Best of SEC Tuesday: Auburn and Alabama

Who would have believed that the University of South Florida would come into the plains and hand the Auburn Tigers their first defeat of the season? I know USF is a trendy upset pick and a talented team, but to come into SEC land and pick of what was largely assumed to be one of the top shelf teams this year at their place stretches credibility -- or does it?

The Tigers Get Tamed

So what in the world do Auburn bloggers have to say about Saturday's pain on the plains? Let's start with Mark over at The Auburner:

After the second week of the season, Auburn has been forced to eat a helping of humble pie while other SEC teams have been loading up on cupcakes. It’s not time to panic at this point, there’s plenty of time for Tuberville to hand out their just deserts.

Oh man. I’m sending that to Reader’s Digest.

That's a surprisingly mellow assessment. Will Collier at From the Bleachers was frustrated by the lack of Auburn offense and the turnovers, but not the play of the defense. Jerry Hinnen at Joe Cribbs Car Wash sees an even grimmer picture:

Auburn is not going to challenge LSU in the SEC West, not going to extend that juicy "Over the past X seasons, Auburn has the Xth-bst record in the nation" statistic. Auburn is going to have to scrape and claw and belley-crawl with a knife jammed in its teeth for every single inch of field position it can get, all just to reach 8-4.

Jerry has a less favorable view of Brandon Cox, and feels like the sacks he took in 2006 scarred him for life. But if that's true, Kentucky's Woodson aught to be emotionally crippled, having taken even more sacks than Cox. Jerry also points out that bringing out the chopping block for Tuberville might be premature after all the 2006 love he got. Sounds right to me. Patience, Tiger fans.

Jay Coulter at Track Em Tigers has a bit of a Monday hangover. He thinks that MSU will not be a cakewalk. I disagree. MSU is currently 94th in total defense and was in the high 80's last year. No, Auburn will not blast them like LSU did, but this blogger thinks Auburn will handle the Bulldogs without difficulty.

Jay is also disappointed with the crowd on Saturday, mainly because of poor attendance. But he does note that the USF fans were, in his opinion, less than sartorially splendid. At least he didn't use the dreaded "jort" word. Jay also agrees with Mark at The Auburner that Cox should not be benched.

Oh, Alabam

In what figured to be a pretty tough test for Alabama, an improved Vanderbilt team fell short of pulling the upset. Alabama's defense proved its mettle against a fairly powerful Vandy offense, and an injured Chris Nickson was unable to perform and was replaced by Adams for most of the second half. Earl Bennett, who had some 223 receiving yards last week, wound up with only 4 receptions for 52 yards.

Alabama bloggers are somewhat pleased by the victory, but not without serious qualification. The Capstone Report says special teams looked good, but officiating looked bad, and interestingly enough, says most of the bad calls went against the home team. In another post, he engages a little schadenfreude at the expense of Auburn fans.

Newspaper Hack is not happy, says that the game was ugly, and notes poor Alabama performance in the red zone. Memphis Tider also has a little fun at Auburn's expense, and says that Alabama's defense is "BIG TIME underrated."

Outside the Sidelines at Roll 'Bama Roll has some nice things to say about the running game and O-line, but spares little praise for John Parker Wilson, the quarterback. OTS also gets hate mail, some of it pretty funny.

The Tide Druid blogs Ivan Maisel's article in ESPN, and wonders if Tide fans are being conditioned by Satan Saban to treat a 14-point victory over Vanderbilt as a good thing. Seriously, though, Vanderbilt deserves more credit than that.

So what do Vandy fans have to say about the game? Phillipvu94 at Save the Shield has extremely harsh words for the officiating, expounding on Capstone Report's comments:

I’d be remiss not to say something about the officiating. I’m ready to declare that this notion that complaining about the refs equates to blaming the loss on the refs is absolute bullshit. When the refs systematically, whether consciously or not, do everything reasonable in their power to favor the big-money programs over the small-money programs, we should complain! SEC refs are just corrupt to the core. I really ask myself why I bother attending sporting events with all the integrity of professional wrestling.

Ouch. He follows up with more here.

Diezba at Star & Stripe takes a look at all the commentary around VandyLand, the good, the bad, and the extremely ugly:

In his eighteenth post on VM, "VandyDadd" tells us that he's done with everything Vanderbilt, including "thug and stupid 'student-athletes.'" Wow. Needless to say, that gets some people going elsewhere in that thread.

Guess the Commodores didn't take this one lightly.

Seamus O'Toole was impressed by Alabmama's O-line and thinks that 'Bama might just be better than advertised. He manages to find the silver lining in the cloud of the home loss, and that's often tough to do for a team with some of its highest expectations ever. His co-blogger Bobby O'Shea had a rather more stern take on the Vandy performance, calling the game "a complete disappointment." Tough crowd in Nashville these days.

Best of the SEC Monday: The Georgia-South Carolina game

I'm back and ready to blog again. A lot has happened over the weekend in the SEC football world, and today I'll be taking a look at the biggest games of this weekend around the conference, and see what conclusions can and have been drawn.

South Carolina at Georgia

Well, the 'Ol Ball Coach predicted that his South Carolina team would contend for the SEC championship this year, and you have to believe that defeating Georgia between the hedges is a major step in that direction. Matthew Stafford went in one game from being lauded as the class quarterback of the SEC to a 19/44 showing with 1 INT. But Blake Mitchell ruled the day for the Gamecocks by completing 65% of his passes, most of them short and safe, and despite only 3 forays into the red zone, managed 16 points. Georgia's offense was even more futile, managing to achieve the red zone only twice. The combined third-down efficiency of both teams was only 10%.

Cocknfire at Garnet and Black Attack looks at 5 reasons explaining what this game means from a Gamecock perspective. Noteworthy is that the Gamecocks have converted every red zone opportunity this year, and grades out the effort perhaps lower than you might expect. He also asks for forbearance from Gamecock fans. Flounder at Leftover Hot Dog also grades the team in critical areas, and says it sends the league a message that the Gamecocks are ready to contend for the East. Hard to argue against that, at this point.

The Georgia blogs are, understandably, less pleased with the outcome. Tommy at Apropos de Nada says loosing to South Carolina is a "very ugly catharsis for Georgia fans." There was apparently a little home-team booing going on also, and Tommy is rightfully chagrined at those participating. Kyle King of Dawg Sports gives credit where credit is due, particularly to the South Carolina defensive front. Like the sportsman he is, Kyle refuses to dive into recriminations and waxes philosphical:

While there certainly is plenty of room for constructive criticism of Georgia's performance, this game is more about giving credit than assigning blame. We should congratulate South Carolina on its victory in a well-coached, well-played game of football that the Gamecocks deserved to win . . . then the Bulldogs should turn their attention to getting back on track against Western Carolina in preparation for their September 22 showdown with the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa.

David Ching at the Georgia Bulldog Blog examines Mark Richt's press conference Q&A. Paul Westerdawg at the Georgia Sports Blog looks at the team's shortcomings in detail, and can't bring himself to be angry with a defense that surrenders only 16 points. But the offense is another matter. Senator Blutarsky runs down a number of Georgia shortcomings, and predicts the outlook for the rest of the season bleak, at least as far as winning the East is concerned.

Doug at Hey Jenny Slater says that this game was a "Get-Laid Loss" for Georgia fans. Interesting take. Ludakit at The Dawg-gone Blog blames the offense, the defense, the fans and says Georgia played "without any heart or aggression."

Later, we'll be looking at Auburn, LSU and how the SEC fared overall.

Rumors of my demise

If some of you are thinking that maybe I have parted with this vale of tears (or possibly, just decided to give up blogging), don't worry. I have real life obligations that require me to be absent from the blog until Sunday night or Monday morning.

I apologize for the necessity, but that is just life for you.

Hope to see you all Sunday or Monday. There will be lots of things to talk about after today.

Good luck to all SEC teams today. Enjoy.

A little more hindsight, and a little more foresight

Today we'll be continuing to look back at some of last weeks games, then begin looking forward to Saturday.

Ryan at The Auburner looks back at the Kansas State game. He's a little disappointed in Brandon Cox and the O-line, but otherwise gives the team a thumbs up.

The Tide Druid takes a look ahead to the Vanderbilt game, and takes a detailed look at what the Vandy offense did against Richmond, hoping to derive some insight from the statistics. Todd at Roll 'Bama Roll also analyzes the 'Dores offense. Bobby O'Shea at Vanderbilt Sports Line has part of the Vandy side of the story, and Diezba at Star & Stripe has the rest.

Mlmintampa writing for Aligator Army, the new SB Nation Florida blog, takes a look at the Troy Trojans. Meanwhile, The Hog Blogger, who's team just defeated the Trojans, says that Marcus Harrison is back, while casting a baleful glance Houston Nutt's way.

Senator Blutarsky at Get The Picture finally gets around to watching Georgia-OK State, and concludes that the Dawgs were just plain workmanlike in their victory over the Cowboys. Meanwhile, Kyle King of Dawg Sports looks at several SEC upcoming games, and has some interesting observations. For the record, Kyle hates Auburn, and I think he manages to get that into every post he makes. But he still picks them to beat USF this Saturday.

Seth at the Hotty Toddy Blog has a Q& A with Every True Son, a fan blog of their next opponent, Missouri. He also wonders if Missouri is taking Ole Miss seriously.

Travis at Hail Dear 'Ole State wonders "After four years why the hell are we still running plays that don't work?" Good question, that. Kyle Veazey looks at Tulane running back Matt Forté.

Cocknfire at Garnet and Black Attack can't get enough of the Michigan debacle. But he still manages to note Darth Vizor has made a few changes in response to Saturday's close call. Flounder at Leftover Hot Dog blogs Blake.

The weekend in review

Today, we'll be looking at last weeks games in the rear-view mirror, and taking a bit of a look ahead to next week's games.

First up, Vanderbilt. Earl Bennett set a Vanderbilt school record receiving this weekend against the Richmond Spiders -- or did he? Seems there is some confusion about that, and Mark at Star & Stripe tries to clear it up.

The University of Kentucky Wildcats, another traditional SEC football cellar-dweller, had a big win over FCS Eastern Kentucky University. Despite the weak opponent, Messenger at Wildcats Thunder says so far, so good, and sees improvement in both the UK running game and its defense. The Wildcat Blog compares his predictions on the game outcome to reality, and nominates some players for special recognition. Rob Gidel at Kentucky Sports Radio agrees with TWCB that the defense was much improved, and explains why the offensive line has changed very much for the better.

The South Carolina Gamecocks didn't exactly impress anyone with their efforts this weekend, but Scott Hood at Gamecock Central says it just don't mean a thing if you ain't got that swing for an opener. Meanwhile, cocknfire at Garnet and Black Attack has the results of the SEC Power Poll. There are no real surprises, but I feel like Florida lost some ground to Georgia overall. Tennessee took a big hit, but not as big as most might think.

Will Collier at From the Bleachers was seriously impressed with Kansas State, and not so much with Auburn's offense. Track Em Tigers gives us an Auburn injury report, and also tells us that Auburn's win over K-State paid off on the recruiting trail.

LSUPhootball gives us a run down of the good, the bad, and the ugly of LSU's game against Mississippi State, and he doesn't mention Henig's day in "the ugly", although it surely was the uglies thing most of us have seen in a while. Finally, Richard Pittman at Geaux Tuscaloosa looks at next week's games. He says that Alabama at Vanderbilt, to him, is "the most anticipated game of the early schedule." How long has it been since "anticipated" and "Vanderbilt" have been used in the football context?

National media having a field day with Les Miles' mouth

As you might expect, after Cal handed Tennessee a defeat in Berkley, the national media is laughing up their sleeves at Les Miles' earlier comments about the relative strength of the Pac 10 and SEC. That should surprise no one, least of all Les Miles. But let's face it, SEC fans -- the SEC took this one in the shorts, and the Left Coast is gloating like crazy.

Scott Olster of the San Francisco Chronicle says "Soft is the new hard." Phallic, that, but even he admits that most of the "hardness" was on the Tennessee side:

Although I have to say that the hardest hit of the game was Tennessee defensive end Antonio Reynolds drilling tailback Jahvid Best on a 2-yard run. Reynolds spun the propeller on Best's freshman beanie.

But it wasn't toughness that won the game for Cal, it was superior team speed, which seems extremely incongruous when talking about Tennessee. The Vols have historically been known as one of the fastest teams in the fastest league on the planet. But that perception may be just that, as we saw on Saturday.

The Washington Post also gets into the act, pointing out not only Tennessee's loss to Cal, but Auburn's game with Kansas State:

In its 45-31 loss to California in Berkeley, Tennessee gave up more points than in any game since 1995. Across the country, Auburn needed two touchdowns in the final two minutes to seal a come-from-behind, 23-13, victory against Kansas State, a middle-of-the-pack Big 12 team.

Fair enough, I suppose, but a win is a win. It wasn't as if Cal dominated Tennessee -- they didn't. Compared to last year's thumping in Knoxville, Cal basically escaped with a victory. Bragging about it may be understandable, but Pac 10 fans should realize that UT hasn't been a top 3 team in the SEC for a while now, and has yet to show they are back to that level.

Jon Wilner at the San Francisco Chronicle says this win was bigger for Pac 10 commissioner Tom Hansen than for Cal's coach Jeff Tedford:

This was a big win for the Bears, don’t get me wrong. Beating Tennessee convincingly (45-31) opened up a slew of postseason doors for the Bears. It makes every game — not just league games — meaningful. And it gives the players a huge confidence injection.

But it was an even bigger win for Hansen and the Pac-10 because it will bolster the league’s reputation, silence its critics (for the time being) and substantiate the Pac-10’s marquee program, USC.

For the time being, there can be no argument that the Pac 10 has delivered a little comeuppance to the SEC and, in particular, to Les Miles. But even if Cal turns out to be a real challenger to USC, does that mean their league is every bit as good, top to bottom, as the SEC? I don't think so, but then again, I am an avowed SEC homer, so we'll have to leave that conclusion for later in the season. At this point, Cal has put the Pac 10 back in the conversation, at least.

Finally, and perhaps most ignominiously, we get to have a lecture by Dennis Dodd of CBS in a piece entitled "Cal squashes SEC arrogance with mauling of Tennessee". While I do take issue with Dodd's characterization of the game as a "mauling," one cannot take issue with this:

Tennessee still has back breakers, but Cal has a few too many ankle breakers. While the Vols can still bust heads, the Bears were busting long gains.

That's quite right, I'm afraid. Cal's speed killed UT's chances, and speed is what the SEC is supposed to be famous for. Cal did nothing if not show the country that speed isn't just found in the South.

So, now for some SEC blogger reax. Big Orange Michael takes his frustrations out on Brent Musburger, and his repeated references to Les Miles. Jon at Fulmer's Belly bemoans the Vol loss, but sees it as a breakdown in defense due to overpursuit by the linebackers, poor special teams play and a few other things.

Loser with Socks has two posts worth reading, the most recent one being by AngreEer bemoaning the state of Pac 10 officiating, and it comes with video. Jai Eugene theorizes about a national media conspiracy to discredit the Vols, with his tongue so far in his cheek it may require surgery to remove it.

Of course, Sunday Morning Quarterback has comments on the Tennessee/Cal game. He asks some questions which will have to be answered soon by the Volunteers if they are to recover from this loss:

- How will the very young secondary hold up against a legitimate passing attack? Nate Longshore completed 19 of 28 for 241 yards and four touchdowns, zero interceptions, averaging a little over twelve and a half yards per completion.

- How will the running game produce after two years of stagnation? On this front, some success: Montario Hardesty found the going tough in the first half, but long lost Arian Foster, last year's would-be star turned also-ran, busted off 89 yards on just 13 carries, including and impressive, perfectly-blocked 42-yarder inside the Cal five moments after the Bears went up 17 to start the third quarter. Foster looked fast and strong and like the potential star he was set up to be last year. The offensive line opened holes for him and only allowed just the one sack, killer that it was.

- Was the dramatic regression in pass rush and run-stopping ability in last year's front seven a blip or a new trend? Tennessee sacks: zero. Cal rushing yards: 230. Cal yards per carry: 6.2. Justin Forsett (156 yards) and Jahvid Best (11.5 yards per on four carries) made the primetime showcase their own coming out party.

So the Vols have questions, issues, and problems, and a week before a solid Southern Miss team comes to town.

Early Game Day: Best of the SEC

It is finally the first Saturday of football season, and all eyes are on college football. Today, we'll be looking for the best of the game day posts.

• Memphis Tider is excited. He mentioned there is already talk of some warmth on Phillip Fulmer's backside.
  
  
• Todd at Roll 'Bama Roll gives us his picks, and who he is watching. Doesn't think Florida looks especially impressive, and neither do I, particularly on defense where they are rebuilding.
  
  
• Kyle King at Dawg Sports has a Game Day checklist.
  
  
• Parrish Alford has lots and lots of Ole Miss game day updates at his blog.
  
  
• Flounder at Leftover Hot Dog has a game day post.
  
  
• Rocky Top Talk has lots of game day stuff, and a really, really early open thread.
  
  
• Save the Shield has a Vandy Game Day post, full of predictions, cupcakery ... lots of fun.