SEC Review, Week 11: Auburn, South Carolina punch tickets to Atlanta

story by Chris Rushing, College Sports Matchups (CSM is a content partner with The City Wire)
[email protected]

For the first time since 2007, the Southeastern Conference football championship game will feature teams other than Alabama football and Florida football. For the first time since 2004, the game will feature a regular season rematch after Auburn football and South Carolina football put the finishing touches on their divisional championship seasons this past weekend.

Auburn, amidst the accusations flying towards star quarterback Cam Newton, shook off an awful first quarter in which Georgia football jumped out to a 21-7 advantage. From the second quarter on, however, the Tigers outscored the Bulldogs 42-10 en route to a convincing 49-31 triumph – the first over UGA in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry since 2005.

South Carolina also overcame a slow start and used Marcus Lattimore’s record-breaking performance to ride out a 36-14 win over Florida in the Swamp. The loss was the first to an Eastern Division foe by an Urban Meyer-led Gator squad, and it was never close. As a matter of fact, Lattimore outplayed UF’s poor excuse of an offense by himself.

Neither Auburn nor South Carolina were odds-on favorites to carry their divisional crowns into the Georgia Dome on Dec. 4 before the first game of the season, but both earned the right to square off for the conference title with impressive performances throughout the season. Be it AU’s 24-17 victory over LSU football or USC’s 35-21 humbling of the defending national champions Alabama on Oct. 2 – they each carry confidence into the pending showdown.

Of course, we have to wait two weeks for that game and both will take on heated in-state rivals on the road the weekend following Thanksgiving. Priorities, right?

What has happened to Florida is one of the most perplexing stories of the 2010 college football season. The Gators are stacked with five-star athletes up and down the depth chart. The scout team more than likely holds more talent than several first strings at some of the lower level Football Bowl Subdivision teams. Yet, the Gators have dropped four games – twice as many as the past two seasons combined.

Urban Meyer repeatedly appeared to be at a loss whenever ESPN’s cameras captured him on the UF sidelines. The most telling series of the game occurred in the second quarter when Florida faced a third-and-2 scenario. Taking aim behind center was freshman Trey Burton, the catalyst in the Gators’ 48-14 outburst against Kentucky in late September. Burton was stopped short of the first down marker, so Meyer called on classmate Jordan Reed to accomplish what Burton could not. In one of the most predictable play calls of the season, Reed was stopped well short of the sticks on fourth down – giving the Gamecocks tremendous field position.

Reports out of Gainesville throughout the day included the rumors that Steve Spurrier was spending the hours leading up to his employer’s biggest game in school history by “sunning out by the pool” at the team hotel. Spurrier appeared relaxed on the visitors’ sidelines throughout the night in the place he dubbed “The Swamp.” If he felt any pressure, it didn’t show – and his players reflected that carefree attitude throughout the program-defining victory.

Earlier in the day, Auburn coach Gene Chizik had his very own Heisman moment. After knotting the score at 21-21 just before halftime, the Tigers went into the locker room knowing that they would be kicking off to open the third quarter. Chizik schemed with Jay Boulware (AU’s special teams coach) and kicker Wes Byrum to execute an onsides kick to start the second half.

Byrum delivered a perfect rolling football that traveled right into his arms after both Byrum and the pigskin had cleared the 40-yard-line. Six plays later, Auburn led 28-21. Of course, Georgia tied the game again at 28-28 on the ensuing drive, but when the Bulldogs blinked in a battle of touchdowns with a field goal their next possession (Auburn then led 35-31), you could sense that the game was over.

If the rumors are getting to Newton at all, he has the country’s best poker face. It’s hard to argue that he might not have been more dialed in on the passing game before Saturday evening as he was 12-of-15 for 149 yards through the air against Georgia. Those three incomplete tosses? Two drops, including one that was a sure touchdown if Mario Fannin hauls it in, and a wheel route to Onterio McCalebb that went just a bit too far for the speedy back to catch up to.

What has always been one of the most contested and respected rivalries in college football had a nasty brawl to end the evening after some punches were thrown by a pair of Auburn defensive linemen. AU fans argue that they were just taking up for their teammate, Nick Fairley, who had to deal with two Georgia offensive linemen driving him into the ground after UGA signal caller Aaron Murray left the game with a knee injury. However, these things are inexcusable – no matter the reasoning – and I wouldn’t be surprised if Chizik levies a heavier suspension on either Michael Goggans or Mike Blanc than the NCAA’s required sitting of the first half of the next contest (at Alabama, Nov. 26).

Mark Richt’s squad isn’t innocent, but this may be the least of his problems. Much like Florida, this is a tough season to endure for the red and black-clad faithful. There is plenty of talent accumulated in Athens, but the lack of consistency that has plagued the Bulldogs this year will likely cost them a postseason bowl berth. Richt has been a tremendous coach, and he has done a great job of building the program and delivering year after year. However, it’s hard to ignore how far UGA has fallen since the last SEC title in 2005. Just the 11-2 season in 2007 that was powered by nine-straight victories keeps a string of three-straight seasons with at least four losses from stretching into five.

I’m not sold on the idea that Richt should be fired, but if he were to find another job that could lead to an amicable departure from Georgia, I don’t think that’d be the worst that could happen for either party either. There would be a lot of egg on the face of Greg McGarity if he made such a drastic move, but I’m a firm believer that 10 years is enough at any job before complacency and a lack of fire encompass anyone.

In other news across the conference…

• Tennessee exploded on Ole Miss. Seriously, the 52-14 triumph earned by Tennessee football over Ole Miss football is by far Derek Dooley’s best work to-date. For all the ineptitude UT’s offense has shown at times this year, this was the third game in which the Vols reached the 50-point plateau. All three, of course, were wins.

Houston Nutt’s Rebels looked hapless at times, and it was apparent that Jeremiah Masoli wasn’t his usual self after such a lackluster start in which he had tossed a pair of picks. Before the Rebels knew it, UT had built a 28-7 lead and never looked back.

• Alabama knocked off an emotionally drained Mississippi State squad. Mississippi State football had sustained more than any team should the past two weeks with the death of Nick Bell and the Newton scandal dragging former MSU players into the spotlight. Dan Mullen did what he could to hold his team together, but it was not nearly enough for a barrage of big plays from Alabama football.

The Tide hasn’t been viewed as untouchable as last season, and it is more than just the two losses UA has suffered. That fact hasn’t been lost on the Bama coaching staff as evidenced by Nick Saban’s tirade on backup quarterback AJ McCarron…with Alabama leading 30-3. If the Tide plays like it did Saturday against Auburn next Friday, it’s hard to think that AU will leave Bryant-Denny Stadium with an undefeated record.

• Other scores:
Kentucky 38, Vanderbilt 20
LSU 51, Louisiana-Monroe 0
Arkansas 58, UTEP 21

• Bowl Projections:
BCS National Championship Game: Auburn vs. BCS
Sugar Bowl: LSU vs. BCS
Capital One Bowl: South Carolina vs. Big Ten
Outback Bowl: Alabama vs. Big Ten
Cotton Bowl: Arkansas vs. Big 12
Chick-fil-A Bowl: Mississippi State vs. ACC
Music City Bowl: Kentucky vs. ACC
Gator Bowl: Florida vs. Big Ten
Liberty Bowl: Tennessee vs. C-USA