SEC: Gators blowing out opponents

With their 56-6 win over South Carolina, Florida has made another statement to the rest of college football. Although the Gators have a loss and sit below Alabama and Texas Tech in the BCS, the argument can be made that they are playing the best football in the country.

Since losing to Ole Miss, the Gators have averaged 39 points in their six wins. The offense is clicking on all cylinders, as quarterback Tim Tebow continues to jump into the Heisman discussion. Tebow had another solid performance, completing 13 of 20 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns. The junior quarterback has at least two touchdowns in every game this season, except the season opener against Hawaii.

While Tebow gets most of the pub, it was the Percy Harvin show against South Carolina. Harvin notched 167 rushing yards and two touchdowns against one of the top statistical defenses in the SEC. The junior receiver has a touchdown in 12 straight games, tied with Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree for first nationally.

Harvin’s 167 rushing yards were just the beginning of the success for the Gators on the ground. Chris Rainey, Emmanuel Moody and Jeff Demps all pitched in to give the offense 346 rushing yards — the first 300-yard rushing performance by the Gators in SEC play since 1996.

With the success of the Florida offense, it’s easy to overlook how stingy the defense has been. The Gators rank first in the SEC in scoring defense, second in total defense and against the rush and fourth against the pass. In their last six games, the highest point total the Gators have allowed is 21 points.

Not only was Saturday’s win the biggest loss in South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier’s career, it was Florida’s fifth straight game of at least 42 points. Although the Gamecocks are a solid team, they simply had no answer for Florida. The defense held its own at times, but the inability of the offense to move the ball was the downfall for South Carolina.

Scoreboard:

Georgia 17, Auburn 13
Ole Miss 59, Louisiana-Monroe 0
Florida 56, South Carolina 6
Alabama 32, Mississippi State 7
LSU 40, Troy 31
Vanderbilt 31, Kentucky 24

Team of the Week: Vanderbilt

After starting the year 5-0, the Commodores dropped four straight and thoughts of the same old Vandy began to creep back into the picture. However, the Commodores bounced back to earn win No. 6 and assure themselves of a bowl berth this season. With Tennessee and Wake Forest left on the schedule, the Commodores have a good chance to notch eight wins.

Disappointment of the Week: LSU

LSU may have won but it was certainly not its best effort of the season. The Tigers trailed Troy 31-10 in the fourth quarter and their suspect secondary was exploited for over 300 passing yards. Offensively, quarterback Jarrett Lee has shown flashes of promise but has a lot of work ahead if the Tigers are to challenge for an SEC title in 2009.

Player of the Week: D.J. Moore, CB, Vanderbilt

Florida’s Percy Harvin can certainly make a claim for this award, but Moore was the catalyst in a huge win for the Vanderbilt program. The junior caught two touchdowns and picked off two passes to lead the Commodores to a 31-24 victory. Moore’s second interception clinched the victory and sends the Commodores to the postseason for the first time since 1982.

Freshman of the Week: Jarrett Lee, QB, LSU

Although it wasn’t a picture perfect performance for Lee, he deserves credit for rallying his team back from what could’ve been a disastrous loss for LSU. Lee was booed and benched in favor of freshman Jordan Jefferson, but completed 20 of 34 passes for 216 yards and one score to give the Tigers their seventh win of the season.

Vanderbilt goes bowling

The bowl drought in Nashville is over. With Vanderbilt’s 31-24 win over Kentucky, the Commodores will play in a bowl game for the first time since 1982. Senior quarterback Chris Nickson led the way for the Commodores, passing for 155 yards and three scores and rushing for 118 yards. Thanks in large part to Nickson’s scrambling ability and a solid game from running back Jared Hawkins, the Commodores were able to dominate the time of possession — 39:18 to 20:42. Cornerback/receiver D.J. Moore caught two of Nickson’s touchdown passes and also intercepted two from Kentucky quarterback Randall Cobb.

LSU needs huge rally

One week after pushing the current No. 1 team to the wire, LSU nearly suffered an upset at the hands of Troy. The Trojans have been competitive against SEC teams but no one expected the Tigers to struggle as bad as they did through three quarters. The Trojans led 31-10 going into the fourth, but watched the Tigers awake behind Jarrett Lee. Lee completed 20 of 34 passes for 216 yards and one touchdown to rally the Tigers to a 40-31 victory.

The LSU defense was shredded in the early going by Troy quarterback Levi Brown, who attempted 72 passes. Brown and the Trojans scored on their opening possession in the second half but found offensive success much tougher to come by the rest of the contest. The Tigers limited the Trojans to 46 yards on 30 snaps and put the clamps on a passing attack that grilled the secondary in the first half.

Alabama stays unbeaten

Mississippi State has been a thorn in Alabama’s side over the last two seasons but not this year. The Crimson Tide methodically pulled away from the Bulldogs to give them their first 11-0 record since 1994. Alabama initially sputtered against a solid Mississippi State defense, but got a huge effort from Javier Arenas on punt returns to set the tone. Arenas tallied a school-record 153 yards on six returns, including an 80-yard score in the third quarter. Running backs Mark Ingram and Glen Coffee eventually wore down the Bulldogs, as they combined for 30 carries and 149 yards.

Going into Saturday’s match-up against Alabama, Mississippi State needed to win out to reach back-to-back bowl games. However, another lackluster effort on offense and trouble on special teams sealed a losing season for the Bulldogs. Quarterback Tyson Lee threw for 132 yards and the rushing attack was held to 35 yards. The Bulldogs also managed a meager nine first downs and finished 2 of 12 on third-down conversions.

Georgia wins another close one

For the second week in a row, the Georgia defense had to hold in the final minute to preserve victory. Auburn quarterback Kodi Burns misfired on a last chance pass to Ben Tate in the endzone, giving the Bulldogs their third consecutive win in this rivalry. Not helping the Auburn cause was a couple of missed opportunities in Georgia territory. Burns lost a fumble in the second quarter and threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-three with less than five minutes to go in the fourth.

Although the offense has sputtered most of the year for Auburn, quarterback Kodi Burns has shown signs of life over the past couple of weeks. The sophomore completed 16 of 30 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown and added 28 rushing yards. Burns needs development, but the Auburn coaching staff has to be pleased with his progress. The Tigers are one win short of bowl eligibility and have their final shot against instate rival Alabama.

Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 15 of 24 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns and improved his record as a starter to 26-6. Stafford has not thrown an interception in back-to-back games. The Bulldogs close out the season in two weeks against Georgia Tech.

Ole Miss gets bowl eligible

The first year of the Houston Nutt era has proven to be a successful one in Oxford. With its 59-0 win over Louisiana-Monroe, Ole Miss moved to 6-4 and achieved bowl eligibility for the first time since 2003. Quarterback Jevan Snead completed 6 of 12 passes for 170 yards, three touchdowns and added another two scores on the ground. The Ole Miss defense pitched its first shutout since last season against Louisiana Tech, as they limited the Warhawks to seven first downs and 131 total yards.

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