Mr. CFB: What We Learned
Five things we learned about SEC football in Week 7.
1--Georgia's easy schedule doesn't look so easy now:
All summer Georgia, the two-time defending national champions, got beat up over what was perceived as a very light schedule. And at the time, it didn't look particularly daunting.
Well, let's look at the schedule now:
The Bulldogs get this week off and then play Florida on Oct. 28 in Jacksonville. The Gators (5-2) had a huge win at South Carolina (41-39) on Saturday. More on that below:
Then Georgia plays Missouri (6-1) and Ole Miss (5-1) at home and Tennessee (5-1) and Georgia Tech (3-3) on the road.
One other factor for Georgia: All-World tight end Brock Bowers went out with an ankle injury in the first half against Vanderbilt. We'll have to wait and see if he's avaiable for that stretch.
2--It's probably time to start believing in Missouri:
Two weeks ago Missouri had LSU beat and let it slip away 49-39. Saturday the Tigers fell behind 14-0 and stormed back to beat Kentucky in Lexington 38-21.
Looking for a spark when his team was down 14-0, Coach Eli Drinkwitz called for a fake punt to keep a drive alive. It worked. Kentucky rarely gets dominated at home but the Wildcats did.
So Missouri is already bowl eligible.
"But why stop now?" Drinkwitz told Cole Cubelic of the SEC Network. "Let's keep going."
The Tigers get South Carolina at home this week and finish with Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and Arkansas.
3--I'm sorry, Alabama fans. This is who Alabama is. Still, the Crimson Tide will win every regular season game it has left. It will just be hard to watch--especially for Coach Nick Saban.
Saban tried to warn his players that Arkansas was going to be a tough out, even in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Yes, the Hogs have lost five straight but four of those losses were by seven points or fewer. More on that below.
Alabama has a very athletic quarterback (Jalen Milroe), a very average offensive line, which has given up at least four sacks in each of the past five games. It also has a great defense. This team makes too many mistakes but since Texas has found a way to win, but win ugly. Tide fans are just going to have to learn to live with it.
On Saturday Alabama hosts Tennessee, which had a very impressive 20-13 win over Texas A&M in Knoxville. After a week off it plays LSU and Chattanooga in Tuscaloosa plus Kentucky and Auburn on the road.
The Tide will win them all and play Georgia in the SEC championship game.
4--I don't want to hear one word about replacing Sam Pittman at Arkanas:
The late Jim Valvano once told me that the No. 1 job of a coach is to put his team in position to win.
Wiith one exception--a 34-22 loss to Texas A&M--Sam Pittman has done that with his team every week this season.
Arkansas trailed Alabama 24-6 midway through the third quarter in Tuscaloosa. But instead of quitting the Hogs came back and got it to 24-21 on a touchdown and two-point conversion. Alabama had to run out the last 5:19 of the clock to win the game.
Arkansas has lost five straight but the Hogs have fought their butts of in every single one.
So don't tell that Arkansas needs to make a change. Sam Pittman is a damn good football coach.
5--The Gators, Graham Mertz, woke up at South Carolina. Will it last? We'll find out in Jacksonville.
It was the game that the Florida Gators and their fans had been waiting on. Graham Mertz, the transfer quarterback from Wisconsin, threw for 423 yards and three touchdowns in a huge 41-39 win in Columbia.
The Gators were down 10 points with 9:11 to go.
Florida then did something that its critics did not believe was possible. The Gators put together two 75-yard touchdown drives to win the game. The winning touchdown went from Mertz to Ricky Pearsall with 47 seconds left. Pearsall caught 10 passes for 166 yards.
Before Saturday Florida was 1-7 on the road under Coach Billy Napier. That's why this win was so big.
Now the Gators have a week off before going to Jacksonville to play No. 1 Georgia. There will be a lot of positive energy flowing out of Gainesville this week. But will it be enought to keep Florida competitve with the nation's No. 1 team?
Stay tuned.