After Week 10: How good is Georgia?
We admit it. We followed the bandwagon and predicted that Florida would beat Georgia at the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
After all, Florida was bringing back two of its biggest defensive guns in Zuniga and Grennard. Georgia had been uninventive. Todd Grantham was incredible. Dan Mullen was on the rise, while Kirby was going to the other way. Hell, a former Florida cheerleader yelled at me for having the nerve to tell her that I thought Georgia had a chance. “We’re going to Atlanta!”, she said. And then stomped off when I suggested that Aaron Hernandez was perhaps not The Swamp’s greatest alum.
So with her in mind I laughed my butt off when my prediction went wrong and Georgia came through with the seven-point victory. Grennard himself admitted that he sucked. Georgia actually mixed the pass and run nicely for a change – and returned kicks. Todd Grantham couldn’t work out how to stop the Bulldogs converting on 3rd down, and Kirby Smart looked a far better coach than Dan Mullen.
So if I ever bump into that Florida cheerleader’s again, my first word will be ‘peace’, to save the chance of me producing children.
In other tales, Mississippi State hammered Arkansas, Auburn’s defense once again won a game for Gus Malzahn, Vanderbilt returned to normal at South Carolina, and Tennessee kept the momentum up by hammering UAB.
So here are the rankings:
- LSU (8-0): The Tigers were idle, and outdrank Bye Week 140,000 – 10.
- Alabama (8-0): ‘WE DISRESPECTED BYE WEEK, BUT WE GOT THROUGH IT. WE’VE GOT TO FOCUS!” – Nick Saban. Probably.
- Georgia (7-1): The SEC East is theirs now. And there’s still the chance of a College Football Play-Off. A win against Auburn will certainly help the resume.
- Florida (7-2): They aren’t going to Atlanta. Or the College Football Play-Off. But they could win out and finish in a New Year’s Six Bowl.
- Auburn (7-2): The fanbase hates Gus Malzahn for the inept offense and they are right. They weren’t bad at putting yards up against Ole Miss (507), but won barely. The fact that Bo Nix went 30-44 and the TV guys were saying that it was his best-ever performance in an Auburn shirt was certainly dampening with faint praise. The defense is unreal, though. I feel sorry for Kevin Steele, who must say to his defensive unit: “Sorry guys, but you’re going back out there in a few plays time. Time to rescue the team again.”
- Texas A&M (6-3): The Aggies were horrible in the first half against UTSA, but got going. Still, the first half was utterly painful. But remember folks: THIS IS THE BEST THREE-LOSS TEAM IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL (maybe). Oh, and A&M is bowl-eligible now, which means that they have gotten bowl eligibility before ‘them people from Austin’.
- Kentucky (4-4): Got wasted on bourbon with Bye Week and talked some basketball.
- Tennessee (4-5): Tennessee’s got momentum. After reeling off their third straight victory, there’s a real chance the Vols could get bowl-eligible – and win their next three games (Kentucky, Missouri, Vanderbilt).
- South Carolina (4-5): The Gamecocks beat Vanderbilt and the fans are a little happier now in Gamecock country. Still, getting to bowl eligibility will mean winning two out of App State, Texas A&M and Clemson. That will be hard work for Muschamp’s team, who could end the season having beaten Georgia but not appearing in January.
- Missouri (5-3): It was a tight game against Bye Week that Barry Odom nearly lost, but scraped through with a tie. Need one win out of Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee and Georgia to get bowl-eligible, and it ain’t gonna be against Georgia or Florida. The question around Columbia about whether Barry Odom survives (again) might be if the team goes 2-2. Or even 3-1.
- Ole Miss (3-6): Did a lot of bending but not breaking against Auburn, but just came short. Plumlee’s a fun quarterback to watch, yo. Won’t get to bowl eligibility, but will probably win two out of the next three (New Mexico State, LSU, Mississippi State). Will Matt Luke survive? Maybe.
- Mississippi State (4-5): The Cowbellers put up SIX HUNDRED AND FORTY YARDS in a 54-24 thrashing of Bye Week (sorry, Arkansas). Kylin Hill ran for TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOUR YARDS, which is sensational by anyone’s standards. If there’s a ship to right, that’s the way to do it.
- Vanderbilt (2-6): The momentum has dropped away for the cleverest school in the SEC. Quite rightly, the fanbase should be back calling for Derek Mason’s head – particularly if they don’t win another SEC game (which is totally possible, bearing in mind they’ve got Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee).
- Arkansas (2-7): If you’re not going to fire Chad Morris, Arkansas, then fire John Chavis. NOW. The Razorbacks managed to give up 640 yards to one of the more inept offenses in the SEC. And 47 points to that offense (they gave up a pick-six). The fans are taking some heart from the younger players, but it’s obvious no-one wants to play for the team right now, who need a win over Western Kentucky to avoid having the joint-worst record in school history….with 2018.