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SEC Football

SDS Mailbag: Bad beats, road trip with Mike Leach and an Auburn-Georgia prediction

Adam Spencer

By Adam Spencer

Published:


Is running the ball a waste of time? That’s what Mike Leach and the Mississippi State Bulldogs are seemingly trying to prove.

The Bulldogs ran the ball 16 times for 9 yards (yes, that’s right — 9 yards) in a 44-34 win over LSU on Saturday. For some reason, sacks count against rushing totals, but even if you take away QB KJ Costello’s 5 “runs” for -38 yards, the Bulldogs only attempted 11 rushes for 47 yards.

No, LSU didn’t have stud CB Derek Stingley Jr. in the lineup, but the Bulldogs threw for an impressive 623 yards. Not sure how much Stingley would have been able to do against that onslaught even if he was in the game. Honestly, though, I’m here for this new era of passing all the time!

Can the Bulldogs continue to win with an offensive system the SEC hasn’t seen in a long time? Speaking of Leach, let’s dive into your questions for this week’s SDS Mailbag:

@BoysTennisCoach:

If you went with Mike Leach on a 7-day, cross-country road trip, what places would you want to visit?

Honestly, I don’t know if I could handle a 7-day road trip with Leach. I’d love the chance to talk to him and pick his brain, but have you noticed how often he clears his throat while he’s talking? That would drive me crazy by Day 3.

However, if you’re going on a trip with him, you have to hit some historic sites, specifically those that have to do with wars. I mean, he taught a class at Washington State about insurgent warfare, after all.

I’d want to start in the Northeast and hit Gettysburg and some other Civil War sites. Then, we’d loop through the south, hitting Sherman’s March to the Sea, Vicksburg, etc. Next, I’d want to head out to the Alamo to get his thoughts on that. I think we’d probably wrap up in Montana at the site of Custer’s last stand.

I’d learn a lot from that, and while we’re driving, we’d dive into his offensive theories. I’d try to learn enough about the Air Raid that I could land a spot on a college football staff.

That seems like a good trip. I’d just make sure I stocked up on throat lozenges first.

@Topper_Fan:

Is Auburn going to knock off Georgia on Saturday?

The Georgia offense looked awful for the first half of Week 1’s win over Arkansas, trailing at the intermission 7-5. The Bulldogs were able to get going in the second half, but the Tigers are a much better opponent than the Razorbacks.

Even with JT Daniels now cleared to play, I think this will be another tough outing for the Georgia offense. Auburn DC Kevin Steele is one of the best in the business and he’ll be ready for new Georgia OC Todd Monken’s offense.

However, the Georgia defense is incredible. The Dawgs have the players in the secondary to match up with receivers like Seth Williams and Anthony Schwartz. Meanwhile, Auburn’s running game has yet to do much.

Give me the Bulldogs to win a very close, very low-scoring game. I honestly don’t know if either of these offenses will get to 20 points. I’m not saying the scoreboard won’t have a team over 20 points, but that would have to include a defensive or special teams touchdown, in my opinion.

I’ll take Georgia, 17-13 in a low-scoring, but very well played defensive battle.

Robert:

Many gamblers were either really upset or really happy when Mizzou scored a touchdown on the last play against Alabama last week, because the touchdown caused the score to hit the “over.” It was even featured on SportsCenter’s “Bad Beats.” What’s the worst “bad beat” you’ve ever had?

My worst bad beat was also one of the worst losses I’ve experienced as a fan in recent years. Yes, I’m talking about the Kentucky-Mizzou game from 2018. You know, that one where Mizzou took a lead in the first half and then couldn’t even manage a single first down in the second half?

Yeah, I had the Mizzou moneyline in that game. The Wildcats were the No. 12 team in the country at that point, but I really thought the Tigers could win.

Then, Derek Dooley’s offense happened. And, of course, despite no first downs in the second half, the Tigers still should have won the game! A bogus pass interference call led to this game-winning touchdown on an untimed down:

I have since learned not to mix my Mizzou fandom with my betting plans. It only brings pain.

@SChinni12:

Now that college football has been back a few weeks, what are the best and worst changes during the COVID-19 era?

I’ll start with the worst 2 things I’ve seen so far. No. 1 is the electronic whistles. I’m glad those are starting to go away. They were always a silly idea, but it would have been better if they were louder. How can you not just make them louder? Seems ridiculous.

The other thing is all the cancellations. I understand the need for player safety, obviously, so I’m not going to say the cancellations are wrong. I just feel so bad for a team like Houston, which has played 0 games thus far and has had 5 potential games canceled. That’s rough.

The best thing, by far, is the expanded conference schedules, particularly in the SEC. I agree with many analysts out there that this needs to be a permanent change. I’d love to see a 12-game season for each SEC team, with 10 conference games, 1 game against another Power 5 opponent and 1 “buy” game where Power 5 programs can play a Group of 5 team and help them with their athletics budgets.

That seems like something that can give us the best of both worlds in terms of preserving nonconference rivalries and also allowing teams to either warm up in Week 1 with a lesser opponent or strategically schedule a Group of 5 team the week before a big rivalry game.

Have any questions for next week’s Mailbag? Tweet at us using #SDSMailbag or email me at ASpencer@SaturdayDownSouth.com.

Adam Spencer

Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 14 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.

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