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Inside the SEC West: MSU finally finds road to success; A&M dusts off Starkel
By Clint Lamb
Published:
With the division’s best three teams — Alabama, Auburn and LSU — all enjoying their bye weeks, the rest of us were left with some less than appealing games on the slate.
Arkansas vs. Ole Miss turned out to be fun to watch — at least for the last three quarters — but that was about as interesting as it got.
Just be thankful that it’s now Week 10, and there are some great games coming up next Saturday.
Until then, here’s what else happened around the West this past week.
Alabama
With it being Alabama’s bye week, there wasn’t much news regarding the Crimson Tide.
One development that is pretty cool is former New York Yankees manager — and good friend of Alabama head coach Nick Saban — Joe Girardi will be attending the Tide’s game against LSU on Saturday. It was only recently announced that he would not be returning as the Yankees’ manager.
Arkansas
Well, Arkansas persevered through a tough test on the road against an Ole Miss team that had recently lost its starting quarterback, Shea Patterson.
After getting down 31-7 against the Rebels with 10:58 left in the second quarter, the Razorbacks went on a 31-6 run of their own to win 38-37.
Cole Kelley had his best game as a starting quarterback for Arkansas — throwing for 189 yards and three touchdowns. He did throw an interception and get sacked four times, however.
Auburn
Like with Alabama, Auburn also had its bye in Week 9.
It couldn’t have come at a better time, as the Tigers were dealing with multiple minor injuries. The team should be a lot closer to full health as it prepares for a tough four-game stretch that includes Texas A&M, Georgia and Alabama.
LSU
The third — and last — team from the West to have the week off, LSU is now turning its attention to No. 1 Alabama.
The Tigers are on a three-game winning streak and are 3-1 in the conference, and they are the only team — outside of Alabama — from the West that still controls its destiny.
Mississippi State
For the first time this season, the Bulldogs were able to go on the road and come away with an impressive victory against an SEC team.
In its first two road SEC games, State was outscored by Georgia and Auburn by a combined 80-13. On the other hand, they are 2-0 at home against SEC opponents, outscoring LSU and Kentucky 82-14.
Saturday’s 35-14 victory against Texas A&M showed that the Bulldogs are still able to hand out losses, even away from Davis Wade Stadium.
Ole Miss
Yes, the Rebels suffered their fifth loss in the last six games — giving them a 3-5 (1-4) record — but there were some positives.
JUCO transfer quarterback Jordan Ta’amu looked the part in his first start with Shea Patterson now out for the year. The junior finished with 444 yards of total offense (368 passing, 76 rushing) and two rushing touchdowns, including this 64-yarder:
Ole Miss QB Jordan Ta’amu was a pleasant surprise yesterday. pic.twitter.com/eEVPeSLfk0
— Clint Lamb (@ClintRLamb) October 29, 2017
Ta’amu wasn’t perfect, however, as he committed two turnovers (an interception and fumble).
Texas A&M
Before Saturday, the Aggies were having a pretty good season considering what all they lost from last season’s squad.
They had only suffered two losses — one of them to No. 1 Alabama — by a combined total of nine points, and they were showing that they were one of the rising teams in the West.
That slow emergence took a massive hit when they got blown out by Mississippi State 35-14.
A&M committed three turnovers, only had 285 yards of total offense and allowed State to control the time of possession — Bulldogs held the ball for 12 minutes and 18 seconds longer than the Aggies.
Nick Starkel, the team’s starter at the beginning of the season before an ankle injury forced him to sit, returned to action. After three quarters of struggling, Kellen Mond (88 total yards, two turnovers) was benched in favor of Starkel.
Quote of the week
“We made their predictions come true. I guess we hit that — but there’s a lot of football left to be played.” – Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen on people who picked his team to win only six games this season.
Tweet of the week
As a Bama fan, it can be hard because they never ask who we want, they only care about who wants us :/
— Ashley Shires (@ashleyshires) October 23, 2017
Clint helps cover the SEC West for Saturday Down South. His work can also be found on USA TODAY Sports, The 'Bama Beat podcast and The Bullpen with TonyMac and The Lamb. Previous stops include SEC Country, 247Sports and Touchdown Alabama Magazine.
