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Saturday Sleepers: Weatherly dominates Vols in losing effort
By Ethan Levine
Published:
After every weekend of games, you always hear about the performances of stars like Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper and Shane Ray. But there are also the performances you don’t hear as much about, coming from some under-the-radar SEC players — the sleepers.
Who were the best of the Saturday Sleepers from Week 14? Take a look.
DEVON BELL
Mississippi State’s punter was arguably the team’s MVP in Saturday’s loss to Ole Miss, booming eight punts for an average of better than 45 yards per punt. Bell landed four of his kicks inside the Ole Miss 20 without a touchback. He single-handedly won the field position battle for Mississippi State, and although it didn’t lead to a victory it certainly kept the Bulldogs within striking distance deep into the second half. Mississippi State would have been way worse off without Bell’s leg on Saturday.
RAY DREW
Drew, a senior defensive lineman for Georgia, is not one of the more recognizable names throughout the SEC, but he made a huge impact in the Dawgs’ overtime loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday afternoon. The senior recorded nine tackles (he was averaging just 2.1 per game entering Week 14) and batted down two passes at the line of scrimmage to slow down a productive Yellow Jackets offense. Drew was a force to be reckoned with, and he nearly helped UGA earn a critical victory over its in-state rival.
FRED ROSS
Ross, a sophomore wideout at Mississippi State, had just 19 catches in nine games prior to Saturday’s loss in the Egg Bowl, but he erupted for a season-high six catches and 103 yards against a dominant Ole Miss secondary. His 53-yard reception in the second half helped set up a Bulldogs scoring drive, and he made numerous other catches to extend drives as Mississippi State aimed to chip away at the Rebels’ advantage on the scoreboard. The Bulldogs ultimately had one of their worst offensive outputs of the season on Saturday, but you can’t assign much blame to Ross following his career night in Oxford.
STEPHEN WEATHERLY
Vanderbilt’s sophomore linebacker has quietly been one of the more productive members of the Commodores defense, and he saved his best game of the season for Vandy’s season finale against Tennessee on Saturday. Weatherly recorded a team-high seven tackles, five of which came behind the line of scrimmage. He also added a sack to his already impressive stat line. The sophomore spent most of his night in the Vols backfield, allowing Vanderbilt to come within 10 points of an SEC victory for the first and only time in 2014.
JORDAN WILKINS
Wilkins, a freshman tailback, was used sparingly throughout Saturday’s Egg Bowl, but he did a little bit of everything to help contribute to an Ole Miss victory. He only carried the ball twice out of the backfield but took one of those carries 41 yards to set up an Ole Miss scoring drive. He also threw a pass out of the backfield on a trick play called by Hugh Freeze, and the pass resulted in a 31-yard touchdown to Cody Core to extend the Rebels’ lead to 14 points at the time. The freshman didn’t make an impact on every play, but when called upon he was crucial to the Rebels’ success on Saturday.
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.
