College Football Nation: Ben Tate
Instant analysis: Auburn 38, Northwestern 35 (OT)
January, 1, 2010
1/01/10
4:01
PM ET
By
Chris Low | ESPN.com
A quick look at Auburn’s 38-35 overtime victory against Northwestern on Friday in the Outback Bowl:
How the game was won: After seemingly winning the game on two previous occasions, Auburn finally survived when defensive back Neiko Thorpe slammed Northwestern’s Zeke Markshausen out of bounds and kept him from getting into the end zone on a fake field goal attempt in overtime. The Wildcats had the ball at the 5, but had already missed three field goal attempts – one that would have won the game at the end of regulation. So they tried to win it in regulation with a little trickery, but the Tigers weren’t fooled.
Turning point: Auburn had a 35-21 lead with 7:32 to play in regulation and appeared to be cruising to a win. But the Tigers turned the ball over twice in a span of two minutes. Ben Tate lost a fumble at the Northwestern 31, and Demond Washington lost a fumble at midfield after a long kickoff return. The Wildcats were able to score a pair of touchdowns in the final three and a half minutes of regulation to force overtime.
Turning point II: Walter McFadden’s 100-yard interception return for a touchdown in the first quarter changed the whole complexion of the game. It looked like Northwestern was about to tie the game at 7-7. The Wildcats had a first-and-goal at the 4. But on third down, McFadden tipped a pass to himself in the end zone and raced untouched down the right sideline for the touchdown to give Auburn a 14-0 lead.
Stat of the game: Where do you start? The two teams combined for 1,074 yards of total offense and 53 first downs. Northwestern had 35 first downs, and the Wildcats’ quarterback, Mike Kafka, passed for 532 yards. But Kafka, who threw a Big Ten-low seven interceptions this season, was intercepted five times by the Tigers.
Stat of the game II: The Tigers overcame 12 penalties for 139 yards, including a couple of personal fouls toward the end of regulation and in overtime.
Player of the game: McFadden had two of Auburn's five interceptions. His first pick set up the Tigers' first touchdown, and he returned his second pick 100 yards for a touchdown to give Auburn a 14-0 cushion.
Unsung hero: Auburn receiver Darvin Adams capped a big sophomore season with perhaps the best game he played all season. Adams finished with 12 catches for 141 yards and made several plays to help keep drives alive.
What it means: Getting to eight wins in Year No. 1 under Gene Chizik has to be considered a success on all fronts for Auburn, which also stopped the bleeding. The Tigers (8-5) closed the regular season by losing five of their last six SEC games. Still, the way Northwestern moved the ball up and down the field is a reminder that Auburn still needs to upgrade its depth on defense and its talent on that side of the ball if the Tigers want to be a player in the Western Division race over the next couple of seasons. That’s where these next couple of recruiting classes come in.
How the game was won: After seemingly winning the game on two previous occasions, Auburn finally survived when defensive back Neiko Thorpe slammed Northwestern’s Zeke Markshausen out of bounds and kept him from getting into the end zone on a fake field goal attempt in overtime. The Wildcats had the ball at the 5, but had already missed three field goal attempts – one that would have won the game at the end of regulation. So they tried to win it in regulation with a little trickery, but the Tigers weren’t fooled.
Turning point: Auburn had a 35-21 lead with 7:32 to play in regulation and appeared to be cruising to a win. But the Tigers turned the ball over twice in a span of two minutes. Ben Tate lost a fumble at the Northwestern 31, and Demond Washington lost a fumble at midfield after a long kickoff return. The Wildcats were able to score a pair of touchdowns in the final three and a half minutes of regulation to force overtime.
Turning point II: Walter McFadden’s 100-yard interception return for a touchdown in the first quarter changed the whole complexion of the game. It looked like Northwestern was about to tie the game at 7-7. The Wildcats had a first-and-goal at the 4. But on third down, McFadden tipped a pass to himself in the end zone and raced untouched down the right sideline for the touchdown to give Auburn a 14-0 lead.
Stat of the game: Where do you start? The two teams combined for 1,074 yards of total offense and 53 first downs. Northwestern had 35 first downs, and the Wildcats’ quarterback, Mike Kafka, passed for 532 yards. But Kafka, who threw a Big Ten-low seven interceptions this season, was intercepted five times by the Tigers.
Stat of the game II: The Tigers overcame 12 penalties for 139 yards, including a couple of personal fouls toward the end of regulation and in overtime.
Player of the game: McFadden had two of Auburn's five interceptions. His first pick set up the Tigers' first touchdown, and he returned his second pick 100 yards for a touchdown to give Auburn a 14-0 cushion.
Unsung hero: Auburn receiver Darvin Adams capped a big sophomore season with perhaps the best game he played all season. Adams finished with 12 catches for 141 yards and made several plays to help keep drives alive.
What it means: Getting to eight wins in Year No. 1 under Gene Chizik has to be considered a success on all fronts for Auburn, which also stopped the bleeding. The Tigers (8-5) closed the regular season by losing five of their last six SEC games. Still, the way Northwestern moved the ball up and down the field is a reminder that Auburn still needs to upgrade its depth on defense and its talent on that side of the ball if the Tigers want to be a player in the Western Division race over the next couple of seasons. That’s where these next couple of recruiting classes come in.
Northwestern hopes to avoid pre-snap traps
December, 31, 2009
12/31/09
4:03
PM ET
By
Adam Rittenberg | ESPN.com
Northwestern's biggest challenge Friday against Auburn might take place before the ball is snapped.
Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn is known for his innovative approach and extensive playbook, but he sets everything up by running a ton of pre-snap motion to throw off the opposing defense. For defenders, a misstep before the snap can lead to disastrous results after it.
"It's like window dressing," Northwestern senior safety Brendan Smith said. "They're saying, 'Hey, we're going to try and confuse you. Watch this!' Like if they're magicians, 'Here's the magic. Watch me over here! Watch me over there! Boom!' They try to motion around, but they're going to run the same play."
Smith and his fellow defenders have spent the past few weeks studying Auburn's pre-snap motion so they can recognize it in the Outback Bowl and not get sucked in. They've seen Auburn shuffle a ton of personnel before the snap, only to run a simple inside zone play to running back Ben Tate.
The solution to contain Auburn? Just do your job.
"They take advantage of the mental mistakes on defense," Smith said. "As long as we play one team, Auburn, we have a great chance of winning."
Northwestern will rely heavily on Smith and fellow safety Brad Phillips, another senior, to direct others on Auburn's pre-snap motion.
"Sometimes, we could say, 'Play it! Play it! Play it!'" Smith said. "Other times, we'll have to check and get us into something else. That's all dependent on the pre-call. But a lot of the looks will get us into our base [defense]."
Like Auburn, Northwestern runs a no-huddle spread offense that should help the NU defenders prepare for the Tigers' up-tempo pace. Though the Wildcats usually don't run as much pre-snap motion as Auburn, they can execute plays like rapid fire, keeping the defense on its heels.
With three weeks to practice against their own offense and examine Auburn's, the Wildcats defenders feel ready.
"The biggest thing is studying their tendencies," defensive end Corey Wootton said of Auburn. "Certain formations, certain sets they're in, it's pretty predictable what they're doing."
Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn is known for his innovative approach and extensive playbook, but he sets everything up by running a ton of pre-snap motion to throw off the opposing defense. For defenders, a misstep before the snap can lead to disastrous results after it.
[+] Enlarge
Scott Boehm/Getty ImagesSafety Brendan Smith knows the Wildcats can't afford to be fooled by Auburn's pre-snap motion.
Scott Boehm/Getty ImagesSafety Brendan Smith knows the Wildcats can't afford to be fooled by Auburn's pre-snap motion.Smith and his fellow defenders have spent the past few weeks studying Auburn's pre-snap motion so they can recognize it in the Outback Bowl and not get sucked in. They've seen Auburn shuffle a ton of personnel before the snap, only to run a simple inside zone play to running back Ben Tate.
The solution to contain Auburn? Just do your job.
"They take advantage of the mental mistakes on defense," Smith said. "As long as we play one team, Auburn, we have a great chance of winning."
Northwestern will rely heavily on Smith and fellow safety Brad Phillips, another senior, to direct others on Auburn's pre-snap motion.
"Sometimes, we could say, 'Play it! Play it! Play it!'" Smith said. "Other times, we'll have to check and get us into something else. That's all dependent on the pre-call. But a lot of the looks will get us into our base [defense]."
Like Auburn, Northwestern runs a no-huddle spread offense that should help the NU defenders prepare for the Tigers' up-tempo pace. Though the Wildcats usually don't run as much pre-snap motion as Auburn, they can execute plays like rapid fire, keeping the defense on its heels.
With three weeks to practice against their own offense and examine Auburn's, the Wildcats defenders feel ready.
"The biggest thing is studying their tendencies," defensive end Corey Wootton said of Auburn. "Certain formations, certain sets they're in, it's pretty predictable what they're doing."
Northwestern (8-4) vs. Auburn (7-5)
Jan. 1, 11 a.m. (ESPN)
Northwestern take by Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg: After being snubbed by the Outback Bowl for Iowa last year, Northwestern received a somewhat surprising invitation to the Tampa game, as it makes its first Jan. 1 bowl appearance since 1997.
The Wildcats now look for the same result as the Hawkeyes, who last year crushed South Carolina in the Outback to claim the Big Ten's only bowl victory. Northwestern hasn't won a bowl game since the 1949 Rose.
The game pits two teams (Northwestern and Auburn) that have never played, as well as two potentially explosive spread offenses. Senior quarterback Mike Kafka, a second-team All-Big Ten selection, leads a Wildcats attack that settled into a rhythm in its final two games. Kafka will need to be sharp against an Auburn defense that ranks 28th nationally against the pass, though there could be some running room for a Wildcats rushing attack that has struggled to get on track.
Veteran defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz has been a key part of Northwestern's surge the last two seasons, but he will be tested against Auburn and spread guru Gus Malzahn. The Tigers will try just about anything on offense and boast the nation's No. 12 rushing unit, led by senior running back Ben Tate. The game features two efficient passers in Kafka and Tigers senior Chris Todd, who ranks 21st nationally in passer rating.
Northwestern comes in very hot, having gone 3-0 in November with two wins against top 20 opponents. Auburn started 5-0 before dropping five of its final seven contests, though the Tigers did give No. 1 Alabama all it could handle.
Auburn take by SEC blogger Chris Low: Auburn was one of six teams in the SEC this season finishing 7-5, but emerged out of the pack as the Outback Bowl’s top choice. The Tigers were one defensive stand away from knocking off Alabama in the regular-season finale two weeks ago and really putting a memorable stamp on Gene Chizik’s first season as head coach.
The long break before the bowl game should help Auburn as much as any team in the SEC. The Tigers battled depth problems all season, which explains in part their fast start and rocky finish to the season. They wound up losing five of their last six SEC games. But the way they played against the Crimson Tide gives everybody on the Plains hope that there are better days ahead.
Gus Malzahn’s offense is one of the more unpredictable units in the country. The Tigers like to spread you out and will run everything from reverses, to direct-snap packages to throw-back passes. Their bread and butter this season, though, was turning around and handing the ball off to Ben Tate, who rushed for 1,254 yards.
Defensively, it was a struggle for Auburn. The Tigers finished last in the SEC in scoring defense (26.9 points per game). But, again, they looked like a different defensive unit against Alabama and turned in their best effort of the season on that side of the ball, holding Mark Ingram to 30 yards rushing.
Jan. 1, 11 a.m. (ESPN)
Northwestern take by Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg: After being snubbed by the Outback Bowl for Iowa last year, Northwestern received a somewhat surprising invitation to the Tampa game, as it makes its first Jan. 1 bowl appearance since 1997.
The Wildcats now look for the same result as the Hawkeyes, who last year crushed South Carolina in the Outback to claim the Big Ten's only bowl victory. Northwestern hasn't won a bowl game since the 1949 Rose.
The game pits two teams (Northwestern and Auburn) that have never played, as well as two potentially explosive spread offenses. Senior quarterback Mike Kafka, a second-team All-Big Ten selection, leads a Wildcats attack that settled into a rhythm in its final two games. Kafka will need to be sharp against an Auburn defense that ranks 28th nationally against the pass, though there could be some running room for a Wildcats rushing attack that has struggled to get on track.
Veteran defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz has been a key part of Northwestern's surge the last two seasons, but he will be tested against Auburn and spread guru Gus Malzahn. The Tigers will try just about anything on offense and boast the nation's No. 12 rushing unit, led by senior running back Ben Tate. The game features two efficient passers in Kafka and Tigers senior Chris Todd, who ranks 21st nationally in passer rating.
Northwestern comes in very hot, having gone 3-0 in November with two wins against top 20 opponents. Auburn started 5-0 before dropping five of its final seven contests, though the Tigers did give No. 1 Alabama all it could handle.
Auburn take by SEC blogger Chris Low: Auburn was one of six teams in the SEC this season finishing 7-5, but emerged out of the pack as the Outback Bowl’s top choice. The Tigers were one defensive stand away from knocking off Alabama in the regular-season finale two weeks ago and really putting a memorable stamp on Gene Chizik’s first season as head coach.
The long break before the bowl game should help Auburn as much as any team in the SEC. The Tigers battled depth problems all season, which explains in part their fast start and rocky finish to the season. They wound up losing five of their last six SEC games. But the way they played against the Crimson Tide gives everybody on the Plains hope that there are better days ahead.
Gus Malzahn’s offense is one of the more unpredictable units in the country. The Tigers like to spread you out and will run everything from reverses, to direct-snap packages to throw-back passes. Their bread and butter this season, though, was turning around and handing the ball off to Ben Tate, who rushed for 1,254 yards.
Defensively, it was a struggle for Auburn. The Tigers finished last in the SEC in scoring defense (26.9 points per game). But, again, they looked like a different defensive unit against Alabama and turned in their best effort of the season on that side of the ball, holding Mark Ingram to 30 yards rushing.
Backyard Brawls. Clean, old-fashioned hate. Bedlam.
College football offers a Thanksgiving Day-like buffet of intriguing games this week, including a number of contests that will affect the BCS national championship race and conference titles.
From Auburn, Ala., to Boise, Idaho to Morgantown, W. Va., state rivalries and matchups between bitter rivalries take center stage.
Here are 10 things to watch this week:
1. Is there any way Texas A&M can upset No. 3 Texas on Thanksgiving Day night?
Probably not, but the Aggies have given Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy fits during his career. McCoy was on the losing end of his first two games against Texas A&M, throwing four interceptions and only one touchdown combined in losses in 2006 and '07.
But McCoy completed 23 of 28 passes for 311 yards with two touchdowns in last season's 49-9 rout of the Aggies in Austin, and he's playing better than ever right now. In his last five games, McCoy completed 76.9 percent of his passes for 1,487 yards with 14 touchdowns and only two interceptions. His passer rating during that stretch is 175.8.
With only the Texas A&M game and a Dec. 5 meeting against Nebraska in the Big 12 championship game standing between Texas and a chance to play for the BCS national title, McCoy should be more than focused on Thursday night.
2. Should Alabama be concerned about the Iron Bowl?
It's an intense rivalry game and it's going to be played on the road at Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium on Friday, so there’s always concern. But No. 2 Alabama is clearly the better team this season.
The Crimson Tide ended a six-game losing streak to Auburn with last season's 36-0 rout in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Alabama's No. 1-ranked defense might be tested by Auburn's spread offense. Both defenses will try to slow down the opponent's running game -- Auburn's Ben Tate has run for 1,209 yards; Alabama's Mark Ingram has run for 1,399 -- and force the opposing quarterbacks to beat them.
3. Does Florida State even have a chance against Florida?
Probably not. The No. 1 Gators are two victories away from having a chance to defend their BCS National Championship, and Saturday's game will be quarterback Tim Tebow's final home game at the Swamp.
FSU became bowl eligible with last week's 29-26 win over Maryland, but its defense is probably far too porous to slow down Florida's offense. The Seminoles rank 106th nationally in total defense (434.4 yards per game), 105th in rush defense (193.5), 106th in pass-efficiency defense (149.3 rating) and 95th in scoring defense (30.2 points per game).
4. Should No. 6 Boise State be on upset alert?
The Broncos face their most difficult opponent since beating Oregon in their Sept. 3 opener when Nevada plays at Bronco Stadium on Friday night.
Nevada has won eight games in a row and averaged 55.6 points in its last five games. The Wolf Pack have been running wild during their winning streak, averaging 445.6 rushing yards per game in their last eight games.
Nevada's "Pistol" offense tries to attack defenses in myriad ways. Last week, the Wolf Pack became the first team in NCAA Division I history to have three 1,000-yard rushers in a single season. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick (1,129 yards) and tailbacks Luke Lippincott (1,028) and Vai Taua (1,185) have all accomplished the feat this season.
The Broncos have won 54 regular-season games in a row at home and have to win their final two home games (they play New Mexico State in Boise on Dec. 5) to stay in the hunt for a lucrative BCS bowl game.
5. Can West Virginia turn the tables in the Backyard Brawl?
Two years ago, Pittsburgh stunned then-No. 2 West Virginia 13-9 in the regular-season finale in Morgantown, W. Va., costing the Mountaineers a chance to play for the BCS National Championship.
The Panthers are 18-5 since that upset victory and are in great position to finally clinch a spot in a BCS bowl game. Pittsburgh will host No. 5 Cincinnati at home on Dec. 5 and the winner will claim the Big East title.
West Virginia would probably love nothing more than to spoil Pitt's breakthrough season in the 102nd edition of the Backyard Brawl.
6. Can Georgia’s defense slow down Georgia Tech?
In only two seasons, Paul Johnson has turned around the Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry. Last season, he ended the Yellow Jackets’ seven-game losing streak to the Bulldogs with a 45-42 victory in Athens, Ga. Georgia blew a 28-12 halftime lead and allowed 26 points in the third quarter of that game.
This season, the No. 7 Yellow Jackets are 10-1 and already have clinched a spot in the Dec. 5 ACC championship game in Tampa, Fla. The Bulldogs are among the country’s biggest disappointments with a 6-5 record. They blew a 20-6 lead in a 34-27 loss to Kentucky at home last week.
Saturday night’s game at Bobby Dodd Stadium might be a high-scoring affair. Georgia’s defense has surrendered 30 points or more five times this season; the Yellow Jackets have scored 28 points or more in seven straight games.
7. Will Oklahoma State finally beat Oklahoma?
The No. 12 Cowboys are in position to receive an at-large BCS bowl bid, most likely from the Fiesta Bowl, but they’ll have to beat rival Oklahoma on the road on Saturday to have a chance.
The rivalry is the most lopsided between in-state schools, with the overall series record depends on who you ask. The Sooners list the overall series at 80-16-7 while the Cowboys have it as 79-17-7 in favor of OU. The Sooners have won the last six games in the series, including a 61-41 victory in Stillwater, Okla., last season.
With a 6-5 record, defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma is trying to salvage a winning record in the regular season.
Oklahoma State quarterback Zac Robinson, who missed last week’s closer-than-expected win over Colorado with a sprained shoulder, is expected to return to action against the Sooners.
8. What’s at stake for Arkansas against LSU?
With record-setting quarterback Ryan Mallett flourishing in coach Bobby Petrino’s pass-happy offense, the Razorbacks have become the hot SEC team in the eyes of bowl scouts.
If Arkansas can win its fifth straight game by beating LSU at Tiger Stadium on Saturday, there’s a good chance the Hogs could be selected to play in the Cotton Bowl.
Mallett is playing as well as any quarterback in the country, throwing for 10 touchdowns in his last two games. In his first season in Petrino’s offense, the Michigan transfer has thrown for more than 3,000 yards with 28 touchdowns.
LSU has lost two of its last three games, including last week’s deflating 25-23 loss to Ole Miss.
9. Who wins the Holy War?
The BYU-Utah series is one of the country’s most underrated rivalries. Simply put, these schools just don’t like each other very much.
The No. 21 Utes have won five of the last seven games against BYU and six of the last eight played at Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah. Both teams are 9-2 and have been eliminated from the Mountain West Conference title race.
BYU quarterback Max Hall will be looking for redemption, after throwing a career-high five interceptions in last season’s 48-24 loss at Utah.
10. Will Saturday’s trip to Stanford be Charlie Weis’ final game at Notre Dame?
A loss to the Cardinal would leave Notre Dame with a 6-6 record, and even Weis admits that performance isn’t good enough at his alma mater.
Athletics director Jack Swarbrick has said repeatedly that he would wait until the end of the season to decide Weis’ fate. A decision could come pretty quickly after the Fighting Irish play at Stanford.
A victory over the Cardinal might put Notre Dame back into the Gator Bowl discussion, but a 6-6 record might leave them without a postseason destination. Under that scenario, teams with 7-5 records would be given bowl priority over Notre Dame.
College football offers a Thanksgiving Day-like buffet of intriguing games this week, including a number of contests that will affect the BCS national championship race and conference titles.
From Auburn, Ala., to Boise, Idaho to Morgantown, W. Va., state rivalries and matchups between bitter rivalries take center stage.
Here are 10 things to watch this week:
1. Is there any way Texas A&M can upset No. 3 Texas on Thanksgiving Day night?
Probably not, but the Aggies have given Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy fits during his career. McCoy was on the losing end of his first two games against Texas A&M, throwing four interceptions and only one touchdown combined in losses in 2006 and '07.
But McCoy completed 23 of 28 passes for 311 yards with two touchdowns in last season's 49-9 rout of the Aggies in Austin, and he's playing better than ever right now. In his last five games, McCoy completed 76.9 percent of his passes for 1,487 yards with 14 touchdowns and only two interceptions. His passer rating during that stretch is 175.8.
With only the Texas A&M game and a Dec. 5 meeting against Nebraska in the Big 12 championship game standing between Texas and a chance to play for the BCS national title, McCoy should be more than focused on Thursday night.
2. Should Alabama be concerned about the Iron Bowl?
It's an intense rivalry game and it's going to be played on the road at Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium on Friday, so there’s always concern. But No. 2 Alabama is clearly the better team this season.
The Crimson Tide ended a six-game losing streak to Auburn with last season's 36-0 rout in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Alabama's No. 1-ranked defense might be tested by Auburn's spread offense. Both defenses will try to slow down the opponent's running game -- Auburn's Ben Tate has run for 1,209 yards; Alabama's Mark Ingram has run for 1,399 -- and force the opposing quarterbacks to beat them.
3. Does Florida State even have a chance against Florida?
Probably not. The No. 1 Gators are two victories away from having a chance to defend their BCS National Championship, and Saturday's game will be quarterback Tim Tebow's final home game at the Swamp.
FSU became bowl eligible with last week's 29-26 win over Maryland, but its defense is probably far too porous to slow down Florida's offense. The Seminoles rank 106th nationally in total defense (434.4 yards per game), 105th in rush defense (193.5), 106th in pass-efficiency defense (149.3 rating) and 95th in scoring defense (30.2 points per game).
4. Should No. 6 Boise State be on upset alert?
The Broncos face their most difficult opponent since beating Oregon in their Sept. 3 opener when Nevada plays at Bronco Stadium on Friday night.
Nevada has won eight games in a row and averaged 55.6 points in its last five games. The Wolf Pack have been running wild during their winning streak, averaging 445.6 rushing yards per game in their last eight games.
Nevada's "Pistol" offense tries to attack defenses in myriad ways. Last week, the Wolf Pack became the first team in NCAA Division I history to have three 1,000-yard rushers in a single season. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick (1,129 yards) and tailbacks Luke Lippincott (1,028) and Vai Taua (1,185) have all accomplished the feat this season.
The Broncos have won 54 regular-season games in a row at home and have to win their final two home games (they play New Mexico State in Boise on Dec. 5) to stay in the hunt for a lucrative BCS bowl game.
5. Can West Virginia turn the tables in the Backyard Brawl?
Two years ago, Pittsburgh stunned then-No. 2 West Virginia 13-9 in the regular-season finale in Morgantown, W. Va., costing the Mountaineers a chance to play for the BCS National Championship.
The Panthers are 18-5 since that upset victory and are in great position to finally clinch a spot in a BCS bowl game. Pittsburgh will host No. 5 Cincinnati at home on Dec. 5 and the winner will claim the Big East title.
West Virginia would probably love nothing more than to spoil Pitt's breakthrough season in the 102nd edition of the Backyard Brawl.
6. Can Georgia’s defense slow down Georgia Tech?
In only two seasons, Paul Johnson has turned around the Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry. Last season, he ended the Yellow Jackets’ seven-game losing streak to the Bulldogs with a 45-42 victory in Athens, Ga. Georgia blew a 28-12 halftime lead and allowed 26 points in the third quarter of that game.
This season, the No. 7 Yellow Jackets are 10-1 and already have clinched a spot in the Dec. 5 ACC championship game in Tampa, Fla. The Bulldogs are among the country’s biggest disappointments with a 6-5 record. They blew a 20-6 lead in a 34-27 loss to Kentucky at home last week.
Saturday night’s game at Bobby Dodd Stadium might be a high-scoring affair. Georgia’s defense has surrendered 30 points or more five times this season; the Yellow Jackets have scored 28 points or more in seven straight games.
7. Will Oklahoma State finally beat Oklahoma?
The No. 12 Cowboys are in position to receive an at-large BCS bowl bid, most likely from the Fiesta Bowl, but they’ll have to beat rival Oklahoma on the road on Saturday to have a chance.
The rivalry is the most lopsided between in-state schools, with the overall series record depends on who you ask. The Sooners list the overall series at 80-16-7 while the Cowboys have it as 79-17-7 in favor of OU. The Sooners have won the last six games in the series, including a 61-41 victory in Stillwater, Okla., last season.
With a 6-5 record, defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma is trying to salvage a winning record in the regular season.
Oklahoma State quarterback Zac Robinson, who missed last week’s closer-than-expected win over Colorado with a sprained shoulder, is expected to return to action against the Sooners.
8. What’s at stake for Arkansas against LSU?
With record-setting quarterback Ryan Mallett flourishing in coach Bobby Petrino’s pass-happy offense, the Razorbacks have become the hot SEC team in the eyes of bowl scouts.
If Arkansas can win its fifth straight game by beating LSU at Tiger Stadium on Saturday, there’s a good chance the Hogs could be selected to play in the Cotton Bowl.
Mallett is playing as well as any quarterback in the country, throwing for 10 touchdowns in his last two games. In his first season in Petrino’s offense, the Michigan transfer has thrown for more than 3,000 yards with 28 touchdowns.
LSU has lost two of its last three games, including last week’s deflating 25-23 loss to Ole Miss.
9. Who wins the Holy War?
The BYU-Utah series is one of the country’s most underrated rivalries. Simply put, these schools just don’t like each other very much.
The No. 21 Utes have won five of the last seven games against BYU and six of the last eight played at Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah. Both teams are 9-2 and have been eliminated from the Mountain West Conference title race.
BYU quarterback Max Hall will be looking for redemption, after throwing a career-high five interceptions in last season’s 48-24 loss at Utah.
10. Will Saturday’s trip to Stanford be Charlie Weis’ final game at Notre Dame?
A loss to the Cardinal would leave Notre Dame with a 6-6 record, and even Weis admits that performance isn’t good enough at his alma mater.
Athletics director Jack Swarbrick has said repeatedly that he would wait until the end of the season to decide Weis’ fate. A decision could come pretty quickly after the Fighting Irish play at Stanford.
A victory over the Cardinal might put Notre Dame back into the Gator Bowl discussion, but a 6-6 record might leave them without a postseason destination. Under that scenario, teams with 7-5 records would be given bowl priority over Notre Dame.
Rivalry week is upon us in the SEC, and with Thanksgiving coming up on Thursday and Alabama and Auburn playing on Friday, we’ll take an earlier look than normal at what to watch this week in the SEC.
Here’s how Week 13 shapes up:
1. Keeping an eye on each other: Both Alabama and Florida face tough rivalry games, which makes it anything but ideal to think about anything other than what’s right in front of you. Still, how far away will the Gators be from the Crimson Tide’s mind, and how far away will the Crimson Tide be from the Gators’ minds? These two teams have been on a collision course now for this entire month. With the big showdown looming next week, the key is for both teams to block out that game and play winning football this week against two teams that would love nothing more than to ruin their seasons.
2. Ingram vs. Tate: Who’s the best running back in the state of Alabama? Looks like we’re going to find out. Auburn’s Ben Tate is already on record (sort of) as saying that he is. The truth is that both he and Alabama’s Mark Ingram have had outstanding seasons. Both are alike in that they’re power runners and thrive on contact. Tate’s a little bit bigger, but Ingram’s probably more explosive through the hole. Ingram heads into this game as the front-runner in the Heisman Trophy race. But if he’s out-dueled by Tate, it will be interesting to see how much that hurts his chances. This is a nationally televised game the day after Thanksgiving, and everybody will be watching.
3. Winning on the Plains: Alabama last won at Auburn in 2001, a 31-7 victory during Dennis Franchione’s first season as the Crimson Tide’s coach. But for Nick Saban, he’s still looking for his first win on the Plains. He’s 0-4 at Auburn as a head coach. His first Alabama team lost 17-10 in 2007 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. And at LSU, he lost in 2000, 2002 and 2004. That 2004 loss (10-9) came when LSU was ranked No. 5 nationally and had won 10 straight games dating back to the previous national championship season.
4. Tebow’s farewell: He’s scored an SEC-record 54 touchdowns and been the most visible player in all of college football the last two years. Tim Tebow plays his final home game on Saturday in the Swamp against Florida State. He’s part of a senior class that’s gone 46-6 at Florida with two national championships and two SEC championships. As loathed as he is around the league by opposing fans, Tebow is beloved by the Gator Nation. While this will be his finale as a player, he’s hinted that he might return to Florida some day as a coach.
5. Les is more: It’s going to take a while for LSU coach Les Miles to crawl out from under that end-of-game disaster last weekend against Ole Miss. There are some on the Bayou who think it won’t ever completely go away. Then again, they forget pretty quickly in the SEC when you’re winning big. Miles was winning big a couple of years ago when he won the BCS national championship. But since that game to end the 2007 season, the Tigers are just 7-8 against SEC foes. The last thing Miles needs is for that mark to slip to 7-9 this Saturday against Arkansas. A win over the Hogs certainly wouldn’t fix everything. But a loss to the Hogs would take an already difficult situation and make it unbearable.
6. Jackson’s impact: After having the attempted armed robbery charges against him dismissed this week, Tennessee freshman safety Janzen Jackson will jump right back into the starting lineup against Kentucky. The whole ordeal was embarrassing for Tennessee, but the most damaging thing on the field for the Vols was not having Jackson in the lineup. He’s missed the last three games, including the Memphis game for an earlier suspension. Tennessee defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin feels like Jackson is as important to what the Vols do defensively as Eric Berry, and it’s pretty obvious the last few weeks that Tennessee hasn’t been nearly as good without him on the field. Jackson will be a big key in helping to keep Kentucky’s Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke contained.
7. Defenseless Dogs: Nobody has a short memory in the Georgia camp this week. The Bulldogs were shredded last season by Georgia Tech to the tune of 409 rushing yards in a 45-42 loss in Athens. They get another shot at Paul Johnson’s option offense this Saturday in Atlanta, although there’s not a lot of proof that the Bulldogs are any better equipped to stop the Yellow Jackets. Despite its struggles on defense, Georgia is actually ranked third in the SEC in rushing defense. What’s killing the Georgia defense is its inability to keep teams from scoring. If you eliminate Tennessee Tech and Vanderbilt this season, the Bulldogs are giving up an average of 31.4 points per game.
8. Turning it over in bunches: Georgia is 119th nationally in turnover ratio. The only team worse is Miami (Ohio). The Bulldogs are minus-18, which includes just eight takeaways and 26 giveaways. David Hale, who covers Georgia for The Macon Telegraph, did some research and discovered that the Bulldogs’ turnover ratio this season is the 11th worst of any FBS team over the last decade. You knew it was bad, but that’s really putting it into perspective. Of the 10 teams that were worse than Georgia this decade, nobody finished with more than four wins. The Bulldogs have six heading into Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech.
9. McCluster’s race to 1,000: Ole Miss’ Dexter McCluster needs 97 yards this weekend against Mississippi State to get to 1,000 yards rushing for the season. That’s always an impressive milestone in the SEC. But when you consider that McCluster didn’t even have 200 yards heading into the Arkansas game on Oct. 24, it reinforces what an incredible second half of the season the 170-pound senior from Largo, Fla., has enjoyed. He’s been the Player of the Year in the SEC the second half of the season and is averaging 184.7 yards rushing against the last four SEC defenses that he’s faced.
10. Ending droughts: Kentucky has lost 24 straight football games to Tennessee, the longest active losing streak in the country among teams that play every year. South Carolina has lost 10 of its last 12 meetings with Clemson and 16 of the last 21 games in the series. It’s difficult to call either one a rivalry at this point. Tennessee has dominated Kentucky, and Clemson has dominated South Carolina. Is this the year the Wildcats and Gamecocks finally quit becoming the punching bag in the game their fans care most about? We find out on Saturday.
Here’s how Week 13 shapes up:
1. Keeping an eye on each other: Both Alabama and Florida face tough rivalry games, which makes it anything but ideal to think about anything other than what’s right in front of you. Still, how far away will the Gators be from the Crimson Tide’s mind, and how far away will the Crimson Tide be from the Gators’ minds? These two teams have been on a collision course now for this entire month. With the big showdown looming next week, the key is for both teams to block out that game and play winning football this week against two teams that would love nothing more than to ruin their seasons.
2. Ingram vs. Tate: Who’s the best running back in the state of Alabama? Looks like we’re going to find out. Auburn’s Ben Tate is already on record (sort of) as saying that he is. The truth is that both he and Alabama’s Mark Ingram have had outstanding seasons. Both are alike in that they’re power runners and thrive on contact. Tate’s a little bit bigger, but Ingram’s probably more explosive through the hole. Ingram heads into this game as the front-runner in the Heisman Trophy race. But if he’s out-dueled by Tate, it will be interesting to see how much that hurts his chances. This is a nationally televised game the day after Thanksgiving, and everybody will be watching.
3. Winning on the Plains: Alabama last won at Auburn in 2001, a 31-7 victory during Dennis Franchione’s first season as the Crimson Tide’s coach. But for Nick Saban, he’s still looking for his first win on the Plains. He’s 0-4 at Auburn as a head coach. His first Alabama team lost 17-10 in 2007 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. And at LSU, he lost in 2000, 2002 and 2004. That 2004 loss (10-9) came when LSU was ranked No. 5 nationally and had won 10 straight games dating back to the previous national championship season.
4. Tebow’s farewell: He’s scored an SEC-record 54 touchdowns and been the most visible player in all of college football the last two years. Tim Tebow plays his final home game on Saturday in the Swamp against Florida State. He’s part of a senior class that’s gone 46-6 at Florida with two national championships and two SEC championships. As loathed as he is around the league by opposing fans, Tebow is beloved by the Gator Nation. While this will be his finale as a player, he’s hinted that he might return to Florida some day as a coach.
5. Les is more: It’s going to take a while for LSU coach Les Miles to crawl out from under that end-of-game disaster last weekend against Ole Miss. There are some on the Bayou who think it won’t ever completely go away. Then again, they forget pretty quickly in the SEC when you’re winning big. Miles was winning big a couple of years ago when he won the BCS national championship. But since that game to end the 2007 season, the Tigers are just 7-8 against SEC foes. The last thing Miles needs is for that mark to slip to 7-9 this Saturday against Arkansas. A win over the Hogs certainly wouldn’t fix everything. But a loss to the Hogs would take an already difficult situation and make it unbearable.
6. Jackson’s impact: After having the attempted armed robbery charges against him dismissed this week, Tennessee freshman safety Janzen Jackson will jump right back into the starting lineup against Kentucky. The whole ordeal was embarrassing for Tennessee, but the most damaging thing on the field for the Vols was not having Jackson in the lineup. He’s missed the last three games, including the Memphis game for an earlier suspension. Tennessee defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin feels like Jackson is as important to what the Vols do defensively as Eric Berry, and it’s pretty obvious the last few weeks that Tennessee hasn’t been nearly as good without him on the field. Jackson will be a big key in helping to keep Kentucky’s Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke contained.
7. Defenseless Dogs: Nobody has a short memory in the Georgia camp this week. The Bulldogs were shredded last season by Georgia Tech to the tune of 409 rushing yards in a 45-42 loss in Athens. They get another shot at Paul Johnson’s option offense this Saturday in Atlanta, although there’s not a lot of proof that the Bulldogs are any better equipped to stop the Yellow Jackets. Despite its struggles on defense, Georgia is actually ranked third in the SEC in rushing defense. What’s killing the Georgia defense is its inability to keep teams from scoring. If you eliminate Tennessee Tech and Vanderbilt this season, the Bulldogs are giving up an average of 31.4 points per game.
8. Turning it over in bunches: Georgia is 119th nationally in turnover ratio. The only team worse is Miami (Ohio). The Bulldogs are minus-18, which includes just eight takeaways and 26 giveaways. David Hale, who covers Georgia for The Macon Telegraph, did some research and discovered that the Bulldogs’ turnover ratio this season is the 11th worst of any FBS team over the last decade. You knew it was bad, but that’s really putting it into perspective. Of the 10 teams that were worse than Georgia this decade, nobody finished with more than four wins. The Bulldogs have six heading into Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech.
9. McCluster’s race to 1,000: Ole Miss’ Dexter McCluster needs 97 yards this weekend against Mississippi State to get to 1,000 yards rushing for the season. That’s always an impressive milestone in the SEC. But when you consider that McCluster didn’t even have 200 yards heading into the Arkansas game on Oct. 24, it reinforces what an incredible second half of the season the 170-pound senior from Largo, Fla., has enjoyed. He’s been the Player of the Year in the SEC the second half of the season and is averaging 184.7 yards rushing against the last four SEC defenses that he’s faced.
10. Ending droughts: Kentucky has lost 24 straight football games to Tennessee, the longest active losing streak in the country among teams that play every year. South Carolina has lost 10 of its last 12 meetings with Clemson and 16 of the last 21 games in the series. It’s difficult to call either one a rivalry at this point. Tennessee has dominated Kentucky, and Clemson has dominated South Carolina. Is this the year the Wildcats and Gamecocks finally quit becoming the punching bag in the game their fans care most about? We find out on Saturday.
We’re down to this: One more week of football remaining to determine if Alabama and Florida will meet in the SEC championship game as unbeaten teams.
The Crimson Tide and Gators are coming off “scrimmages” and should be rested for their big rivalry games this weekend.
Ole Miss seems to be getting hot at just the right time for the second straight season. They’re just plain hot in Georgia after the Bulldogs’ 34-27 home loss to Kentucky, and who knows what they’re thinking on the Bayou after one of the worst mismanagements of a late-game clock situation by LSU in recent SEC history?
Here’s a look at what we learned in the SEC in Week 12:
1. Running backs galore: It’s been a while since the SEC had this many good running backs putting up these kind of numbers in the same season. Picking the top two for first-team All-SEC honors is going to be a chore. Five guys can stake a claim. Alabama’s Mark Ingram has 1,399 rushing yards, averages 6.8 yards per carry and has 15 touchdowns. Mississippi State’s Anthony Dixon has 1,258 rushing yards, averages 5.5 yards per carry and has 11 touchdowns. Auburn’s Ben Tate has 1,209 rushing yards, averages 5.4 yards per carry and has eight touchdowns. Tennessee’s Montario Hardesty has 1,127 rushing yards, averages 5 yards per carry and has 10 touchdowns. Ole Miss’ Dexter McCluster has 903 rushing yards, averages 6.9 yards per carry and has nine touchdowns. McCluster also has 412 receiving yards. How do you pick just two?
2. It’s a Big Blue world: If Kentucky does this coming Saturday what it’s failed to do every year since 1984 – and that’s beat Tennessee – the SEC Coach of the Year award this season should take its rightful place in Lexington, Ky. The more you watch this team play, the more respect you gain for what Rich Brooks has done. The Wildcats proved yet again in their 34-27 win over Georgia how resourceful they are, how resilient they are and how they simply don’t give up -- sort of like how Brooks never gave up on this program several years ago when everybody else had given up on him. A win over the Vols at home this coming weekend would give the Wildcats their first eight-win regular season since 1984, quite an accomplishment when you consider all the injuries this team has endured this season.
3. Chaotic clock management: You could watch football for a long time (at any level) and not see a worse butchering of an end-of-game situation than what you saw from LSU on Saturday in its 25-23 loss to Ole Miss. And let’s face it: Les Miles has played with fire before in these situations. Remember the touchdown pass to Demetrius Byrd with one second left against Auburn in 2007? He got away with that one, but not this time. There was zero direction on the LSU sideline in that final minute against Ole Miss. Sure, Jordan Jefferson should have never taken that sack on second down, but he never should have been throwing the ball in the first place. Jefferson’s comments afterward were telling. He said confusion reigned and admitted that he “didn’t know what to do.” There were so many mistakes by the LSU offensive staff that the hardest part is trying to figure out where to start. The Tigers wasted 17 seconds before calling a timeout after the third-down play. They inexplicably didn’t try to run the ball after getting to the Ole Miss 32 with 1:04 to play. They didn’t have a plan in place for the final play. And even in the postgame press conference after all the chaos had ended, Miles seemed as lost in trying to explain it all as he did when it was all melting down around him on the sideline. The truth is there isn’t any explaining this one.
4. From bad to worse for Georgia: There was already a black cloud hovering over Georgia’s football program. This season hadn’t been what anybody wanted, but then the Bulldogs went out and lost to Kentucky … at home. Not only did they lose, but they dominated the statistics and still managed to lose. But that’s what happens when you turn the ball over four times in the second half and have 75 penalty yards for the game. The Bulldogs (6-5, 4-4) are staring squarely into the face of their first non-winning regular season since Jim Donnan’s first season in Athens in 1996. The Bulldogs might not be one of the top two most talented teams in the SEC, but they’re certainly one of the top three or four. Talent is not Georgia’s problem. It’s focus. It’s execution. It’s player development and it’s discipline. When you commit as many penalties as the Bulldogs have the past two seasons and turn the ball over as many times as they have this season (26), it’s obvious that there’s a decay in the program somewhere that has to be addressed. Mark Richt has been as classy as they come and as consistent as they come. But if he doesn’t address this decay with more than just cosmetic changes, then it’s going to be addressed for him.
5. Brantley looks the part: It was only for part of the second half and the Gators were up by something like 22 touchdowns, but this just in: Backup quarterback John Brantley can throw it. He’s a better pure passer than Tim Tebow and will add a dimension to the Gators’ passing game next season that they simply don’t have right now. Again, it was mop-up duty, but you talk to enough people in and around the Florida program, and there’s a quiet confidence about some of the things they’re going to be able to do next season with Brantley at the helm. Of course, you give up Tebow’s third-down prowess and his ability to make all the clutch plays with his legs and arm, and you also give up his incredible will to win and the impact that he's had on the rest of his teammates. But Brantley’s polished enough throwing the football that the Gators aren’t going to go quietly into the night next season when Tebow departs. In fact, Brantley might be the third or fourth best quarterback in the SEC right now.
The Crimson Tide and Gators are coming off “scrimmages” and should be rested for their big rivalry games this weekend.
Ole Miss seems to be getting hot at just the right time for the second straight season. They’re just plain hot in Georgia after the Bulldogs’ 34-27 home loss to Kentucky, and who knows what they’re thinking on the Bayou after one of the worst mismanagements of a late-game clock situation by LSU in recent SEC history?
Here’s a look at what we learned in the SEC in Week 12:
1. Running backs galore: It’s been a while since the SEC had this many good running backs putting up these kind of numbers in the same season. Picking the top two for first-team All-SEC honors is going to be a chore. Five guys can stake a claim. Alabama’s Mark Ingram has 1,399 rushing yards, averages 6.8 yards per carry and has 15 touchdowns. Mississippi State’s Anthony Dixon has 1,258 rushing yards, averages 5.5 yards per carry and has 11 touchdowns. Auburn’s Ben Tate has 1,209 rushing yards, averages 5.4 yards per carry and has eight touchdowns. Tennessee’s Montario Hardesty has 1,127 rushing yards, averages 5 yards per carry and has 10 touchdowns. Ole Miss’ Dexter McCluster has 903 rushing yards, averages 6.9 yards per carry and has nine touchdowns. McCluster also has 412 receiving yards. How do you pick just two?
2. It’s a Big Blue world: If Kentucky does this coming Saturday what it’s failed to do every year since 1984 – and that’s beat Tennessee – the SEC Coach of the Year award this season should take its rightful place in Lexington, Ky. The more you watch this team play, the more respect you gain for what Rich Brooks has done. The Wildcats proved yet again in their 34-27 win over Georgia how resourceful they are, how resilient they are and how they simply don’t give up -- sort of like how Brooks never gave up on this program several years ago when everybody else had given up on him. A win over the Vols at home this coming weekend would give the Wildcats their first eight-win regular season since 1984, quite an accomplishment when you consider all the injuries this team has endured this season.
3. Chaotic clock management: You could watch football for a long time (at any level) and not see a worse butchering of an end-of-game situation than what you saw from LSU on Saturday in its 25-23 loss to Ole Miss. And let’s face it: Les Miles has played with fire before in these situations. Remember the touchdown pass to Demetrius Byrd with one second left against Auburn in 2007? He got away with that one, but not this time. There was zero direction on the LSU sideline in that final minute against Ole Miss. Sure, Jordan Jefferson should have never taken that sack on second down, but he never should have been throwing the ball in the first place. Jefferson’s comments afterward were telling. He said confusion reigned and admitted that he “didn’t know what to do.” There were so many mistakes by the LSU offensive staff that the hardest part is trying to figure out where to start. The Tigers wasted 17 seconds before calling a timeout after the third-down play. They inexplicably didn’t try to run the ball after getting to the Ole Miss 32 with 1:04 to play. They didn’t have a plan in place for the final play. And even in the postgame press conference after all the chaos had ended, Miles seemed as lost in trying to explain it all as he did when it was all melting down around him on the sideline. The truth is there isn’t any explaining this one.
4. From bad to worse for Georgia: There was already a black cloud hovering over Georgia’s football program. This season hadn’t been what anybody wanted, but then the Bulldogs went out and lost to Kentucky … at home. Not only did they lose, but they dominated the statistics and still managed to lose. But that’s what happens when you turn the ball over four times in the second half and have 75 penalty yards for the game. The Bulldogs (6-5, 4-4) are staring squarely into the face of their first non-winning regular season since Jim Donnan’s first season in Athens in 1996. The Bulldogs might not be one of the top two most talented teams in the SEC, but they’re certainly one of the top three or four. Talent is not Georgia’s problem. It’s focus. It’s execution. It’s player development and it’s discipline. When you commit as many penalties as the Bulldogs have the past two seasons and turn the ball over as many times as they have this season (26), it’s obvious that there’s a decay in the program somewhere that has to be addressed. Mark Richt has been as classy as they come and as consistent as they come. But if he doesn’t address this decay with more than just cosmetic changes, then it’s going to be addressed for him.
5. Brantley looks the part: It was only for part of the second half and the Gators were up by something like 22 touchdowns, but this just in: Backup quarterback John Brantley can throw it. He’s a better pure passer than Tim Tebow and will add a dimension to the Gators’ passing game next season that they simply don’t have right now. Again, it was mop-up duty, but you talk to enough people in and around the Florida program, and there’s a quiet confidence about some of the things they’re going to be able to do next season with Brantley at the helm. Of course, you give up Tebow’s third-down prowess and his ability to make all the clutch plays with his legs and arm, and you also give up his incredible will to win and the impact that he's had on the rest of his teammates. But Brantley’s polished enough throwing the football that the Gators aren’t going to go quietly into the night next season when Tebow departs. In fact, Brantley might be the third or fourth best quarterback in the SEC right now.
Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low
Well, there's no doubt who the best two teams in the SEC are. We had a pretty good idea going into Saturday's games. Now we know for sure.
It's Alabama and Florida and then everybody else.
Here's a look at what we learned in the SEC in Week 6:
Coaching excellence: We all get caught up in talent and personnel, who has a quarterback who can stretch the field and who has a front seven on defense that can make you one-dimensional. But there's something to be said for in-game coaching, too, seeing to it that you play to your strengths and take advantage of the other team's weaknesses and then adjusting accordingly as the game wears on. Winning the game is what matters, and both Florida's Urban Meyer and Alabama's Nick Saban put on a clinic in game management Saturday. Both guys played to their defense, played rather conservatively on offense and got it done in hostile environments. Some might call it dull, the kind of football that doesn't lead to a lot of highlights. Meyer and Saban call it being smart. When you're as strong as both Florida and Alabama are on defense, why not let that side of the ball win it for you? The Gators and Crimson Tide have combined to play six SEC games this season. In those six contests, they've allowed a total of five touchdowns. That's a ratio you win with every time.
Superman without his cape: Florida can win against a tough, physical defense and at a place that chews up and spits out most teams even when Tim Tebow isn't really Tim Tebow. Don't get me wrong. Tebow was good enough in the 13-3 win over LSU in Tiger Stadium and made several key plays, but he sort of felt his way into the game in the first half coming off that concussion and didn't run the ball much to start the game. He also didn't take over the game like we've seen him do on so many occasions, and part of that was a credit to LSU's defense. But for the Gators to win a game of this magnitude when Tebow averages just 2.2 yards per carry and is held to 134 yards passing tells you that there's a lot more to this team than just the Man of Steel.
Ingram's the man: As we near the midway point of the season, picking the best player in the league isn't easy. You could make arguments for a handful of guys, but I'm going with Alabama sophomore running back Mark Ingram. He's rushed for 312 yards in his last two games and is effective no matter what Alabama is trying to do. He's a terrific short-yardage runner, has shown breakaway speed, can pass-protect, catch the ball out of the backfield, and according to one SEC defensive coach I talked to, is the best runner after contact in the league. South Carolina outside linebacker Eric Norwood, Georgia receiver A.J. Green, Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain, Auburn running back Ben Tate, Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett, Tennessee safety Eric Berry and Tebow would all get some votes if we were picking the Player of the Year Award right now, and all are deserving. But my choice would be Ingram. He's the very definition of what a football player should be.
Reality check for Auburn: The Tigers still have a chance to have a very good season, but they're not as good as their 5-0 record suggested going into Saturday's 44-23 loss to Arkansas. It starts on defense. Simply put, this isn't a very good Auburn defense. The Tigers have now given up 400 or more yards of total offense in three of their six games. Gus Malzahn's offense had a bad day, in particular a bad start, but the Tigers will bounce back on that side of the ball. It's the defense you wonder about and the part of Auburn's team that doesn't resemble right now what an SEC contender typically looks like. The Tigers had lived off getting turnovers this season. West Virginia turned it over six times, or the Mountaineers would have easily scored 40-plus in that game back in September. But against Arkansas, Auburn forced just one turnover. In short, this is a defense that needs to improve if the Tigers want to finish this season the way they started it.
Stormy times for Richt: Walking in Mark Richt's shoes wouldn't be a lot of fun this week. He's got an average football team that doesn't do anything particularly well with any consistency. It looks like it's going to be a long season in Athens given what we saw in Knoxville on Saturday. The most indicting thing for Richt and his staff is how much better prepared Tennessee looked and how much more the Vols were into it emotionally in their 45-19 shellacking of the Bulldogs. Hey, this is a beating that would have been a lot worse if Georgia doesn't get a deflected interception for a touchdown and if Tennessee had any clue about how to cover a kickoff. Richt has been too good, too consistent and too classy for any reasonable Georgia fan to call for his job. But unless there's a dramatic turnaround this season, he's going to have to make some major changes on his staff ... or he's going to be the one in trouble.
Well, there's no doubt who the best two teams in the SEC are. We had a pretty good idea going into Saturday's games. Now we know for sure.
It's Alabama and Florida and then everybody else.
Here's a look at what we learned in the SEC in Week 6:
Coaching excellence: We all get caught up in talent and personnel, who has a quarterback who can stretch the field and who has a front seven on defense that can make you one-dimensional. But there's something to be said for in-game coaching, too, seeing to it that you play to your strengths and take advantage of the other team's weaknesses and then adjusting accordingly as the game wears on. Winning the game is what matters, and both Florida's Urban Meyer and Alabama's Nick Saban put on a clinic in game management Saturday. Both guys played to their defense, played rather conservatively on offense and got it done in hostile environments. Some might call it dull, the kind of football that doesn't lead to a lot of highlights. Meyer and Saban call it being smart. When you're as strong as both Florida and Alabama are on defense, why not let that side of the ball win it for you? The Gators and Crimson Tide have combined to play six SEC games this season. In those six contests, they've allowed a total of five touchdowns. That's a ratio you win with every time.
Superman without his cape: Florida can win against a tough, physical defense and at a place that chews up and spits out most teams even when Tim Tebow isn't really Tim Tebow. Don't get me wrong. Tebow was good enough in the 13-3 win over LSU in Tiger Stadium and made several key plays, but he sort of felt his way into the game in the first half coming off that concussion and didn't run the ball much to start the game. He also didn't take over the game like we've seen him do on so many occasions, and part of that was a credit to LSU's defense. But for the Gators to win a game of this magnitude when Tebow averages just 2.2 yards per carry and is held to 134 yards passing tells you that there's a lot more to this team than just the Man of Steel.
Ingram's the man: As we near the midway point of the season, picking the best player in the league isn't easy. You could make arguments for a handful of guys, but I'm going with Alabama sophomore running back Mark Ingram. He's rushed for 312 yards in his last two games and is effective no matter what Alabama is trying to do. He's a terrific short-yardage runner, has shown breakaway speed, can pass-protect, catch the ball out of the backfield, and according to one SEC defensive coach I talked to, is the best runner after contact in the league. South Carolina outside linebacker Eric Norwood, Georgia receiver A.J. Green, Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain, Auburn running back Ben Tate, Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett, Tennessee safety Eric Berry and Tebow would all get some votes if we were picking the Player of the Year Award right now, and all are deserving. But my choice would be Ingram. He's the very definition of what a football player should be.
Reality check for Auburn: The Tigers still have a chance to have a very good season, but they're not as good as their 5-0 record suggested going into Saturday's 44-23 loss to Arkansas. It starts on defense. Simply put, this isn't a very good Auburn defense. The Tigers have now given up 400 or more yards of total offense in three of their six games. Gus Malzahn's offense had a bad day, in particular a bad start, but the Tigers will bounce back on that side of the ball. It's the defense you wonder about and the part of Auburn's team that doesn't resemble right now what an SEC contender typically looks like. The Tigers had lived off getting turnovers this season. West Virginia turned it over six times, or the Mountaineers would have easily scored 40-plus in that game back in September. But against Arkansas, Auburn forced just one turnover. In short, this is a defense that needs to improve if the Tigers want to finish this season the way they started it.
Stormy times for Richt: Walking in Mark Richt's shoes wouldn't be a lot of fun this week. He's got an average football team that doesn't do anything particularly well with any consistency. It looks like it's going to be a long season in Athens given what we saw in Knoxville on Saturday. The most indicting thing for Richt and his staff is how much better prepared Tennessee looked and how much more the Vols were into it emotionally in their 45-19 shellacking of the Bulldogs. Hey, this is a beating that would have been a lot worse if Georgia doesn't get a deflected interception for a touchdown and if Tennessee had any clue about how to cover a kickoff. Richt has been too good, too consistent and too classy for any reasonable Georgia fan to call for his job. But unless there's a dramatic turnaround this season, he's going to have to make some major changes on his staff ... or he's going to be the one in trouble.
Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low
Popularity contests can be a funny thing when hiring football coaches.
Take Auburn’s Gene Chizik for example.
Had they been taking a straw poll in Auburn, Knoxville and Starkville last December when the three new coaches were announced in the SEC, Chizik would have finished a distant third to Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen and Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin in terms of approval rating.
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| Jim Brown/US Presswire | |
| Gene Chizik is off to a 5-0 start as Auburn’s head coach. |
Plus, Mullen had the connection to Urban Meyer, and Lane Kiffin had his legendary father, Monte Kiffin, joining him as defensive coordinator.
Chizik had a 5-19 record he was dragging around as the head coach at Iowa State the previous two years.
Even for some of the most loyal Auburn supporters, Chizik’s hiring came out of left field.
But now that we’re out of the court of public opinion and on the (football) field of tangible results, it’s clear that Chizik has made a more profound impact than any of his first-year cohorts.
The Tigers (5-0) are unbeaten and ranked 17th nationally this week. They own one of the most balanced offenses in the country, and they’ve already beaten Mississippi State and Tennessee head-to-head.
Kiffin’s Vols have burned it up on the recruiting trail here recently, but the Tigers haven’t been too far behind. In the latest ESPN rankings, Auburn was 12th nationally and sixth in the SEC behind Florida at No. 1, Georgia at No. 3, Alabama at No. 4, Tennessee at No. 5 and LSU at No. 6.
We can sit here all day and debate which of the three new head coaches faced the greatest challenge this first year in terms of personnel and talent.
The reality is that all three faced major rebuilding jobs and had to overcome a lack of depth and experience in key spots.
To this point, Chizik and his staff have been able to provide more answers.
It’s not like there weren’t question marks, either, when Chizik arrived on the Plains.
The quarterback situation back in the spring was as unsettled as it was anywhere in the league. Senior Chris Todd was coming off shoulder surgery and really a long shot at that point to win the job. But he’s healthy now and playing the best football of his career. He’s ranked eighth nationally in passing efficiency with 12 touchdown passes and only one interception.
There wasn’t much depth on the offensive line or at linebacker, and the leading returning receiver, Montez Billings, was initially suspended for four games and has since left the team. That meant the Tigers started this season with no true wide receiver on the team who caught more than eight passes last season. And the guy who caught eight passes a year ago, Tim Hawthorne, injured himself in the preseason and has played sparingly.
Remember, too, that two of the Tigers’ most experienced defensive backs, Mike McNeil and Aairon Savage, have also not played this season because of injuries. Savage was lost for the season with an Achilles injury. Both were starters throughout much of their careers.
The Tigers were short in numbers, period, to start the season. They had about 75 scholarship players and have since put some walk-ons on scholarship.
Chizik said 27 players who had never played in a college football road game made the trip to Tennessee last weekend.
Suffice it to say that it’s been an impressive start to this season for Chizik and his entire staff. He wasn’t a guy who created much of a buzz in the offseason, but he’s creating one now … when it counts.
“Coach Chizik has brought so much energy to the team, and he brought in a coaching staff that we all can relate to,” Auburn senior running back Ben Tate said. “People forget that this is basically the same team from last season, the one everybody picked to go to the SEC championship.
“We lost a few guys here and there. But other than that, it’s pretty much the same team, and now we have a great coaching staff behind us. We’re not surprised at all. This is what we were expecting. We were expecting to win this year.”
Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low
On a weekend when No. 1-ranked Florida was idle, the rest of the league had the spotlight to itself.
LSU made good on its end of the bargain, setting up a huge showdown of top 5 teams in Tiger Stadium next Saturday night. Auburn is obviously serious about making some noise in the Western Division race, and Alabama rolls into its toughest road test of the season at Ole Miss on the heels of another runaway victory.
Here’s a look at what we learned in the SEC in Week 5:
1. Resolve over luck: LSU has been called overrated, even lucky by some. Could it be, though, that these Tigers simply know how to win? There’s something to be said for having the ability to make plays when you need them, and LSU has certainly shown that ability in starting this season 5-0. It hasn’t always been pretty and hasn’t always been textbook. But the bottom line is that different guys have stepped to the plate all season long for LSU when called upon. In the 20-13 win over Georgia, it was senior running back Charles Scott who came through, but what about the poise of sophomore quarterback Jordan Jefferson in those final minutes? And do the Tigers win without freshman Rueben Randle’s sweet 16-yard catch over the middle on third-and-10 in the drive to go ahead 12-7? LSU coach Les Miles said it best: “Our football team, if you turn your back on them, they’re going to beat you up and steal a victory.”
2. Quick-strike Tide: After seeing Alabama mash people on offense a year ago, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that this version of the Crimson Tide is a bit different. And nobody at the Capstone is complaining. This team can score points in bunches, and everybody gets into the act. The most encouraging thing about Saturday’s 38-20 win over Kentucky was that the offense sort of bumbled along in the first half, but the Crimson Tide still managed to send the Wildcats reeling with a head-spinning flurry that turned a 7-6 game into a 31-6 romp in a span of fewer than five minutes of actual game time. Alabama had ranked 11th in the SEC in takeaways entering the game, but scored 17 points off turnovers. The 45-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Courtney Upshaw with 21 seconds to play in the first half is the play that broke Kentucky’s back, but then Mark Ingram answered for the offense with a 32-yard touchdown run in the first 80 seconds of the second half. The Crimson Tide can get you in a lot of different ways.
3. Early dibs to Chizik: Everybody wondered which one of the three new head coaches in the league would make the quickest impact. We now have our answer. Gene Chizik has Auburn 5-0 and playing the kind of football they’re used to on the Plains. The Tigers beat Tennessee 26-22 on Saturday night in their first road game of the season and are building confidence each week. That’s the thing that jumps out when you talk to any of the Auburn players right now, how confident they are in Chizik, his staff and the system. The defense isn’t dominant, but has been good enough so far. And Gus Malzahn’s offense epitomizes balance. Quarterback Chris Todd hit 19 of 32 passes against the Vols for 218 yards, and running back Ben Tate rushed for 128 yards. The 459 total yards by the Tigers were the most Monte Kiffin’s defense has given up this season by more than 100 yards.
4. Props for Ole Miss’ defense: While there’s still some concern in Oxford about the Ole Miss offense, specifically quarterback Jevan Snead’s inability to put together a whole game, it’s time to give it up for Tyrone Nix’s defense. The Rebels have played well enough on defense this season to still be unbeaten right now. The 16-10 loss at South Carolina was hardly their fault, and the D was dominant Saturday in a 23-7 victory at Vanderbilt. Granted, the Commodores aren't going to be confused with an offensive juggernaut, but the Ole Miss offense put the defense in some tough spots in the second half, and Nix’s guys responded every time. There are a lot of teams who’d be willing to trade for the Rebels’ front seven on defense, which is the best thing Ole Miss has going for it next Saturday entering one of the biggest games the Rebels have played at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in the past 40 years. Beating Alabama starts up front on defense, and Ole Miss has what it takes there to get it done.
5. Tough season for the Vols: It’s shaping up as what could be a second straight non-winning regular season for Tennessee following the 26-22 home loss to Auburn. The Vols (2-3, 0-2) will have a difficult time getting out of October with a win. Georgia comes to town next weekend, and then Tennessee goes to Alabama following a bye and gets South Carolina at home on the final day of the month. There were some good signs against Auburn. Quarterback Jonathan Crompton played the best game of his career against an SEC opponent, and Tennessee has continued to get after people. Lane Kiffin has seen to it that this team is going to play hard. But as the losses and injuries continue to mount, you wonder if the Vols will be able to sustain that same intensity. If they can get to 6-6, that could still get them into a bowl game, which would be huge with all the younger players playing key roles this season. But they sure don’t want to be 2-6 heading into that final month. They need to find at least one win somewhere in October, and that won’t be easy.
Posted by ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach
It's a slim menu of marquee matchups in college football this weekend, which might be a prelude to the Oct. 10 battles in the SEC.
Here's a look at 10 things to watch around the country this weekend:
1. Which team will win the battle of Michigan?
Michigan was supposed to be rebuilding after last season's 3-9 debacle. Michigan State was a supposed to be a darkhorse contender for a Big Ten title after playing in a New Year's Day bowl game in 2008.
Instead, the teams have reversed roles after four games. The No. 22 Wolverines are 4-0 and back in the national rankings. The Spartans are 1-3 and look like one of the country's most disappointing teams.
Michigan will be trying to avenge last season's 35-21 loss to the Spartans, which ended the Wolverines' six-game winning streak in the intrastate series. Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier should be OK after spraining his right shoulder in last week's 36-33 win over Indiana. He'll face an MSU defense that has allowed a Big Ten-high 10 touchdown passes.
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| Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE | |
| Minnesota wide receiver Eric Decker leads the Gophers superb offense. |
Minnesota and Wisconsin have largely been overlooked in the Big Ten, but both teams are off to good starts heading into Saturday's game at TCF Bank Stadium (ESPN/ESPN360.com, noon ET). Badgers quarterback Scott Tolzien has been a big surprise, completing 66.7 percent of his passes with eight touchdowns and two interceptions. Wisconsin's offensive line has done a great job protecting him, allowing only two sacks in four games.
The Gophers have a high-powered offense, too. Receiver Eric Decker already has 35 catches for 499 yards with four touchdowns, and has caught at least eight passes in each of the first four games.
Wisconsin has won five games in a row against their border rivals, including a 35-32 victory in 2008. The Gophers blew a 21-7 halftime lead against the Badgers last season.
3. Can Penn State's offense get it going against Illinois?
Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno sure needs more from his team's offense when they play at Illinois on Saturday (ABC, 3:30 p.m. ET). Quarterback Daryll Clark has completed 59.7 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and six interceptions. Tailback Evan Royster has been held to less than 70 yards in three of four games this season.
Illinois' defense might be just what the No. 15 Nittany Lions need. The Illini are giving up 28 points and 386 yards per game, both second-worst in the Big Ten.
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| Dale Zanine-US PRESSWIRE | |
| Stopping Georgia receiver A.J. Green will be a tall task for LSU. |
Green was one of the country's top freshman receivers last season, and he's well on his way to becoming one of the best playmakers in the country this year.
In only four games, Green has totaled nearly half his production from 13 games in 2008, with 25 catches for 428 yards with four touchdowns. He had eight catches for 153 yards and a touchdown in last week's 20-17 victory over Arizona State, and even blocked the Sun Devils' potential go-ahead field goal late in the fourth quarter.
Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said he believes Green is better than last season, even though he's getting most of the attention from opposing defenses now that former star tailback Knowshon Moreno and receiver Mohamed Massaquoi are playing in the NFL. Richt said Green added about 20 pounds during the offseason, but didn't lose much of his speed or agility.
"I think he's earning every yard he has maybe more than he did a year ago," Richt said.
Green figures to get a stiff test from No. 4 LSU's defense in Saturday's SEC showdown at Sanford Stadium. The Tigers have one of the country's biggest secondaries. Patrick Peterson is a 6-foot-1, 211-pound cornerback, and Chad Jones is a 6-foot-3, 231-pound safety.
"I like big challenges like that," Green said. "It takes my game to a new level."
5. Can Auburn win away from home?
The Tigers are off to a surprising 4-0 start under first-year coach Gene Chizik, but they'll play their first road game at Tennessee on Saturday night (ESPN/ESPN360.com, 7:45 p.m. ET).
Under offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, the Tigers have one of the country's most balanced offenses -- they average 261 rushing yards and 265 passing. Look for the Volunteer defense to try to take away running backs Ben Tate and Onterio McCalebb, forcing quarterback Chris Todd to beat them. Todd has thrown for 1,012 yards with 11 touchdowns, including nine touchdown passes in the last two games.
6. How will Landry Jones perform in his first road start at Miami?
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops decided to go with Landry Jones instead of Sam Bradford, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, for the No. 8 Sooners' game at No. 17 Miami on Saturday night (ABC/ESPN360.com, 8 p.m. ET).
Bradford hasn't played since spraining the AC joint in his right shoulder in Oklahoma's season-opening 14-13 loss to BYU. He visited orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., last week, but
has reportedly thrown the football well in practice.
"Sam has made daily progress, but we don't feel like he's quite where he needs to be yet," Stoops said in a statement. "Our team has a lot of confidence in Landry's ability and we're looking forward to going into
the game with him at quarterback."
Jones will make his third straight start for the Sooners. The redshirt freshman has played well, completing 60.5 percent of his passes for 673 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions.
But the road start against the Hurricanes will be the most difficult test Landry has faced this season. How he performs will help determine whether the Sooners stay in the race for the BCS National Championship
Game.
7. Which California team will show up against USC?
Will it be the Bears team that looked so good in its first three games, or the team that largely failed to show up for last week's embarrassing 42-3 loss at Oregon? The No. 24 Bears will need a much better effort when they host No. 7 USC at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night (ABC/ESPN360.com, 8 p.m. ET).
Cal had only 77 rushing yards against the Ducks, and USC's vaunted defense is allowing fewer than 60 rushing yards per game. The Trojans rebounded from their 16-13 loss at unranked Washington with a 27-16 win over Washington State. USC has beaten Cal five times in a row.
8. Which team will have the Pac-10 lead on Sunday?
Surprisingly, it won't be Cal, Oregon or USC. Stanford is already 2-0 in Pac-10 play, beating Washington and Washington State. The Cardinal will try to move to 3-0 when it hosts UCLA (ABC/ESPN360.com, 3:30 p.m. ET), which will be playing its league opener.
The Bruins will need a good defensive effort against senior tailback Toby Gerhart, who already has run for 516 yards and five touchdowns. UCLA quarterback Kevin Craft will be making his second start in place of injured Kevin Prince, who has a broken jaw.
9. Which teams will be upset?
Brace yourselves for another weekend of unpredicatable results. Three top-10 teams could be in danger of falling: No. 4 LSU plays at No. 18 Georgia; No. 7 USC plays at No. 24 California and No. 8 Oklahoma plays at No. 17 Miami.
Notre Dame could have its hands full against Washington, and Michigan State might rise up to knock off in-state rival Michigan.
10. Which coaches need victories more than others?
There are a few coaches who could use victories to quiet their critics. Maryland's Ralph Friedgen needs something good to happen against Clemson at home, and Notre Dame's Charlie Weis probably can't afford a loss at home against Washington.
Nevada's Chris Ault is under fire and can't afford a loss to in-state rival UNLV, and UTEP's Mike Price could use a big effort against Houston.
Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low
For the time being, this will have to do.
It’s not the version of the spread offense Gus Malzahn would like to run at Auburn. It’s not as fast-paced, not as diverse, not as interchangeable.
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| AP Photo/Dave Martin | |
| Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn has the Tigers running all over their opponents. |
“We’re still having to change personnel too much, and that’s slowing us down,” said Malzahn, whose “patchwork” version of his offense is averaging 45.2 points per game, second only to Florida in the SEC, and cranking out 526.2 yards per game, which is tied with the Gators atop the SEC.
Once the Tigers get a chance to further recruit to this offense, you’ll see the real thing.
“It will be different,” Malzahn said. “We’ll be able to do more things, run it the way we want to run it. We’re not there yet.”
Maybe not, but the Tigers (4-0) have been off-the-charts productive offensively four games into Malzahn’s second stint in the SEC as an offensive coordinator.
They’ve gained at least 400 yards of total offense and scored at least 37 points in every game.
Not bad for a “patchwork” version, huh?
“We’ll find out a lot more about where we really are this week,” Malzahn said.
Up next is a Monte Kiffin-led Tennessee defense Saturday night in Neyland Stadium (ESPN, 7:45 p.m. ET) that held Tim Tebow and Florida to 23 points and 323 yards two weeks ago. Tebow got a bunch of those yards by scrambling around and making plays. He was held to 115 yards passing and without a touchdown pass for the first time in 30 games.
“We haven’t faced a defense like this, not even close,” Malzahn said.
Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin says the same thing about Malzahn’s offense and all the different things he makes you defend. Unabashedly, Kiffin said this has been a more difficult week of preparation for the Vols’ defense than Tebow and the Gators two weeks ago.
That’s because Malzahn, according to Kiffin, is willing to do things that nobody else has the guts to do.
“When you look at it, it’s wild and crazy thoughts, kind of like when you were little and playing in the park and you drew them up in the dirt,” Kiffin said admiringly.
“There’s no fear factor of being conservative or not trying things.”
But, then, that’s what makes Malzahn so good.
It was tagged as a gimmick offense when he was coaching at Springdale (Ark.) High School earlier this decade and winning state championships. The SEC got a taste of it in 2006 when he joined the staff at Arkansas, although the Hogs never came close to running his full package.
After the well-documented split with Houston Nutt, Malzahn took Tulsa to the top of the NCAA’s charts in total offense each of the last two seasons.
Now he’s racking up gaudy numbers at Auburn, and the most impressive thing has been how balanced the Tigers have been. They beat West Virginia with Chris Todd throwing four touchdown passes, and they’ve mauled everybody else in the running game thanks to the tandem of Ben Tate and Onterio McCalebb.
“We’re going to take what they give us,” said Tate, who’s combining with McCalebb to average 194.2 rushing yards per game. “If we have the numbers, we’re going to run it. If they’re rolling down on guys trying to stop the run, then we’re going to pass it.”
It sounds so simple, but Kiffin said nothing about Malzahn’s offense is remotely simple.
“It’s really hard because guys are going every direction, and what you did all camp doesn’t really help you as you fit runs and normal runs, things you’ve seen for years that most people run,” Kiffin said. “There’s none of that. You’ve got to all of a sudden this week start practicing things our players have seen … maybe never.”
In the last 32 games in which Malzahn has coached, his offenses have produced at least 400 yards in 29 of those contests. The only time Tulsa didn’t hit that mark last season was in the bowl game against East Carolina, and the Golden Hurricane had 399 yards then.
This is exactly what Gene Chizik envisioned when he hired Malzahn in terms of being able to exploit defenses in different ways, but Chizik also knows the real season is about to begin.
“We’ll have to take our game to a new level,” Chizik said.
Given what the Tigers went through offensively a year ago, it’s a level they could only dream about until now.
Posted by ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach
This weekend features plenty of grudge matches, none more interesting than Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin's visit to the Swamp. Across the land, teams will be looking to get even on Saturday. Here are 10 things I'll be watching:
1. How many points will No. 1 Florida score against Tennessee?
Probably as many as Gators coach Urban Meyer wants to put on the scoreboard. Saturday's game in The Swamp probably won't be very competitive, but it will be intriguing to see whether Meyer tries to make Kiffin pay for some of his ill-advised remarks during the offseason.
Meyer continues to say the game is about the players, but Meyer tends to hold grudges (ask Georgia coach Mark Richt). Meyer also has a lot of respect for Kiffin's father, Monte, who is Tennessee's defensive coordinator.
If Tennessee plays like it did in last week's 19-15 loss to UCLA, this game might get ugly very early.
2. Can the Cornhuskers slow down Virginia Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor?
Taylor was a one-man wrecking crew in the Hokies' 35-30 victory at Nebraska last season. Taylor enjoyed perhaps his best college game in Lincoln, running 15 times for 87 yards and one touchdown, and passing for 171 yards without an interception.
Containing Taylor will be the key when No. 19 Nebraska plays at No. 13 Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium on Saturday, according to Cornhuskers linebacker Blake Lawrence.
"There were a lot of times last year when Taylor slipped out of a tackle in the backfield or broke containment," Lawrence said. "We have to keep him in the pocket. When he gets out of the pocket, he becomes a dual threat."
Nebraska's defense played well in its first two games, allowing only 12 points combined in victories over Florida Atlantic and Arkansas State. But Virginia Tech figures to be a much stiffer test on the road. In last week's rout of Marshall, the Hokies ran for 444 yards. They also moved the ball well in a loss to Alabama in their opener.
3. Can Taylor Potts do what Graham Harrell did against Texas?
Probably not, but Potts has put up some eye-popping numbers in his first two games as Texas Tech's starting quarterback. Harrell's replacement has thrown for 861 yards with nine touchdowns, including seven touchdown passes in a 55-10 rout of Rice last week.
Last season, Harrell threw the game-winning pass to Michael Crabtree with one second left to upset the No. 1-ranked Longhorns 39-33 in Lubbock. Texas Tech coach Mike Leach said Potts might be the best quarterback to play in his system. He is bigger than Harrell and has a stronger arm.
Texas Tech will need Potts to play well if it is going to upset No. 2 Texas again Saturday night at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
"They all look alike," Texas coach Mack Brown said of Tech's quarterbacks. "They're accurate and don't give up sacks. He's 60 percent in accuracy and leads the country in passing again. It looks like the same guy every year with different jersey numbers."
4. Which Florida State team will show up at BYU?
The Seminoles played pretty well in a 38-34 loss to Miami in their Sept. 7 opener, but then they needed two touchdowns in the final 35 seconds to beat Football Championship Subdivision foe Jacksonville (Ala.) State, 19-9, five days later.
FSU's defense will get a stiff test from BYU quarterback Max Hall at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday night. The Cougars have won 18 games in a row at home, and Hall has thrown for more than 300 yards in each of his first two games this season. FSU is allowing close to 300 passing yards per game.
The No. 7 Cougars have their highest ranking since 1996, after upsetting then-No. 3 Oklahoma 14-13 and routing Tulane 54-3 last week.
5. Can Washington play with USC?
The No. 3 Trojans are coming off an emotional 18-15 victory at Ohio State and travel to Washington, a Pac-10 foe they've beaten seven times in a row.
But former USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian has the Huskies playing much better, and Washington ended a 15-game losing streak with a 42-23 victory over Idaho last week. Washington defensive coordinator Nick Holt, another former USC assistant, also knows the Trojans very well.
USC quarterback Matt Barkley, who engineered the winning drive at Ohio State, has a bruised right shoulder and didn't throw in practice all week. Aaron Corp will start if Barkley can't play.
6. Will California wake up before kickoff?
California coach Jeff Tedford changed the Bears' travel plans as they prepared to play at upstart Minnesota on Saturday.
Last season, California traveled through three time zones the day before playing at Maryland. The game kicked off at 9 a.m. PDT and the Bears still seemed to be hibernating. The Terrapins took a 21-3 lead early in the second quarter, and California didn't wake up until the fourth quarter. Cal quarterback Kevin Riley threw three touchdown passes, but Maryland won the game, 35-27.
The No. 8 Bears flew to Minneapolis Thursday night, giving them an extra day to adjust to the time change. The game against the Gophers kicks off at 10 a.m. PDT, but Tedford hoped the early travel would help his team adjust.
7. Is Cincinnati the class of the Big East?
We should know how good the No. 17 Bearcats really are after they play at Oregon State Saturday night. Cincinnati scored 117 points in its first two victories over Rutgers and an FCS foe. Quarterback Tony Pike has been nearly flawless, throwing for 591 yards with six touchdowns and one interception. Receiver Mardy Gilyard scored on a punt return, catch and run in a 70-3 rout of Southeast Missouri State last week.
The Beavers narrowly beat UNLV, 23-21, last week, but they're very tough to beat at home, winning 26 consecutive nonconference games at Reser Stadium. Oregon State also has won five of its last nine games against ranked foes, including a memorable upset of No. 1 USC last season.
8. Will Oregon end Utah's winning streak?
The No. 18 Utes take a 16-game winning streak into Saturday's game at Oregon's Autzen Stadium, where the Ducks have beaten the last five ranked teams to play there.
Oregon rebounded from its dismal 19-8 loss to Boise State in the opener with a 38-36 victory over Purdue last week. Ducks quarterback Jeremiah Masoli is going to have to play better after throwing for only 284 yards with no touchdowns in the first two games.
9. Can Georgia's defense slow down Arkansas?
The No. 23 Bulldogs needed a fourth-down stop with 22 seconds left to beat South Carolina 41-37 last week. Georgia's defense gave up 427 yards and struggled to get pressure on Gamecocks quarterback Stephen Garcia for most of the game.
The Bulldogs welcome back defensive end Justin Houston, who was suspended for the first two games, and he couldn't be coming back at a better time. Arkansas set a school record with 447 passing yards in a 48-10 rout of FCS foe Missouri State on Sept. 5. Michigan transfer Ryan Mallett threw for 309 yards with one touchdown in his first game with the Hogs.
"The only thing I can say is, 'Fasten your seat belt and get ready for a 60-minute war,'" Richt said. "I don't see any reason why this thing couldn't go down to the wire."
10. Is Auburn for real?
It sure looks like it heading into Saturday night's home game against West Virginia at Jordan-Hare Stadium. After victories over Louisiana Tech and Mississippi State, the Tigers rank No. 4 nationally in total offense (572.5 yards per game), No. 2 in rushing (345.5 yards per game) and No. 14 in scoring (43 points per game).
New offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn is known for his spread offense, but the Tigers are using a bruising running game to wear down opponents. Senior Ben Tate is averaging 137 yards per game (seventh-best nationally), and freshman Onterrio McCalebb is averaging 131 (ninth-best nationally). McCalebb is the first Auburn freshman to run for more than 100 yards in his first two games.
The Mountaineers allowed fewer than 90 rushing yards in their victories over FCS opponent Liberty and East Carolina.
Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low
I knew the Tennessee-UCLA game would be close last week, but didn’t have the guts to pick the Bruins in an upset. That’s the only game I got wrong in Week 2.
I was 5-1 for the week and am now 15-3 (.833) for the season.
It’s a decent start, but nothing spectacular, sort of like the SEC’s start to this season.
I’m feeling a hot streak coming on, but I’ll let my play on the field do my talking for me.
Here are my picks for Week 3 in the SEC:
South Carolina 34, Florida Atlantic 13: Like Steve Spurrier pointed out earlier this week, venerable Florida Atlantic coach Howard Schnellenberger brings a little prestige to the coaching profession by still wearing a coat and tie on the sideline during games. Schnellenberger’s Owls have had two weeks to recover from their 49-3 beating at Nebraska, but it won’t help them this Saturday in Columbia.
Alabama 42, North Texas 7: Not a lot of drama in this one, although the Crimson Tide could be without Julio Jones (knee) and Roy Upchurch (ankle). If they don’t practice Thursday, Nick Saban doesn’t anticipate them playing. Saban would also like to get through a game without giving up a kickoff return for a touchdown. But, hey, the Crimson Tide are well on their way to 3-0 and ranked in the top 5 nationally. Life is good at the Capstone.
LSU 31, Louisiana-Lafayette 14: Les Miles said the Ragin’ Cajuns have earned the Tigers’ respect. They come into Tiger Stadium 2-0 after taking down Kansas State last weekend. LSU is still looking for a complete game. There have been glimpses the first two weeks, but nothing sustained. These everything-to-lose, nothing-to-gain games against smaller in-state foes are always scary, but the Tigers’ talent will prevail.
Ole Miss 48, Southeastern Louisiana 3: It’s a good thing the Rebels haven’t had to play anybody to this point. The team was ravaged by the flu last week, and several players were affected in the opener against Memphis. Either way, Ole Miss gets another glorified scrimmage this week and would like to look a little sharper for all four quarters before hitting the road next Thursday for its first real test against South Carolina.
Kentucky 24, Louisville 10: Remember when Rich Brooks couldn’t beat Louisville? He lost four in a row to the Cardinals starting out in the Bluegrass. But Kentucky has turned the tide in this battle for state bragging rights and won the last two. This is not one of Louisville’s better teams, and Brooks thinks his team has a chance to be really good. How good? We’ll know a little more Saturday and a lot more two weeks from now after Florida and Alabama make back-to-back trips to Commonwealth Stadium.
Vanderbilt 21, Mississippi State 14: The Bulldogs were the first team to beat Vanderbilt last season after a 5-0 start, and things were never quite the same for Bobby Johnson’s club. The Commodores again look to be strong on defense, although they lost senior safety Ryan Hamilton last week to a season-ending injury. The Bulldogs are trying to prove they’re not as bad as they looked on defense in last week’s 49-24 loss to Auburn. Vanderbilt gets it done at home thanks to a late Larry Smith touchdown pass.
Auburn 31, West Virginia 27: You can feel the excitement on the Plains right now, but Auburn coach Gene Chizik is doing his best to keep everything in perspective. That said, a win over the Mountaineers probably means the Tigers go into the month of October unbeaten. Their running game has been what’s separated them in the first two games and will again be the difference Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Ben Tate, Onterio McCalebb and Co. roll it up for another 300-yard night on the ground.
Arkansas 31, Georgia 24: This is a game the Hogs have been pointing to since the summer and a game that will shape their season one way or the other. Look for a lot of offense out of both teams, a big play or two on special teams and just enough defense by the Hogs to win a close one in the fourth quarter. Bobby Petrino didn’t have to show very much of his offensive package in the opener two weeks ago against Missouri State, but will pull out all the stops in this one.
Florida 48, Tennessee 10: The Gators have scored 40 or more points in nine of their last 11 games, and five of those games were against SEC opponents. Urban Meyer would like to score 60 in this one and also save a few timeouts for the end. The Vols have too much pride on defense to let that happen. But where this game will get away is on special teams, where the Gators excel, and with the Vols turning the ball over, which they’ve already done seven times in their first two games. Florida can score points in bunches quicker than any team in the country, something Tennessee and Lane Kiffin get to witness first hand Saturday at the Swamp.
Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low
You’ve got to hand it to Lane Kiffin.
Thanks to some of his offseason comments, he’s managed to single-handedly turn a game that has blowout written all over it into one of the most anticipated matchups of the season in college football.
Florida’s a four-touchdown favorite against Tennessee in the Swamp on Saturday, and nobody really thinks the Vols have much of a shot.
The surprise will be if Tennessee’s still in the game in the second half. The only surprise bigger than that will be if Florida coach Urban Meyer calls off the dogs. He’s 4-0 against the Vols.
Here’s a look at Week 3 in the SEC and what all to watch:
1. Getting Swamped: There’s no truth to the rumor that Meyer has had the Gators’ statisticians researching the worst loss in Tennessee football history. For the record, Tennessee once lost a game 70-0 to Trinity College (the present-day Duke University) way back in 1893. But the Vols’ most lopsided loss in modern history was a 44-0 shellacking by Georgia to open the 1981 season. That was a Georgia team that featured SEC legend Herschel Walker. This Florida team features SEC future legend Tim Tebow. The Vols certainly hope there’s no connection.
2. Staying grounded: Only once since 1990 in the Florida-Tennessee series has a team won the game without winning the rushing battle. That lone exception came in 2002 when the Gators won 30-13 in the rain, but were outgained on the ground 99 to 94 yards. Since Meyer’s arrival in 2005, Tennessee has yet to rush for 100 yards against Florida. In fact, the Vols’ combined rushing total of 189 yards the past four years against the Gators is less than the 226 yards Travis Stephens put up by himself in 2001 at the Swamp when the Vols won 34-32. The Gators are allowing just 2.6 yards per carry this season.
3. Speed to burn: Percy Harvin might be gone, but the Gators haven’t lost a step when it comes to team speed. Jeffery Demps and Chris Rainey form what has to be the fastest backfield in the country, and then there’s Brandon James lining up at a couple of different positions. You don’t see anybody catching Riley Cooper from behind, either. The Gators’ speed is just as apparent on defense. Jermaine Cunningham is a blur coming off the edge from his end position, and on those rare occasions when somebody in the secondary does get beat, the recovery speed is unbelievable. “They’ve got guys who run 10.3, 10.4 and 10.5, and they’re all over the place,” Kiffin said.
4. Special or un-special teams: All across the league, special teams have been a big story, both good and bad. At the head of the class is Florida, which owns the best kicking game in the country. James has already returned a kickoff for a touchdown this season and has a punt return for a touchdown each of the last two seasons against Tennessee. Arkansas had several miscues in its opener, including two kickoffs that went out of bounds and a fumbled punt. Alabama has given up kickoff returns for touchdowns in each of its first two games. Auburn had a punt blocked for a touchdown last week against Mississippi State, and Georgia returned a kickoff for a touchdown against South Carolina.
5. Dogs getting defensive: Georgia’s defense played well enough in the first game against an explosive Oklahoma State offense for the Bulldogs to win. The Cowboys were limited to 307 yards of total offense, and three of their scoring drives were 32 yards or shorter. But last week against South Carolina, Georgia allowed 427 yards of total offense and 37 points and didn’t have much of an answer for South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia. Which one is closer to the real Georgia defense? We should find out Saturday when Georgia tangles with an Arkansas offense loaded with playmakers and an offense that has been preparing for this game since the preseason. The Hogs run it and pass it equally well.
6. Back to Auburn football: Talk to the coaches. Talk to the players. Talk to anyone at Auburn, and they’ll tell you the same thing. The most refreshing thing about the start to this season (other than the 2-0 record) is that the Tigers are back to playing “Auburn football” on offense. The translation: Committing to running the football and doing all the things it takes to run it well. Auburn heads into Saturday’s game against West Virginia having rushed for 300 yards or more in each of the first two weeks. Ben Tate and Onterio McCalebb have each topped 100 yards in both games this season, and it’s difficult to find an offensive line in the SEC playing better than Auburn’s right now. The rushing yards speak for themselves, but the Tigers are just one of seven teams nationally not to have allowed a sack.
7. Upholding league pride: Other than Alabama’s season-opening victory over Virginia Tech, it hasn’t been a rousing start to the season for the SEC, which makes Auburn’s game with West Virginia on Saturday all the more important. The SEC doesn’t need another loss or poor performance in a marquee nonconference game if it wants to continue to claim top billing. Georgia’s loss to Oklahoma State and Tennessee’s loss to UCLA sure don’t help the league, and neither does the way LSU allowed Washington to run up and down the field two weeks ago in the Tigers’ 31-23 win in Seattle. You’re already starting to hear some rumblings nationally about the SEC being overrated. A loss by Auburn at home to West Virginia would really fan those flames.
8. Healthier Rebels: Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said he had several guys in that first game against Memphis who were sicker with the flu than anybody knew. Perhaps that explains how sluggish the Rebels were for much of that game before blowing it open in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Jevan Snead was one of the players fighting the effects of the flu and didn’t have his best stuff. It sounds like everybody’s healthy now, which means Ole Miss gets a chance to stretch its legs a little bit against Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday before facing its first real test next Thursday night at South Carolina.
9. Big Blue development: This will be the Wildcats’ first legitimate challenge up front with their revamped defensive line after an easy 42-0 win over Miami (Ohio) to open the season two weeks ago. Louisville has enough talented skill people to make it tough on the Wildcats if they don’t get a push up front and get some pressure on the Cardinals’ quarterback, Justin Burke. In the opener, Kentucky’s starting defensive line finished with four tackles and no sacks. Ends Chandler Burden and DeQuin Evans were making their first career starts. Kentucky coach Rich Brooks anticipates those guys turning it loose and playing more instinctively now that they’ve been through it in a game.
10. McElroy’s maturation: It hasn’t taken Greg McElroy very long to mature into one of the SEC’s most efficient quarterbacks. He started the season as one of the chief question marks on Alabama’s team. But ever since a shaky start against Virginia Tech in the opener, he’s looked totally in command of what he’s doing and has really looked good throwing the football. McElroy set a school record by competing 14 consecutive passes in the Florida International game. He’s spread the ball around and done his damage without Julio Jones being on top of his game. Jones, who has a bruised knee, may not play in Saturday’s game against North Texas. A year ago, that would have been a problem. But this offense is more diverse than the one a year ago, and a big part of that is McElroy’s ability to throw the ball down the field and use everybody around him.
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