College Football Rewind: SEC East will be a division of inches
Welcome back to College Football Rewind. This is your first look back at what happened each week and what it means moving forward. Every Saturday night, I will analyze the week’s games and the always colorful world of college football. Check back later for analysis of the late games.
Even after the officials measured the final fourth-and-inches play between Georgia and South Carolina, no one quite knew what they were looking at.
Did South Carolina have a first down to ice a must-win game? Did Georgia have a huge stop at midfield with time remaining?
The Gamecocks got the first down and a must-win victory. In the process, the SEC East has its early, symbolic image for 2014 -- the millimeters separating a yardstick and a football. That's how tight and wide open its division race figures to be.
The SEC East is the little brother in the SEC. It’s the kid that craves respect from the SEC West and lately falls flat on its face in those moments. (The West is 60-29 vs. the East over the past six years, including South Carolina’s humiliating opening loss to Texas A&M.) Still, the East puts on wildly entertaining, if not flawed, games while deciding its winner.
Take solace, Georgia fans. Your season is not suddenly over. This isn’t the Florida-Tennessee game of yesteryear that almost always decided the East. Florida, Missouri, Tennessee and even Kentucky could also have a say in the East this season.
How close will the SEC East be this year? Kentucky coach Mark Stoops thought he had a delay-of-game penalty on Florida right before the Gators' fourth-down touchdown pass in overtime tied the game. Stoops was furious as he argued with the officials. What's a fraction of a second or a millimeter worth in the SEC East this season? Only division titles, bowl bids and coaches' job security. Florida survived with a 36-30, triple-overtime victory and avoided losing to Kentucky for the first time since 1986, saving Gainesville from burning down for another week.
The Georgia-South Carolina winner has gone on to win the SEC East only once in the past eight years — 2010 by the Gamecocks. In 2011 and 2012, Georgia lost to South Carolina and still wound up winning the East.
Georgia and South Carolina each have their flaws, especially on defense. Dylan Thompson far too easily completed 21 of 30 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns against Georgia. The Gamecocks allowed yards, but ultimately prevailed because they gave up field goal tries, not touchdowns. Georgia kicker Marshall Morgan missed two field goals after converting an SEC-record 20 straight.
South Carolina also won because Thompson, not Hutson Mason, was the better fifth-year quarterback in his first year as a starter. With a first-and-goal from the South Carolina 4-yard line late in the game, Mason took an intentional grounding penalty that he simply could not take. (Replays suggested the call might have been wrong because Mason's throw deflected off the leg of a Gamecocks defender in his face.) Georgia fans will second-guess no Todd Gurley on that play for the next week.
South Carolina needed Saturday’s win to stay in contention for the East. No team had ever won the SEC East after starting the season 0-2 in the conference. Now the division race is just getting started.
What We Learned in Week 3
1. Never underestimate college football surprises. Boston College shocked No. 9 USC with a 37-31 victory with a dominanting performance upfront. Rushing yards: Boston College 452, USC 20. Let that sink in for a moment after USC's physical win over Stanford last week and Boston College's loss to Pittsburgh. The Eagles beat a top-10 team while unranked for the sixth time in their history and the first since knocking off Notre Dame in 2002. In Arlington, Texas, UCLA star quarterback Brett Hundley was injured early in the game and the No. 12 Bruins survived with a 20-17 win over Texas. Backup quarterback Jerry Neuheisel threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Payton with three minutes left for the win. The Bruins have barely won their first three games, but they can say they still have no losses. In the unpredictable world of college football, you take that and move on to another day. Through three weeks, eight of the top 16 teams in the preseason Associated Press poll already have a loss: Ohio State, Michigan State, South Carolina, Stanford, Georgia, Wisconsin, USC and Clemson. That's the beauty of the game, especially on a Saturday evening that felt like an NCAA Tournament with so many dramatic finishes.
2. Big Ten misery continues: After the Big Ten’s three high-profile losses last week, Jim Delany went on the offensive by expressing disappointment at the results and saying it’s “premature to make any judgments” about the Big Ten's playoff chances. He pointed out there’s a need more for more data points. Fair point. Week 3 brought more data points and they’re still not good for the Big Ten. Virginia Tech, a week after winning at Ohio State, lost to visiting East Carolina. Maryland lost in the last second at home to West Virginia. TCU routed Minnesota. Washington blew out Illinois. Bowling Green beat Indiana. And the topper: Iowa lost at home to Iowa State after Kirk Ferentz called a timeout in an attempt to ice Iowa State’s kicker, who appeared to miss the first try and then, of course, made the second. It’s that kind of year -- and decade or so -- for the Big Ten. The Big Ten has a 1-10 record this season against the other Power 5 conference teams and is 36-58 against those teams since 2010. New Big Ten motto: Thank goodness for Rutgers. Only Rutgers has defeated a Power 5 team (Washington State) this season. Penn State and Nebraska are the only undefeated Big Ten teams left.
3. East Carolina has legitimate shot at a Group of 5 bowl: The Pirates were picked by media in the preseason to finish fourth in the American, which seemed too low even at the time. Now it looks laughable. East Carolina has one of the best passing offenses in the country with offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley and displayed it in the Pirates’ 28-21 victory over Virginia Tech. Call it, if you want, a hangover for the Hokies, who fell behind 21-0 a week after upsetting Ohio State on the road. But Virginia Tech has been an inconsistent program for several years and East Carolina is rising in 2014. Shane Carden’s 427 yards passing were the third-most the Hokies have ever allowed to a quarterback in one game. Cam Worthy had a career-high 224 receiving yards. The schedule is set up for East Carolina to potentially become the selection committee’s choice as the Group of 5 team in an upper-tier bowl. East Carolina, which challenged South Carolina last week, still has games against North Carolina, Cincinnati and UCF.
4. Blake Sims is Alabama's QB (at least for now): Sims continued to make a good case that he’s Alabama’s quarterback heading into the Crimson Tide’s game next week against Florida. The roles are clearly defined for now: Sims is the starter, Jake Coker is the backup. In Sims’ first three games as a starter, he has completed 75 percent of his passes for 646 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. AJ McCarron’s first three starts in 2011: 68 percent, 779 yards, four touchdowns, two interceptions. Alabama may still feel it needs Coker at some point this season. But it’s pretty clear this is Sims’ offense.
5. Arkansas is much better in 2014: Bret Bielema was an easy punching bag in the offseason. The Razorbacks, after all, were a mess in his winless SEC debut last year and Bielema didn’t help himself with some of his public comments related to offensive tempo. But Bielema didn’t suddenly become a bad coach after taking Wisconsin to the Rose Bowl three straight seasons. Arkansas’ 49-28 victory at Texas Tech shows the Razorbacks won’t roll over in 2014. Bielema dialed up only 12 pass plays as the Razorbacks ran 68 times for 438 yards and seven touchdowns. Everyone knew what was coming and Texas Tech still couldn’t stop it. Arkansas had an old Wisconsin feel to its offense.
6. Virginia's defense is for real: Virginia coach Mike London was fighting back tears during a television interview after the Cavaliers beat Louisville 23-21. You can hardly blame London for being so emotional. Virginia had not won an ACC game in 672 days, Cavaliers fans aren’t buying tickets, and London has been one of the biggest “hot seat” coaches in 2014 for months. The reality is Virginia is an improved football team with a quality defense. In Week 1, Virginia limited UCLA to one offensive touchdown. On Saturday, the Cavaliers held Bobby Petrino’s offense to 282 yards and forced four turnovers. In a very mediocre and wide-open ACC Coastal Division, there’s no reason the Cavaliers can’t contend given its defense.
What Was He Thinking?
Because of a puzzling coin-toss decision, Texas was scheduled to kickoff to start both halves Saturday against UCLA. The Bruins won the coin toss and elected to defer until the second half. Then Texas defensive tackle Tank Johnson told the official Texas would kickoff to start the game. The official was so confused that he turned off his microphone and seemed to ask Jackson if that’s the decision he really wanted. Jackson confirmed that was his decision and Texas coach Charlie Strong chewed him out when he returned to the sideline.
Score of the Week
Georgia Tech 42, Georgia Southern 38. Poor Georgia Southern, which has lost two heartbreakers to ACC teams this season. On Saturday, the Eagles rallied from a 35-10 deficit to take a 38-35 lead and had a chance to finish off the game. But they lost a late turnover on a controversial replay decision. On a botch Georgia Southern pitch play, it was ruled on the field a forward pass and an incompletion. The play was awfully close. Replay overturned the call and said it was a lateral, although there didn’t appear to be conclusive evidence to allow the call to be changed. “I thought it was a forward pass, but they’ve got all the replay technology,” Georgia Southern coach Willie Fritz said, according to AJC.com. “Hopefully they got it right.”
Stat of the Week
Cincinnati’s Gunner Kiel threw six touchdown passes on Friday, the most by any FBS player to start their career. Kiel is the highly-regarded, well-traveled quarterback who committed to Indiana and LSU, signed at Notre Dame, and transferred to Cincinnati all before playing a single snap. Kiel threw for 418 yards in Cincinnati’s 58-34 season-opening win over Toledo. Tommy Tuberville teams have scored 40 points or more in 47 percent of their games since 2011. That’s a stunning stat for anyone who celebrated the sixth anniversary on Saturday of Auburn 3, Mississippi State 2.
This Week in Tempo
My weekly look at the evolving trends, successes, failures and all-around moaning about up-tempo offenses.
West Virginia ran 108 plays from scrimmage in its 40-37 win over Maryland, causing Terrapins coach Randy Edsall to complain about tempo in the game. “I think there’s a problem in college football, I really do, with that many plays,” Edsall told reporters, according to Testudo Times. Edsall said the games are too long and expressed health concerns for players. This type of griping is the exact reason we created “This Week in Tempo.” Tempo was such a hot-button topic in the offseason that a losing coach was bound to bring it up in a post-game news conference. Here’s the problem with Edsall’s complaint: Maryland goes fast at times, too -- the Terrapins ran 85 plays in Week 1 -- and it’s never a good look to gripe about tempo after a defeat. As a coach, you’re better off saving that debate for another day.
Week 4 Questions
1. Can Kansas State slow down Auburn? One of the most intriguing Thursday night games of the season comes next week when Auburn travels to Kansas State. It’s not every day the SEC makes a true road trip, especially a trip by its defending champion. Auburn’s running game so far looks even better than a year ago. This will be one of those games the playoff selection committee will remember in December when picking four teams.
2. Will Florida be competitve against Alabama? The Gators travel to Tuscaloosa for a stiff road challenge against Alabama. These two traditional heavyweights are playing more infrequently than ever before due to the SEC’s new scheduling model. Given Florida's emotionally and physically tough win to beat Kentucky, the Gators will be challenged to get their bodies and minds right for Alabama. A wrinkle got added to this game Saturday when Alabama safety Nick Perry was ejected for a targeting penalty against Southern Miss. Perry will miss the first half next week against Florida.
3. How will West Virginia’s offense fare vs. Oklahoma? Dana Holgorsen is saving his job thanks in part to a rejuvenated offense. The Mountaineers are a threat in the Big 12. It’s not just because of the Mountaineers’ offense, although that’s a major part of the success. In three games (including one against Alabama), quarterback Clint Trickett has completed 75 percent of his passes and is averaging 408 yards per game. West Virginia also overcame adversity Saturday after losing a big lead to Maryland still winning. That probably wouldn’t have happened in 2013.
4. Can Clemson make a game of it vs. Florida State? A year ago, Clemson got destroyed at home by Florida State 51-14. The Tigers will try to make amends when they vista Tallahassee. Florida State will be a heavy favorite, although don’t rule out Clemson staying competitive. The Seminoles are still adjusting to the role of being the hunted.
5. What will James Conner do next? Become familiar with the name James Conner. He’s Pittsburgh’s sophomore running back and a budding star. Conner has a school-record 529 rushing yards through Pitt’s first three games, breaking the record held by Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett, who had 487 yards in his first three games as a true freshman in 1973. Connor faces Iowa next week.
>> Want more Week 3? Predicting the AP Top 25
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