Mr. CFB: What We Learned, Week 7
To paraphrase my good friend Brad Nessler of CBS, if you don’t like college football after what we saw Saturday, then brother, I can’t help you.
Starting with Tennessee dramatic 52-49 over Alabama, which ended with a Volunteer field goal on the last play of the game, and a late grand finish with Utah’s 53-52 win over undefeated USC in Salt Lake, it was one of the best college football Saturdays these old eyes have ever seen.
Maybe THE best.
And folks, we’re just getting started. We have two Saturdays left in October and then the first set of rankings by the College Football Playoff selection committee will be announced on Nov. 1. Then things are really going to get interesting as we will head into a sprint to the release of the four teams in the playoff on Dec. 4.
So what did we learn on the third Saturday in October? I’m so glad you asked.
1—Tennessee deserves to be in everybody’s top three:
I expected No. 1 Georgia to remain there after a 55-0 demolition of Vanderbilt. No. 2 Ohio State didn’t play on Saturday so chances were that the Buckeyes wouldn’t get jumped.
But Tennessee, after the performance it has put on the entire season, deserves to be No. 3. After all, who has a better resume than Tennessee, which has beaten Pittsburgh on the road (34-27), Florida (36-33), LSU (40-13) of the road, and Alabama (52-49)?
And if Tennessee, which hosts Tennessee-Martin on Saturday, will have its chance to move up to No. 1 if it can beat Kentucky on Oct. 29 and Georgia in Athens on Nov. 5.
2—Alabama still has all of its preseason goals in front them:
Alabama has been here before. When Texas A&M beat Alabama last season in College Station, Coach Nick Saban reminded his team that it could still achieve all of its goals. He was right as the Crimson Tide ran the table in the regular season and beat Georgia for the SEC championship. After a CFP semifinal win over Cincinnati, Alabama reached the national championship game against Georgia.
The same holds true after Alabama’s loss to Tennessee. But now Alabama has no margin for error. As long as Bryce Young stays healthy, Alabama will win the SEC West and play either Georgia of Tennessee for the SEC championship and a spot in the playoffs.
By the way, the performance by Alabama's Bryce Young and Tennessee's Hendon Hooker was the best by two quarterbacks in an SEC game since Alabama's Scott Hunter (300 yards passing) and Archie Manning of Ole Miss (540 yards of total offense.) in 1969 at Legion Field.
3—Don’t sleep on LSU:
After LSU lost to Tennessee 40-13 on Oct. 8 in Baton Rouge, I figured that the Tigers might be done.
But no so fast, my friend,
LSU was very efficient in beating Florida 45-35 in the Swamp on Saturday night. LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, the transfer from Arizona State, played his best game in an LSU uniform throwing for 349 yards and six touchdowns (3 passing, 3 rushing).
Remember that LSU (5-2) is still 3-1 in the SEC. The losses are to Florida State and Mississippi Statte. Should it run the table, which would include a Nov. 5 win at home vs. Alabama, the Tigers could reach Atlanta and. the SEC championship game.
4—If Ole Miss is going to win the SEC West, the Rebels are going to really have to earn it:
Ole Miss got not one, not two, but three 100-yard rushers and a total of 448 yards on the ground in beating Auburn 48-34. One of those 100-yard rushers was transfer quarterback Jaxson Dart.
Now the Rebels are 7-0 (3-0 SEC) with the whole world in front of them. Here are thefinal five final regular season games:
Saturday at LSU (5-2)
Oct. 29 at Texas A&M (3-3)
Nov. 12 vs. Alabama (6-1)
Nov. 19 at Arkansas (4-3)
Nov. 24 vs. Mississippi State (5-2)
Ole Miss is 7-0 for only the second time since 1962 and the first time since 2014.
5—The REAL Kentucky returned on Saturday:
Coach Mark Stoops would be the first to say that his team got embarrassed by South Carolina 24-14 on Oct. 8. Yes the Wildcats were without quarterback Will Levis but that wasn’t the whole story. Kentucky didn’t show any toughness or fight in that game which is something Stoops will not tolerate.
So after what we in the South call a “come to Jesus” meeting this his team, Kentucky pounded Mississippi State behind 196 yards and two touchdowns from running back Chris Rodriguez. Kentucky prevailed 27-17 and its goal of another 10-win season is still on the table.
But its going to be hard to do for Kentucky (5-2, 2-2). Among the final five regular season games is a trip to Tennessee on Oct. 29 and a Nov. 19 home game against No. 1 Georgia.