B&S week 8 game by game recaps
Arkansas, Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Ole Miss rolled this past weekend. Blowout city across the SEC.
By: Bossman Slim, The Hammer, The Waco Kid
The Rebels had a lot to celebrate Saturday afternoon during a picturesque football atmosphere in Oxford. Photo via @OleMissFB
Outside the SEC, chaos continued its reign in 2021. Inside the conference, it was a rather humdrum week as the unexpected did not materialize. The favorites took care of business, setting up showdowns on the slate for week 9.
Let’s check in on how the crew fared this week:
The Hammer: 5-0; 59-14 overall
Bossman Slim: 5-0; 58-15 overall
The Waco Kid: 4-1; 58-15 overall
Bossman continues his hot streak, and The Waco Kid drops one after he picked LSU to take down the Lane Train. How about those records? It’s going to be a barn burner to the finish line to see who takes the B&S crown this year.
Early Game
Arkansas 45 - Arkansas Pine-Bluff 3
Bossman Slim: Not much to say about this one. Arkansas played an in-state program for the first time in forever (they refuse to play Arkansas State for fear of getting beat) and took care of business. It was 45-0 at halftime and the Hogs just bled the clock in the second half, not scoring a point in the 3rd or 4th. A good win for the Hogs who head into their bye week before an important matchup with Mississippi State.
The Hammer: Good win for a spiraling Arkansas team. I figured they would dominate a 1-5 FCS team and they did just that. Not sure what you can take away from this game other than the Hogs were able to end their three game losing streak and hopefully find some confidence moving forward. Their remaining games are not easy, but they have a real chance to win 8 games, which would be awesome considering where this program was after Chad Morris did his best to run it into the ground.
Midday Games
#12 Ole Miss 31 - LSU 17
Bossman Slim: When it was 7-0 LSU after the first, I tweeted “Watch Coach O go on a tear to end the year and make LSU eat that 17 mil during a 9-3 year.” And then the second quarter happened and Ole Miss went up 17-7 and it was obvious Coach O would not beat his former employer. So then I tweeted this, but I’m still getting dragged by LSU Twitter for tweeting positive things about their lame-duck coach, who they’ve all turned on. SUE ME. Ole Miss is a top 10 team and has a legitimate chance to win out, but November will not be easy. Matt Corral was a star again, notching a passing and rushing TD, while the defense kept the LSU run game in check, holding them to just 77 yards on the ground. Big win for Ole Miss, who now gets a tough Auburn team on the road next week.
The Hammer: Interim Coach O did not make a splash this weekend. We all wondered what LSU would look like down the stretch after it became official that Orgeron would be gone after the year, and I think we got our answer: not great. Give the Ole Miss defense credit for stopping the LSU run game, something Florida inexplicably could not do the week before, as the Rebels held LSU to 77 rushing yards on just 2.2 yards per carry. The blueprint is out on LSU now because without Boutte on the outside, if you can stop the Tigers rushing attack, they don’t have much. Max Johnson had his worst outing of the year going 13/21 for 146 yards and one interceptions before freshman Garrett Nussmeier took over in relief. A big reason why Johnson struggled, outside of the lack of weapons, was the Ole Miss pass rush who notched 5 sacks and 7 tackles for loss. Heisman hopeful Matt Corral had another efficient day, but the Rebels leaned more on their running backs this weekend, showing they can move the ball in a multitude of ways, as Snoop Connor ran for 117 yards and Jerion Ealy added another 97. Ole Miss continues to show they are a legit top 10 team.
Mississippi State 45 - Vanderbilt 6
Bossman Slim: I said this on the POMcast - I thought Mississippi State would come out swinging in this one and cover the spread. And that’s exactly what they did, giving no quarter to the Commodores. After getting shelled by Alabama last week, it was State’s turn to beat up on a lesser opponent. Cowboy Will Rogers is a dadgum gun flinger, going 41/57 for 384 yards and 4 TDs, and the Bulldog defense stifled the Vandy offense all night. A nice win for Mississippi State, who gets a tough Kentucky team next week in Starkville.
The Hammer: The Mike Leach and Mississippi State experience continues to be a wild one. Some weeks they look like a top 25 team who can hang with anyone, and others they lose to Bama by 40 or lose to a Memphis team that is now 4-4. I can’t figure them out, but this week was one of their good ones. The Bulldogs completely annihilated Vanderbilt in every facet of the game. They outgained the Commodores 522 to 155 on the night and the game was over by half time. While Vanderbilt is not a good team by any stretch, this was an impressive rebound for Mississippi State after the loss to Alabama because of how thoroughly they whipped Vandy. Good win for Leach and the gang, now we’ll see if they can give Kentucky trouble next weekend.
Late Games
#4 Alabama 52 - Tennessee 24
Bossman Slim: Tennessee put up more of a fight than I expected, but in the end, Alabama covered the spread and made this one a beat down. They let the Vols have some hope, and then ran over them like a bulldozer in the cruelest way possible. Make no mistake, Tennessee is rising, they just don’t have the horses or the depth to compete at the top half of the conference right now. But keep an eye on the Vols...give Heupel a few years to recruit and this team will be dangerous. Bama takes care of business for their 15th straight win over Tennessee and continues their march towards Atlanta.
The Hammer: This final score here was similar to what I predicted, but how we arrived there is not what I anticipated. Tennessee was in this game until Alabama pulled away late with 28 4th quarter points. Give the Vols a ton of credit because I did not see this game being 31-24 in the 4th quarter. Josh Heupel has done an incredible job this season when you consider the complete mess he took over from Jeremy Pruitt with what seemed like half the roster transferring during the offseason. Hendon Hooker can play ball and this team will not be an easy win for anyone down the stretch. On the Alabama side, it was just another day at the office in a lot of ways. Sure the game was closer than many anticipated, but they pulled away late to cover, and dominated statistically. I know some Alabama fans weren’t happy with the defense, but the Tide tightened things up as the game went on and only allowed 24 points and 382 total yards to a high powered Vols offense. This is not the 2020 Alabama team, but they have a very good chance of winning out and going to Atlants so calm down Tide fans.
#17 Texas A&M 44 - South Carolina 14
Bossman Slim: Great teams are supposed to impose their will on you and crush lesser teams. Texas A&M is coming into their own right now, doing both of those things on Saturday night against South Carolina. The Gamecocks are now 0-8 against Texas A&M. The Aggies controlled this game in all three phases - a dominating defense held USC to 0 points and just 6 (YES, SIX) total yards through three quarters before the backups got some PT, they added special teams TD from Ainias Smith, and the offense got everyone involved. South Carolina shows again just how big of a rebuild job this is for Shane Beamer.
The Hammer: This was an old fashioned ass whooping in College Station. Texas A&M dominated from the opening kick and obliterated the Gamecocks. Zeb Noland was hit so hard at one point I’m 99% sure he was knocked out cold as his body went limp while he came crashing to the ground. I’m not sure what South Carolina’s concussion protocol consists of, but Noland remained in the game after that hit. Unfortunately, his toughness was not rewarded and the Aggies continued to beat South Carolina into submission. Texas A&M imposed their will on both lines of scrimmage as they recorded 7 tackles for loss and 3 sacks on defense, while rushing for 290 yards on offense. South Carolina had 6 total yards of offense after three quarters before finally finding some room once A&M pulled their starters. South Carolina isn't very good, but that is exactly what elite teams are supposed to do when they play a bad team. A&M is not elite yet, but they are looking like a team that could win the remainder of their games and sneak into a New Years 6 bowl game.