Part of the appearance of this being a down week is with the strength of the top four teams it appears that their regular seasons are over.  Next week Florida has FSU and Alabama has Auburn, the Seminoles and Tigers can score but neither team has a defense that will scare you.

Another reason is many teams have had disappointing seasons like Tennessee at 5-5 who plays Vanderbilt.  You look at the reactions by Lane Kiffin when he suffers some sort of emotional defeat is to lash out at Florida and Urban Meyer, where he wants his team to be.  Simple immature psychology, if I can’t be that good I can tear them down in my mind so I’ll feel like I’m already on that level if not above.

What ever makes your Kiffin boat float, babyface.

ON with the Ball Games….

Noonish

#10hio O State @ Michigan - the tradition of this game has taken a huge hit.  How long before Michigan starts thinking about a new coach?

Mississippi State @ Arkansas - Could be interesting, will the Hogs have too much fire power for the DanDogs?  Or is it the Mullen’s Mutts right now?

1:00

Memphis @ #24 Houston - might be interesting.

2:30

Connecticut @ Notre Dame NBC - Game of the day.  Lets face it Charley’s hole is dug, the coffin has been lowered, this game will shovel the dirt in.

3:30

#8 LSU @ Mississippi CBS - Which Mississippi team will show up this week?

7:00-on

Vanderbilt @ Tennessee - Can the Vols emotionally rebound.

#25 Cal @ #17 Stanford - five Pac-10 teams in the top 25, Oregon has to lose to help these two teams have a shot at the Rose.

Kentucky @ Georgia - two 6-4 SEC East teams try to improve their seasons

Kansas State @ Nebraska - this game has something to do with the Big 12

#11 Oregon at Arizona - this game has something to do with the Rose Bowl

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GkWiahmO4A[/youtube]

Just a few days after two Tennessee Vols Nu’Keese Richardson and starting safety Janzen Jackson were kicked off the team for their involvement in an armed robbery at a gas station a third freshman DB Nyshier Oliver was arrested on game day for shop lifting of all places at Dillard’s. Oliver a 4-star recruit was committed to Notre Dame but changed his mind ending up in Tennessee’s class.

Nyshier Oliver Item

Florida Gator head coach Urban Meyer talked about an early signing period in football, his biggest concern was it would take away from their time of getting to know the kid getting to know what kind of person they are.

So the maturation process for Lane Kiffin continues. His daddy is there to help him and his second daddy Mike Slive isn’t that far away. As in any program you can bet most of the kids at UT are great kids, a few bad apples can make the barrel look bad, but if removed in time the barrel will be OK.

Other Gator News - Florida got a commitment from 4-star cornerback Joshua Shaw out of Palmdale, California.  He’s a corner prospect with good size.  Florida’s recruiting seems to be going really well.

But he isn’t there and people can only wonder what will go on between now and the Alabama game.  One thing has already taken place, Carl Johnson moved inside to give us more push in the middle, he did miss a block on fourth and short against South Carolina.  Tebow came up short but it’s good that sort of thing happens now rather than against Bama.

So the Gators essentially have 3 weeks to prepare for Bama.

As for FSU there is no way in hell a freshman QB playing in only his 3rd game is going to have success against our defense. And as bad as their defense is it’s hard to believe that they will stop our offense, even with all the problems. No one can imagine Tebow being upset in his final home game.

You have to wonder if Greg Reid regrets his decision now. He would have played this year, no he wouldn’t have started but next year he would have been a superstar, at corner and return man, on a national title contender. Now he is playing for a program that is going to be bad for years to come.

With these two games remaining it is debatable how Tebow should play. The Heisman thing do you push for an opportunity to put up huge numbers the next couple of weeks and perhaps he can sit out the 4th quarters.

Does he need rest? If he does just sit him out the FIU game he will win or lose the Heisman when he plays Alabama.

But the eye will be on the bigger prize so you’d have to think Meyer is more concerned about the needs of the team, to work on timing and the starters should play for 2 to 3 quarters to work out the kinks, see Carl Johnson comment above.

This has been a strange season, there is still time for improvement, Georgia seemed to be the only game the Gators jelled in and yet that game still felt a bit restrained in some aspects.

Looking back the Tenn game was disrupted by the flu bug, then you had the Tebow concussion and he didn’t practice for a couple of weeks, players have been in and out with injuries, continuity will not be written to describe the Gator offense of 2009.

Certainly a kid like Xavier Nixon needs the work. You can coach speak all you want but you’ll never convince me the coaches don’t start looking at Bama this week.

I’m a man who’s afraid of injuries. FSU if they can’t beat us perhaps they’ll try to make is easier for Bama to get that job done. This just might be the last game ever for Coach Mickey Andrews, a Gator insider told me years ago when he was the secondary coach at Florida for Coach Charlie Pell they were always on him because his secondary was getting flagged so often for unnecessary roughness.  Will he pull out all the stops?

So Meyer will run a fine edge sword against FSU, Tebow’s last Gator home game.  How long do you keep him in if the Gators get the big lead?  You don’t want him injured in the 4th quarter of a blow-out.

And get this we have to beat Alabama because it looks like the loser of the SEC Championship game will get TCU.  Neither Florida nor Alabama will want to be in that game, you don’t want to be a bride’s maid against a team like TCU who will be sky high with everything to prove.

There is much to think about, much this staff and team can and will work on, much we all can hope for between now and the end of our season.  We have a home and home then The Game for The Game.

Hot on the heals of the big three are some outstanding 10-0 football teams this year in TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State.  And hot on their heals is a fine 10-1 Georgia Tech team.  And look at the #8 spot, Pitt sits there at 9-1, with 9-2 Ohio State and 8-2 LSU knocking on the door.  Who says the games wouldn’t count in a playoff system?  Hockypuck!

One thing for sure, whoever loses from here on out will not make the BCS Championship game.  If Texas trips or Florida and Alabama prior to the SEC Championship game, they’re out.

Florida’s win over South Carolina was another 10-point workman like road victory in their grind toward a perfect season (UF and Bama is shaping up to be the “Perfect Storm”).  The Gators have had four such wins:  23-13 over Tennessee, 13-3 at LSU, 29-19 at Mississippi State, 24-14 over South Carolina.  All of those games could have been much worse.

Speaking of the top teams Charlie Weis isn’t in that party although he hoped to be included just a few weeks ago.  Have to feel for Coach Weis, but the Fighting Cheeseburgers are a lousy football team.  He is responsible and should be replaced.

One thing that drove this man’s bus was the national reaction to Weis in his first season versus Urban Meyer.

Lets face it our media is as responsive from week to week as a sixteen year old gurl meeting her idol pop star for the first time. Someone, some team has a big game they bat their eyes and fight to stay on their feet when their legs go weak, like our national media seldom do they stand back and look at a body of work.

Have we become a sighthound society, is our RAM low?  (Random Access Memory)

That’s it we need more RAM.  Hey someone should make a cereal and call it RAM, put some chocolate and a little caffeine in it, add milk and WHAM you can remember what happened last week!

An opening like the Notre Dame job can cause two to three more openings.  Especially when you look at who the Irish will go to first, guys like Urban Meyer who wouldn’t even talk about it till the end of the season, think he’s 150% all Gator now, turning down the Irish will prove it.  Mostlikely the next Irish coach will be Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly, possibly Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson or Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh.

The nice jobs like the BCS schools like Georgia Tech, Florida and Stanford cause that ripple effect because 80% of the coaches would die for a shot at those schools, perhaps over 95% at a school like Florida or Notre Dame.  Those kind of high exposure jobs just don’t come along that often.

Bob Davie said, “To hire the best you have to pay the best.”

How true. And the big schools do just that.

Not sure that Pitt is a great team but they are tough, they are a team that Dave Wannstadt can be very proud of.  This is his best job and in college football you have a lot more ties to the game emotionally speaking.  They are stingy on defense and have a pain in the butt offense that can throw well and has two fine darting running backs.

Pitt’s the bottom team of the top eight and they have a tough finish to try to get to ten wins this week they go Virginia and finish the season the week after hosting #5 Cincinnati.  Funny how a team becomes really strong and you type their name out rather than Cincy?

There are many teams who are deserving of a playoff season this season.  It has been a fine football year, not a lot of big upsets with so many undefeated teams.  It’s a year of the haves and have nots.

And with two games left some things will still be played out.  Word on the streets is no one wants to play TCU.

You look at Florida, their three on the road 10-point vistories look really large right now. Being a Gator fan this man doesn’t fret much over those who will be closed out, it isn’t right but my heart can’t fight much for something that so favors your team.

Whatever that says it is true.  Not something anyone wants to hear.

But there is a message to President Obama.

Mr. President you want a playoff?  Investigate the college presidents and what they get from these powerful bowls that’s the secret to the headlock they now hold on college football where the vast majority of people dream of some type of playoff system and a few stand between it.  Just follow the money, gifts and perks.

I remember the game two years ago when Florida destroyed the Gamecocks. Tim Tebow put on a show that boosted him to the Heisman Trophy after Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon fell out of contention after suffering an injury.

In that win, Dunlap got his first career sack, for a loss of 10 yards. He also had a quarterback hurry against the Gamecocks, the team he almost decided to join out of high school.

Dunlap is from North Charleston, only a couple of hours from Columbia. He looked very excited after the game and he celebrated with all of his family and friends who were in attendance, as if realizing he made the correct decision on where to play college football.

Dunlap was named Defensive MVP of the 2009 FedEx BCS National Championship Game, prompting many NFL draft experts to predict he would be a top-ten draft pick after this season. So far, he hasn’t exactly lived up to those expectations.

I felt like that is about to change after seeing the energy he had last week against Vanderbilt.

With his parents and a lot of family and friends in the stands today in Columbia, I predict Dunlap will have his best game of the season today.

That works when you have the talent, any coach can look good with the talent. With the talent and your team plays very poorly that is when the finger can be pointed at a coach.

So the Bulls got the crap beat out of them.  Leavitt has brought them a long ways, can he take the next step?

Tonight

#25 WVa vs #5 Cincy ESPN2 – Have to go with Cincy, but this should be a nice game. WVa has the weapons to go toe to toe with this fine Cincy team. It’s 7 to 7 now, Cincy just had their first fumble of the year, they are 9-0. Still think Cincy wins.

BCS

Of the Top Three only possible trap games are Alabama and Florida, Texas will beat the hell out of Baylor. As much as this man investigated Stephen Garcia it doesn’t mean he might walk out and have the game of his career. That seems to have happened to the Gators many times in the past. Guys who couldn’t hit the toilet from the sink come out and look all-pro against the Mighty Gators.

But the team that actually stands a great chance tomorrow is Mississippi State. In 2008 the Tide rolled over the Bulldogs 32-7, in 2006-07 State won 24-16 and 17-14. This season the Bulldogs might be the best team with a losing record in college football. They lost at Auburn when the Tigers were hot 49-24. They lost a very tough game at home against LSU 30-26, they were at the goal line and turned away in that one. Houston was next they dropped that one 31-24. Another home game with Florida that was 29-19 and really the only two TDs they scored were a pair of pick-six they got off of Tebow. They have some strength on defense if Bama is flat from the LSU game this one could get interesting.

#1 Florida at South Carolina 3:30 CBS
#2 Alabama at Mississippi State 7:00 ESPN
#3 Texas at Baylor 12:00

Best Game Perhaps?

#16 Utah at #4 TCU 7:30 – Incredibly this game isn’t on TV? Utah only lost one game to Oregon 31-24 way back on September 19th, the Utes are 8-1, 5-0 in the Mountain West while TCU is 9-0 and 5-0 in the Mountain West. Would like to know why this game isn’t on TV? Haven’t seen TCU play and really would like too. This is unbelievable.

Games of Interest…

Tennessee at Mississippi 12:00 CBS – Will Dog the Bounty Hunter need to go to this one? This might be a good game, think the Vols could win big depends on which Mississippi team shows up? Is there more than one???

FSU at Wake Forest 12:00 ESPNU – One of these teams will take a step toward a possible bowl game the other will be out of it. Wake Forest has been dam close to a really nice season other than their game with Clemson, the last two against Miami and Georgia Tech were very tight. Look for Wake to win this one.

Kentucky at Vanderbilt 12:21 – Vandy plays hard they have a good defense, this could be a great game because Kentucky at 5-4 really needs it to get to 6-wins. They close out at Georgia and back home with Tennessee.

Lousy Game Alert

#10 Iowa at #11 Ohio State 3:30 ABC – Iowa lost it all last week in their 17-10 loss to Northwestern. They cannot overcome the loss of their QB Ricky Stanzi. Ohio State should win this one BIG along with the Big 11…

More Games of Interest

Auburn at Georgia 7:00 ESPN2 – See if Auburn has anything left in their tank. This one should be a fairly evenly matched game. What is going on with the Bulldogs?

Notre Dame at #12 Pittsburg 8:00 ABC – Can the Fighting Cheeseburgers save Coach Charlie Whopper’s job? Or will the Pitt Panthers ‘have it their way’ and go all the way with their order? Not sure if Dave Wannstedt will super size it or not, but think he does the happy meal on ole Charlie Weis. Seems fitting these two guys started their college head coaching careers against each other four years ago, Wannstedt is making slow but steady progress while Weis is about to be charbroiled.

Want to start with the rankings of defenses in the SEC and look at how Garcia did in those games.  Ommitted below is South Carolina the 4th ranked defense and 5th ranked SEC defense LSU because they don’t play the Gamecocks.  The first two columns are the teams South Carolina plays and the yards per game they allow, after that it’s GTD (Garcia TDs thrown), INTs (Garcia’sinterceptions), YDs (Garcia’s yards against that team), % (Garcia’s completion precentage) and PER (Garcia’s Passing Eficiency Rating against that team).

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The chart above you can see the progression in the final column from the bottom up Garcia’s Passing Eficiency gets worse as the quality of defense he faces rises.  It almost holds true with his completion percentage.

This is huge when it comes to telling the tail of South Carolina in 2009.  South Carolina is dead last in the conference in rushing offense with 121 yards per game ten yards behind the 11th ranked team in the SEC Georgia, the Cocks are ranked 91st in the nation in rushing offense.  They depend on throwing the ball like vintage Spurrier to open up the run.

Florida leads the conference in passes Intercepted with 15.

If Garcia could have hit 110 or higher against Alabama the Gamecocks probably win that game it was that close.  But they don’t have the blocking, Garcia gets hurried and his accuracy suffers as does his ability to spot the open receiver down field he just doesn’t have the time.

What does this all mean?  Garcia’s chances this weekend against the Gators were slim and none, after further investigation none just left town.

Swampie thinks another snowball has melted.

FSU’s Christian Ponder separated his right shoulder in the loss to Clemson Saturday.  Highly acclaimed redshirt freshman E.J. Manuel will get his first start against Wake Forest.  Manuel is 1 for 4 for 4 yards this season.

Manuel has had time to get ready but he’s going into a difficult situation at best.  FSU at 4-5 last three games are at 4-6 Wake Forest, home against 2-7 Maryland and at 9-0 Florida.  The Seminoles have to win two of those games to get to 6-6 and become bowl eligible.

FSU’s defense is lacking this season.  They are 106th in total defense allowing 434.89 yards per game, the Gators are 2nd to Texas, allowing 232.44 yards per game 1.66 more than the Longhorns. The Noles are 99th in the country in scoring defense allowing 30.89 points pre game (the same as they average scoring) to Florida at #1 allowing only 10.11 points per mauling.

Ponder has carried FSU with a 147.71 passing efficiency, he’s 17th in the country.  For some perspective Tim Tebow is 8th with 156.59, Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen mark is 162.88 he’s 3rd in the country.

One interesting point is FSU tied at 29th in scoring with Alabama, they score 30.89 ponts per game.  The Gators are at 35.00 points per outing and tied for 11th with Auburn and Fresno State.

Not sure where to look but FSU’s defense is as bad as this man can ever remember.  Don’t see how they can possibly beat the Gators two weeks from this coming Saturday nor help Bobby’s overall win record next season, they have no spear and their old horse is about to be put out to retirement.

So what about South Carolina’s Snowball’s Chance?

This is a game Gators shouldn’t lose even though the Gamecocks have some players and a decent defense.

D - defense, O - offense

Left out passing stats, Tebow as mentioned above is 8th in passing efficiency while Stephen Garcia is 67th with a 126.81.  Garcia has 13 TDs and 6 INTs while Tebow has 11 and 4.  Tebow completes 10% more passes than Garcia who is at 55%, Tebow is 65%.

Florida just does everything better than South Carolina.  Shoot the Gators don’t punt the ball often enough to have stats in the NCAA ratings, that requires a minimum of 3.6 per game.

With that said this still could be an interesting game.  Florida hasn’t been taking many risks lately and South Carolina run defense isn’t bad, it just isn’t real good.  They are almost even in time of possession 31 minutes for the Gators 30 for the Cocks, turnovers lost 13 for the Gators 14 for the Chickens.

The Gators allow 2.44 sacks per game that’s 83rd in the nation and that’s not good.  South Carolina is worse they allow 2.70 sacks per game and are tied at 100th with Northwestern.  Neither team wants to be in a passing situation on third down although Tebow leads the Gators in rushing with 578 yards, Garcia has 103 yards a 1.3 yards per carry average.  Tebow gets 3.7 per carry.

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Florida just has a better football team as evidenced by their scoring offense 11th in the country with 35 points per game and their scoring defense #1 in the country allowing a stingy 10.11 points per.  South Carolina allows 20.4 and averages scoring 21.3 that means they average .9 points better than they give.

See mistakes playing a huge roll in this game and see the Gators making less of them.

Florida seems to be 24 points better than South Carolina, SC allows 10 points more scoring per game and the Gators average 14 more scoring per game.  Not sure it turns out that way but could see something like 33 - 9.   So that’s the score this man will go with Gators 33 South Carolina 9.

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This man is deeply impressed with Jeff Demps this year.  He’s shown durability, maneuverability, great instincts, to go along with his tremendous speed and acceleration.  He is a better back than I thought him to be, very high on Chris Rainey’s ability to find something or make something happen, didn’t think Demps was on that same level but do now, absolutely.  We are blessed to have Jeff Demps, Rainey and the Mooo.  Now if they can talk the Pouncey twins to return for one more season.

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After South Carolina this man hopes….

FIU and FSU are Florida’s last two games at home and they don’t stand a chance.  You’d have to ask yourself is there something the Gators could do for the end of their season, end being the SEC Championship and Bowl game?  Especially the SEC Championship.

This man thinks there is.

First major job is to shore up the pass blocking.  It hasn’t been good since Matt Patchan went down.  Back in the preseason Swampie suggested they move their best lineman Maurkice Pouncey out to left tackle.  Looking at Mount Cody wouldn’t you want big Carl Johnson inside to help prevent Bama from a big push up the middle.  It just seems a lot of pressure on Tim Tebow has come from the left side.

If Deonte Tompson or any other wide receiver is making late seasons strides I wouldn’t show it till Bama.

Offensive tackle is the position Big Carl Johnson wants to play at the next level but he just isn’t built for it, he has the body of an all-Pro guard.  If you put Pouncey out there at the end of the season and he looks good it might lure him back for another season to play there in the hopes of getting those big bucks in the NFL.

Just some thoughts here.

Alabama probably faces the toughest task, Mississippi State has played a lot of people tough including the Gators.  They get Alabama after the LSU game and it’s at their place.  Alabama also has to go to Auburn at the end of the season but suspect Auburn just won’t have enough defense to slow Bama’s running game down.

Below are final opponents of the top three.  Pr is Power ratings, to get an idea of this Vanderbilt has a power rating of .547, or 103rd in the nation out of 121 teams.  The Gators sluggishly beat them Saturday 27-3.  Beside each team is their record, Alabama, Florida and Texas are all 9-0.  Below the record is the score of the ly (last years) meeting if the two teams played the year before.  As you see blow all the teams played last season by the top three were clobbered.

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While Alabama and Florida will play each other in the SEC Championship game, Texas looks to play Kansas State the current leader of the Big 12 North division at 4-2 and headed for a showdown with 3-2 Nebraska in the last game of the season. K State is 6-4 at this time and if they get by Missouri and Nebraska the best they can be before facing a more than likely 12-0 Texas team is 8-4.

Safe bet is for Texas to be 13-0 looking to face the winner of the SEC. It is highly unlikely any of these teams lose before the end of the season.
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SCREWING THE GATORS an SEC and National TRADITION
1 - Urban Meyer fined $30,000.00, Lane Kiffin flapps lips Mike Slive slaps Meyer.
2 - First SEC title stripped.
3 - 1984 NCAA penalties only one school was more harshly dealt with.
4 - Second SEC would be title ineligible because of unproven allegations over $200.00
5 - Darnell Dockett is poo poo’d by national media while Brandon Spikes is vilified.
- add your own where the Gators got shafted below…
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Final Point on Brandon Spikes.

On Saturday someone pointed out when their is an eye gouge that the player gouged gets up off the field infuriated, that didn’t happen with Georgia running back Washaun Ealey who said he didn’t think Spikes should miss a game over it.

But in the Vanderbilt game ESPN just couldn’t leave it alone. During the broadcast they pulled up a poll taken the day of the outrage over Spike’s YouTube film of the incident. This poll people said what Spikes did was worse than Blount’s punch and charging the crowd after the game was over, the poll went 60/40. But this was before Spikes came out and took himself out of the game. What sickened many in the Gator Country chatroom was why even show that?

I deeply respect ESPN but they are far from perfect, this was classless in my opinion. Next they showed Herschel Walker trucking some Gators. A couple of us said oh great now show Run Lindsey Run…

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Had FSU Joined the SEC?

Watching the FSU - Clemson game it hit me how the Seminoles would have changed the SEC and what would the SEC have done for them. Over the years FSU came down to the level of the ACC and this man thinks perhaps the ACC has improved it’s recruiting.

Couldn’t help but wonder about what might have happened to FSU had they joined the SEC. I am sure they would have requested in being in the SEC West with the chance to play Alabama, LSU and Auburn each year. Not to mention it would put them in a division opposite of the Gators.

But it would have killed the Florida - LSU game once they went to one fixed divisional opponent which increased the regularity divisional teams would face each other from twice every eight years to twice every six.

Who would the league take Arkansas or South Carolina? If Arkansas who would remain in the SEC West and who would go? That would most likely cause a huge fight with Auburn being moved cause they’d want the home and home with Alabama and where would that put Tennessee?

You have to figure in that the league didn’t go to one fixed opponent from the other division for a while they began with two. South Carolina would have been the easy choice looking back at it.

Would FSU have been better off? Am sure the Seminole recruiting would have picked up through the Southeastern States although they seemed to do well in Florida and along the Atlantic coast for a while. They would have had to do better at recruiting linemen to keep up in the SEC, one of their big issues lately.
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Percy Harvin at the Vanderbilt game…

Mark Mark Schlabach talked with Harvin and the explosive playmaking Gator said Tim Tebow was getting hit too much. He said they have to protect Tebow. This was the same thing Bob Davie was saying in the booth, that Florida’s pass blocking was a weak spot.

Being able to get the ball out to a playmaker like Harvin was a key for the Gators big offense last year, that and two fifth-year offensive bookends in Jason Watkins and Phil Trautwein.  Many optimistic Gator fans felt we’d be as good if not better on the OL, well you don’t replace guys like Watkins and Trautwein with inexperienced players at that position and expect improvement.

You look at top guys like A.J. Green at Georgia, Damian Williams at Southern Cal, Terrance Toliver, Brandon LaFell and Jarrett and at LSU, Julio Jones at Alabama - The Gators tried to get all of those guys.  The top guy they got Andre Debose got hurt.

The big one I dream about is Damian Williams, had Houston Nutt not lured him away with his crap, can you imagaine Williams on one side and Riley Cooper on the other.  As it is for the first time Brandon James actually showed flashes exactly what we need at Percy’s old position.  He didn’t try to dance, he didn’t try to be picky he just displayed that excellent excelleration, it seems there are different styles for a kick/punt return guy vs a spread option slot man.

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Meyer’s Best Job Yet at Florida

If you continue from the discussion just above this man believes this is the best coaching job yet by Urban Meyer at Florida.  Well guess this is a projection, it has become difficult for this man to see the Gators beating Alabama and Texas if that happens Meyer deserves coach of the year, Tim Tebow the Heisman yada yada.

Florida is weak in pass blocking and low on productive WRs.  The late developement of Brandon James and continued developement of Deonte Thompson are key to the Gators end year success. They need just one other guy to take the focus off of Riley Cooper and TE Aaron Hernandez and the running game.

Not sure how they help the blocking schemes against teams like Alabama and Texas if they get past the Tide.  Florida has recruited well at offensive line they have some pups who’ll grow up and be very good.

But seemingly having a guy like Percy Harvin hurt them.  Hopefully they’ll get Debose back and they are recruiting several guys with great athletic skills who should help shore up their recieving corps.  With a QB like John Brantley it’s hard to image kids not wanting to be here for two years of that.

Florida and Alabama will meet in the SEC Championship game and now it’s a very real chance of a historic meeting with both undefeated.  But gone will be any opportunity of any more jabs by the coaches at each other or the officiating because First Comrade Mike Slive has mandated it so.  Violators will be dealt with severely.

Nick Saban nor Urban Meyer or any other SEC coach can take a chance at some good fun like Steve Spurrier used to always do because some stinker might hear it wrong and demand them to write a nice fat check.

What country do we live in. This man is not a big fan of Lane Kiffin but loved the way he stirred things up, he added some spice to this conference again. He helped make it alive. In that aspect he was great for the conference, the Tennessee fans love him.

But not the anal retentive Slive, they’ve got to get rid of this person. The SEC doesn’t need his crap.

We are the league of the very best group of football coaches in the world. You take Urban Meyer, Nick Saban, Les Miles, Mark Richt, Steve Spurrier, Bobby Petrino, Bobby Johnson, Rich Brooks and Houston Nutt these guys are all veterans, winners except for Johnson who everyone feels is doing a great job at a very difficult place to win.

How are you going to keep these guys with a pit viper curled up in the home office at Birmingham. When they leave who will want to step into a situation where a slip of the yapper will cost you 30-large.  Will Urban bolt for the Notre Dame job now?

Slap that fine on me Slive, just try too. Yeah I’d write you a check, tell you it’s in the mail too, and request you hold your breath till it comes.

And hear this Mikie the replay official at the Alabama - LSU game jobbed the Tigers! Had to be something behind it because that was the worst no-call on LSU’s interception this man has seen since replay has been instituted. Yes First Comrade Slive I publicly call your replay and that officiating crew lousy scum pond bottom feeders!  Did they sell out so the SEC could cash in big time with the HUGE SEC Championship game?

How else can it be explained I’ve heard investigators say always follow the money trail?  There is a huge pot of gold at the end of this SEC rainbow.

Your officiating crews have had a horrible year they should go along with you let the door hit all you guys in the ass.

Fine me, just try!  I think it’s still a free country, I have a right to my opinion and this is it.  What is the motive to miss something that is so obvious, a call that should have been clear as a bell?  Did the replay guy have a 10″ TV maybe?

Couldn’t we afford something a little larger than 19″, maybe take Urban’s 30-grand and go on a shopping spree at a local Walmart Entertainment Center?  We’re only talking 12 sets, hell you could borrow the money at any bank just use Lane Kiffin’s lips as collateral.

Walk to your mirror look in it and repeat after me.  ‘I want to stop this behavior and be a man, I want to become honest with myself and others, I will no longer stop freedom of speech within the conference, we need a lot of work on the officiating and I’m going to look into it thoroughly.’

So the SEC gets their game, an undefeated Alabama and Florida.  Chances are very good both teams will be undefeated I’ve heard from an honorable man that ACC refs will never call a game at Florida Field again, so the Gators should be safe against FSU, SEC refs will protect them against South Carolina. Think the ACC has more credibility with officiating crews these days anyway.

Alabama just needs the same SEC refs to keep them safe from Mississippi State and Auburn, they’ll be OK.

So Alabama is the least penalized team? What a joke, Mt. Cody is worth at least two flags a game for taking his helmet off on the field.

A clear INT isn’t called in the booth! And it can’t even be discussed, yes Comrade Slive you’ve put your mark on the SEC. Hope you’re proud of yourself.

If Urban or any other great coach leaves because working in this league has become too unpleasant many will want Slive’s head to roll.  You don’t make things better comrade by censorship.  The Prime Comrade might like that but no one else will.

Not making as many practices anymore but when I did I’d always spot Brandon Spikes and go back to him several times during a practice to see what he was doing.  From what I could see he’s a very sociable character always hanging with his teammates and chewing some sort of fat with them. You’d see him smile and laugh a lot. And he’d end up making them laugh.

Webster should take a photo of Brando Spikes and use him in their definition of gregarious. An online Webster definition of the word gregarious - tending to associate with others of one’s kind : social b : marked by or indicating a liking for companionship.

Brandon Spikes likes his teammates. That’s what I saw at practice.

I grew to deeply respect Spikes. Read a story on him that described what he wanted to do with himself at college and why. Many said where he grew up he wouldn’t make it out they felt he’d fail. He wanted away from that type of life to be something much better than what the hard streets ground most young men into.

He’s a man that loves his family and mother. That’s a man after my own heart. Those people who said what they did about Spikes this week not only hurt him but they hurt me too. It was like how could they say those things if they really knew him. Where he came from, what he stands for.

As fickle as our national media is they’ve gone from thinking of Spikes as a goat to a hero in a few days. Most saying he helped his NFL stock by showing the kind of character that we Gator fans already knew Brandon Spikes had.

When he came out and said he didn’t want to be a distraction to the team so he was taking himself out of the whole Vanderbilt game. That told the nation what he was about, a team player all the way.

I am a guy who deeply loves my Gators and college football. Guys like Guss Scott who lost his mother and took a lot of abuse by Gator fans, or Reggie Nelson who lost his mom but didn’t take the abuse, and of course Brandon Spikes who was recently abused nationally they all reach a special spot with Swampie.

Spikes already had my respect, he said Ryan Stamper had his back. Well Brandon Spikes he isn’t the only one who’s got your back, as if you need any help, well you got it. You have the proud backbone of Gator nation behind you, not those fickle emotional wishy washy fans. The ones who bleed orange they’ve got your back buddy.

From here to bloody hell buddy I’d go to war with Brandon Spikes, wouldn’t be much darn good but I’d go in a New York minute.

So here’s to Spikes, hope he gets some more rest this weekend then goes out the winner he is the last five games of his Gator Career.

Vandy at Florida 7:15 ESPN2…
There isn’t a chance of an upset in this game. I sincerely believe in respecting all and don’t diss Vandy. But this is going to be one ugly game. Vandy is 2-7, they have gone over scoring 17 points three times - last week in the 56-31 loss to Georgia Tech, they somehow scored 28 in the first half and 3 in the second. They opened the season with a 45-0 romp over the Western Carolina Catamounts, that team is 1-8 this season. Vandy also went out and jumped on Rice 36-17. These three scoring explosions came in the first game of the season, the fourth and the ninth.

Vanderbilt 0-5 against SEC Competition
(when game played, Vandy’s opposition, score,
opponent total offense, Vandy’s total offense and turnovers)

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With Florida’s defensive ends, their defensive backs and good crew of linebackers not to mention a slew of on the mend defensive tackles, Vandy simply doesn’t stand a chance in this one. Meyer isn’t running the score up but I don’t see how the Commodores score much more than 10 on the Gators if that much.
Florida wins something like 45-9…

The Game
#9 LSU @ #3 Alabama 3:30 CBS

LSU’s Jordan Jefferson will be a key to this football game. Jefferson has gotten well in the two games he’s played since Florida when his passing rating hit a season low of 100.38, in it he was 11 of 17 for 96 yards no TDs and one INT.  The last two weeks against Auburn and Tulane his QB rating climbed each week from 154.60 to 172.30, looking slender at 6-5, 220 Jefferson rushes the ball about 10 times a game.

Alabama has the week off, LSU got their week off after Florida and have been on a steep learning curve since that football game.  They’ve had two easy wins going up 31-3 over Auburn with a minute left in the third quarter, that game ended 31-10. Tulane was even easier that one ended 42-0.

So this one is a toss up the question is does the week off help Alabama, get them reseted and healthy and the time to try to shore up their passing game.  Or does a rested and improving LSU football team ride a high into Bryant Denny?

Believe LSU has a lot more weapons than Alabama on offense.  If LSU gets a handle on Alabama’s running game this football game is over.  You look at points allowed and these two teams are just about dead even yet Bama gets all the press.  LSU loses this game if Jefferson hurts his football team more than he helps it.

This is an iffy pick but this man is leaning to LSU over Alabama 20-13

#16 Ohio State @ #11 Penn State 3:30 ABC

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Terrelle Pryor has become a joke.  JoePa puts another nail in ole Bobby’s coaching coffin.  It’s better to be a legend in Happy Valley than in Florida’s folly, by golly, it should have remained a gurls school.  Lions over the hard things that grow on trees by 10.

South Carolina @ Arkansas 12:21 ESPN360

This game could be interesting, it could be one of the best match-ups of the weekend. The Cocks are 6-3 the Hogs 4-4. Have to think South Carolina pulls this one out with their fine defense.

FSU @ Clemson 7:45 ESPN

Be more fun to try and guess the combined score of this game. I’d think it could be 104. Where did FSU’s defense go? When did it leave? Well Mickey Andrews is leaving he’s had enough. It had to be a difficult staff with some of his’n and some of your’n. Only one consistent thing lately about FSU is they do score points. This man can not pick this game these are two of the most inconsistent football teams in college football.

After those games the pickens are rather slim.

UCF @ #2 Texas - not a snowballs chance in hell
Syracuse @ #13 Pittsburgh - heavy on Pitt
Virginia @ #17 Miami - depends on which Cane team shows up…
Illinois at Minnesota - when do they pull the plug on Ron?
Connecticut @ #5 Cincinnati 8:00 ABC - talk about snowballs chances
Oregon State @ #20 California - this one could be a great game.
Washington State @ #18 Arizona - Another Pac10 game that could be very interesting. Bob Stoops Wildcats are higher ranked that his brother Mike’s Oklahoma Sooners at #24, doubt that’s ever happened before?  Bob has worked long and hard to get Arizona were they currently are.  Everyone out there is looking up to USC who’s doing their best to imitate FSU and climb back down into the Pack, or is that Pac?  First you lose the great assistant coaches and then the recruiting beings to slip due to many reasons.
Nave @ #22 Notre Dame 3:30 NBC - who cares….

Anyway he said Brandon Spikes should be suspended for the rest of the season. ESPN ran a poll and asked who’s action was worse, the LeGarrette Blount or Spikes? Sixty-percent said Spikes.

The BYU buffoon said what Spikes did showed premeditation over an emotional response from Blount.

I am sure that Spikes thought it out when he got into a secret position where there was little chance of him being seen that he would gouge the eye out of a Georgia Bulldog. Come on get real.

There is no defense for what Spikes did but in this game Georgia ripped his helmet off twice in the first half. The first time resulted in a penalty, the second time right after Spikes had his helmet ripped off a Georgia lineman came up and head butted him.  That was on purpose he lowered his head.

Watch the ENTIRE ****ing GAME closely then make an opinion. This crap really angers me. Look at those two other plays, Spikes had to leave the game and most likely came back with a concussion. I thought it was fitting at the end that he got the gift-six on the last INT.

No what he did wasn’t right but before anyone opens their BIG FAT MOUTH look at those other plays first and then talk about Brandon’s Spikes premeditation.

I doubt there was premeditation, I think there was an opportunity and an emotional response by Spikes. A poor choice it was but not premeditated.

And what if it was? The refs weren’t protecting him, that head butt on a person without a helmet should have been a foul and ejection.  But there was no flag at all.

I am outraged at the national media once again. Poor judgment bordering on stupidity and complete superficiality is the norm.  They are akin to a dumb dog you have to show them the stick before you throw it.

Added - OK I guess I have to show you guys the stick.  I believe those guys were ripping Spikes helmet off on purpose.  You put the helmet in a headlock and pull yeah it’s going to come off and that’s not by mistake.  Only the second time an offensive lineman believe he was #71 head butted him after.  And judging by the gody language of that lineman after it appeared he was trying to send a message to Spikes.

Why Spikes, well he made the big time hit the year before.  You guys fart this off as hey it happens it’s football.  Well I played football I was a linebacker and no it doesn’t happen like that.  They were after Spikes.

What he did wasn’t right but they were trying to hurt him and in my book that’s not right either.  Don’t poo poo this look at the game film.  I think Urban Meyer did and that’s why he came up with the punishment that he did.

It’s the month where work is a little less chaotic, life is a little bit more relaxed and the wife is in Russia for two weeks.  Of course, the wife isn’t in Russia every October for two weeks, but she was this October.  (My how the world changes when you let it.)  Don’t get me wrong, I missed Angie while she was gone, but any guy who is married enjoys a little “bachelor time” now and then.  Harley Hound and I do okay by ourselves and we get to keep odd hours and have as much of the bed as we want.  I get all the diagonal sleeping I can stand, and Harley can chase rabbits without waking Angie up.  Angie left us plenty of good food, but we feel independent so that’s the important point.

So place the wife in Nizhny Novogorod and Moscow for two weeks, stir in some away football weekends, and add in a healthy disconnect from several regular Gainesville October activities (not even a run in the Gator Gallop this year) and you have all the making for what is by comparison to some other months of the year (cough June/July) a fairly nice month-long vacation … and without the use of leave time!  In fact, if it wasn’t for the summer-like weather (do I get a reprimand from the SEC office if I complain about it?), October 2009 would be a 300 bowling game.

Today starts a new month, however, and a new season as well.  The clocks have moved forward, the weather seems to have turned cooler again … hopefully this time for good … and we’re back in the swing of several of the things that make Gainesville … well Gainesville.

Earlier this evening we were walking back from our friends’ apartment downtown where we’d watched Green Bay give Minnesota a second-half scare.  As we made the 20-minute walk back to our house on the fringe of the Duckpond, we were thankful for the weather, Angie was happy for Percy’s night, and I was a little bummed that the Pack couldn’t serve up a little comeuppance for the Vikes.  More importantly though, we were figuring our end-of-the-workday plan for basketball tomorrow.

Yes!  Basketball!  I know folks are very excited about Tebow season, and it is easy to lose sight of other Gator teams that are also having a great Fall Semester, but the date I always imaginary circle on the imaginary calendar with the imaginary red pen is the first hoops game of the year.

The guys play two games and almost get a third in before the gals even play one, but we’ve got plenty of chances to watch both teams in the friendly confines of the O’Dome this month and we can’t wait to get started.

For men’s games, our season ticket position has improved just a bit and we look forward to a fresh take on all the action that Donovan and company typically provide.  For the women’s games, we plan to continue our habit of seating in the Level 1 bleachers underneath the basket by the Lady Gator bench.  Coach Butler always has an entertaining amount of energy and we don’t expect a little injury to curtail that one bit.

Just over 20 hours to tip… and counting!

Now it’s Texas and Florida at top.  Everyone gets well on Georgia these days but this man has to say the Dogs were impressive ealy on.  But equally as impressive was the Gators defense getting stronger as the game wore on.  Less and less worked for the black helmets of Georgia.

Just check the Georgia drive chart below the Gators ended the half with two sacks that stopped third downs forcing punts.  In the second half the Gator defense stopped the Dogs with a big play each drive except for their lone scoring drive and the final three and out and Florida refused a holding penalty by the Dogs on their third down play, they punted the ball and never got it back.

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With Southern Cal gone down the crapper it looks like either Florida, Alabama or LSU vs the Longhorns of Texas as pretty much a lock. No one has score much on Texas although Oklahoma State dropped some bombs on them. But Texas defense has pretty much gone under the radar in a conference that prides itself on offense them steers are pretty good.

Time will tell who lines up vs the gators LSU or Auburn that one will be answered this coming weekend. The weeks rest didn’t help Georgia that much, they did get their helmets painted I guess, we’ll see what it does for the Tide. Best defense wins this game or worst offense loses it.

(AJ Jones above has a huge game
2 INTs, 1 Sack, 1 Tackle for Loss.)

One thing for sure Florida has played well all year on defense and yesterday the offense clicked but the defense also helped add a lot of style. Thank you Georgia!

The Gators under Steve Spurrier, Ron Zook and Urban Meyer are 16-3 against Georgia since 1990.  Each coach dropped a game the last one didn’t sit easy with Urban Meyer.  So the year after that 2007 upset the Gators pounded the dogs 47-10 and this year they’re saying that wasn’t enough.

Fans make a lot of funny stuff.  To the left is one of them this man just got today.  Suppose it will anger some Gator fans I got a real good out loud laugh over it.

This indicates the passion for college football.

You can bet there is no greater the passion than the desire of the Georgia Bulldogs to beat the Florida Gators and knock them out of a national title bid.  You can have all the motive in the world, all the want too, all the desire, all the hope and it isn’t worth a pile of Bulldog poopie against a team that has your number.

Earlier this week this man had some concerns over Georgia especially that they have the week off to rest up.  But it hit me how is that going to help them against Florida’s defense?  How will it help their offensive line and running game?

And what of Georgia’s defense?  They allowed South Carolina to score 37 points, Arkansas scored 41 before they got rolliing, Tennessee exploded for 45 on the dogs, Tennessee!  Will a week help plug those holes this week against #1 Florida?

Since Arkansas the Bulldogs have scored 20 vs Arizona State, 13 vs LSU, 19 vs Tennessee and 34 on Vandy.  Don’t expect them to score more than 20 on the Gators and that would most likely take a Gator gift for them to reach that number.

It just doesn’t add up.  And that’s why the photo above is so funny, other fans have to do anything they can to try and figure the Gators out.  That ref photo with Urban Meyer is sort of hitting rock bottom it’s hilarious.

Gators roll 42 - 13

Florida’s last three games have been tight.  They beat LSU by 10, Arkansas by 3 and Mississippi State by 10.  Alabama has gotten by with an 18 point win to Ole Miss, 14 point over South Carolina and 2 point squeeker to Tennessee.

The stats below are Florida’s and Alabama’s last three games.  The Gators last three games are first LSU, Ark and Miss St then follows Alabama’s last three games Ole Miss, USC and Tenn.

Below you have game and team under when - then the opponent and score.  Under ‘tot’ is the total offense, if Florida had more total offense than their foe it’s subtracted and is + positive, same goes for ‘pass’ and ‘rush’ yardage.  Turnovers under FB fumbles and INT interceptions is either even or + or -.  Florida lost 4 fumbles to Arkansas so it’s -4.  Finally I took the QB ranking and subtracted the highest from the lowest.  Tebow’s 2 INTs returned for TDs hurt him more than Tyson Lee’s 3 INTs I guess.

Both the Gators and the Tide have out rushed the opponents above.  That’s where the above stats differ.  Alabama hasn’t faced a -4 in the turnover margin this season although they did lose ball 4 times to the Game Cocks 2.

The above stats don’t show the two INTs Tebow threw against Mississippi State that were returned for TDs although they do show up in the Quarterback ratings.  You figure that in the Gators managed to win these games when they made many mistakes.  In no game did the Gators get beat stat wise despite the gifts they continued to give the opposing team.

The same can not be said for Alabama.  They were beat by Tennessee in total yardage, badly in passing yardage and in quarterback rankings.  When you subtract one QB ranking from the other it tells you a lot about how one team performed against the other.  Florida’s -9.57 QB rating in the Ole Miss game was offset by a +157 yard rushing performance.

And the +157 is the sum total of Florida’s rushing game against the Bulldogs defense and visa versa.  You look at the Bama and South Carolina game and those stats indicate a tough game for the Tide and it was for 55 minutes.

Against Tennessee Alabama tied in turnovers and lost in every stat other than the 2 pt edge in the score.  A +60 rushing edge does not offset a -145 yards passing.  But they won and get a weeks rest prior to the LSU game.  An advantage for Alabama while Georgia gets the week off waiting for the Gators.

Neither football team is tearing it up through the airways but the Gators are far ahead of Alabama at this point in time.  With Florida’s injury situation on defense they could only be getting better on defense it would be nice to get a few of them back this week.

There are only two teams this year because the National Championship won’t be won by style points.  It will be won by rock’m sock’m football like in the old days.  Gators aint pretty, Alabama aint pretty hell neither is Georgia Tech and Iowa.  They aint pretty they are pretty darn good.

With most of their defensive tackles out and Brandon Spikes on the sidelines the Gators defense still dominated Mississippi State.  They got two gift wrapped pick-six TDs, the second one was just a great defensive play where Tim Tebow’s arm was hit as he was throwing.  The first appeared to be an issue of having two WRs in the same spot.

Even with the gift of 13 points all that did was keep the record setting how crowd there into the second half.  The Bulldogs hit a few plays on the Gators but ended with 237 total yards to the Gators 376.  The Gators had more yards rushing, 249, than Mississippi State had on total offense.  The Gator defense allowed a long pass of 52 and run of 24, the other 56 plays the Bulldogs ran gained 159 yards, less that three yards per play.

Tim Tebows Rushing TD RECORD!

Tim Tebow matched Herschel Walkers for most TDs in a career when he scored on a 26 yard scamper vs Mississippi State.  Think that might have been the longest of his career, it was the 49th rushing TD matching the record.

How fitting it could be for Tim Tebow to break the record this weekend in Jacksonville against the Georgia Bulldogs! You can bet Georgia will give there all to try and keep it from happening to them.  Can’t wait…

Will never forgive Houston Nutt. 

Damian Williams is USC’s best WR by far.  Watched some of the USC game after the Gators beat Mississipp State which rekindled the resentment.  (Williams pictured to the left)

This man believes Nutt pulled some stinking deal that lead to his dismisal from Arkansas.  Hire a coach and his star players with a song and dance then when they get to your school you change your toon and tell them my way or the highway.  You challenge them with do you want to be part of the Arkansas program.

All is not fair in love and war and recruiting.  But unlike love and war you can move on if you don’t mind sitting out a year.  Not sure if Williams had an SEC release from the Hogs don’t think he ever looked back toward Florida perhaps a bridge was burned.

But the end result led this man to rooting against Nutt till my last breath because he turned Damian Williams at the end with all his crap, with his song and dance only to change his toon later.  Just think where we’d be at right now with a Damian Williams, Riley Cooper and Aaron Hernandez for Tebow to throw too.  Florida will get by with what they’ve got but with Williams, Cooper and Hernandez you’re talking easy street after Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy left for the pros.

Lame Kiffin

Alabama blocks two field goals to beat the Tennessee Volunteers 12-10.  But Lane Kiffin’s playing calling at the end of the game just came up lame.

With over forty seconds left in the game and first down inside Alabama’s twenty-five Lame chooses to position the ball for the a shot at the game winning field goal.  His kicker kicked low most of the day and had already had one blocked by Mt. Cody.  You’d think they’d get that fixed because that Mountain blocked the game winning try too.

Tennessee’s passing game had caught on fire at the end of the game led by rapidly improving Jonathan Crompton.  This man was yelling at the TV move the ball closer you (bleep).  The thinking was a closer field goal could be chipped higher into the air making it harder to block also who knows the Vols hit a TD pass just before maybe they can do it again, but these are moot points now because the rest is history.

Felt Tennessee would win that game.  I was right I blame my missed prediction squarely on Lane Kiffin’s shoulders!  Not to worry the rest of the nation noticed as Alabama slipped back to #2 in the AP today.

Know that Alabama should beat Tennessee tomorrow but as I wrote about earlier in the week have to think Tennessee has a very good shot at winning that football game. Alabama’s passing game has been pathetic lately, Tennessee can put Eric Berry on Julio Jones like they did when they put him on Riley Cooper and pretty much trumped the Gator passing game that day. If they do that Monte Kippin can pretty much give the sic em Vols to the other ten to go after Mark Ingram. If Tennessee can do this, this man see’s them winning my more than a TD, perhaps 11 to 13 points.

#1 Florida over Mississippi State - 7:30 ESPN

Florida has injuries in the defensive line a position that was a team strength. The next two weeks will see if Mississippi State or a rested Georgia can take advantage of it. The deal is Florida is very very good in the secondary (perhaps an understatement) and they are strong at LB and DE. Not sure Mississippi State nor Georgia are in position to take advantage of it. Makes for some good drama. Can see the Gators beating Mississippi State by 14.

The ROLL

NOON

Minnesota at #19 Ohio State - who cares?
South Florida at #20 Pitt - Pitt in a tough one.
Arkansas at Mississippi - could be great match here

3:00

Louisville at #5 Cincinnati - not a chance Cincy rolls
Clemson at #10 Miami - Clemson is so dam inconsistent or this could be interesting…
#13 Penn State at Michigan - another interesting game, going with Michigan…

7:00
#6 Iowa at Michigan State - Hawkeyes
#8 TCU at #16 BYU - really nice match up here
Auburn at #9 LSU - going with Tigers! lol which Tiger? LSU doesn’t have much of an offense, can they score more than Auburn? Interesting game to this man…
#3 Texas at Missouri - Texas easy, Missou had it and lost it…
Oregon State at #7 USC - Trojans

Tennessee is 1-3 vs decent competition.

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What the above defensive stats don’t tell about those games - against UCLA the Vols lost the turnover battle 4 to the Bruins 1, Florida was even 2 to 2, down 0-1 to Auburn and bested the Georgia Bulldogs 3 to 1.  The one game they won the turnover margin they won, and they won that one easily.

Tennessee’s QB Jonathan Crompton has begun to come on.  Against Georgia Crompton was 20 of  27 for 310 yards, 4 TDs and 1 INT.  Lane Kiffin has stuck with him and it’s beginning to pay off.  Big question is can he take that next step.

The flip side is with a struggling offense Tennessee’s defense has managed to hold the score down.  The most they’ve allowed this season is 26 in a four point loss to Auburn.  They lost by four points to UCLA and ten to Florida.  They allowed the Gators 13 points.  Tennessee’s Montario Hardesty will gash you, he’s been very consistent gaining 672 yards this season.

Hardesty’s rushing stats…

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Alabama’s schedule certainly looks favorable. The past two weeks the Tide has scored three TDs, one late against a beat South Carolina team to extend their lead to 14. The Cocks had blown several scoring opportunities something this man thinks lead to allowing that TD late in the game.

The week before Bama got 5 turnovers from Ole Miss yet managed only one TD, they won this game easy with five field goals the Rebels like the Game Cocks have no offense. Alabama’s schedule sets up well for them, the two most physical games come up next against Tennnessee and LSU they get them both at home.

But that didn’t help them much with South Carolina, not as much as that score would indicate.
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Alabama’s offense is faltering. Their recent two year history of winning close games can become something that’s taken for granted. One thing they better not do is take Tennessee for granted. With an improving offense, a proven running game, a defense that doesn’t allow many points this could be Alabama’s trap game for 2009.

This is Swampie’s UPSET ALERT game for this weekend.