CFI: SEC REPORT

BY RAFAEL GARCIA
SEC INSIDER

FULLY ARMED
* Florida's Tim Tebow was 22-of-27 for 281 yards and three touchdowns. He had the protection he needed to avoid getting sacked and recovered well from that bruised shoulder to have an outstanding game. He continues to be one of the front-runners for the Heisman.
* LSU’s Matt Flynn came up big in the second half throwing two of his three touchdowns to once again rally his team to a win. He was 24-of-44 for 353 yards but also had three interceptions.

ROAD RUNNERS
* The two headed monster at Arkansas of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones combined for 486 yards and both surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the season. Darren McFadden tied the SEC single game rushing mark with 321 yards set by Vanderbilt’s Frank Mordica in 1978. He was credited with a record 323 yards but after review of the tapes it showed that he was credited with a Tw0-yard run that belonged to Jones.
* Georgia back Knowshon Moreno had another huge day with 196 yards on 26 carries as he became the second Georgia freshman ever to rush for 1,000 yards in a season (Herschel Walker).
* Percy Harvin of Florida. He had just 11 carries but managed 113 yards and two touchdowns on some spectacular open field running. This guy is a big time weapon because he is so fast and elusive.
* Tennessee’s duo of Arian Foster and Lennon Creer were the first Vols to run for 100 or more yards each since Cedric Houston (160) and Gerald Riggs (116) did it on September 25, 2004.
* Yes AT&Tebow folks. With his two rushing touchdowns he passed Mississippi State’s John Bond (1983) for the most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in the SEC and tied Emmitt Smith and Buford Long for the most rushing touchdowns by a Gator.

CATCH HAPPY
* Florida’s Percy Harvin had nine catches for 110 yards and with his 100+ yards on the ground he became the first player in Gator history with 100+ yards in rushing and receiving in the same game.
* LSU’s Demetrius Byrd had six grabs for 144 yards including a 61-yard catch in the third quarter that made it 27-24 Alabama after the Tide had taken a 10 point lead to open the second half.
* Florida Andre Caldwell chipped in nine catches for 103 yards with two scores. He showed that Harvin was not the only superior athlete that the Gators had.

BIG HITS
* Vanderbilt SS Rashard Langford had a career-high 10 tackles to go with his second interception of the 2007 season.
* UT defense may have given up a bunch of yards to La.-Lafayette (364) but they held them to just one score all day.

LOW ENDS
* With a win Alabama would have the lead in the West. They were in position to do just that after Javier Arenas’ 61-yard punt return gave them a 34-27 lead. Then LSU had fourth and four at the ‘Bama 32. A stop here and the Tide had it just about locked up. Instead, Early Doucet took what was to be a first down making pass over the middle and turned it into the tying score. Later LSU safety Chad Jones sacked John Parker Wilson, knocked the ball out of his hands, and the Tigers had first and goal at the four. Two plays later Jacob Hester ran it in from one-yard for the winner.

* At the start of this year South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said his team was ready to play for the SEC East crown. At times this year his team had played the part well. He knew that this team was young and inexperienced on defense but rolled the dice anyway. On Saturday Arkansas running machine showed him how far his young defense has to go. Darren McFadden ran right and left. He ran uphill and downhill on his way to an SEC record-tying 321 yards. His running mate Felix Jones ran for 163 yards as both backs went over 1,000 yards for the season. They say that defense wins championships. If that is the case then maybe South Carolina isn’t ready for primetime just yet.

INTO THE MINDS
* Up in Knoxville folks were not too happy after a win. See they know what is in front of them. All season Coach Phillip Fulmer and his team have faced adversity. They have responded at times and have not other times. Once again the Gods of the SEC have helped the Vols control their destiny with some wild unexpected losses to other teams. Still they face the task of trying to stop McFadden and Jones Saturday. They gave up 364 yards to La-Lafayette and do not look to fare any better against Arkansas. Defensive coordinator John Chavis better get some extra tackling classes in quick. The Vols have shown they can be run on and run on big. If they do not find a way to stop the Razorback running game they will find themselves on the outside looking in again. This time there will be very little time to make up for it. The season is winding down and if the Volunteers hope to play for the SEC East title they had better hold on to these backs for dear life. They have the next two games at home against Arkansas and Vanderbilt then finish the regular season at Kentucky. Once again the Vols backbone will be tested.

* Every week LSU coach Les Miles and his troops give us a ball game. He makes wild and crazy decisions and his team somehow finds a way to keep coming back week after week. Unfortunately this will not work in the SEC. This team was looking like a monster at the beginning of the season. As the weeks have gone by they have had nail-biter after nail-biter. They are now ranked number two in the BCS and at this point in the season must start to dominate the remainder of their games if they want to keep a firm grip on that spot. You know that with the BCS if you have too many close games it can cost you precious points and possibly knock you out of the title picture. Now the schedule favors them. They should have no problem as they finish at home with La. Tech followed by a visit to Mississippi and lastly a home date with Arkansas and their two-headed monster. Miles will need to ensure that his troops understand that they must finish strong.

* Georgia had made its way back into the top 10 in the BCS. They are still behind Tennessee in the East but with some help they can play in Atlanta and make a push towards the top five and a major bowl bid. This comes after the UT loss in which the Dawgs season looked in trouble. Coach Mark Richt has kept the team confident but they must play better than they did against the likes of Troy in a 44-34 win that was close to the end. They have Auburn and Kentucky at home and end the season at Georgia Tech. It won’t be easy but the Dogs are confident and ready.

Photo Credit: University of Arkansas