B&S Week 12 game by game recaps
By: Bossman Slim
My what a Saturday it was. One game made the entire day of football worth it. The Shoe Game. The Cleat Yeet. The Cleat Defeat. Whatever you want to call it, the improbable LSU win over #6 Florida in The Swamp will go down in SEC infamy. The rest of the slate was blowouts and yawns, but it didn’t matter - the chaos in the foggy Gainesville swamp abyss is why we all love college football (unless you’re a Gator fan - in which case you’ve been sick for days).
Let’s dig into the recaps.
Early Games
#1 Alabama 52 - Arkansas 3
Photo: via @AlabamaFTBL
Dave in Tuscaloosa recaps the Tide trouncing of Arkansas here. You can read a preview of his piece below:
“After a slow start, the Tide led 38-3 at halftime and never looked back. Note: a slow start for Alabama means offensively, the first drive produced a field goal instead of a touchdown and on its second possession, the Tide was stopped on a 4th down. Defensively, Bama gave up some yards, a few first downs, and a field goal in the first quarter...like I’ve said before, the shame of it all.
The Tide offense dug deep into its roster, playing many players and overall had a terrific day, rolling up 443 yards, amassed 24 first downs, and had control of the game the entire way. Mac “Daddy” Jones’ stats look a bit different than in games past, completing a solid 24 of 29 passes for 208 yards and no touchdowns, however, he played a smart game, ran the offense beautifully, and with the Arkansas defense playing a three high and dropping eight into coverage, his patented long ball throws were limited. Jones essentially and effectively took what the defense gave him. Jones showed great patience and oftentimes throughout the contest, found his third or fourth option. His longest completion was for 23 yards to John Metchie, yet the offense controlled the ball with a nice mix of runs and throws. The Tide backfield, behind the best offensive line in college football, ran for 216 yards and five touchdowns (2 from Najees Harris, 2 from Brian Robinson, and a nifty 80-yard touchdown from freshman Jace McClellan with 1:51 remaining in the game). Najee now has rushed for 42 touchdowns in his Alabama career, which ties him for the most in Alabama history with Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson...solid company indeed.
In terms of their statistics, the trio of Jones, Harris, and Smith had pedestrian days as Harris rushed for 46 yards on 14 carries and Smith was held to 22 receiving yards. Yet, it is important to note that the Crimson Tide did not need the trio to have monster games, as Alabama allowed a slew of players to attend the party known as “Tide Dominance on a Typical Saturday.” Nine different players caught a pass, as Jones did a brilliant job of getting many involved in the passing game, and four different backs touted the pigskin for the Tide. There will be talk about today’s numbers and how the Heisman conversation for the trio should be put on hold, yet this should not be the case. Jones had several nifty completions and was efficient, Harris kept the chains moving and crossed the goal line twice, and Smith made the highlight reel with his first punt return for a touchdown, an 84-yard sprint for six in the first quarter that gave the Tide a 10-3 lead, and essentially broke the game open.”
#9 Georgia 49 - #25 Missouri 14
Photo: via @GeorgiaFootball
The Dawgs sure found their stride in this one. Two questions of ours were answered on Saturday. 1) is Georgia for real with JT Daniels and 2) is Missouri for real? Yes, Georgia with JT Daniels is for real. No, Missouri is not for real. They were simply outclassed by a top-tier SEC team.
JT Daniels had a day against this Mizzou defense, posting a 16/27, 299-yard 3 TD 91.5 QBR performance. After an up and down season for George Pickens, he emerged on Saturday as Daniels’ top target. Pickens posted highlights all day, with 5 catches for 126 yards and two TDs, averaging 25.2 yards per reception. But the Dawgs didn’t just have success through the air - they rushed for over 300 yards and 4 TDs as a team and had two rushers go over 100 - Zamir White for 126 and Daijun Edwards for 103.
The Georgia defense did their job as well. Mizzou started off hot, trading punches with Georgia early, as this one just 21-14 UGA at half. But the defense adjusted and settled down in the second half, now allowing Mizzou another score and shutting down the attack led by Connor Bazelak and Larry Rountree III. Just how much did they put down the clamps? Mizzou rushed for just 22 yards, and leading rusher Rountree was only able to muster 16. Bazelak was held to just 139 yards on the day and threw a pick.
Mizzou is up and coming. They have some bright spots from this season that they can build on - but this one made it obvious that they have a long way to go to compete again in the upper echelon of the SEC East. For Georgia, it’s just another data point in the 2020 season, wondering why Kirby Smart didn’t go to JT Daniels sooner.
Missouri ends their season next week in Starkville against Mississippi State at 3:30 ET on SEC Network Alternate. Georgia has a scrimmage against Vanderbilt at noon ET on SEC Network.
Midday Game
Tennessee 42 - Vanderbilt 17
Photo: via @VolFootball
IAlmost called this one - I predicted 38-17. I’m not sure many watched this one, except for the die-hard Vols fans and masochist Vandy fans.
Jeremy Pruitt was able to avoid disaster by handily taking care of the Commodores. The Vols kept the QB competition going with Harrison Bailey and JT Shrout, as both saw similar playing time. Bailey threw for 207 yards and 2 TDs, while Shrout added 90 yards, 2 TDs, and an INT. Velus Jones Jr. caught 7 balls for 125 yards and two TDs, and the rushing attack as a whole went for over 200 yards, with Eric Gray leading the way with 74 yards on 13 carries.
The Tennessee defense bent through the air but didn’t break, allowing 239 yards passing for Vanderbilt QB Ken Seals. They avoided chunk plays though, as Seals was only able to muster a 6.1 average yards per pass play. Vanderbilt was also unable to get any sort of running game going, only rushing for 53 total yards. Tennessee also added a defensive TD when Bryce Thompson hauled in a beautiful one-handed pick-six midway through the second quarter.
Tennessee gets #5 Texas A&M at Neyland Stadium in their season finale next week at noon ET on ESPN. Vanderbilt was going to get smoked by Georgia at noon ET on SEC Network Alternate, but that game has been cancelled.
Late Games
LSU 37 - #6 Florida 34
Photo: via @dabbylax3
What. A. Game. Twists and turns, and the “Shoe Throw Heard Round the World.” Or as social media has taken to calling it in the most 2020 vernacular possible, the “Cleat Yeet.” Games like these are what make college football great.
Credit where it’s due first: LSU showed up. This team has taken its lumps this year, from opt-outs to blowouts, injuries to criticism. This team was a shell of their former 2019-self, and at this point in the year LSU was scraping for guys to trot out on the field. No one really gave the Tigers any shot in this one outside the guys in that locker room. And together, they pulled off the upset of the year.
LSU’s defense was expected to get torched by the lauded Gators’ offense. It was not so. LSU affected Kyle Trask and co. all night, as the Gators never seemed like they were fully comfortable. Trask threw for his typical 400 yards and a pair of TDs, but he also threw two costly picks, one to Eli Ricks who took it 68-yards to the house, and another one on the ensuing drive to Jay Ward when the Gators were in the red zone.
The biggest play of the game though came when LSU was driving late. With the game tied at 34 and two minutes to go, Florida got a big stop on 3rd and 10 near midfield. At the end of the play, LSU’s Kole Taylor had a cleat come off, and Gators DB Marco Wilson decided to launch it 20 yards in other direction. Flags flew immediately, and instead of LSU likely punting, it was an automatic first down for the Tigers. LSU ran a few more plays before Cade York hit a booming 57-yard kick to give LSU a 37-34 lead with 23 seconds left. The Gators had one more shot and got close enough for a 51-yard field goal, which kicker Evan McPherson missed as time expired.
There were many heroes for LSU, but freshman QB Max Johnson deserves a shout out, throwing for 239 yards and three TDs and no interceptions, and also added 52 yards rushing. Cade York is obviously next on the list for the absolute bomb of a kick for the game winner.
LSU social media has been taking victory lap after victory lap, clipping quotes from GameDay and from the ESPN crew of Matt Barrie, Joey Galloway and Jesse Palmer who were laughing before the game that LSU was going to get rocked.
College football is a great sport, Dan Wolken. LSU finishes their season next weekend in Baton Rouge against the Fightin’ Lane Kiffin’s at 3:30 ET on SEC Network. Florida meets the mighty Tide for the SEC Championship at 8:00 ET on CBS.
Auburn 24 - Mississippi State 10
In what would prove to be Gus Malzahn’s final game as the head coach of the Auburn Tigers, it was a low scoring affair between two coaches who are known for offense. 2020 has not been kind on that side of the ball to either team.
This one was 6-3 Auburn at the half, but the Tigers did enough to win in the end, mostly thanks to the efforts of Tank Bigsby, who rushed for 192 yards. Bo Nix threw a nice touchdown pass to Seth Williams that helped the Tigers pull away in the fourth quarter, but other than that, it was another pedestrian game behind center for number 10. For Mississippi State, Will Rogers was able to muster 221 yards and a TD, but threw two INTs along with that. It wasn’t much of his fault though, as Auburn was in the backfield all night, ending up with six sacks.
After this one, Auburn decided to move on from the Gus Malzahn era and enter the unknown of the coaching carousel. As of now, we don’t have a great idea as to who the coach will be. But what we do know is this: Malzahn ran the Auburn program with integrity, and he’s a leader of young men that most schools would be proud to have. The public shows of support from his players said as much. Coaching is a cutthroat business, and being measured next to Nick Saban every year is hardly fair. We’ll see if Auburn can find the man to take them to Alabama/Georgia type heights of 10-11 win seasons year in and year out.
Auburn’s season is finished, while Mississippi State takes on Missouri in their regular season finale at 3:30 ET on SEC Network-Alternate.
Bossman Slim