Fetch Football Forum: Week 2 Recap

Opinion

Another Saturday of football has come and gone, which means it’s time yet again to look at which Southeastern Conference teams skied high and which ones just plain fell flat. LSU: 41-3 victory over Washington. Yes, nobody really expected the Huskies to go into Death Valley and pull off the huge upset, but I’m sure some figured that they would at least show some signs of life. The Bayou Bengals dominated throughout, led by the team’s rushing attack, which racked up 242 yards between seven different players.

Georgia: 41-20 victory over Missouri. I’ll be the first to admit that this game had me very nervous due to the fact that the buildup leading to the game resembled many matchups that the Bulldogs have tended to fall flat on, but the team truly came to Columbia to show Sheldon Richardson and the rest of the Tigers what “old man football” was really all about. The first half was very sloppy for Georgia, but a second half fueled with signs of life from the offense and outstanding play on defense by Jarvis Jones–who some are comparing to a fellow by the name of Lawrence Taylor—allowed the Dawgs to pull away in this one.

Mississippi State: 28-10 victory over Auburn. If there has been a bigger win for Dan Mullen in his time in Starkville, someone else will have to point it out for me, because the Bulldogs’ domination over the Tigers on Saturday not only gave the former Florida offensive coordinator his first win against an SEC West school not named Ole Miss, but also gave the team a win in its SEC opener for the first time since 1999. If junior quarterback Tyler Russell can keep up the good play, there is a legitimate chance that Mississippi State goes into its October 27th matchup with the Alabama Crimson Tide with an unblemished record.

Florida: 20-17 victory over Texas A&M. Although the first three quarters weren’t very pretty, sophomore quarterback Jeff Driskel did a good job in the final quarter of play to give the Gators the lead and to hold onto that lead until the final gun sounded. A true test of how good this team is will come this week, as the team faces off with the Tennessee Volunteers, a squad that hasn’t pulled off a victory against the Gators since 2004.

South Carolina: 48-10 victory over East Carolina. If you want proof that Steve Spurrier is getting the job done in regards to recruiting for the Gamecocks, just look at this game, as backup QB Dylan Thompson stepped up and started over banged up junior Connor Shaw and managed to pass for 330 yards and three touchdowns in the blowout victory over the Pirates. The victory gives the Old Ball Coach his 199th victory as a college head coach; number 200 will come this Saturday against the UAB Blazers.

Alabama: 35-0 victory over Western Kentucky. To backup what Nick Saban was preaching to the Alabama media this week, the Hilltoppers are not a slouch of a non-BCS school (posted a 7-5 record last year); that being said, the outcome of this game was decided the minute WKU signed on to play. Roll Tide.

Ole Miss: 28-10 victory over UTEP. I hope Rebels head coach Hugh Freeze has enjoyed these back-to-back victories to kick off the year, because the team may not win two more games this season. I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but with opponents like Texas, LSU, Alabama, and Georgia left on the schedule, it is clear that this point in the season is the best it will get in Oxford.

Kentucky: 47-14 victory over Kent State. You know that it’s just meant to be your day when you get two points because of a play like this. Enjoy the victory, Wildcats fans, because they will be few and far between from here on out.

Tennessee: 51-13 victory over Georgia State. The Vols did nothing wrong to move from #1 last week to #9 besides being the only SEC school to play an FCS opponent. This week’s game against the Gators is pivotal for Derek Dooley, and I guarantee you that he will return to the team next season if they top Florida in Rocky Top.

Texas A&M: 17-20 loss to Florida. Although the Aggies didn’t win their first conference game in the SEC, there were several positives that could be taken from Saturday, most of all the outstanding play of freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel, who completed 23 of his 30 pass attempts for 173 yards. The Aggies will have to answer questions about yet another blown 2nd half lead, but I think this team will turn some heads as the season moves on.

Vanderbilt: 13-23 loss to Northwestern. James Franklin’s “Anchor Down” style looked like a shipwreck in the fourth quarter of this game, as the Commodores were outscored 17-3 in the final fifteen minutes to put the Dores in the dreaded 0-2 hole right out of the gate. It looks like this team is going to have to pull an upset or two if they intend to go bowling for the second straight season, something the Commodores has never been done in school history.

Missouri: 20-41 loss to Georgia. The Tigers looked ready to hang with the Dawgs in the first half, but once the teams squared off in the third quarter everything that could go wrong went wrong for Gary Pinkel and Company. Next on the schedule for Missouri is Arizona State, a team that obliterated Illinois 45-14 last week. The Tigers better not be looking ahead to their matchup with the South Carolina Gamecocks, because if they are the Sun Devils will do their best to destroy them as well.

Auburn: 10-28 loss to Mississippi State. I’ll just cut the chase with this one: Auburn’s offense is abysmal, and it all boils down to the quarterback play of sophomore Kiehl Frazier. Granted, Frazier hasn’t really had time to settle in as an SEC quarterback, but some of the throws he made on Saturday had people that were impartial to the matchup screaming “why, why, why?” Well, on the bright side, the Tigers have a gimmie against UL-Monroe this Saturday to get things figured out…

Arkansas: 31-34 OT loss to UL-Monroe. Uh, scratch that final sentence of the Auburn wrapup. How the Razorbacks managed to drop a game to a school that went 4-8 in the Sun Belt last year is beyond me, and although the team had several key players go down with injuries in this one, you will never ever be able to convince me that a starter for UL-Monroe is more talented than a backup for Arkansas. The loss sent Arkansas from #8 in the AP Poll to completely out of the rankings (Michigan is the only school to have fallen farther, which happened when they lost to Appalachian State in 2007) and solidifies a theory that the majority of people had already assumed was true: John L. Smith will be one and done in Fayetteville.

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