Saturday Down South’s Weekend Awards: Week 9

Well for a week that looked a little light heading into it, we still got treated to a pretty significant firework display, didn’t we?

Ole Miss and Oklahoma played a doozy of a game. South Carolina nearly toppled Alabama. Mississippi State played 58 incredible minutes against Texas but couldn’t hang on to upset the Longhorns. Vanderbilt continued its rise at the expense of the Missouri Tigers.

But how could we not start with Texas A&M’s win over LSU down in Baton Rouge… a result that changes the trajectory of both programs in a major way?

What do you say? How about we start breaking all of this down?

Biggest Loser of the Weekend: Brian Kelly

It’s a tough business when you can win 71% the games you coach for a school, go a perfect 3-0 in bowl games, have a $54 million contract buyout dangling above your head, and you still don’t even make it to the end of the 4th year in a 10-year deal. But hey, that’s when happens when the highlight of your tenure was when you inexplicably debuted a Benoit Blanc accent when LSU introduced you as their head coach. 

Maybe Brian Kelly thought it would score him points down in Louisiana to speak like the local folks, but you know what it actually was? Well, to quote Benoit Blanc himself, it was just dumb.

Biggest Winner of the Weekend: Mike Elko and the Texas A&M Aggies

Instead of workshopping more Benoit Blanc/Brian Kelly jokes, let’s actually give Mike Elko and the Texas A&M Aggies some credit here, because they went into Death Valley on Saturday night and unleashed a bayou beatdown on the LSU Tigers in the 2nd half of that game, outscoring Brian Kelly’s now former squad 35-7 in the 3rd and 4th quarters to come away with a 49-25 win and keep their undefeated season alive.

A few notes:

• Texas A&M is now 8-0 for the first time since 1992. That Aggies squad cruised to a perfect 12-0 record in the regular season before losing to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Cotton Bowl. A&M already beat the Irish this year, so at least we know history won’t repeat itself in that regard.
• This was the 4th consecutive road game that the Aggies have scored at least 40 points in. That seems like a point worth mentioning.
• The 49 points that A&M scored was the most that LSU has allowed in Death Valley as a ranked team since 2008. That could be part of the reason LSU fired Brian Kelly less than 24 hours later. But again, I feel like the whole accent debacle had a lot more to do with that decision than we all realize.

Back to Texas A&M… the Aggies are now 4 wins away from a perfect regular season, an SEC Championship Game appearance, and no matter how things fare in the SEC Championship, a berth into the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history. In all honesty, A&M could probably even afford one slip up along the way in the regular season and still feel pretty comfortable with their chances of making the field of 12. But you know damn well Mike Elko and company aren’t preaching this message to the Aggies.

Biggest News Outside of the SEC

• Along with Texas A&M, the Indiana Hoosiers, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and BYU Cougars all emerged victorious on Saturday, remaining unbeaten heading into the month of November. The top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes — who were on a bye — also still don’t have a loss, and considering the state of the Penn State Nittany Lions, it’s likely they’ll remain unbeaten at the end of this coming weekend as well.
• And I’d like to extend a sincere apology to the Navy Midshipmen, who I neglected to mention last week when discussing the last handful of undefeated teams standing. The Midshipmen remain unranked, but they’ve got a pair of golden opportunities over the next 2 weeks to prove they’re top 25 worthy. This Saturday, Navy will face 1-loss North Texas in a crucial American Athletic Conference showdown, and it’ll follow that up with a trip to South Bend to face Notre Dame on November 8.
• One more note on Indiana: In a 56-6 win over the UCLA Bruins, the Hoosiers earned their 2nd 50-point margin of victory in Big Ten play this season, becoming the first Power Conference team to do so since the 2018 Clemson Tigers… a Tigers squad that would go on to finish the season a perfect 15-0 and win the national championship.
• Dante Moore broke his nose and exited early in an ugly 21-7 Oregon Ducks win over the Wisconsin Badgers.
• Contenders are emerging in the new-look Big 12. As mentioned above, BYU is 8-0 for the second-consecutive season following a win over Iowa State. Texas Tech rolled over Oklahoma State, Houston upset Arizona State on the road, and Cincinnati remains unbeaten in Big 12 play after a 41-20 win over Baylor.
• We’ll find a lot out about the Bearcats this Saturday, when they make the trip to Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Utes in what we’ll be one of the most consequential games of the year in the Big 12. And in 2 weeks, BYU visits Texas Tech in a matchup with even higher stakes.

Play of the Weekend: Deontae Lawson strips LaNorris Sellers, sets Alabama up for game-winning score

With all due respect to Cam Coleman’s ridiculous one-handed touchdown grab against Arkansas and Ryan Niblett’s uber-clutch 79-yard punt return versus Mississippi State, the heady play of Alabama linebacker Deontae Lawson is like catnip for this former linebacker.

SEC Player of the Year Ballot

1. Ty Simpson (QB, Alabama) – 2,184 passing yards, 20 passing touchdowns, 1 interception, 67.8% completion, 2 rushing touchdowns
2. Diego Pavia (QB, Vanderbilt) – 1,698 passing yards, 15 passing touchdowns, 5 interceptions, 68.8% completion, 458 rushing yards, 5 rushing touchdowns
3. Marcel Reed (QB, Texas A&M) – 1,972 passing yards, 17 passing touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 61.4% completion, 349 rushing yards, 6 rushing touchdowns
4. Trinidad Chambliss (QB, Ole Miss) – 1,864 passing yards, 9 passing touchdowns, 1 interception, 61.0% completion, 376 rushing yards, 5 rushing touchdowns
5. Gunner Stockton (QB, Georgia) – 1,553 passing yards, 10 passing touchdowns, 1 interception, 70.5% completion, 279 rushing yards, 7 rushing touchdowns

SEC Power Poll of the Week

1. Texas A&M
2. Alabama
3. Georgia
4. Ole Miss
5. Vanderbilt
6. Texas
7. Tennessee
8. Oklahoma

One Big Question Heading Into Week 10: How many teams can the SEC realistically send to the College Football Playoff?

So if you’ll look at the Power Poll above, these are the 8 teams that I could still see making the College Football Playoff. Before moving forward and working through some scenarios that could help us come to an answer to this question, I’d like to issue a formal apology to the Missouri Tigers, who I’ve been very impressed by all season. The problem is, with 2 losses in SEC play already and quarterback Beau Pribula likely done for several weeks, I just can’t see it happening.

Now first, I want to clarify something… even though I can see all 8 of these teams making the College Football Playoff, there’s no scenario where all 8 actually can make it. Last year, only 3 SEC schools — Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee — made the College Football Playoff, and there were 3 additional SEC programs — Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina — who finished among the 4 teams on the bubble, so to speak.

Second, I want to clarify one more thing… As I build out these scenarios, I’m not going to be coming up with contingencies for any conferences other than the SEC. I understand that what happens outside of the SEC will have an impact on how many SEC teams make the CFP field, but this is Saturday Down South, not Saturday in the Midwest.

So with that said, how about we run through what I consider to be the most realistic scenario? While I concede that it’s unlikely that I’ll pick every single one of these games correctly, I can say with just as much confidence that you can’t either, so since I’m doing the writing, how about we just divulge in my preferred sequence of events?

Week 10 – Texas defeats Vanderbilt, Georgia defeats Florida, Ole Miss defeats South Carolina, Tennessee defeats Oklahoma

This means: After Week 10, the Oklahoma Sooners would be out of College Football Playoff consideration. Frankly, the same could be said for Tennessee if the Vols were to lose this game. I don’t believe this loss would knock Vanderbilt out of consideration. The Commodores stay alive.

Week 11 – Georgia defeats Mississippi State, Ole Miss defeats The Citadel, Texas A&M defeats Missouri, Vanderbilt defeats Auburn and Alabama defeats LSU

This means: No teams get knocked out. 7 SEC programs remain in College Football Playoff contention (Texas A&M, Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, Texas, Vanderbilt, Tennessee).

Week 12 – Texas A&M defeats South Carolina, Alabama defeats Oklahoma, Georgia defeats Texas, Ole Miss defeats Florida, Tennessee defeats New Mexico State

This means: With 3 losses and numerous close calls already, the ballyhooed Texas Longhorns will miss out on the College Football Playoff. Six SEC teams remain in College Football Playoff contention (Texas A&M, Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Tennessee).

Week 13 – Vanderbilt defeats Kentucky, Tennessee defeats Florida, Texas A&M defeats Samford, Georgia defeats Charlotte, Alabama defeats Eastern Illinois

This means: Nothing changes, but I must say, it would be hilarious if it were a team like Samford that upended Texas A&M’s perfect season.

Week 14 – Yeah, so this is where things get a little tricky. Do you lean Georgia over Georgia Tech? What do we do with Texas A&M at Texas? Vanderbilt at Tennessee feels like a game that can go either way, too. Basically, what I’m getting at here is this could be a straight-up donnybrook of a weekend, and it can/will impact who goes to the College Football Playoff.

In those 3 games, I would pick Georgia (barely), Texas A&M (convincingly, so long as Texas was already knocked out of contention), and Vanderbilt (I just can’t quit Diego Pavia).

That means: Heading into conference championship weekend, 5 SEC teams remain in College Football Playoff contention (Texas A&M, Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt).

Week 15 – Assuming this is the way things play out, the SEC Championship Game would pit the Texas A&M Aggies against the Alabama Crimson Tide. While the chip would be nice, I think we could comfortably lock both A&M and Bama into the College Football Playoff field regardless of the outcome. Georgia is also locked in, and honestly, I think Ole Miss would be, too. The team on the bubble here would be Vanderbilt, who would have losses on the road at Alabama and at Texas, and wins over the likes of LSU, Missouri, and Tennessee.

At this point, to really diagnose Vandy’s chances, we’d need to know more about what happened elsewhere in the nation. Is Georgia Tech’s only loss to Georgia, or do Miami, Virginia or Louisville claim the ACC crown? Does Notre Dame have a stumble somewhere along the way? How much does the Big 12 cannibalize itself? These are just 3 of roughly 1,000 questions that need to be answered over the next 6 weeks.

Boy, it’s gonna be fun.

Sonny Giuliano