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The Week 5 SEC Review-One More Week And The Season Is Halfway Over-Wow

The SEC West is going to come down to the huge Alabama – LSU game. The SEC East is anybody’s guess at this point. No real dominant team in the east. If South Carolina could find some offense they would be the favorite because of their defense. The Georgia-Tennessee game this weekend is the big game as far as I am concerned. The winner could have a good shot at winning the east with Brantley out for Florida and if the embarassing offense Steve Spurrier has put together does not figure something out.

Let’s get the worst out of the way first. South Carolina had another terrible offensive performance and lost to Auburn 16-13. The defense held Auburn in numerous drives but Auburn was finally able to get in the end zone on their last drive. The QB woes continued as Stephen Garcia looked more like a running back than a QB. Part of that was because of the terrible offensive line play for the second week in a row. Connor Shaw will start at QB this week against Kentucky. The Tigers defense only allowed 4 plays on their end of the field. That probably says more about the Gamecock offense than the Tigers defense although they have certainly improved the last few weeks.

Alabama defeated Florida 38-10. The defense looked good as expected. Florida may have seen their season go down the drain with the loss of QB John Brantley. A true freshman will take over. Not good for the Gators who take on number 1 LSU this weekend. A true freshman against the LSU defense in his first start. Could get ugly. Alabama moved to number 2 in the polls behind LSU and should roll over Vandy this weekend. The Alabama offense wasn’t spectacular, but was efficient and mistake-free. Trent Richardson rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries, while AJ McCarron threw for 140 yards without an interception. Somewhere along the line the Alabama QB is going to have to step up to win them a game. Can he do it?

The Georgia offense did not do very much against Mississippi State but the their defense dominated the Mississippi State offense in a 24-10 victory. Georgia has won 3 straight since starting out 0-2. I said at the time they were the best 0-2 team in the country. They could very well win the SEC East before it’s all over. Mississippi State has seen their dream of a big season go down the drain with an 0-3 record in the SEC and 2-3 overall. The offense has been bad but should get better this week against UAB.

Tennessee QB Tyler Bray put up big numbers again this week in their 41-10 win over Buffalo. In all honestly that was not much competition for the Vols. Bray passed for over 300 yards and 4 TDs. The winner of the Georgia -Tennessee game this week takes a big step towards the SEC East title. This is a must win for the Vols to have any chance of winning the east. With one loss already they will probably have to win the rest of the conference games to have a chance at the title.

LSU was dominant in a 35-7 victory over Kentucky on Saturday in Tiger Stadium. That was to be expected. The Tiger pass defense stopped the Wildcats, as their first nine passes went incomplete. Kentucky finished 7-of-25 for 66 yards and a touchdown. Kentucky does not have an offense that can compete in the SEC right now. Their defense is not good enough to keep them in games for 4 quarters. If there are any concerns at LSU it would be the slow start their running game had. As the game wore on they wore down the Kentucky defense and finished with 179 yards rushing.

Arkansas made an amazing comeback for a 42-38 victory over Texas A&M. QB Tyler Wilson set a school record passing for 510 yards despite the Aggies pass rush. He showed he can take a lick and keep on going. Wilson completed 30-51 passes. The Razorbacks were 5-of-5 on scoring drives after getting inside Texas A&M’s 20-yard line, getting three touchdowns and two field goals. The Hogs only had 71 yards rushing but if you can throw for over 500 it doesn’t really matter. Arkansas improved to 4-1 overall and are 0-1 in the conference.

Ole Miss defeated Fresno State 38-28 like I predicted last week. The offensive line finally blocked somebody and created holes for the Rebel running backs. With Randall Mackey at QB the entire game, the Ole Miss offense looked as good as it had all season long. Mackey threw for 214 yards and a touchdown. This gives coach Houston Nutt a little breathing room. The Rebels are 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the conference.

Vanderbilt had a week off. They will have had 2 weeks to prepare for this weeks game against Alabama. Don’t matter.