SEC Review, Week 5: Unlucky 13 in Baton Rouge, Tide’s dominance grows

story by Chris Rushing, College Sports Matchups (CSM is a content partner with The City Wire)
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That was it? Seriously, we waited all day for a 31-6 drubbing that wasn’t as close as the score may have indicated?

Yep, it was just that kind of a night in Tuscaloosa for Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators.

Make no mistake: with three recruiting classes, Nick Saban has positioned the University of Alabama football program well ahead of its perceived equal in Gainesville, Fla., but it’s a bit surprising that somehow, schools without the resources nor the firepower that Meyer and the UF offense has brought to college football in the recent past have more playmakers on that side of the ball than the Gators.

Schools like Arkansas, Auburn, Ole Miss, South Carolina — programs that have built their reputations on defense and solid-to-great running games feature more threats at wide receiver and more imaginative play-calling than Meyer and Co. This is a trend that is more disturbing than Alabama’s 62-19 advantage in the past two meetings between the division kings.

Meyer showed very little emotion Saturday night when the cameras panned across the Florida sideline, and his intensity was one of the main reasons his record and accomplishments are as sterling as they’ve been for the first 10 years of his head coaching career. If Meyer truly has turned into a shadow of his former self (and Saturday night shows nothing to dispute that assumption), maybe the guy really does need some time away to get his batteries recharged. (And not just two or three weeks without a cell phone.)

It’s hard to really impress upon those who didn’t watch just how dominant Alabama was in this meeting. The game was over, essentially, when Trey Burton was picked off in the end zone on fourth and goal to cap off an otherwise successful opening drive for the visitors. The score at this point: 3-0 Alabama.

The Crimson Tide scored the first four times it held possession of the ball and secured a 24-3 advantage at intermission. None of UA’s top playmakers on offense had sterling numbers, aside from Mark Ingram finding the end zone twice from short distances, but it’s hard to ignore 31 points on an “off night” from the offense.

Hopefully, Meyer and Steve Addazio taught the remaining UA opponents a valuable lesson: never leave points on the field and take them when you can. True, you may feel that a touchdown gives you a much better reward than just a field goal after you drive down the field almost at will, but there is a reason the Gators didn’t cross the goal line in three previous tries from within the 10. A 3-3 score puts more fear into the Crimson Tide defense, whereas the interception gave it hope, hype and momentum that remained throughout the remainder of the contest.

Florida still has a ton of talent, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. The Gators still will win the East as long as they can continue to take care of business much like they did against Tennessee and Kentucky. There is not another venue as intimidating as Bryant-Denny Stadium left on the slate for UF. However, the Gators are playing for the Sugar Bowl or Capital One Bowl the rest of the way.

• Auburn 52, Louisiana Monroe 3
Rest for the starters was the name of the game in Auburn, and the Tigers made quick work of their visitors from the bayou.

Seven different Auburn players scored, and it took AU just four plays from scrimmage to build a 14-0 first quarter lead in a 52-3 rout. Many of the Tigers’ key playmakers on both offense and defense gave way and minutes to a bevy of freshmen and scarcely used players in the third and fourth quarters.

It was the lowest point total yielded by the AU defense under Gene Chizik, and the War Hawks gained just 38 yards on the ground.

• Mississippi State 49, Alcorn State 16
A breather was needed, and the Bulldogs worked out their hangover from the big win over Georgia the weekend before.

MSU played plenty of players and overcame a slow start to dispatch Alcorn State 49-16 Saturday morning at Davis-Wade Stadium. There were moments that caused Dan Mullen to be a little grumpy in the post-game press conference (particularly the 16 points the Braves scored in the second quarter), but it could have been a lack of sleep that contributed mostly to Mullen’s irritability.

Mississippi State is now 3-2 and needs to get three more wins to reach a bowl game. With the opening slate of games the Bulldogs had, 3-2 is a pretty good place to be right now.

• Connecticut 40, Vanderbilt 21
The good news for Vanderbilt? The Commodores erased a 14-0 deficit and stormed back to take a 21-14 lead in just over four minutes of play.

The bad news? UConn ended the game on a 26-0 run to preserve a 40-21 homecoming victory and up its record to 3-2.

The Huskies ran the ball at will on the Vandy defense, but it wasn’t entirely unexpected. Jordan Todman had 190 yards on a career-best 37 carries and showed why he is considered near the tops of the most valuable Big East running backs lists.

• Ole Miss 42, Kentucky 35
Give credit to both teams in this contest. Neither let rough outings in the early part of the season dictate how it would play this game. There was no giving up on either sideline either, despite the disparity between the teams’ point totals on the scoreboard.

The home-standing Ole Miss Rebels won the track meet 42-35, and this could be that win which gets everything back on track for Houston Nutt and Co. With difficult October slates remaining for both teams, it was an important victory to secure for either squad.
Even by the slimmest of margins, for now, Jeremiah Masoli, Derrick Locke and Randall Cobb.

• LSU 16, Tennessee 14
I’ve been spending the past day and a half trying to figure out just what I was going to write about one of the craziest endings to a college football game I’ve ever witnessed.
Les Miles told CBS viewers that the 16-14 victory his team claimed on an untimed down was “just another day in the SEC.” No, not quite – this was just another day in the LSU program under Miles’ “guidance.”

Seriously, does anyone else wonder if Miles is doing some of these ridiculous stunts as an act in order to get the opposing coach to outthink themselves? With precious seconds steadily ticking away off the game clock, Miles and Gary Crowton couldn’t seem to get the right personnel on the field for the game’s final play, creating mass hysteria and anger amongst the LSU faithful.

All Tennessee needed to do was give Jordan Jefferson just enough rope to hang himself. The defensive players already on the field had done a great job of keeping the Tigers out of the end zone. There was absolutely no need for any substitutions.

But, Tennessee defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox and Derek Dooley disagreed with my thoughts and sent out new personnel based on the players that entered the lineup for LSU. An errant snap flew over Jefferson’s head, and the game was over.
Jubilation turned to anger and sadness for those on the visitor’s sideline. A flag for illegal participation had been thrown on the Volunteers. Somehow, in the madness of the last-ditch substitutions 13 players were in to stop the 11 (or 12) LSU offensive players from crossing the goal line.

Dooley is going to get Tennessee back on track. Saturday offered a great chance for the Vols to get their biggest win since 2007, but UT found a way to lose – this one by an unlucky 13.

• Colorado 29, Georgia 27
Seriously, Mark Richt … those of us who are holding off on putting your name on the hot seat list can’t keep avoiding the inevitable if you can’t put together a game plan to defeat the Big 12’s second-worst team.

The Bulldogs had a great chance to leave Boulder with a 30-29 victory as well as their first win over a Bowl Championship Series opponent in 2010. Instead, Caleb King attempted a spin to avoid several Colorado defensive linemen and fumbled away UGA’s opportunity well within kicker Blair Walsh’s range for the game-winner.

I’m still not completely sold on Georgia’s inability to reach the postseason. There is a ton of talent on both sides of the ball. However, the transition to Todd Grantham’s 3-4 scheme has left as many holes in the UGA defense as former Willy Martinez revealed in a majority of the contests of Georgia’ 8-5 2009 season.

Can Georgia win five of its last seven to reach at least six wins, the bare minimum needed to earn a bowl bid? Absolutely. The question is: will the Bulldogs improve enough to navigate a treacherous remaining slate to get those six W’s?

Richt’s job likely hangs on the answer to that question.