News And Views: SEC, Week Eight

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Each Monday we try to kick off  the week with a wrap-up of the previous weekend’s SEC action.  Below you’ll find our most recent SEC power poll — The MrSEC Hot List — as well as a few lines about each squad as they head into the new week.


The Scores

Alabama 41, Tennessee 10
Arkansas 38, Ole Miss 24
Auburn 24, LSU 17
Georgia 44, Kentucky 31
Mississippi State 29, UAB 24
South Carolina 21, 7


The MrSEC Hot List

1.  Auburn
2.  Alabama
3.  LSU
4.  South Carolina
5.  Arkansas
6.  Georgia
7.  Mississippi State
8.  Florida
9.  Kentucky
10.  Ole Miss
11.  Tennessee
12.  Vanderbilt


Rising And Falling

1.  Cam Newton’s Heisman chances — rising at rocket speed
2.  Derek Helton’s punting — rising (great game for LSU’s entire punt team)
3.  Nick Fairley’s draft stock — rising
4.  Mississippi State’s swagger — falling (but in a good way)
5.  South Carolina’s title hopes — rising
6.  Justin Houston’s pass rush skills — rising
7.  LSU’s offense (and title hopes) — falling


The Views

1.  Auburn — The Tigers remain at #1 on the MrSEC Hot List this week.  Until now, they’ve been at the top with the expectation that preseason #1 Alabama would eventually unseat them in the Iron Bowl.  Now I’m not so sure.  Cameron Newton literally looks unstoppable.  Of course, three weeks ago, Bama looked unstoppable, too.  That proves how quickly things in the SEC can change.  But until someone proves that they can clamp down on Newton’s legs, the Tigers will stay at #1 in our rankings. 

2.  Alabama — After a lackluster first half against Tennessee, Nick Saban delivered a fire-and-brimstone speech to his team.  The result was a 21-0 third quarter blitzkrieg that finished off the Vols.  Julio Jones set a school record with 221 yards receiving and numerous highlight reel grabs on the night.  (So much for that plate in his hand causing problems.)  Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson got their mojo back, too.  And Greg McElroy — hopefully — silenced those few nutjobs who’ve been clamoring for backup AJ McCarron to take over as Bama’s quarterback. 

3.  LSU — The Tigers’ passing game is anemic.  Try these numbers on for size: 16 of 30 for 128 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception with a 4.3 yards-per-pass average.  That was the stat line after Saturday’s loss to Auburn.  Oh, and running back Spencer Ware accounted for 39 of those yards and the touchdown on a halfback pass.  At least Jordan Jefferson had his most consistent day running the football.  On defense, John Chavis’ crew gave up 526 yards and couldn’t stop Cameron Newton.  But we’ll grade them on the degree of difficulty and focus on something else instead… LSU had chances to win Saturday’s game.  As lucky and ugly as LSU has been at times, they came close to knocking off the BCS’ top-ranked team on the road.  That’s a positive for LSU… and perhaps a sign to the rest of the SEC that Auburn can be beaten.  It might have happened Saturday if Les Miles’ club could master that newfangled forward pass.

4.  South Carolina — Stephen Garcia was 31 of 39 for 355 yards and 2 touchdowns against Vanderbilt on Saturday.  Third-string tailback Brian Maddox rolled up 146 yards on 24 carries.  On defense the Cocks held Vandy to just 250 yards of offense.  So how was this just a 21-7 final?  For one thing, Vandy sacked Garcia four times on the night.  For another, USC had nine penalties for 60 yards.  Oh, well, the ugly ones count as wins, too.  In the SEC East, you take what you can get.  And Carolina just got one game closer to its first trip to Atlanta.

5.  Arkansas — Three things stood out in UA’s weather-impacted game with Ole Miss: 1) Knile Davis finally got the Hogs’ ground game going (176 yards on 22 carries with 3 touchdowns), 2) Ryan Mallett bruised his right shoulder and had to leave the game early, and 3), Arkansas’ defense gave up 500+ yards of offense for the second week in a row.  On the positive side, Bobby Petrino expects Ryan Mallett to be ready to play against Vandy on Saturday.  But a free-falling Razorback defense will have to improve if UA is to get by ranked foes: South Carolina, Mississippi State and LSU to close out the year.

6.  Georgia — While Arkansas’ defense is falling apart, Georgia’s offense is coming together.  Mike Bobo’s group has scored 27, 41, 43 and 44 points in its last four games.  The Dawgs averaged 14 points per game against BCS foes without AJ Green.  Since his return they’ve averaged 39 points per game.  Granted, Georgia has faced some of the SEC’s worst defenses in recent weeks, but Green’s presence clearly has had a monumental impact for Mark Richt’s team.  Defensively, the Dawgs gave up yards galore to Kentucky last week, but they also forced four more turnovers (so they can keep their beards for another week).  But UGA will need to play well on both sides of the ball to knock off Florida on Saturday.

7.  Mississippi State — A win streak.  A national ranking.  Heady times in Starkville.  So maybe State needed the dose of reality UAB provided on Saturday night.  Dan Mullen has his program headed in the right direction.  Having to struggle with a heavy underdog will no doubt give him another teaching tool.  The best sign in all of this: State won their game with UAB 29-24.  A few previous Bulldog teams might have found a way to lose it.

8.  Florida — Urban Meyer has said changes are coming to his offense.  No one will know exactly what those changes are until his Gators square off with Georgia in Jacksonville on Saturday afternoon.  One change will be noticeable right off the bat: receiver Chris Rainey will be dressed and ready to go, back from his suspension.

9.  Kentucky — The Wildcats are 4-4 overall heading into an important road game with Mississippi State.  The Cats can’t reach Atlanta, but the final quarter of the season will still be an important one for Joker Phillips.  While he’s been on the staff under Rich Brooks, this is still Phillips’ first year as head coach.  He’s just now laying the foundation for his own program.  But many UK fans don’t want to hear that.  In some ways, Phillips is viewed as nothing more than an extension of Brooks’ reign.  Therefore he needs to fair no worse than Brooks did in his final four years — which means reaching a bowl — lest he really start losing fan support.  Yes.  Already.

10.  Ole Miss — If there’s a more up-and-down, mediocre team in the conference, please let me know who it is.  The Rebels’ offense at times appears to be dangerous.  UM’s defense has shown flashes on occasion, too.  But on the whole, this is as average a team as the SEC has.  Expectations rose too far when Houston Nutt brought in Jeremiah Masoli and now it looks like the Rebels will finish last in the SEC West… as was predicted before Masoli’s arrival.

11.  Tennessee — On top of everything else going wrong in Knoxville, Derek Dooley has now given himself a quarterback controversy to tackle.  Many fans want to see big-armed freshman Tyler Bray in the line-up.  But Bray looked anything but ready against Alabama last weekend.  Juco transfer Matt Simms hasn’t been putting up points, but he’s been a solid leader and gives UT its best chance to win.  Dooley will need to figure out his quarterback plans before the Vols travel to South Carolina this weekend.  Tennessee might also want to run the ball a bit more after Tauren Poole became the first player in 41 games to eclipse the 100-yard mark against Alabama’s defense.  When it comes to the Volunteers’ own defense, the less written the better.

12.  Vanderbilt — Speaking of the less written the better, Vanderbilt continues to play like, well, Vanderbilt.  Robbie Caldwell’s decision to reassign his play-calling and offensive coordinator duties midstream tells you all you need to know about the Commodores’ current struggles.  Things were expected to be ugly in Nashville this year.  And those expectations are being met.