Quick thoughts and takes on every Week 8 SEC game.
Auburn 51, Arkansas 10
Auburn is still sort of hanging around as the offense is getting stronger … or it might just have looked that way because it was playing Arkansas. Bo Nix had a sharp performance averaging over ten yards per throw with three touchdowns. The running game overcame the absence of JaTarvious Whitlow with eight different Tigers getting carries on the way to almost 300 yards with three scores – AU was in control from the start.
The Hog defense struggled, but the offensive line didn’t do a thing to control the game. It couldn’t handle Auburn’s Marlon Davidson and a line that owned the running game – Arkansas ran for just 52 yards – and Ben Hicks couldn’t make up for it with the passing game. Hicks threw for 182 yards with a touchdown and a pick, and he lost two fumbles.
Auburn is still very much alive for everything. Beating Arkansas doesn’t mean much, but it looked and played like a rested team after two weeks off, and now it’s time to make a massive statement at LSU. With that game, Georgia, and Alabama still to go, there’s too much work to do, but the Tigers are 6-1. The bar is obviously set higher than mere bowl eligibility, but with Oregon, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Florida to over the first seven games, 6-1 is just fine.
Arkansas lost its fourth straight game, got destroyed by Auburn again, and now gets a trip to Alabama. Considering WKU might be the best team in Conference USA, it’s going to take something big to finish anything better than 2-10.
Florida 38, South Carolina 27
It’s possible for all positive things to come out of this, to a point. South Carolina obvious isn’t going to be please that it lost, but it played hard, well, and showed that the Georgia win wasn’t any sort of a fluke – this is a good team that just so happened to lose to a Gator team that’s top-ten good. Florida showed it could get past the nasty game against LSU and win in a tough road battle. And now …
The Gators did what they had to do, even if it was really, really rough for three quarters. They got to this point in the year at 7-1, get two weeks off – this REALLY needs a rest – and has everything on the table with the date with Georgia. Win that, don’t lose to Vandy, at Missouri and Florida State, and the College Football Playoff is there for the taking with a win in the SEC Championship. It’s just that easy.
Despite the rainy conditions and the wet ball, Kyle Trask threw for 200 yards and four scores – and, yes, one TD pass was TOTALLY on a pick play – and the running game rumbled for 154 yards and a touchdowns. However, the Gators had a hard time with a South Carolina ground game that pounded away for five yards per carry. Tavien Feaster had a fantastic game with 175 yard and a score on 25 carries.
South Carolina is still okay. It gets Tennessee and Vanderbilt up next. Win those two, and at 5-4 with Appalachian State up next – followed up by Texas A&M and Clemson – a bowl game is still in play if the team keeps playing like it has over the last few weeks.
NEXT: Georgia 21, Kentucky 0; Vanderbilt 21, Missouri 14
Georgia 21, Kentucky 0
At the moment, just take it and move on. Georgia was so jacked up after the loss to South Carolina that … it went into halftime tied at 0-0. To be very, very fair, the weather was miserable, but Jake Fromm still managed to not make mistakes hitting 9-of-12 passes for just 35 yards. That’s where the O line kicked in, pounding away for a 179-yard, two-score running day from D’Andre Swift.
Kentucky couldn’t do anything against the Georgia D – or the rain. Lynn Bowden only managed 2-of-15 passing for 17 yards, but he ran for 99 yards. That wasn’t nearly enough to keep up or go on any decent marches. Once the Cats got down, there was no prayer of coming up with any sort of a comeback in the conditions. Even with this, with Missouri, Tennessee, and at Vanderbilt up next before UT Martin, UK should win three of those four and get bowl eligible.
Georgia didn’t look the part in the rain, but it got the shutout win in what could’ve been a dangerous game – the weather could’ve been an even bigger factor. It survived, now it gets a week off, and then it’s Florida, Missouri and Auburn. It’s time to recharge, and find a passing game.
Vanderbilt 21, Missouri 14
Oh Missouri … really? The Tigers couldn’t get Kelly Bryant and the passing game going, a charged up Vandy defense held firm against the run, and just couldn’t get the offense moving. There was only one turnover, but 12 penalties for 120 yards and whiff after whiff on third downs were crushing. Bryant did what he could – he led the team with 72 rushing yards – but the line couldn’t get the running backs rolling.
Vanderbilt pulled that from out of nowhere. Ke’Shawn Vaughn ran for 96 yards and a touchdown and led the team with 80 receiving yards and a score, Mo Hasan was far more effective than Riley Neal – right up until Neal came up with the game-winning touchdown pass in the fourth. Give this game to the defense, though, that was night-and-day sharper and more effective than it was against UNLV.
Vanderbilt can’t start thinking about a bowl at 2-5, but at least the season pulled up out of the nosedive. Now it has to go on the road to deal with South Carolina and Florida – the Commodores have to play giant killers – with the pressure around the running game like the D had this week. Missouri can’t go bowling thanks to the NCAA, but it can help screw up Kentucky’s year next week before getting a week off to get ready for Georgia and Florida.
NEXT: Alabama 35, Tennessee 13; LSU 36, Mississippi State 13; Texas A&M 24, Ole Miss 17
Texas A&M 24, Ole Miss 17
Just when it seemed like Texas A&M was in big, big trouble, the defense stepped it up with a few big late plays including a fumble recover for a score from Buddy Johnson. Kellen Mond and the offense struggled way too much, the running backs struggled to get going, but again, that’s where the D came in. Justin Madubuike and the line managed to change the game around, and Johnson came up with a game-high ten stops.
The Ole Miss running game sort of worked. It generated 250 yards and averaged close to six yards per carry, but it couldn’t close out with enough scores and it stalled too often in the second half. John Rhys Plumlee was kept under wraps and he only completed 4-of-12 passes. Matt Corral threw well, but the O just didn’t move enough or control the clock.
Texas A&M now gets Mississippi State, UTSA and South Carolina at home. It has to win two of those three and get bowl eligible before dealing with Georgia and LSU on the road – the Aggies can’t win either of those two games with the way the O is struggling.
Ole Miss let this slip away. Now it gets two weeks off to get ready for the Trip to Auburn before getting the win over New Mexico State. It’s going to take a monster upset against the Tigers or LSU to get to the Mississippi State game with a shot at a bowl game.
LSU 36, Mississippi State 13
It might have been sort of a sleepy start for LSU, but Joe Burrow continued to be Joe Burrow with 327 yards and four scores on a 25-of-32 day. Once again he spread the ball around well, and once again he wasn’t just dunking and dunking. He moved around, kept buying himself time, and he kept up his incredible accurate season.
Garrett Shrader did what he could. The MSU quarterback hit 17-of-28 passes for 238 yards and a score with two picks, and he led the team with 66 rushing yards and a score. LSU swarmed all over RB Kylin Hill, but once again the secondary was just okay. MSU generated a better pass rush than LSU did.
Survive and advance. There’s no taking anything for granted, especially on the road, and LSU managed to come out of Starkville with an easy win before getting Auburn and at Alabama coming up next. MSU lost four of its last I’ve games, and now it has to go on the road to ace Texas A&M and Arkansas before hosting Alabama.
NEXT: Alabama 35, Tennessee 13
Alabama 35, Tennessee 13
Tua Tagovailoa was 11-of-12 for 155 yards with a pick before leaving with an ankle sprain. According to Nick Saban, Tua should be okay in a few weeks, and he’ll need to be with the way Mac Jones played. The backup hit 6-of-11 passes for 72 yards, but the rest of the team picked him up. Najee Harris ran for 105 yards and two scores, and Brian Robinson took off for 40 yards and a score.
It helped that the Tide played Tennessee. It might have been a rough performance, but Tennessee couldn’t take advantage of enough opportunities with just two field goals after an early Brian Maurer touchdown run. There were chances, and there were drives deep into Tide territory, but the team just couldn’t execute.
The Vols needed to be perfect, and they weren’t even close. The 13 penalties for 93 yards and two turnovers were more than enough problems to let the Tua-less Tide get through the game and move on. Bama only came up with 373 yards of total offense and was hardly sharp, but the defense clamped down when it needed to. Tennessee missed a big, big chance to do something special. Down 28-13 in the fourth, the Vols had a shot to make this sort of interesting, and then …
Tennessee gets South Carolina next and UAB next. There’s a shot that outside of UAB, and considering Missouri is hamstrung by the NCAA sanctions, there aren’t a lot of likely bowl teams left to play. Winning four of the last five is asking for too much for a team that doesn’t have a consistent enough offense. At some point, the Vols have to find something they can rely on. Scoring more than 20 points in an SEC game would be a start.
How hurt is Tua, really? A few weeks with that high ankle sprain is okay as long as he’s ready to roll for LSU on November 9th, but the Tide need to go through the exercise of beating Arkansas before getting a week off to rest up and get ready. The college football season goes by fast, but this is when the grind starts to kick in. LSU is all that matters, and the Bama that showed up against Tennessee can win that game.
