Our weekly SEC football recap article where we celebrate the highlights and have some fun with the lowlights…

Roll Snyd on Thursday Night

Saturday started a few days early this week as Auburn traveled to the middle of the USA to take on the Bill Snyder led Kansas State Wildcats. The game was basically an exhibition in how badly a home team could shoot itself in the foot. Whether it was dropped passes, turnovers or horrendous kicking, Kansas State squandered an opportunity to upset an Auburn team not hitting on all cylinders. Regardless, Auburn escaped a Thursday night road game against a power conference team which I’m sure Gus Malzahn and Co. are happy to have in their rear view.

Kiffin Rising, Muschamp Falling

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In one of the two marquee SEC games on Saturday, Alabama throttled a Florida team in front of a packed house in Tuscaloosa. A mess of turnovers from Alabama kept the game closer than it was through the first half of football, but when it was all said and done, records were brokne and it was obvious that these two teams are in separate classes.

One post-game angle is that Lane Kiffin’s offense crushed Will Muschamp’s defense. Media types from CBS’s Gary Danielson to your average blogger on Twitter were quick to remark about Lane Kiffin’s ability to call plays. Regardless of Lane’s ability prior to coming to Alabama, the offense looked unstoppable against a supposedly elite Will Muschamp defense. Quarterback Blake Sims removed any doubt of a QB controversy after securing the 2nd all time passing yardage performance in a single game in Alabama history. 445 yards and 4 touchdowns.

In two weeks of SEC play, Florida fans are left with little confidence in quarterback Jeff Driskel and a Gator secondary which continues to get shredded for big plays. The performance today even led to a certain Florida legend calling for the benching of Jeff Driskel.

How long until Emmitt is calling for Muschamp to be fired? You can’t help but feel like Saturday may have been the beginning of the end for Coach Boom in Gainesville. Meanwhile, Alabama may have regained the perception of being a front-runner for the national championship this season.

Lastly, congratulations to Amari Cooper for breaking the all-time receiving touchdowns record at Alabama. Will we see a wide receiver win the Heisman in 2014?

Dak’s Dreams Don’t Die in Death Valley

Dan Mullen has finally gotten a win over one of the SEC West giants, and he did it in one of the toughest venues in college football. Led by Dak Prescott, Mississippi State knocked off LSU for the first time since 1999. Prescott threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 105 yards and another touchdown on the ground.

Can Mississippi State win the West? It’s doubtful, because winning the West may as well mean winning a national championship. It’s that brutal. But, one thing is for sure, Mississippi State will give anybody in the SEC a game in 2014. Could every SEC West team beat every SEC East team? It’s possible. In fact, we might answer that question when Georgia plays Arkansas later in the year.

Interestingly, this Mississippi State team has so much swagger that the center of the team, Dillon Day, has a tendency to literally stomp on players. You can watch some video of these plays here.

Spurrier secures one of the worst wins he’s ever had

In yet another display of how the SEC West is far superior to the SEC East, the Derek Mason Commodores gave South Carolina a decent fight a week after the Gamecocks beat Georgia. Spurrier’s comments after the game were hilarious (what’s new?). He referred to himself as the head coach of an embarrassing group and then took a subtle shot at Vanderbilt by calling the win one of the worst wins he’s ever had. Well, I guess we’d agree.

Bielema continues his march through mediocre non-conference teams

If we were questioning whether Bielema’s Arkansas team could push around some average teams after a ten game losing streak, we now know the answer. A couple years ago, Northern Illinois snuck into a BCS bowl and as such, some think they are still a decent team. They’re not a good team. Arkansas manhandled the team and has secured three decent wins in a row to where we now are left wondering if they can do any damage in the SEC West in conference games. We know this team isn’t 2013 Arkansas, but I’d suggest Hog fans keep expectations in check moving forward. Bielema’s next three opponents? Texas A&M, Alabama and Georgia.

Missouri’s pursuit of respect thwarted by the Hoosiers

Yes, the Hoosiers are also a football team. No, they aren’t a good one. Yes, they went into Columbia, Missouri and handed Pinkel and Mauktober their first loss on the season. Did we mention that the SEC East isn’t very good? And before you ask, no Missouri fans, you don’t get respect for your wins against Toledo, UCF and South Dakota State.

SEC Record Watch

  • Amari Cooper: 19 career receiving touchdowns (1st all-time at Alabama)
  • Blake Sims: 445 passing yards in single game (2nd all-time at Alabama, 1st in Bryant-Denny Stadium)
  • Todd Gurley: 2,776 career rushing yards (4th all-time at Georgia)
  • Mark Richt: 66 points against Troy marks the most ever for a Mark Richt football team
  • Florida Defense: 645 yards is the most a Florida defense has ever given up in a single game

Key Plays

Amari Cooper cemented his legacy by breaking the career touchdowns record at Alabama and firmly planted himself in the Heisman talk with his game against Florida.

Heard of Gurley? Well, meet his backup Sony Michel who is Georgia’s next beast in the backfield:

The Aggies killed another cupcake, but an Aggie cadet made the play of the game in protecting Reveille, the Texas A&M mascot:

What They Meant To Say

“My team sucks” -Steve Spurrier (summing up his comments throughout 2014)

“My agent will be accepting calls this week for NFL head coaching positions.” -Lane Kiffin, the Next Head Coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

“My agent will be accepting calls this week for linebackers coaching positions.” -Will Muschamp

“My agent will be accepting calls this week from ACC schools looking for a quarterback” -Jacob Coker, former Alabama and FSU quarterback

“What happened tonight? Dan Mullen? Dak Prescott? I’ve never heard of these people.” -Les Miles