OUCH: Florida second SEC Team to Fall in Bowl Games

Okay, battle lines have been drawn the sand: The SEC has got to win the rest of their bowl games, showing the nation that the Southeastern Conference is where college football lives.
Florida just got whacked by Michigan a few minutes ago (I feel sick to my stomach.). The Gator defense made Chad Henne look like Tom Brady. In New England.
I kinda thought Florida would hold up its end of the bargain when the Gators (9-4) scored on Percy Harvin's 10-yard run to take a 35-31 lead with 5:49 remaining. If you woulda told me Florida would give up over 530 yards to the Wolverines I woulda showed you a delusional sucker, but, boy, was I wrong. I like Michigan, but, to run up and down the field like that on UF? NO WAY.
Alas, yes way.

The SEC, supposedly the rock-hard poster child of "real" college football, gets owned in not one, but TWO games today. Missouri pounced all over Arkansas, the same Arkansas team that ran my LSU Tigers ragged. Tony Temple (WHO?) rushed for Cotton Bowl records of 281 yards and four touchdowns. Darren McFaddy got a buck-0-5 on 21 carries, and a new Escalade, but who cares? He's a pro by next fall anyhoo.

In Tampa, Tennessee's Eric Ainge completed passes to nine different receivers as the No. 18 Volunteers finished their season at 10-4 by putting an SEC whipping, 21-17, on No. 16 Wisconsin of the Big Ten. P.J. Hill led the Badgers (9-4) with 132 yards rushing on 16 carries.
I've still got hope Georgia can expand the legend by wrapping a hula hoop on Colt Brennan and the Hawaii Warriors.

Miles Takes Swipe At Razorbacks?

Les Miles, earlier this week, got cussed out by a caller on his show for erroneously pronouncing the name of tomorrow's opponents. Instead of saying “Arkansaw” he said “Ar-Kansas” — in which the last two syllables are pronounced like the No. 2 team in the nation, Kansas.
Miles, who was surrounded by a larger crowd than usual due to the March On Baton Rouge that dozens of fans took part in to show him support, calmly admitted he’d been mistaken earlier and pronounced the Razorbacks state by its proper name and acknowledged the caller's concerns.
“I certainly understand that in that criticism,” Miles said.
But was he being callous? Was he trying to throw salt in the wound, as they say? Miles has been known to badmouth an opponent before GameDay so you never know with this guy. On the other hand it could have been an honest mistake.
Miles coached seven seasons at Oklahoma State, which is located one county away from the Arkansas River. That major tributary of the Mississippi River is, in Kansas and parts of Oklahoma, pronounced “Ar-Kansas,” the same as in Arkansas City, Kansas.
In any event, the Razorbacks and Darren McFadden have probably already heard of the slip and coach Houston Nutt probably has posted the comments up in their locker room.
"I think they're mad," Miles said when asked about the Razorbacks.
"I think they want to play better. We'll have to play a lot better to stop Arkansas. Certainly with Felix Jones and Darren McFadden, that's two very talented men with the ball in their hands. It's something that we'll concern ourselves with I promise you."
And they should be. Coaches around the SEC know about No. 25 and No. 5.
"They are about as good a combination at running back that I can ever remember in college football," said Alabama coach Nick Saban, whose defense allowed 291 yards to the pair in a 41-38 win.
Way to go, Les. You just luuuuv doing it the hard way.

Cockadoodle Don't: For Spurrier, the Bottom Has Fallen Out

"Thinking about winning the SEC about four years ago was a realistic thought," South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier said recently when he reflected on the Gamecocks' 2007 campaign. "But obviously it turned out to be very unrealistic."
As the season winds down, Ole Ball Coach is finally facing the reality that is oh so obvious to the casual SEC observer: The Gamecocks pretty much suck.
"Somebody told me, 'Coach, if you don't go to a bowl, at least you won't have a losing record this year,' " Spurrier said. "Well, that's one way to look at it."
But Spurrier and the South Carolinians had much bigger plans.
When he met with the athletic director this summer for an honest assessment you had to figure their meeting went something like this:
Spurrier: Well, boss, I think we got ourselves an SEC East contender.
A.D.: Really? A contender in less than 4 years? Let's run down the schedule, shall we?
Spurrier: Yes-sir-eee, let's do it.
A.D.: Louisiana-Lafayette?
Spurrier: Yeah, easy.
A.D.: Georgia?
Spurrier: Hell yeah.
A.D.: South Carolina State.
Spurrier: (laughs, adjusting his visor).
A.D.: At LSU?
Spurrier: Well, (grimacing) we'll make a game of it.
A.D.: Okay, um, Mississippi State?
Spurrier: We'll get that one.
A.D.: Kentucky?
Spurrier: Com'on, now. You kiddin' me?
A.D.: At North Carolina?
Spurrier: Battle for the state? No problem.
A.D.: Vanderbilt.
Spurrier: (stares at him) It's Vandy (shrugs with both hands out)
A.D.: At Tennessee
Spurrier: It'll come down to the last play. It's 50-50.
A.D.: At Arkansas?
Spurrier: They don't have a passing game. We'll kill 'em!
A.D.: Florida?
Spurrier: They can't recruit since i left. Done.
A.D.: Clemson?
Spurrier: (deep breathe) They'll be at the bottom of the ACC. Course!
Before the season, Spurrier had every reason to expect a two-loss campaign. They had high hopes for senior tailback Cory Boyd, who had over 800 yards the previous season and a 5-yard-a-carry average for this career. Hopes were even higher for freshman Chris Smelley, a Tuscaloosa kid who spurned the obvious school choice to experience a little Cock N' Fire, and compete for the starting position with seasoned senior Blake Mitchell. Spurrier has tinkered with the lineups so much that both quarterbacks have turned in uneven seasons, but it didn't start out that way.
The Gamecocks proceeded to run the table early on, except for a Purple-and-Gold speed bump in Baton Rouge, where the Ole Ball Coach even accused LSU of
"dirty play". But they regrouped for awhile. At their highest, they made it to No. 6 in the country, despite a bad showing against the Tar Heels. But they managed to hold up their end of the bargain.
Then came Vanderbilt. A perennial cupcake, the Commodores would stop two deep USC drives and stymie many others with their secondary play. The loss was a stunner, to say the least.
And the Tennessee game? USC spotted the Vols a 21-0 lead before a furious comeback was spoiled by special teams in a 27-24 loss. Spurrier sensed that the bottom could fall out even then.
"When we were 6-1, you guys heard me talking, I wasn't sitting on the table here telling you how great we were," Spurrier said after that game while preparing for the Razorbacks. "It sort of just all caught up to us against some good teams."
And then the Arkansas, a 48-36 laugher, saw Razorback running back Darren McFadden personally do a Heisman highlight reel through the Gamecock line and secondary.
"I don't know if Arkansas was that great a running team or we're that bad," Spurrier said then. "I guess we're going to find out as we finish the season here."
He'd find out the following week, as Florida came to town.
Gator quarterback Tim Tebow was so dominant, scoring all seven of the Gators' touchdowns in a 51-31 romp, that he astoundingly contributed 80 percent of Florida's entire offense.
He had 424 of Florida's 537 total yards on offense.
Spurrier, like his team,
had no answers.
And he doesn't have any today as the Gamecocks look to finish against Clemson next week.

5 Greatest Video Clips from SEC 2007 Football

(1.) Auburn-Florida game: Caught Up in the Frenzy of College Football Celebration, Dude. Does. THE. ROBOT?? WTF!?




(2.) Kentucky receiver Steve Johnson busts into a freestyle rap before the season opener against Eastern Kentucky. He caught one ball for 18 yards (but, in the biggest game of the season, against then-No. 1 LSU, he caught 7 balls for 134 yards and 1 touchdown).

Kentucky receiver Steve Johnson busts into a freestyle rap before the season opener against Eastern Kentucky. He caught one ball for 18 yards (but, in the biggest game of the season, against then-No. 1 LSU, he caught 7 balls for 134 yards and 1 touchdown).


(3.) Auburn Defensive Coach Will Muschamp calls Arkansas Motherf--kers


(4.) LSU reciever Brandon Lefell absolutely POSTMARKS Mississippi State defender ("You Got Knocked Da F--k Out" Montage at end)


(5.) Arkansas Running Back Darren McFadden's 80-yard TD off simple sweep against South Carolina Gamecocks (and look of disgust by USC's Boyd at end)


(5a.) BONUS:
LSU fake field goal-TD-run by Colt David against South Carolina Gamecocks (and look of disgust by Steve Spurrier)

Thoughts of the SEC as Week 4 approaches

AUBURN'S HURTIN: It used to tickle me last year that Brandon Cox was regarded as a good quarterback and Kenny Irons was seen as just an okay running back in the wake of Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams' departures to the NFL. Now that Irons has went on to greener pastures in pros as well, Cox is being exposed as an overrated stickpin. And Tommy Tuberville is feeling all alone, as he looks around him and sees no blue-chippers. Ole Tubby is on a island. Has it escaped anyone's mind that Tubby has avoided the criticism that Lloyd Carr received from losing to App State in Week 1, even though Tubby should be 0-3 right now, instead of 1-2? Last week against Mississippi State, Tuberville finally realized that the problem is under center, not the defense, although it could be better. Without a superb O-line, Cox just is not mobile enough to hang in the pocket as Armageddon ensues around him. Tuberville may have hit the panic button too late though; backup quarterback Codie Burns may be more agile but cant' possible right the ship before it runs into at least three more icebergs (Alabama, Arkansas, LSU) along the way. Oh, not to mention this Saturday's game against pass-first New Mexico State. Oh, and believe the hype: Ole Tubby's job is on the line.


FLORIDA AINT GOING AWAY: To LSU fans, the "Florida problem" started as a nagging issue two weeks ago, morphed into a concern after week 2, then became an outright issue last week as they throttled Tennessee 59-20. That's right, Tennessee lost by 39 points. Tim Tebow is nothing short of Superman, and the Second Coming rolled up into one for Florida fans. And he figures to only gain confidence in his passing skills as time goes on. In Florida, we're witnessing something that comes along only about every 20 years: A bonafide superstar college athlete. Not even Reggie Bush, as hyped a collegiate as we've seen in the last decade, is fawned over like Tebow. LSU will have to play disciplined football to win it, regardless of the fact that it's in Death Valley.


'BAMA IS BACK: Ole St. Nick(or, um, Satan, as we call him in these parts) lives in Tuscaloosa and is bringing back memories of a certain houndstooth-crowned one. Nick Saban has quickly transformed the Alabama football into a powerhouse program. Last weekend's last-seconds come-from-behind victory at Arkansas was the coronation. SEC, forewarned: 'Bama's back. Key play in the game: Darren McFadden rides the bench as his team clings to a 5 point lead inside of 3 minutes left in the game. Arkansas coach Houston Nutt would go on to say that his star running back had a "mild concussion," but it's a major coaching error to leave him out of the ballgame when he had been so effective and could have easily been a huge decoy on a playaction (the safety definitely would have stepped up) without taking a hit, or a fake handoff-bootleg or something. Either way, this is Coaching 101.


IN ARKSANSAS, IT'S 2006: The Razorbacks are playing like they won't be intimidated by three straight losses to end last season and last week's last-seconds defeat to the Crimson Tide. Arkansas will continue to ride uber-star Darren McFadden, and you know? He will deliver.And powerful McFadden and fleet-footed Felix Jones are the best running back duo in the nation (since Ronnie Brown and 'Lac Williams at Auburn) and just need a little more solid quarterback play and imaginative playcalling by the coaches to run the table in the SEC. Can they beat LSU? If this game were played early in the second, possibly in weeks 2 or 3 I'd say yes, but with possible national title hopes on the line for LSU I don't see them losing focus that late in the season.