probably be jumping into the starting lineup; I just didn't know when," Blair said. "I was thinking by Week 6. Low and behold, here we are."
Blair's prediction was off by two weeks. Jackson accomplished the improbable, learning enough of Alabama's complicated defensive scheme by Week 4 that he was inserted into the starting lineup against Colorado State.
A week later he proved that his first start wasn't a fluke opportunity against a cupcake opponent, starting again against No. 21 Ole Miss. On Saturday, Jackson was fourth on the team in tackles, had two pass breakups and a key interception against the Rebels, prompting senior cornerback Deion Belue after the game to say, "We finally found a piece to our secondary so that we all can come together."
More on Alabama
For full coverage of the Tide, check out the Alabama blog, part of ESPN's College Football Nation. Blog
More:
• Alabama's clubhouse page
• ESPN.com's SEC blog
Jackson's first-half interception was a defining moment. The rookie corner whiffed on Donte Moncrief, Ole Miss' veteran wideout, on the previous play, allowing a 36-yard gain and a first down. Coach Hugh Freeze then reached into his bag of tricks, calling for a backward pass to Laquon Treadwell, who looked toward Jackson's side of the field for a pass. But Jackson didn't bite on the fake, stuck to his assignment and secured the ball for the takeaway.
"He did everything perfect," Sunseri said. "He jammed the guy off the line, stayed, stepped in the divider, and he threw one right to him and he got the pick. It was a great momentum swing for us."
Saban, who covets long, aggressive corners such as Jackson, was pleased. He and his staff had been searching for an answer at the position after John Fulton and Cyrus Jones were torched by Texas A&M and Mike Evans, and in Jackson it appears they've found someone to work with. He's still just a freshman, but he's already done more in one game than all but Belue, Alabama's top on-ball defender.
"He played well," Saban said of Jackson. "Made a couple of mistakes, but I thought that most of those were because of communication, which is one of the things that we emphasize, where he wasn't sure about what the call was. But when it came to just his technique and what he was supposed to do and the way he competed in the game, I thought he did a really good job."
Blair, who talks to Jackson regularly, said it's now "his position to lose."
"Before it's all said and done, he could end up being the prototype defensive back like that guy over at Seattle, Richard Sherman," he said. "You have a tall, smart kid with good range, good hips. He can end up being the prototype Coach Saban has been looking for."
Reading into Blair's comments, it's clear he thinks that development could happen quickly. And why shouldn't it? It might seem improbable, but everything about Jackson's journey, going from academically ineligible with no college offers to a top prospect signing a letter of intent with Alabama, has been just that.
Jackson turned it around in a hurry in high school. What's to say he can't take the next step in just as timely a fashion? He's certainly showed he's no stranger to making the most of an opportunity.
Why Mannion's record game was deceiving
October, 1, 2013
Oct 1
11:29
AM ET
By Sharon Katz, ESPN Stats & Info | ESPN.com
Week 5 featured the first full slate of conference games, and many matchups lived up to their pregame hype. Georgia outscored LSU in a back-and-forth game filled with big plays and superb quarterback play. Alabama found its defense and shut out Ole Miss at home. And Braxton Miller returned from injury to throw four touchdowns and lead Ohio State past Wisconsin.
With the help of ESPN’s new college football metrics (see explanations here), ESPN Stats & Information looks back on Week 5 and ahead to this weekend’s matchup between Northwestern and Ohio State.
First, we look at how a record-setting performance could look rather pedestrian through the lens of our metrics.
Sean Mannion threw for 414 yards and a school record six touchdowns in Oregon State's 44-17 win against Colorado. But he finished with a middle-of-the-road 48.8 Total QBR.
At first glance, Mannion’s stats are outstanding. But he completed 52 percent of his passes, threw an interception and took two sacks, including one sack-fumble. In addition, a lot of Mannion's production came in garbage time: 117 pass yards and three touchdowns when leading by at least 21 points. In sum, that led to a below-average 48.8 Total QBR.
Best Individual Performances
Stephen Morris (97.0 Total QBR) completed 11-of-16 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns before leaving with an ankle injury in Miami's win against South Florida. Morris’ 97.0 Total QBR was the highest by a Miami quarterback against an FBS opponent in the last 10 seasons.
Nathan Scheelhaase (93.7 Total QBR) threw for 278 yards and a career-high five pass touchdowns as Illinois beat Miami (OH). Scheelhaase completed 79 percent of his passes, including five of seven passes in the red zone that resulted in four touchdowns.
Taysom Hill (93.1 Total QBR) became the second player in the FBS to pass for 150 yards and rush for 150 yards in a game this season as BYU beat Middle Tennessee 37-10. Jordan Lynch of Northern Illinois is the other quarterback to accomplish the feat this season. Hill ran for 165 yards on 18 attempts, resulting in 5.2 expected points added on rushing plays. This season, Hill leads all FBS quarterbacks with 565 rush yards and has added almost twice as many expected points on running plays than any other quarterback.
Tyler Murphy (93.0 Total QBR) followed up his 98.1 Total QBR in his debut with a 93 QBR in Florida's win against Kentucky. Murphy completed all 11 of his passes in the first half and had a 98.9 Total QBR in the first 30 minutes of play. In 15 career starts, injured Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel has never had a single-game Total QBR of 93 or above or a perfect completion percentage in a half.
View the full list of Total QBR leaders for the season and Week 5.
Best Team Performances
Offense: East Carolina. The Pirates scored seven offensive touchdowns and averaged 4.2 points per drive in their 55-31 victory at North Carolina. They added 32.3 expected points on offense, which was the second-most offensive expected points added in a game against an AQ opponent this season (Oregon: +39.2 EPA against Tennessee on Sept. 14).
Defense: Alabama. The Tide’s defense added 24.4 expected points toward their 25-point victory. That means that if Alabama had an average defense, it would have basically been an equal matchup on Saturday. Ole Miss entered the game averaging 490 yards and 38 points per game, but the Rebels were held to 205 total yards and were shut out for the first time since 1998.
Special Teams: Georgia. Special teams is often overlooked, but it may have been the difference in Georgia’s win against LSU.
The graphic shows the expected points added by each of Georgia’s units to the team's net points in the game. Georgia’s offense and defense basically canceled each other out, but its special teams unit added four expected points, which may have been the difference in the game.
On special teams, Georgia recovered a muffed punt and made all three of its field goals, including a 55-yard field goal by Marshall Morgan in the third quarter.
Looking ahead to Week 6
Ohio State travels to No. 16 Northwestern looking to knock off its second-straight ranked opponent on Saturday. College GameDay will be at Northwestern for the first time since a 1995 showdown against Iowa.
For Northwestern to pull off the upset, the Wildcats must stop Ohio State’s balanced offense. The Buckeyes have passed for 1,070 yards and rushed for 1,436 yards in five games this season. They are one of two teams (Texas A&M) that has added at least 50 expected points on passing and rushing plays.
Ohio State will have its own challenge on defense as it tries to stop Northwestern’s dual-quarterback system. Northwestern quarterbacks Kain Colter and Trevor Siemian are off to hot starts, with each player posting a Total QBR above 70 this season. The only other team that has two quarterbacks with at least 75 action plays and a Total QBR of 70 or above is Ohio State.
With the help of ESPN’s new college football metrics (see explanations here), ESPN Stats & Information looks back on Week 5 and ahead to this weekend’s matchup between Northwestern and Ohio State.
Christopher Hanewinckel/USA TODAY SportsSean Mannio threw for a school-record 6 touchdowns on Saturday in Oregon State's win over Colorado.
Sean Mannion threw for 414 yards and a school record six touchdowns in Oregon State's 44-17 win against Colorado. But he finished with a middle-of-the-road 48.8 Total QBR.
At first glance, Mannion’s stats are outstanding. But he completed 52 percent of his passes, threw an interception and took two sacks, including one sack-fumble. In addition, a lot of Mannion's production came in garbage time: 117 pass yards and three touchdowns when leading by at least 21 points. In sum, that led to a below-average 48.8 Total QBR.
Best Individual Performances
Stephen Morris (97.0 Total QBR) completed 11-of-16 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns before leaving with an ankle injury in Miami's win against South Florida. Morris’ 97.0 Total QBR was the highest by a Miami quarterback against an FBS opponent in the last 10 seasons.
Nathan Scheelhaase (93.7 Total QBR) threw for 278 yards and a career-high five pass touchdowns as Illinois beat Miami (OH). Scheelhaase completed 79 percent of his passes, including five of seven passes in the red zone that resulted in four touchdowns.
Taysom Hill (93.1 Total QBR) became the second player in the FBS to pass for 150 yards and rush for 150 yards in a game this season as BYU beat Middle Tennessee 37-10. Jordan Lynch of Northern Illinois is the other quarterback to accomplish the feat this season. Hill ran for 165 yards on 18 attempts, resulting in 5.2 expected points added on rushing plays. This season, Hill leads all FBS quarterbacks with 565 rush yards and has added almost twice as many expected points on running plays than any other quarterback.
Tyler Murphy (93.0 Total QBR) followed up his 98.1 Total QBR in his debut with a 93 QBR in Florida's win against Kentucky. Murphy completed all 11 of his passes in the first half and had a 98.9 Total QBR in the first 30 minutes of play. In 15 career starts, injured Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel has never had a single-game Total QBR of 93 or above or a perfect completion percentage in a half.
View the full list of Total QBR leaders for the season and Week 5.
Best Team Performances
Offense: East Carolina. The Pirates scored seven offensive touchdowns and averaged 4.2 points per drive in their 55-31 victory at North Carolina. They added 32.3 expected points on offense, which was the second-most offensive expected points added in a game against an AQ opponent this season (Oregon: +39.2 EPA against Tennessee on Sept. 14).
Defense: Alabama. The Tide’s defense added 24.4 expected points toward their 25-point victory. That means that if Alabama had an average defense, it would have basically been an equal matchup on Saturday. Ole Miss entered the game averaging 490 yards and 38 points per game, but the Rebels were held to 205 total yards and were shut out for the first time since 1998.
Special Teams: Georgia. Special teams is often overlooked, but it may have been the difference in Georgia’s win against LSU.
The graphic shows the expected points added by each of Georgia’s units to the team's net points in the game. Georgia’s offense and defense basically canceled each other out, but its special teams unit added four expected points, which may have been the difference in the game.
On special teams, Georgia recovered a muffed punt and made all three of its field goals, including a 55-yard field goal by Marshall Morgan in the third quarter.
Looking ahead to Week 6
Ohio State travels to No. 16 Northwestern looking to knock off its second-straight ranked opponent on Saturday. College GameDay will be at Northwestern for the first time since a 1995 showdown against Iowa.
For Northwestern to pull off the upset, the Wildcats must stop Ohio State’s balanced offense. The Buckeyes have passed for 1,070 yards and rushed for 1,436 yards in five games this season. They are one of two teams (Texas A&M) that has added at least 50 expected points on passing and rushing plays.
Ohio State will have its own challenge on defense as it tries to stop Northwestern’s dual-quarterback system. Northwestern quarterbacks Kain Colter and Trevor Siemian are off to hot starts, with each player posting a Total QBR above 70 this season. The only other team that has two quarterbacks with at least 75 action plays and a Total QBR of 70 or above is Ohio State.
Danny Kanell weighs in on whether Alabama is the best team in college football, let alone the SEC, and identifies his best under-the-radar team.
Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesAlabama announced its presence this season by shutting out Ole Miss on Saturday.SATURDAY EVENING'S GAME against Ole Miss had barely gotten started when the all-business leader of the Crimson Tide defense, linebacker C.J. Mosley, caught himself grinning.
The first play of the game had been a 38-yard pass that had sliced into Alabama territory. And just moments later the vaunted Rebels offense had decided to take their first big chance of the night. On fourth-and-2 at the Alabama 29, Ole Miss was going for it. Receiver Laquon Treadwell, the man who caught that demoralizing pass to start the contest, took the ball and seemed destined to get the first down. But he was met by a Tide safety -- he of one of college football’s greatest names, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix -- who scooped up Treadwell, upended him and threw him to the turf, inches shy of the conversion. Treadwell was credited with a 1-yard carry, one of Ole Miss’ scant 46 yards rushing in a 25-0 shutout, shutdown loss.
“That stop set the tone. Before the game I kept telling everybody, 'Remember what they said',” Mosley says, grinning as he recalled the waning confidence in the nation’s No. 1-ranked team, acerbated by Mississippi quarterback Bo Wallace saying his team could score on anyone. “They called us out. We answered the bell.”
Mosley’s words were meant to apply only to his team. But he could have very easily been speaking for multiple other big-name programs that sent some very big-time messages during September’s final football weekend. Alabama, Oregon, Ohio State, Georgia, Oklahoma ... they all announced their presence with authority.
Officially speaking, it was Week Five of the 2013 college football season. In reality, it was Statement Saturday.
Alabama holds Ole Miss to a goose egg, 25-0. #StoryOfTheSeason #MISSvsBAMA
— ESPN The Magazine (@ESPNMag) September 29, 2013
In Columbus, Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller returned and quickly reminded everyone why he was on so many preseason Heisman short lists: He threw solidly and efficiently, often on the run, for four touchdown passes and racked up 281 total yards.
Miller made his “Remember me?” statement at the end of the first half. Leading 17-14 after a big Wisconsin score, he drove the Buckeyes across midfield but then lofted up a horrible wounded-duck Hail Mary toss on third down with 10 seconds remaining. The ball wobbled its way toward the right side of the goal line and into the hands of cornerback Sojourn Shelton, but slipped through the freshman’s hands and fell incomplete.
Given a second chance with time ticking away on fourth down, Miller calmly took the snap, jogged up through the left-side alley of a collapsing pocket and fired an off-the-back-foot strike. The 45-yard rope hit waiting Corey Brown, who had inexplicably slipped alone behind the secondary. Though Wisconsin would make it close late, the half-ended pass was the backbreaker. “Man, it slipped out of my hand,” Miller said of the interception. “I told Coach, let’s do it again and make up for it on the next throw.”
A soft early schedule -- Buffalo, San Diego State, Cal, Florida A&M -- hasn’t exactly won the hearts of college football experts or pollsters. But a victory over a should-be undefeated, top-25 team; the fact that the OSU defense held the Wisconsin running machine to 104 yards; and the return of Miller all add up to image momentum that will only increase should the Buckeyes win at 16th-ranked Northwestern this weekend.
Said safety C.J. Barnett: “I don't know if we made a statement. We know we had our doubters. Hopefully, we proved them wrong. But if not, it doesn't matter. We're just going to keep working.”
Along the I-85 corridor, two schools who met nearly a month ago were busy making statements of their own. Clemson, coming off a somewhat flat nationally televised Thursday night performance against NC State, looked crisp early and often against Wake Forest, one of the culprits behind the “Clemson pulling a Clemson” perception that has dogged the program over the last decade. The Tigers won 56-7 in a game that was largely over at the end of the first quarter.
Just down the road at Georgia, the Dawgs outlasted LSU, thanks to a big-boy fourth-quarter drive led by oft-criticized quarterback Aaron Murray. Speaking of which, you think maybe it’s time to park the “Richt and Murray don’t show up for big games” talk?
Murray certainly does. After Sanford Stadium had emptied out, he made his way to the "College GameDay" stage, where an hour earlier his former roommate, LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger, had come up short in the closing moments. When Murray was prepped on the upcoming topics of conversation with Tom Rinaldi, he was told there would be a question about shedding the "bad in big games" image.
"Yeah," he said with a smile. "I figured that was coming."
On camera he was smooth, admitting that he hadn't been able to watch LSU's final drive ("My teammates said, 'Stop being a baby and watch the game!'") and repeating his in-huddle statement to the team that he'd used against North Texas the week before: "Relax and have fun". And yes, he addressed the whispers about his big-stage performances. "This isn't about me. This is about our team. This has been a brutal first month and I think we've proved to the nation that Georgia is for real. No matter what happens, we keep pushing."
Consider this: Georgia played four games in September and three were against top-10 opponents; they won two of those, becoming the first team since Alabama’s 2008 squad to defeat two top-10 teams before Oct. 1. The one game they lost was by only three points at Clemson’s Death Valley, which, when on its game, is one of America’s most intimidating venues.
Yes, UGA is giving up yards and points, but when you’re producing 554 yards and 41 points a game, you buy your D time to get their act together, especially with O-challenged Tennessee as their next opponent. “We're ready. We're here, man,” says wide receiver Justin Scott-Wesley, with enthusiasm. “We can take on anybody, any time … We'll take anybody, anywhere."
Aaron Murray threads the needle to his man Scott-Wesley to put UGA up 44-41 in Athens. EDGE. OF. OUR. SEATS... #StoryOfTheSeason #LSUvsUGA
— ESPN The Magazine (@ESPNMag) September 28, 2013
On the West Coast, Oregon posted 55-plus points for the fourth consecutive week. The Ducks racked up 381 yards of offense, despite De’Anthony Thomas being injured on the opening kickoff, purposely letting off the gas in the second half, and playing in a rain storm so strong that it knocked out power to a chunk of Eugene. They also played a little defense, shutting down Sonny Dykes’ famed Air Bear (with an admitted assist from the monsoon).
Meanwhile, Stanford steamrolled Washington State and Oklahoma ran past Notre Dame … all while key rivals USC and Oklahoma State stumbled, one into program in chaos (Wanted: Head Coach), the other into an inexplicable loss (Take Me Home, Country Roads!).
See? September statements, one and all.
“September is great, and on the win-loss record, the September wins count just like all the others,” says Sooners head coach Bob Stoops, already looking ahead to the next two weeks, with TCU coming to Norman and then the annual visit to the Cotton Bowl to see Texas. “But there’s an old football cliche and we know it around here better than anybody: They remember what you do in November.”
ESPN The Magazine The nation's top division is ...
September, 30, 2013
Sep 30
5:44
PM ET
By College Football Insiders | ESPN Insider
Another week of college football in the books, and another reshuffling of the national and conference rankings. While Georgia moved up after prevailing in its shootout over LSU, Oklahoma State dropped after being upended by West Virginia, and Notre Dame completely fell out of the Top 25 following a loss to Oklahoma.
Injuries also played a role in Week 5, as USC WR Marqise Lee, Oregon RB De'Anthony Thomas and South Carolina QB Connor Shaw all made early exits. Which injury from last week -- or one of the many from earlier in the season -- will have the biggest impact?
In this week's "No Huddle," Insider's panel of experts debates that question and more, including which division reigns supreme, the best coaching choice for USC, which QB's stock has made the biggest leap and which Week 6 favorite should be on upset alert.
1. Which division is the best in college football?
Travis Haney: It's still the SEC West, because it has three top-10 teams (who have lost only to other top-10 teams). However, the Pac-12 North is really, really close. I believe in Washington, but not to the point that I would say it's equal to the third team from the SEC West, either LSU or Texas A&M. LSU is a bit better than expected -- Alabama had better be ready for its Nov. 9 matchup versus the Tigers -- and that helps the perception of the division and league.
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Nick Saban: Staffer was not coaching
September, 30, 2013
Sep 30
5:04
PM ET
By
Alex Scarborough | ESPN.com
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- If Tyler Siskey had an impact on No. 1 Alabama shutting out No. 24 Ole Miss 25-0 on Saturday, it was because of the insight he provided during the offseason and not during the actual game, according to Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban, who responded to the possibility that his director of player personnel was stealing signs.
Siskey, who coordinated the Rebels' recruiting efforts in 2012, was spotted in the coaches' booth by TV cameras using binoculars during the game. Ole Miss, which averaged 490 yards and 38 points per game going into the weekend, was held to just 205 yards by Alabama, stopped on a number of third- and fourth-down plays and forced into a safety late in the second half.
"He didn't really assist in the game plan, and he wasn't on a headset," Saban said when asked whether it was common for a noncoaching staff member to assist during a game. "He didn't talk to anybody during the game. I don't know if there's any rule that says he can't go into the press box and watch the games. And he wasn't in any different position than he's ever been in a game."
Rebels coach Hugh Freeze, who hired Siskey as his coordinator of recruiting in 2012, said he had not gone to the SEC to report any wrongdoing, saying simply that he was ready to move on to the challenge of facing Auburn this weekend.
"I don't know where he typically is, but certainly I'll say that Alabama had a wonderful defensive plan for us," Freeze told reporters in Oxford, Miss. "Give them a lot of credit for the work that they put in, in preparing for us, whether it was in the summertime or whether it was just in the week.
Pac-12, nation now fret Haden's next hire
September, 30, 2013
Sep 30
3:00
PM ET
By
Ted Miller | ESPN.com
There is something undeniably reprehensible about dancing on the grave of a fallen coach. The celebration of a person's perceived failure at his life's work is unseemly. We all know big-time college coaches are big boys who are paid well. We all know that now-terminated USC coach Lane Kiffin brought on much of the ill will he received by how he conducted himself.
Still, the nationwide cackling over Kiffin getting fired in the early morning hours Sunday doesn't represent a high moment in our sports culture.
This grab for measured compassion is made here, however, because of a cold and unfortunate reality that will seem like another potshot at Kiffin. Outside of the Kiffin household, the folks most unhappy about his getting pink-slipped are coaches, administrators and fans of the other 11 Pac-12 teams. And probably some fans of other national powers who have moved on from chortling about Kiffin's fate to asking the most important question.
What if USC now hires its Nick Saban? Or, to localize it: Pete Carroll, take two?
Because the right coach at USC competes for national titles on a regular basis. The tradition is there. The facilities, once below standard, are vastly improved. The rich recruiting territory is there. And the ability to ante up big checks for an A-list coach and his staff is there.
Further, the next coach won't be freighted with the ready-made and mostly legitimate excuse Kiffin made when things went wrong on the field: NCAA-mandated scholarship reductions that made the USC roster thinner than those of their opponents. Those end after the 2014 recruiting class and season. The next coach can make the program whole in 2015, his second season.
USC, with 85 scholarships and the right coach, will immediately challenge Oregon and Stanford atop the Pac-12, and Alabama, LSU and Ohio State, etc., for national supremacy.
That's why the other Pac-12 schools are mourning Kiffin's departure. While he was tough to compete with on the recruiting trail -- his clear strength -- other schools were hoping that Kiffin would become the Trojans' "Meander Coach." That's the sort of coach rival teams want to stay atop a college football superpower, such as USC.
A Meander Coach is a coach who does just enough to hang on for several years but falls short of program standards. While not a complete disaster, he allows a program to slip a few notches in the conference and national pecking order. Good examples of this would be Bob Davie at Notre Dame, Ray Goff at Georgia and Earle Bruce at Ohio State.
A Meander 2013 season for USC under Kiffin would have been 9-4 in a 13-game schedule. Kiffin probably would have coached the Trojans in 2014 with that record, particularly if it included a win over Notre Dame or UCLA. But athletic director Pat Haden had seen enough through a 3-2 start, capped by a humiliating 62-41 loss at Arizona State on Saturday, to understand that barely good enough was not even going to happen. So he made his move.
Now the hope around the Pac-12 and the nation is that Haden gets his coaching pick wrong. Haden, a former USC and NFL quarterback and Rhodes scholar, is extremely bright and knowledgeable about football, but the odds are pretty good he will get it wrong. After all, to get from John McKay and John Robinson to Carroll, USC had to go through Ted Tollner, Larry Smith and Paul Hackett. Just as Alabama had to go through Mike DuBose, Dennis Franchione and Mike Shula to get to Saban. Notre Dame and Tennessee also can teach lessons about superpowers struggling to find the right guy.
Former AD Mike Garrett's hiring of Carroll? Complete luck. It was a desperation move after Garrett was turned down by Dennis Erickson, Mike Bellotti and Mike Riley. The Carroll hiring also was widely panned when it was announced. He was seen as a slightly goofy chatterbox and washed-out NFL coach. Perceptions changed, but only because the wrong hire turned out to be right.
One benefit Haden has bought himself with a midseason termination is time. While plenty of other teams are going to fire their head coaches, Haden is the first in the ring. While it's certain he already has a short list of favorite candidates that probably is not unlike the lists every publication has written up since Kiffin was fired, he also can sit back a few weeks and get a measure of who's interested. There will be plenty of back-channel feelers from agents of NFL head coaches and assistant coaches as well as college head coaches and assistant coaches.
A successful precedent for Haden to consider is Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne's handling of the transition from Mike Stoops to Rich Rodriguez. Just like Haden, Byrne fired Stoops midseason after an embarrassing loss before a bye week and installed a veteran coach, Tim Kish, as his interim head coach. He then conducted a stealth coaching search over the next six weeks, breaking the news of his hiring of Rodriguez on Twitter.
Byrne gave himself a head start with the hiring process. He got his first choice hired before the season ended and gave his new coach a head start with recruiting. He also accelerated the getting-to-know-you phase compared to all the other teams looking for a new head coach in December. Byrne even received a boost from Kish's version of the Wildcats, who won three of their final six games, including a win over archrival Arizona State.
Other Pac-12 coaches are now fretting the same thing happening with the Trojans: What if USC suddenly starts playing inspired football under interim coach Ed Orgeron? It's entirely possible the Trojans will be a better team going forward, meaning the Sun Devils are grateful Haden didn't take action after the Trojans lost at home to Washington State on Sept. 7.
As for Haden's coaching search, it will be a bit more high-profile than Byrne's. The Trojans are a national team. So in the next few weeks there will be a cacophony of public denials. They will be meaningless. Saban repeatedly said without ambiguity that he wasn't leaving the Miami Dolphins for Alabama. Until he did. And who knew that Bret Bielema was so eager to bolt Wisconsin for Arkansas?
The two biggest problems the USC coaching search encountered after Carroll bolted for the Seattle Seahawks that led to the Kiffin hiring are gone: (1) upcoming NCAA sanctions, and (2) no one wanting to be the guy-after-the-guy.
So know that just about everybody is in play. Until they're not.
The Pac-12 and the college football nation didn't feel too good about Kiffin in 2011, when he led the Trojans to a 10-2 record and won at Oregon and Notre Dame. But in the past 18 games, they embraced his USC tenure. They wanted him inside Heritage Hall as long as possible.
Now there is worrisome uncertainty among 11 other Pac-12 teams, not to mention folks like SEC commissioner Mike Slive and Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany. If Haden hires the right guy, the Trojan colossus will dust itself off and rise with a cocky grin. Rose Bowls and national championships will shortly follow.
Still, the nationwide cackling over Kiffin getting fired in the early morning hours Sunday doesn't represent a high moment in our sports culture.
This grab for measured compassion is made here, however, because of a cold and unfortunate reality that will seem like another potshot at Kiffin. Outside of the Kiffin household, the folks most unhappy about his getting pink-slipped are coaches, administrators and fans of the other 11 Pac-12 teams. And probably some fans of other national powers who have moved on from chortling about Kiffin's fate to asking the most important question.
[+] Enlarge
Kyle Terada/USA TODAY SportsPac-12 teams knew what they were getting with Lane Kiffin on the USC sideline. Now the sleeping giant has the potential to wake up.
Because the right coach at USC competes for national titles on a regular basis. The tradition is there. The facilities, once below standard, are vastly improved. The rich recruiting territory is there. And the ability to ante up big checks for an A-list coach and his staff is there.
Further, the next coach won't be freighted with the ready-made and mostly legitimate excuse Kiffin made when things went wrong on the field: NCAA-mandated scholarship reductions that made the USC roster thinner than those of their opponents. Those end after the 2014 recruiting class and season. The next coach can make the program whole in 2015, his second season.
USC, with 85 scholarships and the right coach, will immediately challenge Oregon and Stanford atop the Pac-12, and Alabama, LSU and Ohio State, etc., for national supremacy.
That's why the other Pac-12 schools are mourning Kiffin's departure. While he was tough to compete with on the recruiting trail -- his clear strength -- other schools were hoping that Kiffin would become the Trojans' "Meander Coach." That's the sort of coach rival teams want to stay atop a college football superpower, such as USC.
A Meander Coach is a coach who does just enough to hang on for several years but falls short of program standards. While not a complete disaster, he allows a program to slip a few notches in the conference and national pecking order. Good examples of this would be Bob Davie at Notre Dame, Ray Goff at Georgia and Earle Bruce at Ohio State.
A Meander 2013 season for USC under Kiffin would have been 9-4 in a 13-game schedule. Kiffin probably would have coached the Trojans in 2014 with that record, particularly if it included a win over Notre Dame or UCLA. But athletic director Pat Haden had seen enough through a 3-2 start, capped by a humiliating 62-41 loss at Arizona State on Saturday, to understand that barely good enough was not even going to happen. So he made his move.
Now the hope around the Pac-12 and the nation is that Haden gets his coaching pick wrong. Haden, a former USC and NFL quarterback and Rhodes scholar, is extremely bright and knowledgeable about football, but the odds are pretty good he will get it wrong. After all, to get from John McKay and John Robinson to Carroll, USC had to go through Ted Tollner, Larry Smith and Paul Hackett. Just as Alabama had to go through Mike DuBose, Dennis Franchione and Mike Shula to get to Saban. Notre Dame and Tennessee also can teach lessons about superpowers struggling to find the right guy.
Former AD Mike Garrett's hiring of Carroll? Complete luck. It was a desperation move after Garrett was turned down by Dennis Erickson, Mike Bellotti and Mike Riley. The Carroll hiring also was widely panned when it was announced. He was seen as a slightly goofy chatterbox and washed-out NFL coach. Perceptions changed, but only because the wrong hire turned out to be right.
One benefit Haden has bought himself with a midseason termination is time. While plenty of other teams are going to fire their head coaches, Haden is the first in the ring. While it's certain he already has a short list of favorite candidates that probably is not unlike the lists every publication has written up since Kiffin was fired, he also can sit back a few weeks and get a measure of who's interested. There will be plenty of back-channel feelers from agents of NFL head coaches and assistant coaches as well as college head coaches and assistant coaches.
A successful precedent for Haden to consider is Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne's handling of the transition from Mike Stoops to Rich Rodriguez. Just like Haden, Byrne fired Stoops midseason after an embarrassing loss before a bye week and installed a veteran coach, Tim Kish, as his interim head coach. He then conducted a stealth coaching search over the next six weeks, breaking the news of his hiring of Rodriguez on Twitter.
Byrne gave himself a head start with the hiring process. He got his first choice hired before the season ended and gave his new coach a head start with recruiting. He also accelerated the getting-to-know-you phase compared to all the other teams looking for a new head coach in December. Byrne even received a boost from Kish's version of the Wildcats, who won three of their final six games, including a win over archrival Arizona State.
Other Pac-12 coaches are now fretting the same thing happening with the Trojans: What if USC suddenly starts playing inspired football under interim coach Ed Orgeron? It's entirely possible the Trojans will be a better team going forward, meaning the Sun Devils are grateful Haden didn't take action after the Trojans lost at home to Washington State on Sept. 7.
More from We Are SC
Everything USC, from recruiting to news to game coverage, is available in ESPN.com's WeAreSC.
More:
• ESPN Los Angeles' USC blog
• ESPN.com Recruiting coverage
• ESPN.com's Pac-12 blog
The two biggest problems the USC coaching search encountered after Carroll bolted for the Seattle Seahawks that led to the Kiffin hiring are gone: (1) upcoming NCAA sanctions, and (2) no one wanting to be the guy-after-the-guy.
So know that just about everybody is in play. Until they're not.
The Pac-12 and the college football nation didn't feel too good about Kiffin in 2011, when he led the Trojans to a 10-2 record and won at Oregon and Notre Dame. But in the past 18 games, they embraced his USC tenure. They wanted him inside Heritage Hall as long as possible.
Now there is worrisome uncertainty among 11 other Pac-12 teams, not to mention folks like SEC commissioner Mike Slive and Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany. If Haden hires the right guy, the Trojan colossus will dust itself off and rise with a cocky grin. Rose Bowls and national championships will shortly follow.
Everybody is still recovering from the weekend that was in the SEC. Let's see what people are saying about the top games and performances from Week 5.
- Alabama started the season 3-0, but it didn’t look like the No. 1 team in the nation. On Saturday, the Crimson Tide finally played with passion in a shutout victory over Ole Miss.
- Saturday’s loss to Alabama wasn’t pretty, but all things considered, the Ole Miss defense held its own against the Tide.
- When former roommates Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger competed against each other on Saturday, it was Murray who got the last laugh as Georgia defeated LSU in a shootout.
- Mettenberger and Murray will meet again -- if not in December, in the near future on Sunday.
- LSU coach Les Miles always covers for his players, in victory or defeat, but he can’t cover for the Tigers' defensive woes against Georgia.
- With Johnny Manziel and a balanced rushing attack, the Texas A&M offense keeps getting better, but eventually the Aggies will need their young defense to mature.
- South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier is hopeful that quarterback Connor Shaw will return in two weeks. In the meantime, Dylan Thompson will start for the Gamecocks.
- The Florida coaches raved about running back Matt Jones coming into the season. They knew they weren't wrong. Jones stepped up for the Gators with a career-high 176 yards against Kentucky on Saturday.
- Auburn has had a week to prepare for what could be its biggest game of the season.
- For better or worse, Justin Worley is Tennessee’s quarterback. Coach Butch Jones stuck with Worley in Saturday’s win over South Alabama.
Here are the SEC players of the week, as announced by the league Monday:
OFFENSIVE: Aaron Murray, QB, Georgia
OFFENSIVE: Aaron Murray, QB, Georgia
- Murray was named the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week following his performance in a 44-41 victory over No. 6 LSU.
- He connected on 20 of 34 for 298 yards and four touchdowns and also ran for his third touchdown of the season. This marked Murray’s second victory over an SEC top-10 team in the last three games as he helped generate 494 yards of offense.
- Under Murray’s direction, the Bulldogs have scored at least 35 points in all four of their games this season, including at least 41 vs. both South Carolina and LSU.
- Murray moved into the No. 2 spot in school history in career passing yardage with 11,429 (former Bulldog David Greene holds the school and SEC records at 11,528); in total offense, Murray now has 11,659 yards, which is No. 2 in SEC history.
- Led the team with nine total tackles, one tackle for loss, one pass breakup and two QB hurries.
- Put the game out of reach when he made a tackle for a safety with 5:43 left in the game to make it 18-0. Also deflected a pass on a key fourth-and-2 from the Alabama 7-yard line in the third quarter to keep the 16-0 lead.
- Morgan scored 14 points during the 44-41 victory over LSU.
- He was 5-for-5 on PATs and drilled all three of his field goal attempts, including a career-long 55 yarder that put Georgia ahead 27-20 in the third quarter.
- Made his third interception of the season, the most by an SEC freshman and the third-most nationally among freshmen.
- Intercepted a pass in the end zone from Kentucky’s Maxwell Smith.
- Leads the Gators in interceptions.
- Was disruptive for most of the night in Mizzou's win over Arkansas State, as he had a career-best three sacks (for 19 yards of loss) and forced a fumble. He ended the game with four tackles.
- The three sacks ties the NCAA single-game high this season, and Sam leads the SEC and ranks 18th nationally with his tackles-for-loss average of 1.5 per game.
- Cann led the charge for a Gamecocks' offensive line that helped amass 225 yards on the ground, including 167 from Mike Davis, and four rushing touchdowns. South Carolina added 265 passing yards.
- Played all 80 offensive snaps, grading out at 86 percent with no sacks or pressures against him.
Anybody hot … or not?
It’s that time again as we review the week that was in the SEC.
GLOWING EMBERS
Alabama’s intel: Alabama’s defense was already fired up thanks to what the Tide perceived as smack talk by some of the Ole Miss players leading up to the game. Let’s face it: There’s a fine line sometimes between a player answering a question honestly and his comments mushrooming into full-blown bulletin board material. Either way, the Alabama defense was amped by some of the things Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace was quoted as saying earlier in the week, even though what Wallace said was pretty tame. We’re not exactly talking about any “Archie who?” banter here. But where the Crimson Tide really stuck it to the Rebels was with a little inside intel thanks to Tyler Siskey, Alabama’s assistant director of football operations. Siskey was on the Ole Miss staff last season as director of recruiting development. He was in the Alabama coaches' booth for the game with a set of binoculars, and even though Ole Miss changed up its signals, there weren’t many times that the Tide were fooled by what the Rebels were doing offensively. As ESPN analyst Todd Blackledge noted during the broadcast, Siskey’s knowledge of the Ole Miss offense was a big asset to an already imposing Alabama defense in its preparation for the game. The Tide might not have had the Rebels’ signals, but they were sure locked in to the Rebels’ tendencies on offense and played lights-out in shutting out a Hugh Freeze-coached team for the first time in his college career.
HOT
Missouri cornerback E.J. Gaines: When you start reeling off the top cornerbacks in this league, don’t forget about Gaines. He’s off to a terrific start to the season. In the 41-19 win over Arkansas State, he had nine total tackles, including one for loss, and his third interception of the season to set up Missouri’s final touchdown. Gaines is more than just a cover guy. He leads the Tigers with 19 solo tackles.
NOT
LSU’s defense: The Tigers have a way to go defensively. When you lose as many good defensive players early to the NFL draft as they have over the last couple of years, that kind of talent drain has a way of catching up with even the best defenses. Veteran coordinator John Chavis knew this defense would be a work in progress, but seeing all the blown coverages in the 44-41 loss at Georgia and wide-open receivers running free in the LSU secondary was difficult for anybody on that LSU staff to stomach.
HOT
Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray: So much for the “can’t win the big game” label. Murray has been fabulous in Georgia’s two wins over top-10 teams this season, with eight touchdown passes and just one interception. There’s no substitute for his experience, and it shows in the way he’s carving apart defenses right now.
NOT
SEC defenses: Only one SEC team (Florida at No. 2) is ranked in the top 10 nationally in total defense this week. For that matter, only two are ranked in the top 20. Mississippi State is 20th. In scoring defense, Alabama is still among the national leaders at No. 13. The offenses have taken center stage this season in the SEC, and suddenly the defenses are trying to catch up. Keep in mind, too, that six of the seven national champions during the SEC’s streak have finished in the top 10 nationally in total defense.
HOT
South Carolina running back Mike Davis: He’s the SEC’s rushing leader heading into the month of October and seemingly gets better every week. He carried the Gamecocks in the 28-25 win over UCF after Connor Shaw went down, and finished with a career-high 167 yards and three touchdowns. He has had a run of 50 yards or longer in three of his four games.
NOT
Schedule balance: Talk about a contrast in October schedules. Alabama doesn’t play anyone that should come within 20 points of the Crimson Tide (and that’s being kind) until LSU comes to town on Nov. 9. Arkansas, meanwhile, has Florida, South Carolina and Alabama over the next three weeks, and Florida and Alabama are on the road. Tennessee gets Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama in October. Ole Miss also has a tough October stretch that will go a long way toward shaping the Rebels’ season. They travel to Auburn this weekend and then come back home for back-to-back games against Texas A&M and LSU. Georgia gets a little bit of a break, although the Bulldogs do have to go on the road to face both Tennessee and Vanderbilt in October. Given their September gantlet (three top-10 opponents), nothing should seem too daunting the rest of the way.
FREEZER BURN
Staying healthy: Geez, what a bad week on the injury front for a handful of SEC teams and players. Florida was already reeling after losing starting quarterback Jeff Driskel to a season-ending injury two weeks ago against Tennessee. And then last week in practice, star defensive tackle Dominique Easley was lost for the season with a torn ACL. Easley was playing as well as any defensive lineman in the league. This past weekend, we saw South Carolina quarterback Shaw go down with a right (throwing) shoulder sprain that will sideline him for two to three weeks. Alabama will be without starting center Ryan Kelly for two to three weeks after he suffered an MCL injury to his knee, and Georgia running back Todd Gurley injured his ankle in the win over LSU. Georgia coach Mark Richt said Gurley would be “day-to-day” in preparation for Saturday’s game at Tennessee and wouldn’t need any kind of surgery. The Bulldogs played the final three quarters without Gurley. Texas A&M defensive tackle Kirby Ennis had to leave the Arkansas game with a left knee injury. Depending on the severity of Ennis’ injury, he will have some extra time to recover. The Aggies are off this week before traveling to Ole Miss on Oct. 12.
It’s that time again as we review the week that was in the SEC.
GLOWING EMBERS
Alabama’s intel: Alabama’s defense was already fired up thanks to what the Tide perceived as smack talk by some of the Ole Miss players leading up to the game. Let’s face it: There’s a fine line sometimes between a player answering a question honestly and his comments mushrooming into full-blown bulletin board material. Either way, the Alabama defense was amped by some of the things Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace was quoted as saying earlier in the week, even though what Wallace said was pretty tame. We’re not exactly talking about any “Archie who?” banter here. But where the Crimson Tide really stuck it to the Rebels was with a little inside intel thanks to Tyler Siskey, Alabama’s assistant director of football operations. Siskey was on the Ole Miss staff last season as director of recruiting development. He was in the Alabama coaches' booth for the game with a set of binoculars, and even though Ole Miss changed up its signals, there weren’t many times that the Tide were fooled by what the Rebels were doing offensively. As ESPN analyst Todd Blackledge noted during the broadcast, Siskey’s knowledge of the Ole Miss offense was a big asset to an already imposing Alabama defense in its preparation for the game. The Tide might not have had the Rebels’ signals, but they were sure locked in to the Rebels’ tendencies on offense and played lights-out in shutting out a Hugh Freeze-coached team for the first time in his college career.
[+] Enlarge
Shane Keyser/Kansas City Star via Getty ImagesCB E.J. Gaines (31) leads Missouri in interceptions and solo tackles.
Missouri cornerback E.J. Gaines: When you start reeling off the top cornerbacks in this league, don’t forget about Gaines. He’s off to a terrific start to the season. In the 41-19 win over Arkansas State, he had nine total tackles, including one for loss, and his third interception of the season to set up Missouri’s final touchdown. Gaines is more than just a cover guy. He leads the Tigers with 19 solo tackles.
NOT
LSU’s defense: The Tigers have a way to go defensively. When you lose as many good defensive players early to the NFL draft as they have over the last couple of years, that kind of talent drain has a way of catching up with even the best defenses. Veteran coordinator John Chavis knew this defense would be a work in progress, but seeing all the blown coverages in the 44-41 loss at Georgia and wide-open receivers running free in the LSU secondary was difficult for anybody on that LSU staff to stomach.
HOT
Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray: So much for the “can’t win the big game” label. Murray has been fabulous in Georgia’s two wins over top-10 teams this season, with eight touchdown passes and just one interception. There’s no substitute for his experience, and it shows in the way he’s carving apart defenses right now.
NOT
SEC defenses: Only one SEC team (Florida at No. 2) is ranked in the top 10 nationally in total defense this week. For that matter, only two are ranked in the top 20. Mississippi State is 20th. In scoring defense, Alabama is still among the national leaders at No. 13. The offenses have taken center stage this season in the SEC, and suddenly the defenses are trying to catch up. Keep in mind, too, that six of the seven national champions during the SEC’s streak have finished in the top 10 nationally in total defense.
HOT
South Carolina running back Mike Davis: He’s the SEC’s rushing leader heading into the month of October and seemingly gets better every week. He carried the Gamecocks in the 28-25 win over UCF after Connor Shaw went down, and finished with a career-high 167 yards and three touchdowns. He has had a run of 50 yards or longer in three of his four games.
NOT
Schedule balance: Talk about a contrast in October schedules. Alabama doesn’t play anyone that should come within 20 points of the Crimson Tide (and that’s being kind) until LSU comes to town on Nov. 9. Arkansas, meanwhile, has Florida, South Carolina and Alabama over the next three weeks, and Florida and Alabama are on the road. Tennessee gets Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama in October. Ole Miss also has a tough October stretch that will go a long way toward shaping the Rebels’ season. They travel to Auburn this weekend and then come back home for back-to-back games against Texas A&M and LSU. Georgia gets a little bit of a break, although the Bulldogs do have to go on the road to face both Tennessee and Vanderbilt in October. Given their September gantlet (three top-10 opponents), nothing should seem too daunting the rest of the way.
FREEZER BURN
Staying healthy: Geez, what a bad week on the injury front for a handful of SEC teams and players. Florida was already reeling after losing starting quarterback Jeff Driskel to a season-ending injury two weeks ago against Tennessee. And then last week in practice, star defensive tackle Dominique Easley was lost for the season with a torn ACL. Easley was playing as well as any defensive lineman in the league. This past weekend, we saw South Carolina quarterback Shaw go down with a right (throwing) shoulder sprain that will sideline him for two to three weeks. Alabama will be without starting center Ryan Kelly for two to three weeks after he suffered an MCL injury to his knee, and Georgia running back Todd Gurley injured his ankle in the win over LSU. Georgia coach Mark Richt said Gurley would be “day-to-day” in preparation for Saturday’s game at Tennessee and wouldn’t need any kind of surgery. The Bulldogs played the final three quarters without Gurley. Texas A&M defensive tackle Kirby Ennis had to leave the Arkansas game with a left knee injury. Depending on the severity of Ennis’ injury, he will have some extra time to recover. The Aggies are off this week before traveling to Ole Miss on Oct. 12.
Tom Luginbill breaks down the biggest recruiting rivalry in the SEC.
Well, the top team in our Power Rankings certainly made sure everyone knew exactly why it was No. 1:
1. Alabama (4-0, 2-0 SEC; last week: 1): The Crimson Tide defense was tired of hearing how good it wasn't. It didn't like hearing that Ole Miss was going to score on it. So it shut the Rebels out and held them to just 205 yards of offense and 11 first downs. The Alabama offense rolled up 434 yards of offense as well, quieting a lot of doubters in the process.
2. Georgia (3-1, 2-0 SEC; LW: 4): Well, it's pretty clear that the SEC Eastern Division is now Georgia's to lose. After a thrilling 44-41 win over LSU, the Bulldogs showed that no matter how bad their defense plays, the offense will be there to rescue it. The only real defensive test remaining for this unit is Florida. But can Florida's offense keep up with the Dawgs if they score?
3. Texas A&M (4-1, 1-1 SEC; LW: 3): Like Georgia, the Aggies are equipped with an offense that can bail out its struggling defense. The Razorbacks gave A&M quite the scare in Fayetteville over the weekend, but Johnny Manziel and Co. didn't have much trouble piling on points against a struggling Arkansas defense. Still, that rushing defense has to improve with SEC play heating up.
4. LSU (4-1, 1-1 SEC; LW: 2): The Tigers' defense showed its youthful age against Georgia on Saturday, especially in the secondary. Georgia churned out nearly 500 yards and averaged 7 yards per play. It didn't help that the front seven didn't generate enough pressure on Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray, who threw four touchdowns. But we learned that LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger is the real deal. He delivered some NFL throws and might have outplayed Murray between the hedges.
5. South Carolina (3-1, 1-1 SEC; LW: 5): I don't know what it is with this South Carolina team. It overcame the loss of starting quarterback Connor Shaw by scoring 28 straight points on UCF Saturday, but then turned around and let the Knights end the game on a 15-0 run. The good news for the Gamecocks is they might have one of the most underrated players in the SEC in running back Mike Davis, who leads the SEC in rushing yards per game (127).
6. Florida (3-1, 2-0 SEC; LW: 7): This is officially Tyler Murphy's team, and he's been solid since replacing Jeff Driskel at quarterback. No one really expects much from the passing game going forward, so the running game has to carry this team (again). It did just that with its 246 yards in the win over Kentucky. That defense might be missing Dominique Easley, but it was fantastic against the Wildcats.
7. Ole Miss (3-1, 1-1 SEC; LW: 6): Quarterback Bo Wallace took some heat for saying the Rebels' offense would score some points on Alabama. Well, he ended up scoring for the Crimson Tide with his safety in the fourth quarter. The high-flying offense we saw in the first three games didn't make it to Tuscaloosa, and now the Rebels are gearing up for a crucial conference game at Auburn this weekend.
8. Missouri (4-0, 0-0 SEC; LW: 8): We still don't know a ton about this team, but the Tigers scored at will against their nonconference foes, averaging 45.5 points and 549 yards through the first four games. But SEC play starts now with a trip to Vanderbilt this weekend. We'll find out very soon if there was any substance to the Tigers' fast start to the season.
9. Auburn (3-1, 1-1 SEC; LW: 9): The Tigers had the week off after their loss to LSU. That gave this team time to rest and try to get the passing game in better shape for the Rebels. What Gus Malzahn and his running backs had to be excited about was seeing Ole Miss' defense give up 254 rushing yards and rushing touchdowns of 68 and 50 yards to the Tide.
10. Vanderbilt (3-2, 0-2 SEC; LW: 10): The offense is only getting better, and wide receiver Jordan Matthews is getting closer and closer to breaking SEC records for career receiving yards and career receptions. With eight catches for 115 yards and touchdown in Vandy's 52-24 win over UAB, Matthews has had 100-plus yards or a touchdown in four of Vandy's five games.
11. Arkansas (3-2, 0-1 SEC; LW: 11): After a rough loss at Rutgers, the Hogs made things interesting in their 45-33 loss to the Aggies. This running game bounced back against A&M with 201 yards, while Brandon Allen's return at quarterback led to 282 passing yards. Still, this team has to clean things up on defense. The Aggies averaged 7 yards per play.
12. Mississippi State (2-2, 0-1 SEC; LW 12): The Bulldogs were off after their 62-7 win over Troy. It was an impressive win for a team looking for more of an offensive spark at the beginning of the season. The way quarterback Dak Prescott is playing, this offense has to feel confident going into this weekend's matchup with LSU. But do the Bulldogs have the horses to keep up with an LSU team that has to be frustrated after its loss to Georgia?
13. Tennessee (3-2, 0-1 SEC; LW: 13): Somehow, the Volunteers tried to give it all away late against South Alabama on Saturday. Tennessee was outscored 17-7 in the second half of its 31-24 win and even blocked its own field goal. A win is a win, especially for a program with a new head coach, but the Vols now have to regroup and face a Georgia team capable of scoring 50 in Knoxville this weekend.
14. Kentucky (1-3, 0-1 SEC; LW: 14): The Wildcats' only real positive from Saturday's 24-7 loss to Florida was that their touchdown came on a fake field goal. Other than that, the Gators dominated Mark Stoops' team. When your kicker is your leading rusher in a game (25 yards), you know you have major problems in the playmaking department.
1. Alabama (4-0, 2-0 SEC; last week: 1): The Crimson Tide defense was tired of hearing how good it wasn't. It didn't like hearing that Ole Miss was going to score on it. So it shut the Rebels out and held them to just 205 yards of offense and 11 first downs. The Alabama offense rolled up 434 yards of offense as well, quieting a lot of doubters in the process.
2. Georgia (3-1, 2-0 SEC; LW: 4): Well, it's pretty clear that the SEC Eastern Division is now Georgia's to lose. After a thrilling 44-41 win over LSU, the Bulldogs showed that no matter how bad their defense plays, the offense will be there to rescue it. The only real defensive test remaining for this unit is Florida. But can Florida's offense keep up with the Dawgs if they score?
3. Texas A&M (4-1, 1-1 SEC; LW: 3): Like Georgia, the Aggies are equipped with an offense that can bail out its struggling defense. The Razorbacks gave A&M quite the scare in Fayetteville over the weekend, but Johnny Manziel and Co. didn't have much trouble piling on points against a struggling Arkansas defense. Still, that rushing defense has to improve with SEC play heating up.
4. LSU (4-1, 1-1 SEC; LW: 2): The Tigers' defense showed its youthful age against Georgia on Saturday, especially in the secondary. Georgia churned out nearly 500 yards and averaged 7 yards per play. It didn't help that the front seven didn't generate enough pressure on Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray, who threw four touchdowns. But we learned that LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger is the real deal. He delivered some NFL throws and might have outplayed Murray between the hedges.
5. South Carolina (3-1, 1-1 SEC; LW: 5): I don't know what it is with this South Carolina team. It overcame the loss of starting quarterback Connor Shaw by scoring 28 straight points on UCF Saturday, but then turned around and let the Knights end the game on a 15-0 run. The good news for the Gamecocks is they might have one of the most underrated players in the SEC in running back Mike Davis, who leads the SEC in rushing yards per game (127).
6. Florida (3-1, 2-0 SEC; LW: 7): This is officially Tyler Murphy's team, and he's been solid since replacing Jeff Driskel at quarterback. No one really expects much from the passing game going forward, so the running game has to carry this team (again). It did just that with its 246 yards in the win over Kentucky. That defense might be missing Dominique Easley, but it was fantastic against the Wildcats.
7. Ole Miss (3-1, 1-1 SEC; LW: 6): Quarterback Bo Wallace took some heat for saying the Rebels' offense would score some points on Alabama. Well, he ended up scoring for the Crimson Tide with his safety in the fourth quarter. The high-flying offense we saw in the first three games didn't make it to Tuscaloosa, and now the Rebels are gearing up for a crucial conference game at Auburn this weekend.
8. Missouri (4-0, 0-0 SEC; LW: 8): We still don't know a ton about this team, but the Tigers scored at will against their nonconference foes, averaging 45.5 points and 549 yards through the first four games. But SEC play starts now with a trip to Vanderbilt this weekend. We'll find out very soon if there was any substance to the Tigers' fast start to the season.
9. Auburn (3-1, 1-1 SEC; LW: 9): The Tigers had the week off after their loss to LSU. That gave this team time to rest and try to get the passing game in better shape for the Rebels. What Gus Malzahn and his running backs had to be excited about was seeing Ole Miss' defense give up 254 rushing yards and rushing touchdowns of 68 and 50 yards to the Tide.
10. Vanderbilt (3-2, 0-2 SEC; LW: 10): The offense is only getting better, and wide receiver Jordan Matthews is getting closer and closer to breaking SEC records for career receiving yards and career receptions. With eight catches for 115 yards and touchdown in Vandy's 52-24 win over UAB, Matthews has had 100-plus yards or a touchdown in four of Vandy's five games.
11. Arkansas (3-2, 0-1 SEC; LW: 11): After a rough loss at Rutgers, the Hogs made things interesting in their 45-33 loss to the Aggies. This running game bounced back against A&M with 201 yards, while Brandon Allen's return at quarterback led to 282 passing yards. Still, this team has to clean things up on defense. The Aggies averaged 7 yards per play.
12. Mississippi State (2-2, 0-1 SEC; LW 12): The Bulldogs were off after their 62-7 win over Troy. It was an impressive win for a team looking for more of an offensive spark at the beginning of the season. The way quarterback Dak Prescott is playing, this offense has to feel confident going into this weekend's matchup with LSU. But do the Bulldogs have the horses to keep up with an LSU team that has to be frustrated after its loss to Georgia?
13. Tennessee (3-2, 0-1 SEC; LW: 13): Somehow, the Volunteers tried to give it all away late against South Alabama on Saturday. Tennessee was outscored 17-7 in the second half of its 31-24 win and even blocked its own field goal. A win is a win, especially for a program with a new head coach, but the Vols now have to regroup and face a Georgia team capable of scoring 50 in Knoxville this weekend.
14. Kentucky (1-3, 0-1 SEC; LW: 14): The Wildcats' only real positive from Saturday's 24-7 loss to Florida was that their touchdown came on a fake field goal. Other than that, the Gators dominated Mark Stoops' team. When your kicker is your leading rusher in a game (25 yards), you know you have major problems in the playmaking department.
Bama can exhale against October slate
September, 30, 2013
Sep 30
8:00
AM ET
By
Alex Scarborough | ESPN.com
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- There was no dipping a toe in the water for preseason No. 1 Alabama. The Crimson Tide instead had to jump right in, battling sharks every week in the first month of the season.
The early stretch was brutal at times. Sure, Alabama looked like the best team in the country and got through the first four games undefeated, but there were certainly some blemishes revealed along the way. Each week and each win was a struggle.
Virginia Tech opened the season by stifling Alabama's offense in Atlanta, getting into the face of quarterback AJ McCarron by applying constant pressure on the backfield. The offensive line, a group that featured three new starters, looked nothing if not inexperienced.
Ninth-ranked Texas A&M then lit up Alabama two weeks later. Johnny Manziel and Mike Evans tore apart the secondary, abusing the Tide with the deep pass. UA set a kind of record you don't want to see, allowing the most yards in school history.
Even Colorado State, the $1.5 million cupcake courtesy of the Mountain West Conference, gave Alabama trouble. The Tide defense made too many mistakes and the offense was terribly inconsistent, failing to convert on a single third-down attempt in the first three quarters.
Then came No. 24 Ole Miss, an undefeated team playing with house money against Alabama. But this time, mercifully, the Tide put together a complete game and won, ending a four-game streak that tested the mettle of the championship contenders.
Now it's time to exhale. Alabama survived the early onslaught and can now take a breath to regroup with Georgia State, Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee up next. None of the four is ranked, and only the Razorbacks and the Vols are above .500, albeit at just one game over each. The four teams' combined record (7-11) is noticeably worse than the combined record of the first four teams Alabama faced (13-6) and the last four teams Alabama will face to end the season (11-6).
To make matters even more favorable for the Tide, Alabama will get a bye to start the month of November before hosting LSU on Nov. 9.
No team in the SEC has an easier next five weeks than Alabama. South Carolina is a close second and the only other school in the conference that won't face a ranked team over that time, but at least the Gamecocks don't have a cupcake like Georgia State to snack on. Instead, Steve Spurier's team will be tested somewhat by Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi State and undefeated Missouri. In fact, if one-loss South Carolina plays like it did against unranked UCF this past weekend, it might not be much of a championship contender come November.
The rest of the league's title contenders don't have it so easy. Georgia has rival Florida to contend with, LSU has Florida and Ole Miss in back-to-back weeks, and Texas A&M has to deal with the same explosive Rebels on Oct. 12.
Ole Miss is one of seven SEC schools to play two ranked opponents over the next five weeks. Only Tennessee and Missouri have it worse with three ranked opponents each in the month of October.
While Nick Saban might not be fond of focusing on records, it's hard to ignore the obvious -- if Alabama doesn't make it to November undefeated, it would be a shock. The Crimson Tide's coach isn't one to admit those things and he won't ever say an opponent is overmatched, but he and his staff do have the luxury of not stressing over serious competition the next few weeks.
Instead, they can budget their time wisely, resting banged up starters such as Ryan Kelly and T.J. Yeldon while working out the kinks with some younger guys for the stretch run, especially those on defense such as rookie cornerbacks Eddie Jackson and Maurice Smith.
"I'm looking more at the standard, not the record," Saban said following his team's shutout of No. 24 Ole Miss on Saturday night. "And I think it's important that our players do the same so we can continue to improve."
Improvement, though, might be the best Saban can hope for. Making another statement like his team did by thumping Ole Miss doesn't appear to be possible against the forthcoming carousel of unranked, overmatched opponents. Rather, building up some level of consistency over the next few weeks will be the challenge as the scoreboard certainly doesn't figure to be.
"We have high expectations for the standard of how we play," Saban said. "And I think more than what the record is, I think and our team thinks, what do we need to do so we can continue to improve so we can play the the standard on a more consistent basis.
"I would say if there's any criticism of myself, our staff and our team, it would be the fact that we have not been as consistent as we'd like to be."
Saban got through a rough, inconsistent start to the season intact and in the driver's seat for another run to the national championship. For the next month, he'll be in the enviable position of fine-tuning his team's mistakes against lesser competition.
While the rest of the SEC slogs through the ghoulish month of October, Alabama will be playing trick or treat each Saturday. All that remains now is reaching LSU on Nov. 9 without slipping on the proverbial banana peel.
The early stretch was brutal at times. Sure, Alabama looked like the best team in the country and got through the first four games undefeated, but there were certainly some blemishes revealed along the way. Each week and each win was a struggle.
Virginia Tech opened the season by stifling Alabama's offense in Atlanta, getting into the face of quarterback AJ McCarron by applying constant pressure on the backfield. The offensive line, a group that featured three new starters, looked nothing if not inexperienced.
[+] Enlarge
Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesThe Crimson Tide defense had its most complete effort of the season on Saturday.
Even Colorado State, the $1.5 million cupcake courtesy of the Mountain West Conference, gave Alabama trouble. The Tide defense made too many mistakes and the offense was terribly inconsistent, failing to convert on a single third-down attempt in the first three quarters.
Then came No. 24 Ole Miss, an undefeated team playing with house money against Alabama. But this time, mercifully, the Tide put together a complete game and won, ending a four-game streak that tested the mettle of the championship contenders.
Now it's time to exhale. Alabama survived the early onslaught and can now take a breath to regroup with Georgia State, Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee up next. None of the four is ranked, and only the Razorbacks and the Vols are above .500, albeit at just one game over each. The four teams' combined record (7-11) is noticeably worse than the combined record of the first four teams Alabama faced (13-6) and the last four teams Alabama will face to end the season (11-6).
To make matters even more favorable for the Tide, Alabama will get a bye to start the month of November before hosting LSU on Nov. 9.
No team in the SEC has an easier next five weeks than Alabama. South Carolina is a close second and the only other school in the conference that won't face a ranked team over that time, but at least the Gamecocks don't have a cupcake like Georgia State to snack on. Instead, Steve Spurier's team will be tested somewhat by Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi State and undefeated Missouri. In fact, if one-loss South Carolina plays like it did against unranked UCF this past weekend, it might not be much of a championship contender come November.
The rest of the league's title contenders don't have it so easy. Georgia has rival Florida to contend with, LSU has Florida and Ole Miss in back-to-back weeks, and Texas A&M has to deal with the same explosive Rebels on Oct. 12.
Ole Miss is one of seven SEC schools to play two ranked opponents over the next five weeks. Only Tennessee and Missouri have it worse with three ranked opponents each in the month of October.
While Nick Saban might not be fond of focusing on records, it's hard to ignore the obvious -- if Alabama doesn't make it to November undefeated, it would be a shock. The Crimson Tide's coach isn't one to admit those things and he won't ever say an opponent is overmatched, but he and his staff do have the luxury of not stressing over serious competition the next few weeks.
Instead, they can budget their time wisely, resting banged up starters such as Ryan Kelly and T.J. Yeldon while working out the kinks with some younger guys for the stretch run, especially those on defense such as rookie cornerbacks Eddie Jackson and Maurice Smith.
"I'm looking more at the standard, not the record," Saban said following his team's shutout of No. 24 Ole Miss on Saturday night. "And I think it's important that our players do the same so we can continue to improve."
Improvement, though, might be the best Saban can hope for. Making another statement like his team did by thumping Ole Miss doesn't appear to be possible against the forthcoming carousel of unranked, overmatched opponents. Rather, building up some level of consistency over the next few weeks will be the challenge as the scoreboard certainly doesn't figure to be.
"We have high expectations for the standard of how we play," Saban said. "And I think more than what the record is, I think and our team thinks, what do we need to do so we can continue to improve so we can play the the standard on a more consistent basis.
"I would say if there's any criticism of myself, our staff and our team, it would be the fact that we have not been as consistent as we'd like to be."
Saban got through a rough, inconsistent start to the season intact and in the driver's seat for another run to the national championship. For the next month, he'll be in the enviable position of fine-tuning his team's mistakes against lesser competition.
While the rest of the SEC slogs through the ghoulish month of October, Alabama will be playing trick or treat each Saturday. All that remains now is reaching LSU on Nov. 9 without slipping on the proverbial banana peel.
Is Alabama The Best In The Land?
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- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
W. Soccer. Merel Van Dongen Suffers Season-Ending Injury http://t.co/5lKajNBh9T
about 4 hours ago
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
W. Basketball. Season Tickets on sale for Women’s Basketball http://t.co/qnz0UIZlRr
about 4 hours ago
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
SEC Power Poll: Week 5 http://t.co/UtqhxXFZo0
about 4 hours ago
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
- SECfootball SEC Football News
State of the Class: Texas A&M defensive focus continues http://t.co/GRIrgjEvb5 via @SECrecruiting
about 4 hours ago
- SECfootball SEC Football News
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
Georgia State lineman: Once we get physical ‘we’re on a level playing field’ as Alabama http://t.co/c5lWKy80mv
about 4 hours ago
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
After wide-eyed first snap, Anthony Steen says replacement Alabama center Chad Lindsay a perfect fit http://t.co/i6apIN7JDm
about 4 hours ago
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
College football attendance drops 3 percent in opening month http://t.co/dXw5FhPwz9
about 4 hours ago
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
Football. Awards Watch: T.J. Yeldon Busts Loose Against No. 21 Ole Miss http://t.co/STYPm2NWaU
about 4 hours ago
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
- SECfootball SEC Football News
2 Minute Drill: #SEC football week 5 fails http://t.co/tc21mHHbjv
about 4 hours ago
- SECfootball SEC Football News
- SECSportsUpdate SEC Sports
RT @JasonYellin: @SEC Check out 1st practice of @Vol_Hoops with our live stream right here w/ @CuonzoMartin mic'd up: http://t.co/YE18v85QpI
about 4 hours ago
- SECSportsUpdate SEC Sports
- Bama Bama Football
#SEC on @SDS - 2 Minute Drill: SEC football week 5 fails http://t.co/19ualEmB0q
about 4 hours ago
- Bama Bama Football
- AlexS_ESPN Alex Scarborough
RT @GregO_ESPN: Auburn RB Cameron Artis-Payne once played in the same backfield as LeSean McCoy. He knows about splitting carries. http://t…
about 5 hours ago
- AlexS_ESPN Alex Scarborough
- GregO_ESPN Greg Ostendorf
Auburn RB Cameron Artis-Payne once played in the same backfield as LeSean McCoy. He knows about splitting carries. http://t.co/dYTHCojGU0
about 5 hours ago
- GregO_ESPN Greg Ostendorf
- ChaseGoodbread Chase Goodbread
RT @wilnerhotline: Jokingly asked Stanford HC David Shaw about being on USC's short list: "It might be short, but it's one person too long."
about 5 hours ago
- ChaseGoodbread Chase Goodbread
- ESPN_SEC ESPN_SEC
Video: Todd Gurley injury analysis http://t.co/Tsw4qC5DQ7
about 5 hours ago
- ESPN_SEC ESPN_SEC
- ESPN_SEC ESPN_SEC
Artis-Payne plays familiar role at Auburn http://t.co/xnqI8zvwJd
about 5 hours ago
- ESPN_SEC ESPN_SEC
- ChaseGoodbread Chase Goodbread
RT @richeisen: The Steve Sabol "A Football Life" tonight is incredibly special. Hosting live chat with ***** Vermeil, Mike Mayock and Jaws a…
about 5 hours ago
- ChaseGoodbread Chase Goodbread
- ESPN_SEC ESPN_SEC
Our http://t.co/VFCM4fy4FY Top 25 ballots http://t.co/KZgnKnHBPO
about 5 hours ago
- ESPN_SEC ESPN_SEC
- AndrewJBone Andrew Bone
RT @YSportsRadio: The voice of the #Alabama #CrimsonTide, @EliGoldBama, shares some great Nick Saban stories. LISTEN: http://t.co/kXpJFv4jw…
about 5 hours ago
- AndrewJBone Andrew Bone
- SECfootball SEC Football News
Missouri’s Year 2 starts Saturday, remains the #SEC’s biggest unknown http://t.co/mTHq2852CR
about 5 hours ago
- SECfootball SEC Football News
- SECSportsUpdate SEC Sports
#SEC Men's Basketball Tournament Tickets are now on sale. Full story and link to purchase: http://t.co/QCGspplOI1
about 6 hours ago
- SECSportsUpdate SEC Sports
- rollbamaroll Roll Bama Roll
SEC Power Poll: Week 5 http://t.co/37fBJYWzNj
about 6 hours ago
- rollbamaroll Roll Bama Roll
- SECSportsUpdate SEC Sports
RT @mikewaddellUA: Who is ready for some Wednesday night, @SEC Volleyball action at the Barn between @RazorbackVB & Mizzou? 6pm @ESPNU http…
about 6 hours ago
- SECSportsUpdate SEC Sports
- ESPN_SEC ESPN_SEC
Georgia waiting for youth to mature http://t.co/XPenSkzfcd
about 6 hours ago
- ESPN_SEC ESPN_SEC
- SECfootball SEC Football News
Is Arkansas putting too many miles on freshman RB Alex Collins? http://t.co/iiV2kQ5ur8
about 6 hours ago
- SECfootball SEC Football News
- SECSportsUpdate SEC Sports
RT @SEC_Sean: The @SEC has announced its Cross Country Athletes of the Week: http://t.co/FnDQEtsPtU #SEC
about 7 hours ago
- SECSportsUpdate SEC Sports
- ChaseGoodbread Chase Goodbread
Suspended South Carolina receiver to miss more action >> http://t.co/1IqgNx695V
about 7 hours ago
- ChaseGoodbread Chase Goodbread
- ChaseGoodbread Chase Goodbread
Big receivers making big difference in SEC >> http://t.co/sLPBXjUO8e
about 7 hours ago
- ChaseGoodbread Chase Goodbread
- ESPN_SEC ESPN_SEC
Video: Is Alabama the best in the land? http://t.co/SthknrfpXv
about 7 hours ago
- ESPN_SEC ESPN_SEC
- UA_Athletics Alabama Athletics
Awards Watch: T.J. Yeldon gave Alabama’s running game the boost it needed in a 25-0 blanking of #21 Ole Miss Saturday.http://t.co/Ro10risZYx
about 7 hours ago
- UA_Athletics Alabama Athletics
- AlabamaFTBL Alabama Football
Awards Watch: T.J. Yeldon gave Alabama’s running game the boost it needed in a 25-0 blanking of #21 Ole Miss Saturday.http://t.co/p80kjBrmbM
about 7 hours ago
- AlabamaFTBL Alabama Football
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
Stopping The Ole Miss Inverted Veer http://t.co/J1A7YyN5iH
about 7 hours ago
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
- UA_Athletics Alabama Athletics
The @AlabamaSoccer team defeating Tennessee is this week’s FREE weekly download. http://t.co/aSdULVEkTp #RollTide http://t.co/5sOlNthltW
about 7 hours ago
- UA_Athletics Alabama Athletics
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
Live chat: Alabama beat reporter Andrew Gribble will take your questions today at 11 a.m. http://t.co/oPHCKQL9jT
about 7 hours ago
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
Alabama PG Looks To Run Team http://t.co/uPnFNJ01jg
about 7 hours ago
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
Alabama Forward Shooting For SEC Debut http://t.co/yviCDKHdLW
about 7 hours ago
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
New contender for 5-star Alabama target Raekwon McMillan (video) http://t.co/2ZONTuRPh1
about 7 hours ago
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
Alabama LB Trey DePriest explains how C.J. Mosley ‘turned into a different guy’ vs. Ole Miss (video) http://t.co/k92N3zKrGG
about 7 hours ago
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
- AndrewJBone Andrew Bone
Hoover RB @bradricks27 talks #Alabama visit, offers and win against Vestavia http://t.co/DRp15LnGrE #UGA, #Cincinnati, #MissSt.
about 7 hours ago
- AndrewJBone Andrew Bone
- AndrewJBone Andrew Bone
RT @SLHarrisUA: Can't wait to hang out with @AndrewJBone on Wednesday night for Trivia at @thejupiterbar! Come join in the fun!
about 7 hours ago
- AndrewJBone Andrew Bone
- SECfootball SEC Football News
State of the class: Arkansas filling key needs http://t.co/cghL0Os84A via @SECrecruiting
about 7 hours ago
- SECfootball SEC Football News
- Bama Bama Football
Saturday's visit from Georgia State is Bama's cheapest game of the year. Grab tickets from us for as low as $25 here http://t.co/AWpxoFxB4T
about 8 hours ago
- Bama Bama Football
- AlexS_ESPN Alex Scarborough
Eddie Jackson’s swift rise began before Alabama. A look at the freshman starting CB’s unlikely journey: http://t.co/XoVYP92IjN
about 8 hours ago
- AlexS_ESPN Alex Scarborough
- ESPN_SEC ESPN_SEC
Jackson's swift rise began before Alabama http://t.co/sptFnxE5Be
about 8 hours ago
- ESPN_SEC ESPN_SEC
- ESPN_SEC ESPN_SEC
SEC lunchtime links http://t.co/41AEnVQ3lo
about 8 hours ago
- ESPN_SEC ESPN_SEC
- Andrew_Gribble Andrew Gribble
The weekly Alabama football chat is underway... http://t.co/JBy8Ay9kLj
about 8 hours ago
- Andrew_Gribble Andrew Gribble
- rollbamaroll Roll Bama Roll
How Alabama Stopped Ole Miss' Inverted Veer (hint: not by stealing signs) http://t.co/YRiafIn1PP
about 8 hours ago
- rollbamaroll Roll Bama Roll
- SECfootball SEC Football News
What to watch for: #6 Georgia at Tennessee http://t.co/fvmbZOJdca
about 8 hours ago
- SECfootball SEC Football News
- CStewartSports Chris Stewart
Coming up on @Tide991fm...@AaronSuttles, @martinhouston35, and @CoachCurry. Show starts at 11.
about 8 hours ago
- CStewartSports Chris Stewart
- AlexS_ESPN Alex Scarborough
Alabama gets the nod as the best defensive performance of the weekend from @ESPNStatsInfo: http://t.co/KDW8VONtvc
about 8 hours ago
- AlexS_ESPN Alex Scarborough
- Andrew_Gribble Andrew Gribble
I'll be chatting about Alabama football in about 32 minutes http://t.co/yIZcbSqA2C
about 8 hours ago
- Andrew_Gribble Andrew Gribble
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
Baseball. Baseball Practice Schedule for Second Week of Fall Practice http://t.co/4V2GIy01g5
about 8 hours ago
- BamaSportsNow Alabama Sports Now
- SECfootball SEC Football News
Why a college football players union is unlikely http://t.co/0ZeczDAnhR
about 9 hours ago
- SECfootball SEC Football News
- GregO_ESPN Greg Ostendorf
Alabama-Auburn on the list. RT @ESPN_SEC: Top SEC recruiting rivalries http://t.co/um2MrcdP1V
about 9 hours ago
- GregO_ESPN Greg Ostendorf
- GregO_ESPN Greg Ostendorf
Early Offer: @jeremycrabtree talks Auburn WR commitment D'haquille Williams. Where all will the Juco star visit? http://t.co/Tcn0BQKVil
about 9 hours ago
- GregO_ESPN Greg Ostendorf
- rollbamaroll Roll Bama Roll
Alabama ranked 6th in 2012, 3rd in 2011, 23rd in 2010, 14th in 2009, 5th in 2008 and 4th in 2007
about 9 hours ago
- rollbamaroll Roll Bama Roll
-
SEC SCOREBOARD
Saturday, 10/5
12:21 PM ET Georgia State 1 Alabama 3:30 PM ET 6 Georgia Tennessee 7:00 PM ET 24 Ole Miss Auburn 7:00 PM ET Arkansas 18 Florida - ESPN2/WatchESPN
- Tickets
- Conversation
7:00 PM ET 10 LSU Mississippi State 7:30 PM ET Missouri Vanderbilt - ESPN3
- Tickets
- Conversation
7:30 PM ET Kentucky 13 South Carolina
