Southeastern Conference Football: What We Saw, What We’ll See: Week 6-7
By James Bowers
Week 6 in the Southeastern Conference came amid Hurricane Matthew’s fury, which necessitated the controversial postponement of the LSU-Florida game, and the pushing back of the South Carolina-Georgia game to Sunday.
The clear game of the week was Texas A&M-Tennessee, in which the Vols’ bid for a third straight second half comeback victory fell short in two overtimes. In the few other tilts, Auburn soundly beat Mississippi State, Kentucky bested Vandy by a touch, Alabama handled Arkansas, and South Carolina’s futility continued in a two touchdown loss to UGA. We’ll take a deeper look at what we saw, and what we’ll see next week, below.
WHAT WE SAW: NO GO IN GAINESVILLE
With Hurricane Matthew ready to pick on usual tropical storm target Central Florida, officials from the University of Florida, Louisiana State University,and the Southeastern Conference knew that playing the LSU-Florida game as scheduled at UF’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium was a non-starter, but were unable to agree on an alternate site, and consequently the Gators and Tigers did not play each other on October 8, leaving SEC boss Greg Sankey scrambling to find a new date for the tilt.
WHAT WE’LL SEE: RE-SCHEDULING SCRAMBLE
Florida AD Jeremy Foley; in his last year at the helm of UF sports, reportedly turned down an offer from his LSU counterpart Joe Alleva to move the game to Baton Rouge, citing travel and logistical concerns. The 63 year-old Foley has shouldered much of the blame for the un-played ball game, with some even charging Foley with not wanting the game to be played, in the hopes that the Gators finish the year with only one conference loss, to Tennessee, and be in position to play for the SEC title if Alabama beats the Vols .
Regardless of whatever Jeremy’s motivations are, Commissioner Sankey is more consumed with “when” than “who”, and does not want to be the first commissioner in league history to preside over a season with a cancelled game. Not even World War II or the events September 11th kept any scheduled in-conference game from being played at some point, and there will be plenty of nail-biting in Birmingham until this matter is resolved. Rescheduling Options include a one week delay of the SEC title game, or paying LSU and Florida’s fees to two FCS schools the teams would play on November 19. Neither is a definite at this point. The SEC’s detractors would have a key piece of ammo in their arsenal of insults shall this game never see a kickoff.
WHAT WE SAW: TENNESSEE’S LUCK RUNS OUT
The trademark of the 2016 Tennessee Volunteers is the second half comeback. Butch Jones’ ball club had overcome double-digit first half deficits to score victories in all but one of the season’s first five games, including the season opener against App State and a last second win against UGA, in which UT QB Dobbs channeled Doug Flutie in a game closing hail mary TD to beat the Bulldogs.
UT has a second half-to-first half scoring ratio of 145-65, so it was no surprise when the Vols scored three touchdowns in the final seven minutes against Texas A&M to force OT in College Station. Many onlookers expected the big orange to win the game and keep their comeback and double-digit win streaks alive.
It didn’t happen.
The Vols and Aggies swapped field goals and forced a second overtime. A&M QB Trevor Knight found the end zone from a yard out, and gave TAMU a 45-38 lead. Then, in the ultimate twist ending, Josh Dobbs threw an interception on the first Vol offensive play of 20T, handing Kevin Sumlin and co the win. After the Vols turned the ball over six times on Saturday, this last pick brought the game full circle. The Vols have lost the football 16 times this season, and this time their luck couldn’t bail them out. Texas A&M stays unbeaten and is a candidate for the SEC crown, with games against Alabama and Ole Miss still remaining.
WHAT WE’LL SEE:MAKE OR BREAK “THIRD SATURDAY”
Butch Jones knows he’ll have to get Dobbs and offensive castmates such as WR Jejuan Jenkins and a possibly returning Jalen Hurd to produce points before halftime next Saturday, as #1 Alabama comes to Knoxville. Nick Saban’s Tide is not known for blowing leads, so the possibility of a rally by UT is not high. Alabama soundly beat Arkansas in Fayetteville this past weekend, and heads into Neyland Stadium having not lost to the Volunteers since 2006, so this game will prove make or break for a Tennessee team looking to reclaim national relevancy. Jones may want to devote practice time to proper football care ahead of the 2016 edition of the “Third Saturday In October”.
WHAT WE SAW:SOUTH CAROLINA’S OFFENSIVE FUTILITY CONTINUES
First year South Carolina coach Will Muschamp cannot catch a break. While the Gamecock defense has performed at an above average level, ranked in the top 50 nationally (that side of the ball has always been Coach Boom’s forte), USC has yet to score more that 20 offensive points in six games, and QBs Brandon McIlwain and Perry Orth have struggled to gel with their receivers, and the majority of Gamecock drives have ended in punts, and the unit is ranked dead last in Southeastern Conference offensive production. Frustration mounts for the Gamecocks, who are coming off a 3-9 2015.
The game against UGA on Sunday was another painful showing for the 2016 South Carolina team, with Orth starting at QB, and despite passing for a season high 288 yards, turnovers and third down failures doomed the Gamecocks as Kirby Smart‘s Bulldogs rebounded with a 28-14 victory in Columbia on the strength of 195 total rushing yards from the likes of Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. The game was a portrait of USC’s offensive woes, as while the Gamecocks gained yardage they couldn’t turn it into points, even with the return of star wideouts Deebo Samuel and Bryan Edwards from injury. Despite only 29 passing yards, chewing clock with the run game aided the Dawgs in their first road win over SC since ’08. Georgia goes to 4-2 on the year while SC slides to 2-4.
WHAT WE’LL SEE: GAMECOCKS REGROUP, DAWGS HOST VANDY.
October 15 is a day off for South Carolina, they return to action on October 22nd against a UMass team that was potent early against Mississippi State before falling to the Bulldogs, a team that beat the Gamecocks in September. Meanwhile, UGA returns to Sanford Stadium and faces a Vandy team that is not likely to spoil things between the hedges, giving UGA QB Jacob Eason, who struggled to throw against SC a chance to find his bearings as he learns a new scheme.
Both squads are in rebuilding mode,and fans of these two programs were probably more realistic than ever ahead of the 2016 season as their teams broke in new coaches. 2017 will likely be more telling in Columbia and Athens as Muschamp and Smart enter their second years at their respective jobs. For now, UGA hopes for an outside shot at Atlanta, while USC hopes for more than 2 touchdowns in one game.
WE’LL SEE YOU NEXT WEEK
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Alabama-Tennessee highlights a Saturday featuring Ole Miss-Arkansas and a few other less pivotal games, so the “Third Saturday in October” looks to dominate SEC discussion in Week 7.