What we learned, Week 7: Coach O is out. Will LSU go after Jimbo?

What we learned, Week 7:

1--Coach O is out. Will LSU make Jimbo an offer he can't refuse?

LSU was 3-3 and a double-digit underdog against Florida in Baton Rouge on Saturday. The Tigers, who by all accounts had had a good week of practice, beat the Gators 49-42 in a game which appeared to save Coach Ed Orgeron’s job, at least for another week.

But on Sunday SI.com’s Ross Dellenger first reported that Orgeron, who won a national championship in 2019, would be leaving LSU at the end of the season.

Oregon is 49-17 at LSU but 9-8 since winning the national championship.

But Dellenger reports that the issues involving Orgeron go beyond winning and losing and involve a strained relationship with the LSU administration and issues of public/private behavior.

The list of those interested in this job will be long. Does LSU athletics director Scott Woodward, who hired Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M, pick up the phone and call Fisher’s agent, Jimmy Sexton just to find out if he's interested?

Remember that earlier this year Sexton got Fisher a four-year contract extension and a raise from $7.5 million to $9 million. And what was BEFORE he beat Alabama and Nick Saban back on Oct. 19.

Stay tuned

2—What happened at the end of the Tennessee-Ole Miss game was a lot of things. But mostly it was sad.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey was clearly not pleased game at the bottle throwing, golf ball throwing, and mustard container throwing fans in Knoxville, who held up the final plays of regulation about 30 minutes. There were 54 seconds left in the game when the objects began to come down. Ole Miss eventually won the game 31-26.

“We are accustomed to intense competition every week, but under no circumstance is it acceptable to endanger the contest participants and disrupt a game,” Sankey said in a release.

UT Chancellor Donde Plowman released a blistering statement saying she was “astonished and sickened by the behavior of some Vol fans at the end of tonight’s game.”

I’m not going to get into the supposed reasons for the fan misbehavior because it is irrelevant. There is no excuse.

I was just sad because I was in Knoxville on Monday and the fans I talked to were so excited about this game.

I was also sad because critics will use this and paint all Tennessee fans with a broad bush, which is wrong. There were 102,445 fans at Neyland Stadium. I got criticized on Twitter for using the term “handful” when describing the number of fans involved and how they ruined the night for everybody. Fine. Use whatever number you want. Just be fair to the overwhelming number of Tennessee fans who had no part in this.

3—Matt Corral was magnificent.

I talked to a friend on Sunday who has a long history with the University of Tennessee football program. He said the performance of the Ole Miss quarterback was one of the greatest he has ever seen in Neyland Stadium.

Here are the numbers: Corral completed 21 of 38 passes for 231 yards and three touchdowns. Not bad. But he also ran for 222 yards on 30 carries (I don’t subtract sacks from yards rushing because it is a stupid rule) and two more touchdowns.

And here’s the kicker: Corral was on the field for 101—that’s right 101—plays.

If he’s not in your Heisman top three, then you’re not paying attention.

4—Stetson Bennett should remain the starting quarterback at Georgia, even when JT Daniels is healthy again.

I would not have said this three weeks ago because I thought there was a ceiling on what Bennett could do in this offense. In short, I thought Bennett was good enough to get Georgia to the College Football Playoff but not dynamic enough to win it.

I was wrong. In six games this season Bennett has completed 69.5 of his passes for 11 touchdowns and only two interceptions. Saturday against Kentucky he completed 14 of 20 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns. Two of his touchdowns to tight end Brock Bowers were beautiful throws.

In other words, what does Daniels do that Bennett cannot do? This season, based on what I’ve seen, Bennett can make all the throws.

It will be interesting to see what happens in Jacksonville on Oct. 30 against Florida.

5—Quarterback Bo Nix had the best road game of his Auburn career:

Going into this season I thought Nix, a junior, would show improvement under new offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. It took a while but the improvement finally came on Saturday, when Auburn went to No. 17 Arkansas and won 38-23.

Previously Nix had had problems on the road but at Arkansas he completed 21 of 26 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns.

Here is why he has earned our respect. Back on Sept. 25 he was benched against Georgia State in favor of LSU transfer T.J. Finley. But Nix has come back from that to play some of his very best football. Auburn is 5-2 with the only losses coming to No. 1 Georgia and No. 7 Penn State. Auburn is back in the Top 25 at No. 19.