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Column: 10 things I liked and didn’t like from Week 10 in the SEC
By John Crist
Published:
Week 10 in the SEC was one of the wildest in recent memory, highlighted by No. 4 Alabama totally dismantling No. 2 LSU in front of a crowd of 101,821 at Bryant-Denny Stadium that was just as bloodthirsty as the Crimson Tide front seven.
There were a couple of ho-hummers, like No. 20 Mississippi State pulling away from reeling Missouri on Thursday night and Georgia running over lifeless Kentucky, but the rest of the slate was filled with upsets, near upsets and an overtime thriller for the ages.
With the leaves starting to fall and a slight chill in the air, it was truly a great time to be alive and a fan of college football.
An awful lot happened even before the Tide declawed LSU running back Leonard Fournette, so here is what I liked and didn’t like from the best conference in America.
What I liked
1. How you like me now?
Vanderbilt running back Ralph Webb, a product of Gainesville (Fla.) High School who didn’t get much attention from his hometown Gators on the recruiting trail, almost had the last laugh Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Just before halftime, Webb exploded through the middle of a vaunted Florida defense 74 yards for a touchdown, giving the rebuilding Commodores a 7-6 lead on the No. 10 team in the country. The redshirt sophomore — he totaled 118 yards on 22 carries and thoroughly outplayed UF’s Kelvin Taylor — did a mock Gator chomp in the end zone as a sleepy orange-and-blue crowd was suddenly silent.
While Vandy couldn’t hold the lead and fell 9-7 on a last-minute field goal, Webb now has a signature cocktail-party story for the rest of his days.
2. Signs of life on the outside
Despite annual success landing four- and five-star recruits, Florida hadn’t featured a wide receiver capable of putting the fear of God in enemy defensive coordinators for quite some time. Former coach Will Muschamp always fielded a staunch defense, but his inability to find big plays through the air — no matter who lined up under center — was maddening.
Year 1 of the Jim McElwain reign has seen Antonio Callaway burst on the scene as a highlight reel-worthy freshman, plus junior Demarcus Robinson had his first 100-yard performance of the season Saturday against Vanderbilt.
Quarterback, however, remains a mystery. The aerial attack needed Will Grier. Treon Harris is a one-read passer and totally ineffective if his scrambling gets neutralized.
3. A few less buzzards circling
Last week in Jacksonville, Georgia coach Mark Richt stubbornly stuck with Faton Bauta at quarterback for four quarters despite the first-time starter’s anemic performance from beginning to end against Florida.
But this week, Richt rotated the original starter and backup, Greyson Lambert and Brice Ramsey, respectively, while mixing in some Wildcat as a change of pace. Lambert and Ramsey combined to complete 10 of 19 passes for 90 yards, but the Bulldogs’ ground game came to life with 300 yards on 52 attempts in a 27-3 whitewashing of helpless Kentucky.
Bauta returned to the bench and may have seen his one and only opportunity for significant playing time in Athens come and go.
It’s no secret that the Wildcat is a gimmick — also, rotating QBs is usually a telltale sign that neither is good enough to get the job done — but Georgia stripped its offense to the bare essentials out of necessity. There was zero reason to get fancy against a UK defense that’s 12th in the SEC stopping the run, so the Dawgs just let tailbacks Sony Michel and Keith Marshall do what they do best.
When he's eyeing the end zone, do not get in Keith Marshall's way. #UKvsUGAhttps://t.co/IjPfjM9d6I
— ESPN (@espn) November 7, 2015
If only for a week, Richt’s hot seat cooled off a few degrees.
4. Just like they ran it in practice
Nearing the end of regulation in a tie game, Arkansas had one timeout and 9 seconds on the clock near the 50.
Hogs quarterback Brandon Allen confidently delivered a high strike over the middle of the field. Wide receiver Dominique Reed elevated and secured the catch for a 21-yard gain. Timeout was called with 3 seconds remaining. It was perfect execution by everyone involved. From the QB in the pocket to the receiver between the hash marks to coach Bret Bielema on the sideline, just perfect.
Despite the potential game-winning 47-yard field goal being blocked and Arkansas needing overtime to eventually win, it was tremendous to see Bielema and Co. show no signs of panic in the face of potential chaos.
5. Go for it
I wrote in this very column two weeks ago that Bielema had a chance to go for two and the victory early in overtime vs. Auburn, as opposed to kicking the extra point to tie and force another frame.
As I observed then, most coaches tend to choose the safer route that ties and extends the game instead of the riskier option — one that could end it right then and there. Bielema opted for the safe play against the Tigers, and despite being down to his final bullet on more than one occasion afterward, ultimately he triumphed in quadruple overtime.
But this week, with both offenses marching up and down the field, Bielema wasn’t going to give Ole Miss another chance against a defensive unit he knew was totally spent.
Rebels quarterback Chad Kelly had already thrown for 3 touchdowns and run in 3 more — including a TD drive on the first possession of overtime that took all of three plays — so there was no reason to think the Razorbacks would all a sudden put up a brick wall. Bielema’s QB, Allen, was scorching hot himself, so he pushed his chips into the middle of the table in gambling-man fashion.
https://twitter.com/JasonKirkSBN/status/663153066078683136
Even if the two-point conversion had failed and he got mercilessly grilled in his postgame presser for being reckless, I’d be commending Bielema’s decision in this very space.
6. Still some fight left
Going nowhere at 3-5 and down 17-0 on the road to a maturing Tennessee team, South Carolina had every excuse to fold and head back to Columbia.
However, the Gamecocks made a game of it in the second half, as quarterback Perry Orth threw 3 touchdown passes in the third quarter — capped by a rolling-left frozen rope to wide receiver Pharoh Cooper running an out route at the goal line — to tie the score at 24. This is the same Orth who arrived in Knoxville with just 4 TD tosses against 6 interceptions on the year.
With Florida already clinching the division and South Carolina having nothing to lose Saturday, it wouldn’t be a shocker to see the Gamecocks finally make good on an upset bid.
7. He didn’t forget how to coach
Muschamp is the highest-paid assistant coach in the land after earning a reputation as a top defensive mind — an ace recruiter, too. Nevertheless, Auburn went to College Station dead last in the SEC in yards and points allowed.
With dual-threat phenom Kyler Murray scheduled to make his second career start under center for Texas A&M, most everyone expected another Johnny Manziel-like performance against a porous Tigers D.
Instead, Murray connected on 13-of-23 throws for 105 yards — that’s a miniscule 4.6 yards per attempt — with no touchdowns and 3 interceptions before leaving due to injury. The high-flying Aggies gained just 303 total yards, possessed the ball for only 26:03 and went 0-for-2 on fourth-down conversions, and it had more to do will Auburn’s defense doing everything right than A&M’s offense doing everything wrong.
Don’t sleep on Muschamp eventually turning War Eagle into a formidable defensive unit.
8. Stuffing the stiffarm
A million words have been written about it already, but for Alabama to hold Fournette to 31 yards and a meaningless fourth-quarter TD is surely the accomplishment of the year in college football.
Alabama has been putting the STOMP down on Leonard Fournette. pic.twitter.com/xDmD9XeglU
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) November 8, 2015
This is why Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban makes more than $7 million per year and might still be underpaid.
9. There goes that man again
Alabama running back Derrick Henry wasn’t going to play second fiddle to anyone in Week 10, not even a once-in-a-decade talent like Fournette, as he battered his way to 210 yards and 3 touchdowns on a whopping 38 attempts.
Henry has scored in every game this season, and Saturday was his third hat trick in 2015 and third consecutive multi-TD outing.
He has as solid a résumé as any Heisman candidate at this point.
10. We are united
Fans tune in on Saturdays to watch football, not to engage in social commentary, but the news out of the Missouri program is impossible to ignore.
The “athletes of color” on the Tigers have refused to participate in any football activities until the resignation of university president Tim Wolfe, who has been criticized for his lack of action in the wake of several racially sensitive incidents on campus. Among the dozens of players drawing a line in the sand is running back Russell Hansbrough, a 1,000-yard rusher from a season ago and a potential NFL draft pick this spring.
No matter how far right or how far left you tend to lean on the political spectrum, you have to tip your cap to a group of young men willing to make such a sacrifice for what they believe is the greater good.
What I didn’t like
1. No respect
We all know quarterbacks get too much credit for wins and too much blame for losses, but the idea that they don’t make for legitimate Heisman Trophy contenders unless their teams are undefeated can be frustrating.
Last season, quarterback Dak Prescott put Mississippi State on his back en route to a 9-0 start and the No. 1 ranking in the country for the first time, making him as good a bet as any at the time to win the Heisman. The Bulldogs ended up dropping three of their last four games, including a litmus test at then-No. 4 Alabama, so they finished outside the top 10 in the polls — Prescott wound up eighth in the Heisman voting.
Prescott has been even better this season, but because Hail State lost at home to LSU in September and on the road to Texas A&M in October, rarely is he mentioned when media discuss the best player in the nation.
The 6-foot-2, 230-pounder was on fire again Thursday at Missouri, going 27-of-40 through the air for 303 yards with 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, plus he added 47 more yards on the ground in a 31-13 victory. Through nine games, Prescott has completed 66.7 percent of his passes — up from 61.6 last year — and assembled a near-flawless TD-to-INT ratio of 18-to-1.
Manziel captured the Stiffarm in 2012 based largely on the Herculean effort he put together in an upset of the Crimson Tide, and Prescott will get his chance to pen a similar story Saturday in Starkville.
2. Tragedy for Hail State
Mississippi State freshman defensive lineman Keith Joseph Jr. and his father, former Bulldogs linebacker Keith Joseph Sr., were killed Friday in a one-car accident.
Because Hail State played Thursday in prime time, coach Dan Mullen and his troops are yet to take the field following this terrible tragedy. The Josephs had the weekend free and were on their way to watch Pascagoula High School — their alma mater — play under the Friday night lights.
Tonight, our Bulldog family mourns the loss of our own Keith Joseph Jr. & Keith Joseph Sr. https://t.co/OQ2BcqFKek pic.twitter.com/2aetwcLOJF
— Mississippi State Football (@HailStateFB) November 7, 2015
The ‘Dogs are home Saturday against Alabama at what will undoubtedly be an emotional Davis Wade Stadium, so expect a heartfelt moment of silence before the cowbells come out in full force.
3. Tone deaf
ESPN has made some curious choices for the celebrity guest picker on College Gameday, but their selection of Rick Ross this past Saturday was a shameless ratings grab.
The rap mogul was born in Mississippi, grew up in Florida and played college football at a small school in Georgia, so he doesn’t appear to have any ties to Alabama, the city of Tuscaloosa or the Crimson Tide program whatsoever. Not to mention Ross’ rap sheet — gun and marijuana charges in 2008, a lawsuit against him alleging assault and battery in 2008, marijuana possession in 2011, kidnapping and assault charges in 2015 — is longer than Big Al’s trunk.
Ross once contributed lyrics on a track for a fellow rap artist rhyming about drugging a girl’s drink for an old-fashioned date rape, so he’s not exactly a role model for college kids.
4. Just for kicks
Florida wrapped up the SEC East and will be in the conference title game next month thanks to the clutch leg of Austin Hardin, but the Gators aren’t going anywhere significant with the current state of their kicking.
They went for it on 4th-and-goal from the 5-yard line instead of kicking a 23-yard field goal and got stopped. After that, walk-on kicker Neil MacInnes missed an extra point. After that, they attempted a fake field goal — the boot would have been from 44 yards — and came up empty.
McElwain coached as if he had no confidence in his kicking game — and it showed. He tapped Hardin for the potential game-winner out of pure desperation. Everybody in the building knew MacInnes didn’t stand a chance considering he was nothing more than a dental student a few weeks ago.
Florida overcomes Vanderbilt on foot of injured kicker Austin Hardin. https://t.co/Vf2XkTxMFw pic.twitter.com/aJuPy6a76H
— theScore (@theScore) November 7, 2015
Credit Hardin for getting warmed up quickly and making a 43-yarder that kept College Football Playoff hopes alive in Gainesville, although the junior is still only 15-for-30 in his three-year career.
5. Nothing going right in Lexington
Kentucky quarterback Patrick Towles can’t move the ball consistently on offense, and coach Mark Stoops is yet to get results from his system on defense.
If that wasn’t bad enough for the Wildcats, their special teams look to be in shambles, too.
Facing 4th-and-8 from its own 22-yard line with a 7-0 lead, Georgia set up to punt. A little overly aggressive, Kentucky was obviously offside before the snap. Back to return the ball was wide receiver Ryan Timmons, who fumbled right back to the Bulldogs deep in his own territory. He should have seen that his team was guilty of a penalty before fielding the punt. Any return yardage was moot.
Georgia promptly kicked a field goal after the turnover to make it a two-score game, and the rout was on after that.
6. What was he thinking?
Facing 4th-and-6 from the Arkansas 49-yard line with 16 seconds left in the fourth quarter and tied 45-45, Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze inexplicably decided to go for it instead of punting and taking his chances in overtime.
Being aggressive is one thing, but coaching at Mach 2 with your hair on fire — at home and fielding the superior team, mind you — is inexcusable. As detailed above, the Hogs nearly stole the game with a field goal on the last play of regulation, which would have cast an even longer shadow on Freeze’s carelessness.
Karma is a you-know-what, and it took the Rebels out of contention in the SEC West.
7. Get what you can get
You have to love the extra effort exhibited by South Carolina tight end Jerell Adams, but not necessarily in that situation.
Down three to Tennessee with under a minute to go, he hauled in a pass from Orth to get the Gamecocks into field-goal range — then went full rampage. Refusing to fall down and fighting for every inch through a sea of defenders, it looked for a moment like Adams just might win the game by himself.
But one last attempt to fling his body forward proved to be too many. He fumbled, and the Volunteers recovered at their 13-yard line. The Vols took a knee and escaped.
8. Not hard to predict
Murray lasted less than seven quarters as Texas A&M’s starter before getting hurt.
You simply can’t expose a diminutive quarterback to that much potential punishment week after week and expect him to stay healthy. There is a lot more tape on coach Kevin Sumlin’s system now than there was in 2012, when Manziel went from an unknown to a superhero overnight — even Johnny Football got banged up the following season as the reigning Heisman winner.
At 5-foot-11 on his tippy toes and 185 pounds holding a stack of dictionaries, Murray simply can’t protect himself like a Tim Tebow or a Cam Newton.
9. It just wasn’t their day
Maybe there were no adjustments to be made, as Alabama’s front seven was ripping LSU’s offensive line to shreds snap after snap, but the Tigers couldn’t draw up anything and get a different result.
https://twitter.com/SBNationCFB/status/663355389929373697
Logic suggested that the Crimson Tide would stack the box repeatedly and dare quarterback Brandon Harris to beat them. Nevertheless, he found his target on just 6-of-19 throws. The ‘Bama ends, tackles and linebackers were playing so well that their safeties could help lock down receivers Travin Dural and Malachi Dupre in coverage — the dangerous duo combined for only 4 catches.
Honestly, it’s really tough to criticize LSU coach Les Miles and Co. for a lack of preparation or halftime changeups, as his team was simply whipped up front all night long.
10. Yeah, but…
Henry was running like a man possessed, and the entire Alabama defense played as if every NFL scout in the business was up in the press box.
But if the Crimson Tide still have one question to answer as they march toward a return to the College Football Playoff, it’s at the game’s most important position.
Quarterback Jake Coker was erratic yet again, bouncing back and forth between serviceable and shaky. His lack of accuracy inhibits catch-and-run chances for receivers Calvin Ridley and ArDarius Stewart and tight end O.J Howard — enviable skill-position weapons.
While he can extend a play with his mobility, he doesn’t keep his eyes downfield and takes too many sacks as a result. Even at 6-foot-5 and 232 pounds, he is on the receiving end of a ton of big hits game after game.
It’s hard to remember the last national champion that didn’t get at least above-average play at QB, which would give me pause if I were wearing crimson and white.
John Crist is an award-winning contributor to Saturday Down South.
