SEC REPORT - WEEK 11 Preview
by David Waters
Posted November 12, 2009
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SEC STANDINGS
EAST
- Florida (7-0) 9-0 Clinched East
- Georgia (3-3) 5-4
- South Carolina (3-4) 6-4
- Tennessee (2-3) 5-4
- Kentucky (1-4) 5-4
- Vanderbilt (0-6) 2-8
WEST
- Alabama (6-0) 9-0 Clinched West
- LSU (4-2) 7-2
- Auburn (3-3) 7-3
- Ole Miss (2-3) 6-3
- Mississippi State (2-3) 4-5
- Arkansas (2-4) 5-4
SEC Championship Dec. 5 - Florida vs Alabama
Week 11 Preview
Florida at South Carolina
South Carolina's back-heavy schedule is coming back to haunt them once again, and as always Florida is towards the end of the schedule. Florida comes in Columbia looking for their 20th straight win and to get the offense rolling against a pretty good South Carolina defense.
It's really hard to believe that head coach Steve Spurrier can't get a consistent offense going and it's not going to get any better facing the Florida defense. The Gators' defense has only given up six touchdowns all season and the blitzing scheme from Florida will confuse Gamecocks' quarterback Stephen Garcia into making a couple of mistakes.
This is Florida's offense last chance to prove it can score points on a good defense before the SEC Championship. FIU and FSU's defense hasn't proven to be all that good, so this is a good game for the offense to flex it's muscles. Tim Tebow can't afford to hold the ball as long as he has been because South Carolina's defensive line will get past the Florida offensive line faster than any defensive line the Gators have faced so far this season. Florida needs to go back to the play-callng of the Georgia game and roll Tebow out, go back to some I-formation, and run the ballot the outside. If Tebow continues to hold the ball and the play-calling doesn't get any better, South Carolina will be in this game towards the end. Florida will have mixed success in this game, enough to win by 20.
Auburn at Georgia
Georgia needs one victory to become bowl eligible and Auburn maybe the easiest of the remaining games, or it may not be. What Auburn team will show up? The one with the high powered offense will show up and out score Georgia.
Not to poke fun at Georgia, but most teams have been able to fix their offensive woes against the Dawgs' defense.
The Georgia offense will probably find similar success against Auburn's defense but the inconsistency in the running game will still haunt Georgia and force them into bad passing situations, where Auburn's defense has been successful in getting turnovers.
Georgia has won three in a row over Auburn.
Alabama at Mississippi State
Mississippi State hosts Alabama and are looking to play another opponent that is way better than them very tough. LSU and Florida both traveled to Starkville and could have easily walked away with losses.
This is a let down game for Alabama, as they had two weeks to prepare last week for LSU and so much was put into that game. These two elements will play a role in the scare Alabama will get from the Bulldogs.
Mississippi State is coming off of a bye week and head coach Dan Mullen will have a few surprises in store for Alabama. heck he has even go on to say that his Bulldogs will beat Alabama. What is a coach supposed to say? Anthony Dixon leads the spread run attack for the Bulldogs that will give Alabama some fits early on as it just won't be up to play this game. That run success will run out though as Mississippi State's inability to pass the ball will catch up with them later in the game.
Crimson Tide quarterback Greg McElroy better be on his A game. This is an opportunistic Mississippi State defense that lives off getting the interception and setting up it's offense in good field position. We all know what's going to happen though. Mark Ingram will pound and pound at the Bulldog defense, and in the fourth quarter will be just too much as he and the offensive line wear down a tired Mississippi State defense.
Mississippi State has won two of the last three and will keep this one close.
Kentucky at Vanderbilt
Plain and simple, if Kentucky wins this game they will be bowl eligible. Vanderbilt has played better in recent weeks, especially since they replaced quarterback Larry Smith with veteran Mackenzi Adams, but they have still yet to score more than 10 points in an SEC game.
Kentucky's quarterback situation is still a bit murky as Mike hardline has returned to practice, but will not play against Vanderbilt. The rotation will continue to be between three players: Will Fidler, Morgan newton, and all-purpose Randall Cobb.
Tennessee at Ole Miss
This is the hardest game to pick. It seems like the teams are headed in opposite directions, with Tennessee on the way up and Ole Miss on the way down. Can Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Crompton continue his great play? The Ole Miss defense will be a great test as they rush the quarterback as good as anyone in the SEC, and the secondary is not that bad either. This is going to be early season Tennessee, where they ride the legs of Monterio Hardesty and not the arm of Crompton.
Anytime Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead has faced a top flight defense, he has struggled and struggled hard. That won't change against Tennessee. I've said it all year long. Take the ball out of his hands, and let play-maker, do-it-all Dexter McCluster carry the load. If they do that, hay have a very good chance of winning this game. Snead has shown this year that he can lose a game for the Rebels.
Tennessee continues it's impressive play and beats Ole Miss in a close one.
Troy at Arkansas
A win here for the Razorbacks and they make it to a bowl game. The team seems to be playing really god right now and they are going against a team in Troy that has a horrible pass defense. Ryan Mallett throws for close to 400 yards in a blow-out win.
Louisiana Tech at LSU
I hate these late season pansy games. LSU is coming off a tough loss to LSU where they lost Charles Scott for the rest of the season. Quarterback Jordan Jefferson is coming off an injury also, so this type of game couldn't have come at a better time for the Tigers. This game will be closer than it should because of all these issues.
Questions or Comments? dwaters@wjxt.com
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