Week 13 SEC QB review: Allen, Mauk play well in big wins
There was some really good quarterbacking this weekend.
Most of the teams around the SEC had a tune-up game, but there was a few in conference games. Let’s start with the molly-whopping that took place down in Fayetteville. The Arkansas Razorbacks have gotten the taste of SEC blood and are currently in a feeding frenzy. Fresh off their 17-0 win over LSU, the Razorbacks beat down on Ole Miss 30-0.
While the Razorbacks didn’t really need a lot out of Brandon Allen, he started the scoring by throwing a 25-yard dart in the first quarter.
The Ole Miss defense played pretty well. They contained the Razorbacks rushing attack and Allen didn’t have to do a whole lot to secure the victory. The Arkansas defense has been severely underrated this season. Bo Wallace never really got things going and eventually got hurt. His backups were abysmal when they went into the game as well. Both teams have huge games coming up this weekend so we’ll see how healthy both Brandon Allen and Bo Wallace will be.
Missouri is another team clicking right now. As I mentioned last week, I refuse to bet against these guys anymore. They’re silencing the doubters and Maty Mauk is playing very well the last few games. Coach Gay Pinkel has these guys playing really good football right now and they are going to need a huge game out of Mauk and the defense Friday when they face Arkansas.
Mauk made plays when he needed to this past weekend in their huge win over Tennessee in Knoxville. Somehow, some way, Missouri just keeps winning and shutting up everyone. It is quite the season for those guys. On the other side, Volunteer quarterback Joshua Dobbs looked like he wasn’t comfortable all game. The defensive line for the Tigers is arguably one of the best in the entire country. Everyone likes to talk about the two defensive ends, but the interior defensive lineman are really active and good football players as well.
We all knew that Dobbs was a very talented quarterback, but I saw a lot of “Kenny Hill” in him this past week. What I mean is that he never looked like he was comfortable back there and couldn’t really get into rhythm. All that said, I think he is still a very, very talented quarterback and the future is definitely bright for Tennessee with him under center.
Dak Prescott finally got back on track as he and the Mississippi State Bulldogs crushed Vanderbilt this weekend in Starkville. Dan Mullen and the Bulldogs definitely needed this offensive and defensive performance to get the momentum heading into this much anticipated Egg Bowl. While the Bulldogs were hoping for an Ole Miss win over Arkansas to make the Egg Bowl a little more important, if they can have another dominating performance, I still think they make the playoff. Dak threw for three touchdowns and ran for another. He looked like he did in the beginning of the season and the offense was well oiled for this game. I had a feeling this game was going to get out of hand because I know Coach Dan Mullen and he wants to make sure his guys, especially Prescott, are full of confidence heading into the Egg Bowl. It will definitely be a great game and if Prescott can play lights out, I think he may be thrust right back into the Heisman Trophy watch list.
For all the other quarterbacks over the weekend, they all played pretty well. Every team got to put their backups in let them get some experience. That should tell you what the scores looked like.
This weekend is going to be one of the best in recent memory. Maybe since it’s the first one for me as part of the media and I actually have to pay attention to the other 13 teams in the SEC, but I am really pumped up about rivalry week.