Rivalry weekend turned out to be a weekend of reckoning for the Southeastern Conference. Saturday was probably the worst day in the conference in ten years. Another instant classic Iron Bowl was overshadowed by a winless out-of-conference slate featuring four SEC East teams losing to ACC rivals. Those four losses took the conference’s out-of-conference record from 5-2 to 5-6 in the matter of four hours. Even if you count Ole Miss’ win against Boise State, the conference still finished 6-6 in their Power 5 & Top 25 out-of-conference schedule for the year. That will certainly fuel the throngs of SEC-haters who claim media bias unfairly advantages SEC teams through weighted preseason rankings and weighted losses against other SEC teams. Normally the conference can point to its inter-conference record and performance; both aggregate over the last ten years and in the present. Not so after this weekend. For the conference to regain its footing atop the college landscape, it will have to perform well in the bowl season. The good news, other than Alabama’s win over Auburn, is that the SEC has 12 of the 14 teams bowl eligible. Only one of the four out-of-conference losses this weekend, Georgia Tech over Georgia, was an upset. The conference must make a strong push in the bowl match-ups to maintain the reputation it has built. But before we get too far into December, let’s take a look back and, as always, separate the reaction from the reality of the conference’s Week 14 games.
Game of the Week:
Alabama 55, Auburn 44
The Reaction: Auburn comes out on fire and puts a championship scare into Alabama.
The Reality: Auburn’s red zone woes salvage the conference’s playoff hopes.
The only redeeming positive for the conference coming out of this weekend was that Alabama kept its college football playoffs hopes alive with a win over Auburn. This was about as un-SEC as an Iron Bowl gets. Alabama’s defense looked uncharacteristically slow on the edges of the line and disorganized on the back end. On multiple occasions Auburn backs gained the edge of the line of scrimmage and turned two- and three- yard runs into eight- and twelve-yard runs. Nick Marshall couldn’t miss deep in the first half, due mostly to wide open receivers down the field. For the game, Auburn’s offense gashed the Crimson Tide for 628 yards. I’m not an Alabama historian, but I’m willing to bet there are entire seasons where the Alabama defense hasn’t given up 628 yards. Auburn’s one failure in the first two and half quarters was their red zone offense. Four times they settled for field goals inside the Alabama seven yard line. What was a 33-21 Tiger advantage after the first series of the third quarter should have easily been a 41-21 score and could have been an almost insurmountable 49-21 margin. The “shoulda, woulda, coulda” Auburn narrative from this game appropriately sums up their season. For the Tide, a 34-10 closing effort paved their way to the SEC Championship game and maintained control of their destiny for the college football playoffs. The defense found ways to stop the Auburn offense in the second half and Blake Sims turned an absolutely horrific first half (plus the first drive in the third quarter) into a remarkable second half performance. With Jake Coker warming up on the sideline, Sims went out and took control of the Tide’s offense, game, and season and methodically marched Alabama up and down the field during the third and fourth quarters. Alabama fan or not, you must recognize Sims’ gutty comeback performance in this game. After three interceptions early Sims was almost perfect closing the game. Alabama’s win means they are one win against Missouri away from claiming a spot in the CFB playoffs and keeping alive the SEC’s hope of bringing the national championship back to the conference.
Mississippi 31, Mississippi State 17
The Reaction: Ole Miss pulls out unlikely upset and dashes the Bulldogs dream season.
The Reality: With the money on the line, Mississippi State just couldn’t get it done.
Look, I think Ole Miss and Mississippi State are both good teams and I think Hugh Freeze and Dan Mullen are both good coaches. But in the SEC, you have to know how to win. That’s what separates teams like Alabama and LSU from teams like Ole Miss and Mississippi State, especially late in the year. Both Mississippi State and Ole Miss have great teams this year but both teams couldn’t close the deal late in the season. First, Ole Miss suffered gut-wrenching losses at LSU and against Auburn, in addition to losing their best player to injury. Then Mississippi State’s dream season came crashing down against Alabama. Finally, Ole Miss was shutout by Arkansas last week and Mississippi State squanders their championship hopes against Ole Miss. Mississippi State’s defense just couldn’t stop Jaylen Walton (148 yards rushing) and Evan Engram (176 yards passing). And while Ole Miss’ defense wasn’t at its finest, it was good enough to keep Dak Prescott from controlling and affecting the game. Ole Miss effectively turned the Mississippi State offense into a one-dimensional rushing attack and made someone other than Prescott beat them – which no one on the Bulldog team was able to do. In what was promising to be a marquee match-up with national title implications just weeks ago, this year’s Egg Bowl turned out to be a microcosm of Mississippi football: two tales of disappointment. Both teams will look to finish strong in the bowl season and build momentum into 2015.
Missouri 21, Arkansas 14
The Reaction: Missouri clinches the SEC East with a statement win over Arkansas.
The Reality: Missouri keeps proving their detractors wrong; keeps finding a way to win.
Missouri is the classic case of a team that plays to its competition. With an outstanding defensive line and offensive running game, they are well suited to be competitive in any game. But with an early season lackluster win against Kent State and a horrible loss – at home – to Indiana, most observers didn’t give the Tigers much chance at repeating as SEC East Champs. They’ve been underdogs in their past two games, both 6-6 teams, and will be big underdogs to Alabama this week in Atlanta. But despite the lack of faith, they continue to win. Against Arkansas, their defensive line was stout enough to keep the Arkansas running game in check. The running game bruised the Razorback defense and Maty Mauk engineered two fourth quarter touchdown drives to bring a second consecutive Division title back to Columbia. For Arkansas hopes were high after two straight SEC shutout victories. Maybe that and the bowl eligibility earned last week took the emotion out of the team. But more likely it was the constant pressure of an underrated Missouri rushing game on the road. Arkansas will be a tough match-up in a bowl game and have their sights squarely set on competing for the West Division title in 2015.
LSU 23, Texas A&M 17
The Reaction: LSU uses dominant rushing attack and defense to beat Texas A&M.
The Reality: LSU got back to its roots and gives us a preview of 2015.
Well, we know two things coming out of this game. John Chavis is still the best college defensive coordinator alive and freshman Leonard Fournette is really, really good. LSU gave us a preview of 2015 by keeping the Texas A&M offense largely grounded (228 total yards) and running up 384 yards rushing (146 from Fournette and 119 from QB Anthony Jennings) in route to their eight win this season. Many people, me included, didn’t give LSU much of a chance after benching their quarterback and losing to Auburn. The young team responded well and their defense allowed sophomore quarterback Anthony Jennings room to learn and grow. This Tiger team will be much improved in 2015 and will be another tough match-up in a bowl as the seventh-placed SEC team. With the up-and-down year Texas A&M has had, they would be better suited to be in the SEC East. While most point to a poor defense, the Aggies only put up 228 yards of offense in this game. The time of possession was a 41:13 – 18:47 advantage for LSU. That’s on the offense. The Aggies weren’t able to sustain any drives until the fourth quarter and weren’t able to build any momentum during the entire game. You can’t blame a defense for giving up 23 points after being on the field for literally two-thirds of the game. It seems like each week there is some sort of drama in College Station, sometimes good and sometimes bad. This will be an interesting off-season for coach Kevin Sumlin. He’ll have to shore up the defensive side of the ball and continue to develop both Kyle Allen and Kenny Hill. Texas A&M will be the biggest question mark entering the 2015 campaign.
Tennessee 24, Vanderbilt 17
The Reaction: Tennessee clinches first bowl berth in four years with win over hapless Vandy.
The Reality: Tennessee struggled against the worst team in the league.
If you want to know how bad the last five years have been for Tennessee, look no further than the post-game celebration at Vanderbilt Stadium after this win. The team took pictures, the fans stayed around, and players ran around the field with flags waving. One would think the Vols had just clinched a spot in the SEC Championship game. What they had actually done is squeak-out a win against a very bad Vanderbilt team that lost to Temple early in the season, hadn’t come close to winning an SEC game, is still shuffling quarterbacks during games. Tennessee’s offense, after showing promise against Alabama and coming alive against South Carolina and Kentucky, has suddenly fizzled. Quarterback Josh Dobbs’ ability to run the ball has helped mask the difficulties of the offensive line and he was certainly the offensive MVP of the Vandy game, but Tennessee fans can’t feel confident heading into their first bowl since the 2009 season with such a close game against Vanderbilt. Vandy, on the hand, has to figure out how they went from consecutive nine-win and bowl win seasons to this year’s 3-9 overall and 0-8 SEC record. First year head coach Derek Mason must figure out his quarterback situation. He must also re-examine the defense. Does Vanderbilt have the talent to compete year-in and year-out in the SEC or were the past two years an anomaly for the Commodores? Either way, in a conference as tough as this, it’s incredibly hard to work your way back up once you’ve been knocked down. All Vandy has to do is look at Tennessee for proof of that.
Georgia Tech 30, Georgia 24
The Reaction: Georgia blows game and Top 10 hopes in waning minutes.
The Reality: Georgia fumbles their way out of the Top 10.
Georgia fans have to be beside themselves. After crushing Missouri and Auburn in recent weeks, it looked the Bulldogs were hitting their stride just in time for a possible top-tier bowl berth and promising final season ranking. And then they fumbled twice at the goal line. And Georgia Tech kicked a 53-yard field goal. And, only fitting, Georgia’s regular season ends on a Hutson Mason interception to end overtime. This is so Georgia. In addition to their blow-out wins against Missouri and Auburn, they also lost to South Carolina and Florida – game equivalents to fumbling at the goal line and throwing an interception in overtime. Georgia fans might be in for more of the same next year. They know the running game will be in the capable hands of Nick Chubb, but there will be a young and untested quarterback. Will the defense be able to get better? The biggest question, right now, for Bulldog fans is whether coach Mark Richt can get the team motivated for a disappointing bowl berth?
Clemson 35, South Carolina 17
The Reaction: South Carolina loses to end five-game win streak against Clemson.
The Reality: Many questions surround the South Carolina program right now.
South Carolina’s 2014 woes continued as they lost to rivals Clemson for the first time in five years. As with many of this weekend’s performances, this game was a microcosm of the season for the Gamecocks. Deshaun Watson gashed the South Carolina defense 269 yards and two touchdowns passing and another two touchdowns rushing. Dylan Thompson was extremely inconsistent passing and the offense only mustered 63 yards rushing. A dropped pass here, a missed block there, and plenty of missed tackles to go around and you have a very disappointing end to the regular season for South Carolina fans. As with Texas A&M, there are a lot of questions surrounding the program after the bowl game. Surely there will be a change at the defensive coordinator position. Will the Head Ball Coach stay around for another season or are the Florida golf courses calling his name? Can South Carolina get back to contending for Division titles or are they on the slow backslide back to mediocrity? It’s been reported that Bo Pelini was in Columbia hours after his dismissal from Nebraska…would that invigorate an otherwise disappointed fan base? And could Pelini fix the Gamecock defense? Would he be a coach-in-waiting? These are just some of the questions surrounding Gamecock nation in the wake of this loss and their 6-6 season. South Carolina will head to a bowl likely as the 12th ranked SEC team. That should get them a fairly favorable match-up, can they make the most of it? That’s the most important question for Gamecock fans right now.
Florida State 24, Florida 19
The Reaction: Florida State gets another close win in Muschamp’s last game.
The Reality: Florida squanders opportunity; appropriate end to Muschamp era.
Continuing the microcosm theme, was there any more appropriate end to the Will Muschamp era at Florida? The Gators go into Tallahassee and show both the talent and the heart to upset the nation’s top-ranked team and simply couldn’t execute when they needed it most. Florida settles for three field goals in the first quarter and instead of a 21-point lead before Florida State finally gets on the board the Gators are ahead by nine. The Gators had to settle for a fourth field goal in the third quarter. While the defense played well enough to win and the Seminoles made plenty of mistakes to accommodate, inconsistent play from Florida QB Treon Harris resulted in a sputtering offense, especially in Seminole territory. The Gators, like many times in the last few years, left the field feeling as though they should have own. Muschamp recognizes this and understands that’s why Jeremy Foley is looking for a new coach.
Louisville 44, Kentucky 40
The Reaction: Kentucky misses out on bowl berth with close loss to Louisville.
The Reality: Even for Kentucky, this was an epic late season collapse.
Monday, October 13th, 2014. Kentucky was 5-1 with SEC wins over South Carolina and Vanderbilt and had gotten hosed by the officials in an overtime loss to Florida. The Wildcats were getting Top 25 votes. And…they haven’t won since. Kentucky was one win away from a bowl berth before the Halloween decorations were up in your house and has since lost six straight games. Only this game was close and in only one game did they give up less than 41 points. Kentucky entered the season with high hopes and got off to a great start, but allowing over 38 points per conference game will not get you far in this league. With Georgia and Missouri looking to maintain the power in the East and Tennessee and Florida looking like they will return to top form soon, Kentucky may have missed its opportunity to stake a claim for competitiveness in the East. They may very find themselves – with Vanderbilt – in the back of the pack fighting to get conference wins. The good news for Wildcat fans is that basketball season is here and they Kentucky hoops team looks really good.
Overall SEC Analysis:
One weekend, not a conference make. There has been a lot of reaction about the SEC’s performance this weekend, but the reality is that three of those four match-ups were SEC teams much lower in the conference than their opponents and the SEC is still the best conference in college football. Give credit where credit is due: The ACC had a really good weekend against the SEC. And give credit to the PAC-12 and the Big XII, both conferences are playing well and can advance legitimate arguments that challenge the SEC’s claims of superior performance. The margins in college football this year are razor thin, which is one factor in this dramatic season. But the SEC will have twelve opportunities during bowl season to reassert itself. Bowl season really will be the barometer by which to measure the SEC. Much of the season people who support the conference have discussed how the conference is beating itself up. Those that claim media bias or are conference detractors have dictated a narrative that the conference is overrated and the quality of intra-conference wins and losses is inflated. During the bowl season, when eighth and ninth and tenth ranked SEC teams are playing teams of commensurate or slightly higher rankings in their own conferences, we will get a much better picture of the strength of the conference. We will know if the SEC really is that strong or if the conference is in a down year. Success for the conference will be an Alabama national championship and an 8-5 or better bowl record (counting two Alabama wins). With an Alabama championship game loss, the conference probably needs to go 9-4 to continue to make a claim as the best. Anything less than an Alabama first round loss and 7-5 bowl record opens the conference up to the continued narrative of its detractors. Was this weekend the beginning of parity amongst college football conferences; a day of reckoning for the SEC? Or was it just one great weekend of football? I reckon we’ll find during bowl season.
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