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College Football

Recapping the Week 13 SEC Coaches’ Media Teleconference through tweets

Ethan Levine

By Ethan Levine

Published:

Here’s a collection of noteworthy comments from Wednesday’s SEC Coaches’ Media Teleconference:

Nick Saban — Alabama is coming off its most impressive win of the year against then-unbeaten Mississippi State last week. This week, the Tide take on a much less formidable opponent in Western Carolina of the FCS.

However, Saban has been around long enough to know the right things to say leading up to a game like this.

Bret Bielema — Arkansas finally broke through and won its first SEC game since 2012 with Saturday’s 17-0 win over LSU. Now, the Hogs’ attention turns from earning their first SEC victory to earning the SEC West’s seventh and final bowl berth this season.

In order to reach a bowl game, Arkansas would have to win one of its final two games against Ole Miss or Missouri. The Rebels come to town this weekend for the Hogs’ Senior Day in Fayetteville, and Bielema gave an honest assessment of Ole Miss in advance of the game.

Gus Malzahn — Auburn lost its third game of the year in last week’s embarrassing 34-7 rout at the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs, but the head coach said his goal is to have more balance on offense in the final two weeks of the season.

For those wondering, Auburn threw the ball 28 times and ran the ball 35 times against Georgia, and had the Tigers not trailed for much of the game the numbers might have been ever more skewed toward the run game.

Will Muschamp — As most already know, Muschamp was fired on Sunday following Florida’s loss to South Carolina in the Swamp. However, the head coach continues to take it all in stride, just as he did in Monday’s press conference to announce his firing.

On a more serious note, Muschamp was asked about Saturday’s Senior Day festivities against Eastern Kentucky, which will also mark his final home game as coach of the Gators. The head coach (for now) admitted it will be an emotional day for him as well.

Muschamp will be a free agent following the season finale against Florida State, but he did not have much to share regarding his plans for the future.

The Gators coach even fielded questions about Eastern Kentucky this weekend.

The Gators had a field goal and a punt blocked in the final minutes of last week’s game, allowing South Carolina to force overtime on its way to an unexpected victory.

Mark Richt — Georgia is fresh off a convincing 27-point win over Auburn last week, but Richt was primarily asked about the SEC East scenarios now that his team is in the clubhouse with a 6-2 conference record. Georgia needs Missouri to lose one of its final two games (against Tennessee and Arkansas) to win the East.

https://twitter.com/DavidCMorrison/status/535131749991579648

Then the questions began focusing more on Missouri than on Georgia, as the Tigers have more control over UGA’s fate than the Bulldogs do with two weeks left in the regular season.

Mark Stoops — Kentucky is in the midst of a five-game losing streak, all in SEC play with all five losses coming by at least 10 points. They’ve lost by a combined 66 points the last two weeks to Georgia and Tennessee and allowed at least 50 points in both games.

Nevertheless, Stoops urged patience from the Kentucky fan base as he winds down his second year in the Bluegrass.

Despite all the losing, Kentucky remains alive to earn bowl eligibility if it can win against Louisville in the final week of the season (thanks to a 5-1 start to the year). Luckily for the Wildcats, they’ll have two weeks to prepare for that game.

When asked what reaching a bowl would mean for his program moving forward, Stoops agreed it would be a big step forward, but his reasoning caught some people off guard.

The extra practices would benefit any team as young as Kentucky’s, but it’s hard to believe that would be UK’s greatest benefit upon reaching a bowl game.

Les Miles — LSU enters this week’s open date off last week’s embarrassing 17-0 loss to Arkansas, but Miles asserted the team is looking forward toward its finale against Texas A&M in two weeks. Of course, he said it in a way only Les Miles can.

Arkansas fans stormed the field following the Hogs’ win over LSU, marking the program’s first SEC win since 2012. Miles confirmed his team was able to evacuate the field safely before the chaos in Fayetteville ensued.

And then, just like that, Miles was off the teleconference after just one question.

Gary Pinkel — Missouri extended its road win streak to nine straight games (dating back to 2012) with Saturday’s win in College Station over Texas A&M, but Pinkel downplayed the streak to the media on Wednesday.

The Tigers remain in control of the SEC East with two games remaining this season, and they must win both games to lock down a second straight division title. Pinkel spoke highly of his quarterback and his defense following last week’s win, and both will have to continue to play well the rest of the season if Mizzou is to defend its East crown.

Hugh Freeze — The Rebels are coming off a much-needed bye last week and now turn their attention to an upstart Arkansas team this weekend in Fayetteville. Ole Miss is still alive to win the West if it wins its final two games, and Freeze seemed to think last week’s bye will help tremendously in that regard.

The Ole Miss head man was asked about the Razorbacks in advance of Saturday’s game, and he seemed impressed with the Hogs’ play on defense this year.

Dan Mullen — Mississippi State lost for the first time all season last week against Alabama, but Mullen has already turned the page to this week’s Senior Night showdown with Vanderbilt.

Steve Spurrier — South Carolina finally ruined someone else’s fourth quarter lead rather than blowing another of its own, resulting in a much-needed victory for Spurrier and company in the Swamp. However, Spurrier is still approaching this season one game at a time, giving this week’s opponent, South Alabama, plenty of respect on Wednesday’s teleconference.

News later broke that South Carolina would wear what it calls its “Big Game Garnet” uniforms for Saturday’s showdown with the Jaguars.

Butch Jones — Tennessee has endured a difficult week despite last week’s 50-16 rout of Kentucky, suspending A.J. Johnson on Monday following allegations of sexual assault. Jones commented on a few of his players on Wednesday’s teleconference, but not Johnson.

(That second tweet is regarding linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin.)

Jones also commented on Tennessee’s opponent this week, Missouri, which must win in order to keep alive its chances of winning the SEC East. Per Jones’ comments, he seemed very impressed with the job Gary Pinkel has done in a quick transition from the Big 12 to the SEC.

Kevin Sumlin — Texas A&M’s head coach wasn’t asked any questions following last week’s home loss to Missouri, but he did comment on his team’s open date this week before its season finale against LSU on Thanksgiving night.

Derek Mason — Vanderbilt, now the only team in the SEC without a conference win this year, faces a tough challenge following its bye week as it prepares for a road date with No. 4 Mississippi State on the Bulldogs Senior Night in Starkville. Nevertheless, Mason feels good about where his team is at following last week’s bye.

So how is Mason preparing for Saturday’s game against one of the SEC’s premier teams? His answer was a little unorthodox but served as one of the highlights of the teleconference.

Ethan Levine

A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.

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