Weekend Recap

Week Three of Southeastern Conference football competition brought us some interesting games. Let's have a look.

Auburn proved they could hang points on the board, albeit against a miserable Ball State team. Georgia's contest with Louisiana-Monroe produced similar results. Yawn.

The Vanderbilt Commodores whipped Ole Miss in Nashville. The Rebels did manage to mount a comeback after falling behind by three scores, but it was too late. This Vandy squad has a legitimate chance to finish above .500, secure a bowl bid, and possibly do more. Ed Ogeron's team was exposed defensively. There were times during the game that Vanderbilt moved the football virtually at will. Spurlock, although improved, is still not an extremely reliable quarterback. Coach 'O' has his work cut out for him in Oxford.

Kentucky posted a baffling loss to Indiana, further damaging any chance the 'Cats had of turning a corner. Apparently, the Louisville game was simply an aberration. Unless this team reels off 4 or 5 consecutive wins, Rich Brooks will probably be packing his things and leaving Lexington.

Florida defeated Tennessee in Gainesville, using its stellar defensive play and a steady offense that performed when called upon as a formula for victory. The quarterback position, once thought a strength, has proved to be a bit of an Achilles Heel for the Vols. They need to settle on one quickly if they want to win ballgames. And the Tennessee power running game that everyone keeps talking about isn't quite producing as expected. We'll find out what kind of team the 2005 Volunteers are when they face off against Les Miles and his LSU Tigers this weekend. A 1-2 start wouldn't go over very well in Knoxville.

Arkansas was handed quite a shellacking out in Los Angeles. I must confess that I didn't expect to see anyone hang 70 points on an SEC team this year, even the defending national champions. To quote Alabama head coach Mike Shula, "USC just looks like a pro team". At any rate, Arkansas is making a strong push for the SEC's worst team. We'll see if they can pull it together this weekend. If not, Houston Nutt might be carried out of town on a rail.

Mississippi State defeated Tulane, but the Green Wave gave State all it could handle. It's still difficult to gauge the progress of Sly Croom's second Bulldog team. We'll find out more in the coming weeks.

Alabama destroyed South Carolina in what was supposed to have been a reasonably close game. The Crimson Tide rolled up 490 yards against Carolina's porous defense. 338 of those yards were on the ground. And in this writer's personal opinion, Mike Shula out-coached Steve Spurrier. The Gamecocks looked lost and unnerved a week after nearly upsetting Georgia. Alabama has Arkansas coming to Tuscaloosa this week, a winnable game for the Tide by all counts. The real test will come in two weeks, when Urban Meyer brings his Florida Gators into town. We'll find out a lot about both teams in that contest. Right now, they both appear to be serious contenders for the SEC Title. South Carolina will look to get back on track against Troy. The Gamecocks have some talent to work with and a winning season/bowl berth are not entirely out of the question.

I'll step outside the SEC for a brief moment. What in the world is going on in Norman? The Sooners look absolutely abysmal. No one ever thought that losing Jason White could be so devastating for this team, but the way OU is playing right now, they'll end up finishing below .500 for the first time in quite a while. Stoops need to find a solution to his quarterback problem quickly, or teams will continue to stack the box to stop Peterson and Oklahoma will continue to lose.

Hopefully I'll get around to posting a Week 4 preview in the next couple of days.