SEC Coming Attractions: Making sense of East; Is Saban playing us?
What now, SEC East?
Where do we go from here? Just after it seemed like you had a truly dominant team that was generating serious love, one we not only liked (Georgia), but were ready to put a ring on, you once again go and create needless drama.
Year after year you make it hard to keep us from getting too emotionally invested, especially when your sister, who lives out West, nearly has it all together from top to bottom.
Please, we're imploring you, find some consistency in your life -- or at least something that resembles it. We'll be here, waiting and watching from a distance (watching only because we must), because this isn't good-bye. In this playoff age, you'll still be on our and the selection committee's minds. We just need to take a step back and reevaluate before jumping back into things with you.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way following the East's latest display that it lacks a truly transcendet team, let's turn our attention to the future. So grab whatever constitutes as your snack of choice -- angst-filled, of course, if you're feeling melancholy after the East's weekend -- and dig in to this week's Coming Attractions.
Try sorting out a side with No. 13 Georgia and No. 14 South Carolina already at 1-1 in the conference and Florida and even Kentucky and Tennessee looking like they can make some noise. Did I forget to mention No. 18 Missouri? Because while the Bulldogs and Gamecocks each have impressive wins to their credit, and the Bulldogs possess arguably the league's single best player in running back Todd Gurley, the defending champ Tigers are scoring 41 points per game behind Maty Mauk's arm. But Missouri still has to go to face three ranked teams in South Carolina (Sept. 27), Georgia (Oct. 11) and Texas A&M (Nov. 15), not to mention the Gators, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas. That the Tigers are in Williams-Brice Stadium would make the Gamecocks' remaining schedule the most friendly, but they also have to travel to No. 5 Auburn on Oct. 25, and is anyone willing to say after two clunkers pre-win over Uga, that Steve Spurrier's squad is going to keep it all together for the next nine weeks? As colleague Knox Bardeen pointed out, in each of the last three years, the team that repped the East in the SEC title game lost to South Carolina in the regular season, so Georgia has that going for it. But that defense, which was exposed by Dylan Thompson, still has to face three of the league's top four scoring offenses in Auburn, Florida and Arkansas. About the only thing you can say with any certainty right now in the East is that Vanderbilt probably isn't going to win it.
Grab Your Popcorn: Spoiler alert: if you haven't seen 'This Is The End' yet, everyone of any consequence dies in the end. Basically, the SEC East looks like it could see the same fate as James Franco, who was eaten by cannibals. Florida and Missouri, they're gaining on you.
During last season's run to the national title game, Auburn's defense had its troubles with mobile quarterbacks. Mississippi State's Dak Prescott ran for 133 yards and two scores, Missouri's James Franklin had 62 yards and a TD and Johnny Manziel ran in a TD for the Aggies -- and that all came with future first-round pick Dee Ford on that defensive front. With end Carl Lawson, who was expected to take Ford's place out after knee surgery, the Tigers have struggled up front, allowing 11 plays of 10 yards or more through two games. It's not the best situation to be in as they have to face No. 20 Kansas State and Jake Waters on Thursday in Manhattan. Bill Snyder isn't afraid to ride his 6-foot-1, 210-pound QB, running him 37 times so far -- often on designed runs -- including 20 the last time out vs. Iowa State. Waters takes advantage of open running lanes as defenses often double team versatile All-Big 12 wide receiver Tyler Lockett, who can line up inside or out. Can an Auburn defense that's already had issues owning the line of scrimmage succeed if it has to add help in containing Lockett? A lot is going to be asked of the Tigers' secondary, especially its leader, cornerback Jonathon Mincy.
Grab Your Popcorn: It's not the same Manhattan, and as far as we can tell, Gus Malzahn doesn't have a Snake Plissken eye patch, but 'Escape from New York' could be the best scenario for the Tigers should they not find a way to keep Waters in check.
Nick Saban still isn't ready to name a starter in Alabama's Team Edward vs. Team Jacob debate with QBs Blake Sims vs. Jacob Coker. But aren't the man's actions speaking louder than any hard-lined stance we're expecting him to take? Through three games, Sims has made three starts, with the last two coming against cupcakes Florida Atlantic and Southern Miss, painting a scenario that's similar to what happened the last time Saban dealt with a QB competition. In 2011, AJ McCarron got the start against Kent State in the opener and had 23 pass attempts to Phililp Sims' 14. The next week vs. a ranked Penn State squad, McCarron attempted all 31 passes. They both saw time in a gimmie game (North Texas), as McCarron had 21 throws to Sims' eight. In all, through three games, McCarron was responsible for 77.3 percent of the Crimson Tide's passes. Through the first three weeks of 2014, Blake Sims has attempted 70.5, seeing the brunt of the action vs. a Power 5 team (West Virginia), with both playing against second-tier opponents. As WR Amari Cooper said Saturday, "Obviously Blake is our starting quarterback right now. He's playing more than Coker is playing." There couldn't be a more definitive answer, and asking Saban to spell it all out for us may be denying what the hard stats are already showing us: barring the unexpected, this is Sims' job.
Grab Your Popcorn: As Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) said in 'Now You See Me:' "When a magician waves his hand and says, 'This is where the magic is happening' The real trick is happening somewhere else. Misdirection." Get Saban a TV special, a Las Vegas show or something. He's a master illusionist.
'NCAA Football '98,' the first in EA Sports' erstwhile series featured an all-world Randy Moss (although it wasn't "really" Randy Moss, right? Wink wink), which your's truly would run on deep outs over and over and over, and watch him dominate. Basically, that's what Jeff Driskel must think he's doing with Demarcus Robinson. As we discussed last week, Florida appears to have found the star it has been missing for years on the perimeter, but has Driskel become too reliant on him? In the triple-overtime win over Kentucky, Robinson tied Carlos Alvarez's Gators record with 15 catches for 216 yards and two TDs, but no other WR had more than two catches and Robinson was targeted 24 times in all, including 21 in regulation. That may work against the Wildcats, who are improved from a year ago, but will it fly at No. 3 Alabama? Granted, the pass defense hasn't been spectacular, with the Crimson Tide 54th in FBS, largely behind the 365 yards they allowed vs. West Virginia, and they last picked off a pass in the first quarter of the Sugar Bowl. But with a week of preparation and seeing Driskel's new security blanket in action, it's certain who the focus of Alabama's secondary will be. The onus may be on senior Quinton Dunbar, who has a school record of 29 games with at least one catch, to make the Tide pay for their expected focus on Robinson.
Grab Your Popcorn: Linus had his blanket and Driskel may have Robinson. Also, did you know there's a 'Peanuts' movie dropping in 2015? Can't wait to see if Charlie Brown and the gang are still preachy.
While chatting up Dan Mullen during the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge Golf tournament this summer, the usually jovial Mississippi State coach shot back when talk turned about his team's troubles with the West powers. In five seasons, he has yet to beat Alabama or LSU, but as Mullen pointed out "We beat Auburn." Yes, but it came when the Tigers went 0-8 in league play and in all, Mullen's Bulldogs are 1-14 vs. that trio and 1-16 when you add in Texas A&M. Any hopes of Mississippi State taking the next step in the division can begin Saturday as they take on No. 8 LSU in Baton Rouge. Prescott is one of only three players in the nation (along with Boise State's Grant Hendrick and Arkansas State's Fredi Knighten) with a TD passing, rushing and receiving this season, and he'll try to help the Bulldogs set the tone on the ground in a battle of rush-heavy teams as Mississippi State has run 146 times, second in the SEC only to the Bayou Bengals at 157. The Tigers are coming off back-to-back shutouts, but the Bulldogs' may have the deeper defensive front, with seven players in on their 11 sacks (No. 2 in the SEC) and they're allowing just 80 yards per game on the ground. A Mississippi State win here could set up an interesting run as they face Texas A&M and Auburn in the next two games, but of course there's the flip side. Should Mullen's crew see its skid vs. LSU continue, they'll need to avoid a repeat of 2012, when Mullen's crew opened 6-0 only to lose four of its next five, beginning with a loss to a ranked West foe (Alabama).
Grab Your Popcorn: Les Miles' smirk is a little Kreese-esque and the West's top tier does have a certain Cobra-Kai establishment vibe to it. As we know, Dan Mullen's a film buff, so if he's showing the Bulldogs a final battle to fire them up, let's hope he goes with the superior fight in 'Karate Kid 2' and not its predecessor.
