Wednesday, October 3, 2007

THE SEC REPORT


BY RAFAEL GARCIA
SEC INSIDER


Oh…how the mighty know how to fall.

In the East, it’s Kentucky leading the pack. Yeah you heard me Kentucky. In the West it’s LSU as it should be. This all came about when Florida lost to Auburn 20-17, on a last second field goal, shaking up the SEC and the BCS picture. You would figure that Florida would have used last year’s lost to this team as motivation. Instead, Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville had his team outplay, out hustle and outmuscle the Gators. Now they must hope this will work out as it did last year when they responded to the loss by winning the BCS Title.

In the meantime, Nick Saban and Alabama went to play Florida St. with Bobby Bowden and his Seminoles winning 21-14 as Alabama managed just 78 total yards in the first half without a score.

In Kentucky, where QB Andre Woodson was the feature attraction, the senior signal caller had a great game and he is making a serious case for Heisman consideration. All he did was throw for 301 yards and a career-high five touchdowns in a 45-17 rout. The Wildcats are eighth in the AP poll.

The Arkansas Razorbacks had 446 yards rushing with three players topping the century mark in a 66-7 rout of North Texas. Other winners were Vanderbilt over Eastern Michigan (30-7), South Carolina over Mississippi State (38-21), Georgia 45 - Mississippi 17 and the new top ranked team in the AP LSU’s 34-9 win over Tulane.

Fasten your seat belts because this ride in the SEC is about to get hairy.

Let’s look at this past week’s top performers:

Quarterbacks:

1. Kentucky’s Andre Woodson goes 26-33-1 and 5 touchdowns (career high).
2. South Carolina freshman Chris Smelley has a career day with 279 yards passing.

Running Backs:
1. All of the Razorbacks that ran the ball (446 yards rushing).
2. Georgia’s Thomas Brown had 180 of the Bulldogs 328 rushing yards along with three touchdowns.
3. Kentucky’s Rafael Little’s 112 yards to help Woodson.

Wide Receivers:

1. Vandy’s Earl Bennett had nine catches for 93 yards and moves to within three of the team record for receptions.
2. Ole Miss wideout Mike Wallace only caught three passes for 62 yards but got his fifth touchdown grab of the season.
3. Kentucky’s duo of Dicky Lyons and Keenan Burton combined for 14 catches for 176 yards and three touchdowns

Kickers:
1. Auburn’s Wes Bynum had the game-winner with no time left to beat Florida from 43 yards out.
2. LSU’s Colt David hits one at the end of the first half and then one in the third quarter to ensure the Tigers win.

Defense:
1. Vandy secondary has five picks by five different players.
2. S.C. holds Mississippi St. QB Josh Riddell to 9-21 for 101 yards and then ends his season with a torn ligament.

Low Ends:
1. Florida possibly looking ahead to LSU and falling to Auburn.
2. LSU’s vaunted running game manages only 134 yards against Tulane.
3. Alabama’s inability to run the ball vs. Florida State

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