It's Only SEC (but I like it....)
GEORGE SOMERVILLE – THE TOUCHDOWN SEC CORRESPONDENT
week 8
It’s Week Eight in SEC football, and the HUGE games keep on coming at us fast and hard!
It’s the Third week in October, which means it’s time for Tennessee v Alabama! Yup, get those cigars ready, there’s a game in T-town! With the Tide on a roll, the Vols would enjoy nothing more, especially in this awesome rivalry game, than to upset Kalen DeBoer and those annoying Crimson Tide fans!
But the great SEC football games don’t stop there—no Sirrrr.
The Georgia Bulldawgs host Lane Kiffin and his Rebels who are determined to knock Kirby Smart and his team out of playoff hopes. Equally Smart is out to stop The Rebs moving to 7-0. This is a game of epic proportions and will go a long way to determine who will be in Atlanta in December to play for an SEC title.
For the first time this season we have an all SEC conference match up with all 16 teams in actions – yes fall football has now officially arrived!
So, it’s time to catch up on what’s been happening in and around the conference! Yup, it’s time for some “It’s Only SEC”….
Here’s what’s going on in SEC country!
this weeks sec Stories
Rebs are 6-0 but Kiffin isnt happy
Oxford, ms
If you recall, Ole Miss wasn’t scheduled to play Washington State. It happened when Wake Forest pulled out of the scheduled game at short notice last season, triggering a $750,000 payment to the Rebels. In a hastily rearranged schedule change, the Cougars stepped in to play against Ole Miss for the first time in the school’s history.
Ole Miss was heavily favoured to win this game; however, the game did not pan out as expected by the good folks in Vegas.
Ole Miss struggled again with the early kick; both the team and the fan base were lacklustre at kickoff. Reb’s Head coach, Lane Kiffin, didn’t hold back after the game.
“I thought our red-zone offense showed up about like our student section,” Kiffin said after the win, via Brad Logan of On3 Sports.
Photos of the student section just before kickoff showed a relatively sparse crowd inside Vaught-Hemingway. Truth is, Ole Miss in general doesn’t cope well with early kicks. On Saturday, the kickoff was at 11:00 a.m. Central Time. Which, if anything, should have caused chaos for Washington State, not the Rebels?
For some reason, Ole Miss struggles with the early kickoff time. At least on this occasion, the Rebs won against Wazzu – 24 – 21. However, the Cougars led early in the game, with Ole Miss needing a defensive stop on the final play of the game to stave off an unexpected defeat.
Last season, the Rebels’ two defeats against Florida and Kentucky came from early kick-offs, leaving Lane Kiffin perplexed.
“I don’t really know,” Kiffin said. “We are a morning practice format team, and that should equate to playing well in the morning. It used to, but it doesn’t feel like that now.
“It’s on me,” Kiffin said. “Maybe I’ve got to figure out a better way on these 11 a.m. kicks. We had two losses last year on them and obviously didn’t play well today.”
There should be no such lack of juice this weekend when Ole Miss travels to Athens to face Georgia in the ABC Primetime game.
Ole Miss is 6-0, looking to move to 7-0 for the first time since 2014.
3rd saturday in October
Tuscaloosa, AL
It’s the third Saturday in October, which can only mean one thing in SEC football. Yup, cigar retailers will be sold out as Alabama faces Tennessee in one of the SEC’s greatest rivalry games.
This game stands out as the game of the day, and Tuscaloosa is the destination for the College Gameday experience.
The game was first played in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1901. It was first played on the corresponding date in 1928 and by 1939 had been declared the “Third Saturday in October” game.
With 40 wins in the series, Tennessee has more victories over Alabama than any other program in college football. And with 59 wins, Alabama has more victories over Tennessee than any other program in college football.
This weekend’s match-up comes at a time when both teams’ records are 5-1, albeit Alabama has a better SEC record than the Vols at his point in the season.
DeBoer might be from the Frozen North, but he understands the rivalry and is doing everything in his power to ensure his team is ready for this game.
“It’s one of the greatest rivalries in the country. It goes way back, and generations of our fans care so much about this game,” DeBoer said on Wednesday during the weekly SEC coaches’ teleconference.
“We understand what it means. We just gotta make sure we do our part to get the home crowd going… and find a way to get it done in the end.”
Footnote
A quick footnote to Alabama’s winning record. I spoke last week about Kalen DeBoer’s lucky black hoodie of death, as Eli Drinkwitz called it. We don’t know at this stage if DeBoer has one “lucky” hoodie or multiple. However this week a “black hoodie of death” made it into the Alabama Paul “Bear” Bryant museum on campus.
Also, if you want to join the movement and grab yourself a death hoodie, you are out of luck. The Fanatics website currently tells us that the black garment is out of stock.
Tough being a Tiger
Columbia, MO
It’s been a tough week to be a Missouri Tiger fan.
First, the undefeated Tigers fell to the Crimson Tide, who are on a roll of their own.
No sooner had Tigers fans let the feeling of defeat settle in, news broke (via On3) that Mizzou Offensive Coordinator Kirby Moore had been approached and interviewed for the vacant position at Arkansas created by the firing of Head Coach Sam Pittman.
When asked for his thoughts on this, Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz called the story “a complete lie”.
Speaking during his Tuesday press conference, Drinkwitz said,
“You know, last week, it was really unfortunate that (Kirby Moore’s) name got associated to something that was a complete lie. He never interviewed,” Drinkwitz said. “Didn’t talk to anybody at Arkansas. It’s a bunch of bullcrap put out there to try to create distractions and a narrative that then comes over after the fact, after the game. And it’s really disappointing that this stuff happens”.
Kirby Moore is the brother of New Orleans Saints Head coach, Kellen – so perhaps it’s no surprise that Moore’s name is being mentioned for Head coaching positions.
After that, Coach Drink’s week didn’t get much better. Not enough to have his OC touted for a new job, the Missouri head coach was then linked with the vacant Penn State Head coach job.
It prompted a question about Drinkwitz’s name surfacing as a candidate for bigger openings in this cycle, to which he said, “I ignore it.”
“As far as my name associated with everything, that’s awesome for the University of Missouri,” Drink said. “It means we’re doing something really good, means that our administration has committed to excellence. It means all the investment that the people here have been made has resulted in our success. It’s a tip of the hat to the University of Missouri. It has nothing to do with me, it has everything to do with the players and the support staff.
“But I would encourage all the fans and everybody else, it’s October 14, the only thing that matters for us is (going) 1-0 this week, and anything outside of that is a distraction that you shouldn’t even worry about, don’t even let it cross your mind, because, man, I have no idea. You lose three games a row, you may get fired. So, I wouldn’t worry about it.”
So there you go, Tigers fans. Chill.
Week Eight Schedule
Across the SEC
Week Eight brings us some more amazing games. Aside from the matter of the huge game in Tuscaloosa, the schedule also provides some real tests of ambition for teams that want to make it to the College Football Playoffs.
Both Georgia and Ole Miss fit that bill, so their matchup in Athens this weekend will really shape the rest of their season. It’s been 11 years since the Rebs started a season 7-0 (under Hugh Freeze, if you will!). Lane Kiffin will be keen to start the game at a much quicker pace than they did against Washington State last weekend
With the pressure building again for Billy Napier and a bye week looming after the Gators play Mississippi State this Saturday, there is much chatter that this could be Napier’s last game in charge in Gainesville.
Can Billy’s team lift themselves one more time for their beleaguered Head coach?
DAZN will carry LSU v Vandy, Sooners v Gamecocks, Ole Miss v Georgia, Mississippi State v Gators, Texas v Kentucky, and Vols v Bama – meaning a full slate of SEC football is available on free-to-air TV this weekend in the UK!
Here are this week’s games, which feature SEC teams (all kick-off times are local time). Stats from SEC Media.
Week Eight
(2024 Record)
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18
LSU (5-1, 2-1 SEC) at Vanderbilt (5-1, 1-1 SEC)
Series: LSU leads, 25-7-1
11 a.m. CT • ABC
Last: LSU, 24-17 (2024 at Baton Rouge)
Nashville, Tenn. • FirstBank Stadium (35,000)
Oklahoma (5-1, 1-1 SEC) at South Carolina (3-3, 1-3 SEC)
Series: SC leads, 1-0
12:45 p.m. ET • SEC Network
Last: SC, 35-9 (2024 at Norman)
Columbia, S.C. • Williams-Brice Stadium (77,559)
Texas A&M (6-0, 3-0 SEC) at Arkansas (2-4, 0-2 SEC)
Series: ARK leads, 42-36-3
2:30 p.m. CT • ESPN
Last: TAMU, 21-17 (2024 at Arlington)
Fayetteville, Ark. • Reynolds Razorback Stadium (76,000)
Ole Miss (6-0, 3-0 SEC) at Georgia (5-1, 3-1 SEC)
Series: UGA leads, 33-13-1
3:30 p.m. ET • ABC
Last: UM, 28-10 (2024 at Oxford)
Athens, Ga. • Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium (93,033) Mississippi State (4-2, 0-2 SEC) at Florida (2-4, 1-2 SEC)
Series: UF leads, 35-19-2
4:15 p.m. ET • SEC Network
Last: UF, 45-28 (2024 at Starkville)
Gainesville, Fla. • Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (88,548)
Texas (4-2, 1-1 SEC) at Kentucky (2-3, 0-3 SEC)
Series: TEX leads, 2-0
7 p.m. ET • ESPN
Last: TEX, 31-14 (2024 at Austin)
Lexington, Ky. • Kroger Field (61,000)
Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC) at Alabama (5-1, 3-0 SEC)
Series: UA leads, 59-40-7
6:30 p.m. CT • ABC
Last: UT, 24-17 (2024 at Knoxville)
Tuscaloosa, Ala. • Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium (100,077)
Missouri (5-1, 1-1 SEC) at Auburn (3-3, 0-3 SEC)
Series: AU leads, 3-2
6:45 p.m. CT • SEC Network
Last: MIZ, 21-17 (2024 at Columbia)
Auburn, Ala. • Jordan-Hare Stadium (88,043)
GEORGE SOMERVILLE
COLLEGE FOOTBALL WRITER
GEORGE IS A LONG STANDING FANATIC OF LIFE AND FOOTBALL IN THE DEEP SOUTH AND WRITES HIS WEEKLY COLUMN CALLED “IT’S ONLY SEC” FOR THE TOUCHDOWN. HE IS ALSO CO-HOST AND ONE THIRD OF THE COLLEGE CHAPS PODCAST, THE UK’S FIRST PODCAST DEDICATED TO THE COLLEGE GAME.