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Missed opportunities to put games away and botched chances to be a heroes underscored the not-so-stellar moments of Week 10 action in the SEC. Some players were able to overcome their mistakes, while for others it cost them a trip to the win column (cough, cough…Vandy).
Here is a look at some of the moments from Week 10 that won’t be on any highlight reels anytime soon.
5. SAOTY (Stiff-Arm Of The Year)
Keith Marshall’s afternoon against Kentucky got off to a dubious start, with the Georgia RB essentially falling over on his own for a 2-yard loss on the Bulldogs’ second drive and his first carry of the contest. The senior atoned, however, with a bruising 10-yard touchdown catch with 2:36 to play in the third quarter to put Georgia up 24-3. We don’t have video of Marshall’s early slip, but we do have the devastating, stiff-arm-of-the-year that he crushed Kentucky defensive back Chris Westry with en route to finding the end zone.
4. Targeting continues
Another week, another player(s) ejected from an SEC game for targeting. One of this week’s culprits is Florida DE Jordan Sherit. You be the judge, did the redshirt sophomore hit Vanderbilt quarterback Johnny McCrary too high?
3. Stone hands
Tennessee wide receiver Josh Malone was targeted twice in Week 10 and blew both his chances, including a harsh drop in the end zone at 10:43 of the fourth quarter not long after South Carolina had tied the game at 24 points apiece. Quarterback Josh Dobbs couldn’t have placed the 43-yard pass any more perfect. Malone just didn’t catch it. Kicker Aaron Medley eventually bailed out the sophomore with a 27-yard field goal that proved to be the game-winner.
2. Painful Drilling
Not to take anything away from Neil MacInnes, but you get what you get when you sign a placekicker the week of a game via an open tryout on campus. Prior to Week 10, MacInnes was a dental student at Florida. By Saturday afternoon, he was almost the reason why the Gators nearly didn’t clinch the SEC East against Vanderbilt. MacInnes pushed his first – and probably only – career PAT attempt wide in the first quarter. It wouldn’t have been so terrible, but the Gators wound up trailing 7-6 for most of the game. With two minutes to go in the game, Austin Hardin, the man MacInnes was brought in to replace, bailed out the dentist with a 43-yard field goal for a 9-7 win and division crown.
1. Tommy Openshank
[ESPN Video] T. Openshaw punt for 12 yds, punt out-of-bounds: Tommy Openshaw punt for 12 yds, punt ou… https://t.co/J9YMIhQyrI #Gators
— Florida Gators (@BR_Gators) November 7, 2015
Tommy Openshaw boomed 10 punts for Vanderbilt in Week 10 against Florida. All told, they traveled 422 yards at an average of 42.2 yards. He skied four punts for more than 50 yards and landed one inside the Gators’ 20-yard line. Not a bad afternoon, as far as punters go. But as is the case in the kicking game, all it takes it one bad kick to ruin everything. With Vandy clinging to a 7-6 lead with 5:37 remaining in the game and facing a fourth-and-17 at its own 33, the sophomore badly clanked a punt for a whopping 12 yards. Rather than sending it deep and letting the vaunted Commodores’ defense do their thing, Florida needed to travel just 20 yards before setting up kicker Austin Hardin for the game-winning field goal. With it went Vanderbilt’s moment of glory in an otherwise lost season.
Chris Wuensch is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers South Carolina and Tennessee.
