FWtCT SEC Recap - Week Two 2015

Auburn 27, Jacksonville State 20 (OT)

Well, um, wow. The Gamecocks of Jacksonville State nearly pulled off their second road victory over an SEC team in five years. This one would have been arguably the greatest upset in college football history. Alas, it didn't happen. After having a strong showing last week, the Auburn defense fell flat on its face, giving up 438 total yards. That's right. Auburn was out-gained by an FCS team. The Jeremy Johnson hype train continues to spontaneously combust after throwing two interceptions. He currently leads the FBS with five interceptions on the year. #Johnson4Heisman. Anyways, towards the end of the game, up 20-13 with two minutes remaining, JSU got pretty conservative, running it up the middle three straight times for a total of seven yards. Afterwards, their punter shanked a punt out of bounds that flew a staggering 18 yards, followed by an Auburn touchdown and an overtime Tiger victory. Hey, at least you still have this, Jacksonville State.

Ole Miss 73, Fresno State 21

That's right. Ole Miss scored 70 points. Again. Chad Kelly played well. Again. Like, really well. Really, really, really well. Like, 20 for 25 passes for 346 yards and four touchdowns well. The Rebels totaled 607 yards of offense while holding Fresno State to 316. Even though Ole Miss turned the ball over three times, they forced Fresno to turn it over four times. It was an overall dominant performance for Ole Miss and a good tune up before Tuscaloosa next week.

Georgia 31, Vanderbilt 14

The CBS SEC Game of the Week didn't turn out as bad as we thought. This game was somewhat similar to the Commodores' performance last week against Western Kentucky. Vanderbilt's defense played pretty well, holding Georgia to 425 total yards. The offense looked pretty solid too, totaling 400 yards. But, once again, turnovers were the Commodores' kryptonite, as Johnny McCrary threw three picks, one of which was taken to the house. Although ugly, Vanderbilt hung around. Solid performances from both teams.

Toledo 16, Arkansas 12

OH, ARKANSAS. WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED? WELL, GUESS WHAT. I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED.

MACTION HAPPENED.

YOU PAID TOLEDO ONE MILLION AMERICAN DOLLARS TO TRAVEL TO YOUR STADIUM. AND YOU LOST.

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ARKANSAS OUT-GAINED TOLEDO BY 198 YARDS. AND STILL LOST.

ARKANSAS HAD 15 MORE FIRST DOWNS THAN TOLEDO. AND STILL LOST.

THIS WAS AS WEIRD OF A GAME AS I'VE EVER SEEN OR HEARD OF. I SHOULD STOP USING CAPS LOCK.

To quote longtime San Francisco sports announcer Bill King, "Holy Toledo!"

Alabama 37, Middle Tennessee State 10

After a dominant performance last week against Wisconsin, Alabama had a sluggish performance against the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State. Not a superb showing from Jake Coker, completing 15 of his 26 passes for 214 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. With that being said, once again, it was the Derrick Henry show. Henry rushed for 96 yards and three touchdowns from 18 carries. As said last week, he is really starting to rival Nick Chubb and Leonard Fournette for the bets running back in the SEC.

Oklahoma 31, Tennessee 24 (2OT)`

Well, Tennessee. You were so close. So. Gosh darn. Close. The Tennessee defense is what kept them in this for as long as they did. The Volunteers held Oklahoma to just 348 yards, but they didn't get any help from Tennessee's offense. They produced a whopping 254 yards of total offense. Josh Dobbs had a mediocre at best performance, completing 13 of his 31 passes for 125 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. The Vols revolved around the performance of running back Jalen Hurd, as he rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown from 24 carries. It was an absolutely heartbreaking finish for Tennessee, but as long as their offense can start producing again, they'll be just fine.

Florida 31, East Carolina 24

It was the epic rematch of last year's Birmingham Bowl, and it was the exact same result: a touchdown victory for the Gators. It was a pretty ugly game, both teams totaling less than 400 yards of offense, five total turnovers, just sloppy. Contrary to last week, Will Grier got a majority of the snaps at quarterback for Florida, completing 10 of his 17 passes for 151 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. Not a stellar showing. It's obvious that Jim McElwain is still trying to figure out the right fit at quarterback for this Florida offense, and he needs to do it fast before they travel to Lexington next week.

Missouri 27, Arkansas State 20

This game was as bad and boring as the score indicates. Maty Mauk continues his inconsistency, completing 16 of his 36 passes for 148 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. The Tigers put up just 282 yards of total offense but held Arkansas State to 217. Their opponents may have been Southeast Missouri State and Arkansas State, but I'd say Barry Odom is working out as defensive coordinator in Columbia. With how good their defense is, they can win games simply on their defense, as was evident in this game.

Texas A&M 56, Ball State 23

It was another dominant performance for Texas A&M. The Aggies had a 49-3 lead at halftime before bringing in their backups. A&M held Ball State to just 104 total yards in the 1st half. Once they were too behind to get somewhat close, Ball State mounted a 2nd half rally, outscoring Texas A&M 20-7. So far this year, A&M is arguably the most impressive team in the conference. Domination of all teams.

Kentucky 26, South Carolina 22

22 games. That's how long it has taken Kentucky to beat a team on the road. 22 games. Well, they finally snapped that streak. You'd probably expect this to have come from an incredible performance from the Wildcats. You'd be wrong. Kentucky didn't play well at all. South Carolina out-gained them. South Carolina had more first downs than them. They both had only one turnover. Kentucky's quarterback, Patrick Towles, had a mediocre performance, completing 21 of 29 passes for 192 yards, no touchdowns, and an interception. It was all because of Kentucky's rushing attack. The Wildcats totaled 207 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, a majority of the yards coming from Stanley "Boom" Williams, who ran for 107 yards from 14 carries. This was just a weird game of football. Also, I think we can all agree that South Carolina is just bad. They're not good.

LSU 21, Mississippi State 19

Sigh. Sigh, sigh, sigh, and more sighs. This was just tough. This game, as the saying goes, was a tale of two halves. In the first half, particularly the 1st quarter, Mississippi State couldn't do anything. Both the defense and offense looked atrocious, especially the offensive line. Oh, the offensive line. Couldn't give Dak any time. The positive of this is that both sides of the ball improved dramatically as the game went on. It was pretty evident, knowing Mississippi State outscored LSU 19-7 after falling behind 14-0 in the 1st quarter. But, there was one player that made the difference in this game. #7. Leonard Fournette. The best running back in the Southeastern Conference. 28 carries for 159 yards and three touchdowns. Brandon Harris didn't have to do anything. He completed 9 of his 14 passes for 71 yards. That's all he did. Leonard Fournette literally carried that team on his back, and we couldn't stop it. With the exception of a few good runs by Brandon Holloway, Mississippi State's run game was nonexistent. Dak Prescott had a good game statistically, going 34 of 52 for 335 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions, but he was still overthrowing receivers and wasn't sharp. This one was just tough. Really tough. We can get over it, though. We can only hope.