Ole Miss at Tennessee
The good news: Tennessee KILLED Ole Miss.
The bad news: Ole Miss also lost to Vandy…so they aren’t very good. But hey, an SEC win is an SEC win. I mean, ask Kentucky how bad it feels to lose to Ole Miss.
And I think Kentucky will beat Tennessee.
What does all that mean?
That I don’t want to recap this game. Sorry….
PLAYER WATCH
Brandon Bolden – 12 rushes, 113 yards, 2TDs/1 reception, -5 yards
DT Shackleford – 4 tackles/1 sack/1.5 TFL
Justin Hunter – 3 receptions, 114 yards, 2TD
Corey Miller – 3 tackles/1 sack/ 1 TFL
LOOKING FORWARD
Tennessee travels to Nashville to play Vanderbilt in what they hope will be win #5.
Ole Miss travels to LSU. Nutt looks to make it 4 in a row over Les Miles.
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Kentucky at Vanderbilt
I wonder if anyone watched this game?
Cobb looks like he had fun (stats below).
Jordan Matthews has played in 4 games, caught 3 passes…2 of which went for TDs. Maybe…throw him the ball more? He’s a big target (6’3, 195). And he’s only a freshman, so that’s good news for Vanderbilt. Bad news, bad QB play…among other things….
PLAYER WATCH
***Due to Warren Norman being out for the remainder of the season, I’ll be watching Madison Academy product, WR Jordan Matthews***
Randall Cobb – 10 rushes, 170 yards, 2TDs/1-1, 7yards passing/3 receptions, 56 yards/5PR, 19 yards/1KOR, 34 yards
Taylor Wyndham – 1.5 tackle
Jordan Matthews – 1 reception, 4 yards, TD
LOOKING FORWARD
Kentucky is off preparing for Tennessee. I wonder if they’ve heard much about a losing to them for 25 straight years. Maybe once or twice this week?
Vanderbilt hosts Tennessee.
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2auburn vs Georgia
For a half, this game was crazy. I remember sitting on the couch at halftime and thinking to myself, “auburn’s gonna onside the 2nd half kickoff because they can’t stop AJ Green.” There’s no way to prove that, but I’m pretty sure a ton of other people watching that game thought the same thing.
Georgia had a good defensive plan in the first half, but didn’t play disciplined enough and ran out of rested bodies. Since I’m betting DC Todd Grantham learned a thing or two from Nick Saban, I’m also betting that Nick Saban (and Kirby Smart) have a few things in mind for the auburn offense (they had better, since they did some auburn work during the Bye week instead of making sure they beat LSU!!).
Anyway.
I’m not sure why Georgia stopped the whole Murray-to-Green thing. I mean, that was unstoppable…
…about as unstoppable as Nick Fairley busting through the line and going into attack mode on Murray’s back. And side. And knee.
Or about as unstoppable as Cameron Newton on 3rd and short.
I had already turned the channel once it was certain that Georgia wasn’t going to pull out the upset, so I missed the shenanigans there at the end. But I’ll just offer this comment:
If the refs did their due diligence during the game to stop all of Fairley’s hyper-aggressive cheat shots, then none of that would have happened.
[Favorite part of the game: When FB Eric Smith got a Personal Foul during a play review…WHILE HE WAS ON THE BENCH for jawing with a Georgia player that was on the field! That’s just too much.]
PLAYER WATCH
Michael Dyer – 13 rushes, 60 yards
Corey Lemonier – 1 tackle, 1 QB Hurry
Orson Charles – 3 receptions, 56 yards
Branden Smith – 1 rush, 0 yards
LOOKING FORWARD
auburn is off trying to figure out this Cameron Newton situation.
auburn is off preparing for Alabama.
auburn is off trying to figure out the Cameron Newton situation.
Georgia is off preparing for Georgia Tech.
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15Arkansas at UTEP
Ryan Mallett didn’t surpass 300 yards passing (but did throw 5! TD passes) and Knile Davis did go over 180 rushing yards (this guy is gashing people in a passing offense…and yes I understand how that makes sense, but why isn’t no one talking about this guy?! He’s on pace for at least 1,000 rushing!)
UTEP came to play. They were making Arkansas match scores with them early on.
Man, there are some very quality teams in the SEC West this year. There might not be enough great bowl games to send them all too. If Arkansas is the 5th best SEC team (a guess?) they should probably wipe the field with whomever they are matched up with in their bowl game…like a Big 12 #3 team or something?
PLAYER WATCH
Ronnie Wingo – 9 rushes, 43 yards/2 receptions, 22 yards
DJ Williams – 5 receptions, 58 yards, TD
LOOKING FORWARD
Arkansas travels to Starkville, MS to face the Miss State Bulldogs.
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Louisiana-Monroe at 5LSU
So LSU didn’t lay an egg and forget to show up for this one.
Congrats. You whipped Louisana-Monroe.
So explain this:
Jefferson – 4/10, 51 yards
Lee – 4/12, 44 yards
Combined, the QBs got 8/22, 95 yards…but LSU wins 51-0? So weird.
Hey, it’s working…
PLAYER WATCH
Rueben Randle – No stats
Craig Loston – 3 tackles/ 1INT, 11 yards/1 PBU
LOOKING FORWARD
LSU hosts Ole Miss.
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23South Carolina at 22Florida
Wow. I couldn’t have been more wrong about this game. I guess Florida is just that bad this year. I’m not sure if I’m buying South Carolina being THAT good…unless they were just truly looking past Arkansas last week.
[Side Note: Did anyone else find it funny that John Brantley was dispelling rumors about him transferring out of Florida and that he would, in fact, be in a Gator uniform for his senior year? I’m a Florida fan; I’m reading those rumors and repeating to myself,”Please be true, please be true, please….”]
At the half, Florida had 2 first downs…TWO?! And the longest play from scrimmage was 15 yards? I just can’t imagine that happening under an Urban Meyer coached team, IN THE SWAMP! If you had told me that at the beginning of the season I would have laughed at you. If you had thrown in that a berth to the SEC Championship Game was on the line, I would have punched you in the mouth. Crazy times.
Speaking of punching someone in the mouth; how about Marcus Lattimore (true freshman, by the way…does anyone else forget that while watching him?) toting the rock FORTY TIMES for 200+ yards and 3 TDs. That’s just unfathomable with the talent on the Gator defense. I know they lost a lot of great players, but I have to believe you just don’t care anymore if you allow someone to go for 200+ yards AT YOUR HOUSE!
So, in other news, I’m the biggest South Carolina fan in the entire world on December 5th. Lifelong Gamecock fans who have been waiting on this game in Atlanta since Spurrier became your coach: YALL. GOT. NOTHING. ON. ME. I’m 100x times the Gamecock fan you’ve ever been come December 5th. You’ve got school pride on your side? I’ve got 28 years of LOATHING your opponent, which is longer than you’ve thought about being SEC Champions.
And it’s my blog, so I win.
PLAYER WATCH
Marcus Lattimore – 40 rushes, 212 yards, 3TDs/2 receptions, 31 yards
DeVonte Holloman – 1 tackle, 1 PBU
Mike Gillislee – 1KOR, 14 yards
Ron Powell – 1 KOR, 20 yards/ 2 tackles
LOOKING FORWARD
South Carolina hosts Troy.
Florida hosts Appalachian State.
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19Mississipi State at 12Alabama
Just as I predicted, Alabama would handle the surging Bulldogs. The leading receiver, Julio Jones would be the leading rusher. The leading rusher, Mark Ingram, would be the leading receiver. And Marquis Maze would have a breakout game and show the nation that he’s ready to be a star in 2011. The defense would improve and Robert Lester would revert back to early season form and intercept 2 passes. Seriously, that’s exactly how I wrote it up: http://feedthefear.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/2010-football-week-11-preview-and-picks/ [Scroll to the bottom]
Mississipi State just doesn’t look the same coming from behind because they aren’t built to do so. They didn’t look horrible. Alabama is the better team and Bryant-Denny Stadium has been a hard place for anyone to win in the last few years.
I like this State team. I think they take an 8-4 season and go to a pretty decent bowl game and are freaking excited with a 9-4 record going into 2011. I’m impressed.
PLAYER WATCH
Chad Bumphis – 1 rush, -1 yard/ 3 receptions, 43 yards, TD/1PR, 3 yards/2KOR, 30 yards
James Carmon – 1 tackle
AJ McCarron – 2/5, 50 yards
CJ Mosley – 12 tackles, 1 PBU
LOOKING FORWARD
Mississipi State hosts Arkansas.
Alabama plays a rare Thursday night game; hosting Georgia State.
I don’t necessarily disagree that the refs let the game get out of hand, but to lay all the blame at the feet at Nick Fairley is unfair. There is no doubt that Nick Fairley’s hit on Aaron Murray in the back was a cheap shot. He got flagged for it and rightfully so.
That hit on the knee, on the other hand, was not malicious. It was a guy going full speed and getting blocked into Murray. If this was an Alabama game, and Marceus Daniels was Nick Fairley, then you’d be defending him for that one. You’d also have to admit that Daniels was not only chop blocked twice during the game–only called once–but was also literally held down and punched by a UGA player. I’m sure you would also have some words on how UGA’s bench cleared, yet UA’s didn’t, right?
Auburn and UGA players were jawing back and forth the whole game. Georgia players allegedly stomped on the AU logo before the game. But it’s all Nick Fairley.
Here are the facts: This was a super emotional game for Auburn. Auburn players were all worked up because of the Cam Newton stuff going on all week. Mix that with four straight losses to UGA–tons of Auburn players are from Georgia–and you have a recipe for some sensitivity. The point is there were no saints during that game, and the better team won. Yet if you look at this even somewhat objectively, and since this is your blog I’m not sure if you even care too, you would look at the whole picture and not say this was all on Nick Fairley.
I completely agree on Green. He is a freak and the best wide receiver in the country. Auburn had no answer for him. I will say this, though. Auburn gave up 21 points in the first quarter, then held Georgia to 10 points the rest of the game. They must have done something to stop him, or Georgia’s coaches were out of their minds for stopping it.
And giving up 21 points in the first half is a good defensive game plan? I hope Auburn sees similar defensive plans from here on out.
First of all, Thanks for reading! I appreciate it!
Alright let’s get into your comments:
I didn’t see the Fairley “knee shot” on Murray, so I’ll strike that from my argument; I can’t say if he was blocked into him or not.
I’m assuming you are talking about Marcel Dareus. And it’s funny you say that I’d be defending him, because Monday I had a conversation with an auburn fan saying that, “Do I wish that our DL had the same ferocious drive and grit that Nick Fairley plays with? ABSOLUTELY! If he’s on my team, I love him. Since he’s on your team, he’s dirty.” Yes, that’s talking out of both sides of my mouth, but I’d be willing to bet that’s how many people’s fandom goes.
Secondly, UA = University of Alabama, au = auburn University. That borderline offends me.
LOL joking. To the Georgia benches cleared but not the auburn’s: Georgia has no discipline so that doesn’t surprise me. Good job, auburn, for staying on the sideline? I mean, I guess I don’t really have a thought on that, since my stance is all of this could have been avoided anyway if they policed Nick Fairley in the first place 
To the Georgia players stomping on the auburn logo pre-game: That’s not very classy or cool. And kind of stupid since all that would do is fire up the home team more. Like I said, no discipline on that Georgia team. But you said allegedly…but to be fair, I’ll believe you because I can see Georgia doing that.
Totally agree on the emotional quotient factored into the game. And that can’t be ignored. I guess where I’m coming from is that Nick Fairley has showed the propensity to throw in some WWE into his tackling in the past…Example: Ryan Mallett, Jordan Jefferson, Aaron Murray earlier in the game… I’m just saying that no one else chooses to hit like that. It’s unnecessary. Don’t get me wrong, I jump up and holler when it happens because I like seeing people get hit like that, but it’s unnecessary. And he plays for a team I’m not crazy about, so, of course, it’s egregious!!
On AJ Green: In the first half he had 5 catches, 114 yards, 2 TDs. A few of the bigger plays (and the push-off TD) had Murray rolling out of the pocket and hitting AJ Green downfield for the big play. For some reason they went away from that. In the second half he had 4 receptions and 50 yards (there were also 3 incomplete passes thrown to AJG). So it doesn’t seem like they completely went away from him. And since the play-by-play recap on ESPN.com doesn’t show us if the play was well defended or just dropped passes, I’ll give auburn the benefit of the doubt by saying they probably went out of their way to defend him a little better. Especially since he burned them in the 1st half.
Now about the ‘good defensive game plan’: OF COURSE Georgia’s game plan wasn’t to spot auburn 21 points! C’mon, haha, give me some credit. It seemed like early on, Georgia played good assignment football and weren’t completely over-pursuing on the reverses and misdirection plays. They also had a spy (mostly LB Justin Houston) who did about as good a job as you could do limiting Newton on the scrambling plays. That’s what I was referring to. But in my post I also said they didn’t do a very good job of executing it. A defense can’t run by Newton, they have to stay in front of him and make him pass and hope for the best…or hang on to him until help arrives.
Great points man!
I’m pretty sure come the Iron Bowl the Alabama OL won’t have figured out how to block Fairley and I’m sure he’ll pile drive McElroy into the turf…but I’m thinking that might not be so bad, because I feel like AJ McCarron might give us a better chance to score. (Not hating on a guy that has only lost 2 games as a starter, but McElroy’s not a playmaker, McCarron probably is.) I hope you keep reading and posting comments. Thanks again.