Saturday night, the Mississippi State Bulldogs turned in one of their all time top offensive performances, spanking Troy 62-7 to regain momentum headed into the bye week.
The Good: Pretty much everything was good Saturday night in Starkville. The fans were treated to a beat down, and the weather for those in attendance was perfect.
As far as the product on the field, Dak Prescott again had a tremendous performance, looking like the leader and starting quarterback for this team. Jameon Lewis looked like the multipurpose threat that most feel he should be. The defense forced two turnovers, scoring on Jamerson Love's pick-six to slow Troy early, before adjusting after a Trojan touchdown and slamming the door on the Troy offense.
Saturday night saw a complete performance from the Bulldogs.
The Bad: It is never fun to single out one player, but Devon Bell again looked shaky as the kicker for Mississippi State. His miss against Auburn played a pretty big part in that game, and another miss on what is a makeable field goal may cost the Bulldogs again in SEC play. Dan Mullen mentioned him last week in his press conference, and hopefully the bye week can see Bell make a few adjustments to prepare for the rest of the season.
The Ugly: After the game, Mullen mentioned that Tyler Russell had been cleared for contact, and that he was still the starting quarterback. He also said he expected Russell to start against LSU. That could all be coachspeak, but I am sure it will lead to some fired up message board folks, and if Russell does draw the start, the reaction at Davis Wade will be interesting.
SEC Recap:
Vanderbilt 24, UMass 7: The Commodores had no trouble going up to Foxboro and snagging a win.
No. 9 Georgia 45, North Texas Mean Green 21: North Texas put up an early fight, only trailing 21-14 at the half, but Georgia proved too much in the second half.
No. 19 Florida 31, Tennessee 17: The Gators won the game, but lost starting quarterback Jeff Driskel for the year.
Rutgers 28, Arkansas 24: The SEC suffered another out of conference loss when Arkansas could not get past the Scarlet Knights.
No. 10 Texas A&M 42, SMU 13: Johnny Manziel cannot make money off of himself or his team, but that is not stopping Floyd Mayweather.
No. 1 Alabama 31, Colorado State 6: The Tide did enough to win without any real worries against the Rams.
No. 6 LSU 35, Auburn 21: A "horrible" Auburn team that Mississippi State fans said would be embarrassed by LSU which would make the loss even worse for Mississppi State played a pretty solid game against LSU.
Missouri 45, Indiana 28: Missouri improved to 3-0 by shutting down a Hoosier offense that had been scoring 50 points per contest.
HANDING OUT HARDWARE
SEC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Dak Prescott, Mississippi State: There were quite a few worthy candidates this week. Jeremy Hill had a solid perforamce against Auburn, but a quarterback catching, throwing, and receiving a touchdown cannot be ignored. In all, Prescott went 13 of 21 for 233 yards and a touchdown. He also had five carries for 53 yards and two touchdowns, and he had one reception for 36 yards and a score.
THE TWEET THAT WON TWITTER:
Congratulations @JManziel2 for putting on a fantastic show. He may not be able to make money off himself but I can. pic.twitter.com/Tp3sKyznkq
— Floyd Mayweather (@FloydMayweather) September 22, 2013
Right on Money...right on..
SEC POWER RANKINGS (LAST WEEK IN PARENTHESES)
1. Alabama (1): The Tide just keep rolling.
2. LSU (3): It is just a hunch, but I think the Tigers are the second best team in the SEC.
3. Georgia (2): The Bulldogs can rally back to the second position with a win this weekend.
4. Texas A &M (4): The Aggies have to hope for Alabama to have a few slips. If it happens, they could claw back into the SEC and national title hunt.
5. South Carolina (5): No game, no changes.
6. Ole Miss (6): Ole Miss is about to get tested against Alabama. Should be the highlight game of the night.
7. Florida (7): No changes to the Gators' positioning this week, but with Driskel done for the year, how will Florida respond.
8. Auburn (9): This Tiger squad keeps looking more and more legit. Take away the turnovers, and they could have sprung a big upset.
9. Vanderbilt (8): Vandy has done a solid job beating everyone they should.
10. Mississippi State (10): The Bulldogs rebounded nicely in their contest against Troy.
11. Missouri (12): It will be interesting to see the Tigers in SEC play.
12. Arkansas (11): The Razorbacks still have a way to go to get back to where they were.
13. Tennessee (13): The Volunteers are simply not that good.
14. Kentucky (14): The Wildcats did not look bad this weekend.
FIVE THINGS I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS WEEKEND:
1. Good Grief! What has happened to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
2. I love the idea of the players rising up against the NCAA system, but how will they really ever truly organize?
3. Great upgrades and additions to Davis Wade Stadium. The place looks great.
4. The Miami Dolphins are 3-0?!?!?!?!!?
5. One week until Monday Night Raw comes to Biloxi...can't wait.