SEC week 4 recap: Bama reigns supreme
Saban again shows Kirby who his Daddy is, while B&S showed the picks who their Daddy was this week.
By: Bossman Slim, The Waco Kid
Photo: Gary Cosby Jr, The Tuscaloosa News/USA TODAY Sports
The Tide Roooollll over the Dawgs again, while Kentucky and South Carolina notched big upsets. A&M built on their momentum from a top 5 win, and Arkansas continues to impress, bottling up the Lane Train and forcing 6 picks. We tried to change Stetson Bennett’s nickname from “the Mailman” to “Tombstone Bennett” too soon, and found our way into the good graces of Arkansas Twitter for a night.
Another wild weekend - let’s dig into the full recaps.
Early Games
South Carolina 30 - #15 Auburn 22
Feast your eyes upon greatness.
We called our shot and enjoyed taking a victory lap on social media. The South Carolina secondary was in Bo Nix’s head all day, grabbing three picks. Auburn was in control early and held a lead well into the third quarter, but Nix’s bad decision making once again cost the Tigers. The Gamecocks turned his three turnovers into 21 points, the difference in the game. Joe Horn’s son, Jaycee, had a coming out party, showing why he’s considered one of the best corners in the conference, tallying 2 INTs and three tackles. Auburn was able to move the ball through the air as Nix threw for 272 yards, but Auburn had trouble moving the chains on third down. The difference, though, was Nix’s costly mistakes, period.
Credit to South Carolina, though - the Gamecocks capitalized on Auburn’s mistakes. Collin Hill managed this game well, throwing for 144 yards, a TD and one INT. Our guy Shi Smith came through with a big day too, catching 8 of Hill’s 15 completed passes for 76 yards and a highlight reel TD grab. He also added another highlight reel catch that had Twitter ablaze. Not to be outdone, South Carolina has a legit running back in Kevin Harris, who went for 83 yards and two TDs.
According to SEC Network, this is South Carolina’s first win against Auburn since 1933, and they had never beaten the Tigers since entering the SEC in 1991 (0-8). This is a BIG win for the Gamecocks, and it should give them some real momentum.
On the Plains, real questions now swirl. Has Chad Morris lost his touch, and was this a bad hire by Malzahn? Just how warm is Malzahn’s seat? Should Auburn look for a new QB and move on from Bo Nix? While Auburn fans were becoming disgruntled with Nix’s play, the question is now being asked openly by national sportswriters.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. The Tigers have four winnable games coming up, before they get Alabama and Texas A&M to finish the season.
South Carolina gets a chance to keep their momentum going next week against LSU. That game is in Death Valley on ESPN at 7:00 ET. Auburn gets a roughed up Ole Miss squad in Oxford at 12:00 ET on SEC Network.
Kentucky 34 - #18 Tennessee 7
We do not want to say we told you so (again), but we kinda told you so. We picked Kentucky to get the win, but sure didn’t think it would be the blowout it was. But this is a strange, strange season. Jarrett Guarantano seemed to have improved in minimizing interceptions through three games…and then Saturday arrived. What did we say in our preview? “[Kentucky’s] secondary can affect Guarantano.” Well, we knew they could, but they exceeded our expectations. Guarantano threw two pick sixes on back to back drives in the second quarter, and the route was on from there.
Terry Wilson made the big plays when he needed to on Saturday, throwing for 101 yards and a TD, while Chris Rodriguez added 73-yards and a TD on the ground. The story of this Kentucky team thus far is their defense - the defense can win them games, while the offense has to do just enough to pull out wins.
Kentucky gets their first win in Neyland Stadium since 1984. Coach Stoops had himself a time celebrating, and he deserves it. What he has done at Kentucky is nothing short of a miracle, and the program has a solid foundation to continue their success.
Meanwhile, the Tennessee fan base is apoplectic about their quarterback situation. Just see the tweets below. It’s pretty obvious that Guarantano is not the answer. He’s a fifth year senior, so if he isn’t winning, it’s time to look to the future. But next week, the Vols get Alabama...do you start talented freshman Harrison Bailey against the best team in the country? Probably not. Pruitt is between a rock and a hard place here.
Kentucky heads to Columbia to take on Missouri at 4:00 ET on SEC Network. Tennessee gets a cupcake when Alabama comes to town to finish Kentucky’s job of flattening Neyland Stadium. It’s fitting that Halloween is around the corner, because this horror show will not end for Tennessee - this beatdown will be broadcast live on CBS as the SEC game of the week at 3:30 ET.
Bossman Slim
Midday Games
Arkansas 33 - Ole Miss 21
Woooooo Pig Sooie!!! This was the war cry that could be heard echoing through the Ozarks, from Fayetteville down to Fort Smith, after a 33-21 Arkansas victory over Ole Miss. Arkansas shocked the nation by beating a Rebel’s team that held their own against #2 Alabama the prior week. No one believed Arkansas would have a 2-2 record and be ranked third in the SEC West after four weeks of play. Only special guest from B&S and Laura Rutledge saw this as any kind of feasible outcome. Sam Pittman has his Razorback team turned around and looking to make some noise within the conference.
Not only did Arkansas’ defense look like something bred in the SEC West, but Lane Kiffin’s Rebel offense looked like a Jalen Hurts led Oklahoma team playing LSU. The Hog defense forced 7 turnovers including SIX PICKS from Mississippi quarterback, Matt Corral. This impressive statistic left Corral only three picks short of the unbreakable NCAA number of interceptions in a game record. Kudos to him for chasing the record, we respect it. Lane Kiffin has to be worried that his game plan of playing no defense and out-scoring the opponent might not be the best approach at a college not named FAU. Ole Miss running back Jerrion Ealy did produce 112 yards and a touchdown, so #LaneTrain does have that to build off of.
Arkansas’ offense did look a little stagnant at times, but with the return of Rakeem Boyd, seemed to find a red zone attack. In the mountains of the Ozarks, Feleipe Franks’ career has been resurrected from the depths of the Florida Swamp, where many thought it may live forever in infamy. To Arkansas fans Feleipe Franks has been the second coming of Ryan Mallett, another 6’6 quarterback that can sling the ball to different receivers and make tight window passes without hesitation. I mean did you see that touchdown pass to Treylon Burks?! Impressive by both quarterback and receiver. Franks ended the game with 244 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. 137 of those passing yards and the touchdown were all to Treylon Burks, who is proving he might be an elite SEC receiver. Sam Pittman has indeed followed through with his insightful words, “Turn that damn jukebox on.” That jukebox is now blaring and the Razorbacks continue to get down in hopes of an invitation to the big dance.
The Arkansas social media team is the best in the SEC, and it isn’t close.
Arkansas will head to College Station to take on a red hot Texas A&M team who handled Mississippi State this past Saturday. You can catch this game at 7:30 ET on Halloween night. Expect some monstrous play from that scary Aggie defense, but this game is always close so Arkansas might have some hidden tricks of their own. Ole Miss will host Auburn next Saturday at 12:00 ET on the SEC network. We can expect both Bo Nix and Matt Corral to compete to see who can throw more interceptions in a game. With iffy quarterback play from both offenses, this game could be decided by the ground game and Auburn has a pretty good one led by a freshman named Tank Bigsby.
The Waco Kid
#11 Texas A&M 28 - Mississippi State 14
How about that Texas A&M defense? Or the better question: How bad is Bo Pelini? KJ Costello looked like a Heisman candidate against LSU - the QB who has now been benched in two straight games. The Mississippi State offense has been exposed. Leach doesn’t have the personnel yet in Starkville to run his system, but the DNP status of Kylin Hill also hurt Mississippi State. A&M was in the Bulldog backfield all day long, tallying 6 sacks, 8 TFL, 5 QB hurries and forcing two turnovers. It was a historically bad day for a Leach offense.
A&M’s offensive line continued their strong play, allowing no sacks, only one TFL, and bulldozing people off the ball as the Aggies ran for 186-yards and 2 TDs. Kellen Mond’s hot hand cooled down just a bit, throwing for 139-yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT, a pick six that wasn’t really his fault, but a fluke ricochet. But he got the job done. The Aggies have found their man in running back Isaiah Spiller, who went over 100-yards and averaged 6.3 yards-per-carry while adding two TDs on the ground.
Mississippi State has a defense that can keep them in games, but the offense is a mess. With a touchdown drive under his belt against A&M, freshman Will “Wild Bill” Rogers has shown he can do the job. But Leach finds himself wedged between the same rock as Jeremy Pruitt: move on from an older, experienced starter who is underwhelming, or throw a talented freshman to the wolves against Alabama? We’ll bet Costello starts against the Tide on Halloween, but we’re betting Will Rogers takes over for the rest of the season as starter on November 7th against Vanderbilt.
Jeremy Pruitt greets Mike Leach about their impending matchups with Nick Saban.
A&M looks like they really might be turning the corner. Starkville gave them fits in recent years, and Leach is an old thorn in the side from the Big 12 days. Old A&M would have gone to Starkville and fallen victim to the let-down game. Not on Saturday. Texas A&M took care of business in a game they were supposed to win.
Both teams are on a bye next week before A&M takes on upstart Arkansas and Mississippi State takes on the mighty Crimson Tide. Both games are on Halloween.
Bossman Slim
Late Game
#2 Alabama 41 - #3 Georgia 24
Dave in Tuscaloosa has a full recap that will be up tomorrow morning, but we’ll give you a lil’ crumb here.
“The game itself was, as expected, tremendously played and entertaining. One minute into the game, two deflected passes produced interceptions on both sides before Jones hit John ”Oh, Canada” Metchie in stride as Bama jumped out to an early 7-0 lead. But Bennett and company would respond eleven minutes later with a 6-play, 57-yard drive punctuated with Zamir White’s 10 yard touchdown run right through the gut of the Bama defense. Bennett started strong, looking calm and cool in the pocket and would lead the Dawgs on three more scoring drives before halftime. UGA’s defense held their own, making Jones look, for the first time this season, uncomfortable in the pocket, forcing several uncharacteristically hurried throws from the junior gunslinger.”
Check back tomorrow for another home run recap from our man in Crimson and White.
Thanks for reading - we’ll see you back here for our in-depth recaps next week.