College Football Around the SEC: Week 2

In case you missed last week's "Around the SEC", we are trying something new this season: attempting to put a weight on records by measuring in certain factors. It is the first attempt (plus I barely made Cs in Statistics 101 &102 when I was at the Capstone), so it may need some tweaking in the future.

Some of you had queries about it and I have some clarifications.

1. Week 1, Mississippi State played at Southern Miss. Should they get 0.5 point for winning on the road? No. No credit is awarded for winning at a cupcake's stadium.
2. Also Week 1, Texas A&M played in Houston but only received 0.125 point for neutral location. College Station to Houston is in just under 100 miles. Phoenix to Houston is about 1,100 miles. More fans, more familiarity, easier commute.
3. So, why should they get any points at all? Even with all the advantages listed above, there is nothing like playing in your home stadium on your field with your locker room in front of your fans/students, etc. etc. etc.
4. What qualifies as a Mid Major (MM)? I kinda painted myself in a corner on this one but I am going to attempt some structure here. MM is a FBS team who is not among the Power 5 conferences (ND and BYU are P5) but has some semblance of recent winning. FBS teams like Ga State and New Mexico St would be a CC. FBS teams like Temple or WKU would be a MM. (Refunds are available in the lobby of RBR Towers in downtown T-Town, Room 7-C).
   

Below is the key.

Win-Loss Record key:

• SEC - conference record
• P5 - non-SEC record against Power 5
• MM - record against Mid Majors/Non-Power 5 but projected bowl participant
  
• CC - record against cupcakes

Trying something new this season, we will attempt to put a weight on records.

• Win over P5 = 1 point
• Win over a ranked opponent = additional 0.5
• Road win = 0.5
• Neutral site win = 0.25
• Win over a MM = 0.5
• Win over a CC = 0
• Loss to CC = -1
• Loss to MM = -0.5
• Home loss = -0.5

Ole Miss Rebels (2-0, SEC 0-0, P5 0-0, MM 1-0, CC 1-0) 0.5 Points

Points this week: 0.5 for home win over MM Fresno.

Ole Miss at ALABAMA 8:15pm/9:15pm, SECN

For the second straight week, left tackle Laremy Tunsil was held out of the Rebels game due to an ongoing investigation. The stepfather of the projected top 10 NFL draftee made "claims of falsified academic records and gifts made by the university" as well as his cavorting with an agent. Tunsil has lawyered up which cannot be a good thing for the Rebs. There has been no word as of post time as to whether he will play against Bama.

LSU Tigers (1-0, SEC 1-0, P5 1-0, MM 0-0, CC 0-0) 2 Points

Points this week: 1.5 win over ranked P5 (If MSU goes in the tank, we may have to revisit the 0.5) on the road (0.5).

Auburn at LSU 2:30/3:30, CBS

The Bayou Bengals finally got a full game under their belt and it was about what you would think. The passing game was nil (71 total yards) and the running game was all about Leonard Fournette. The sophomore was handed the rock a career high 28 times, three of which were converted into touchdowns. Overall, the plays were 47 rushes and 14 carries for LSU. This team will need to learn to pass the ball if they have any hopes of an SEC West crown.

Auburn Tigers (2-0, SEC 0-0, P5 1-0, MM 0-0, CC 1-0) 1.25 Points

Points this week: 0 for win over CC Jax State. Tempted to subtract points!

Auburn at LSU 2:30/3:30, CBS

If the Tigers put together a losing season this year, will Auburn consider dumping Gustav Malzahn? Surely not but consider the short reign of Gene Chizik on the Plains and what he got fired for. To this point, Malzahn has not achieved any more than his predecessor.

Year	Coach	SEC West	Record	Post-season
2010	Gene Chizik	1st	14-0	BCS Champion
2011	Gene Chizik	4th	8-5	Won Chick-fil-A Bowl
2012	Gene Chizik	7th	3-9	no bowl
2013	Gus Malzahn	T-1st	12-2	Lost BCS Championship
2014	Gus Malzahn	T-4th	8-5	Lost Outback Bowl
2015	Gus Malzahn	-	?	?

In other Auburn news, senior DB Josh Holsey will have his season ended by a torn ACL for the second time in three years.

Tennessee Volunteers (1-1, SEC 0-0, P5 0-1, MM 1-0, CC 0-0) 0 Points

Points this week: -0.5 home lost to Oklahoma.

Western Carolina at Tennessee 6pm/7pm, ESPNU

Last week in this space, I questioned Alvin Kamara's sideline edge running strategy against Bowling Green that won him 144 yards and two scores. Against a stiffer, faster Sooners defense, he only managed four yards on four carries. He also caught one pass for five yards. If he wants to find success at Tennessee, he needs to learn to run between the tackles. Speed is a nice talent to have but vision and instinct is what separates the good from the great.

South Carolina Gamecocks (1-1, SEC 0-1, P5 1-1, MM 0-0, CC 0-0) 0.75 Points

Points this week: -0.5 home loss to UK.

South Carolina at Georgia 5pm/6pm, ESPN

South Carolina has jumped on the statue craze erecting a bronze reproduction of 1980 Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers. IMHO, it is kinda creepy looking because the thing has this big maniacal smile with dark teeth. Judge for yourself here.

Texas A&M Aggies (1-0, SEC 0-0, P5 1-0, MM 0-0, CC 0-0) 2.125 Points

Points this week: 0.5 win over MM Ball State.

Nevada at Texas A&M 11am/12noon, SEC NETWORK

Despite the convincing win over Ball State, TAMU still gave up four sacks. The Aggies committed seven penalties for 79 yards. They also had three fumbles but only lost one.

Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-1, SEC 0-1, P5 0-1, MM 0-0, CC 1-0) -0.5 Points

Points this week: -0.5 for home loss to LSU.

Northwestern St at Mississippi State 3pm/4pm, SEC NETWORK

In case you missed the end of the game, MSU drove 60 yards in a minute and 24 seconds down by two points. Upon reaching the LSU 29-yard-line with eight seconds remaining and a timeout left, coach Dan Mullen and senior QB Dak Prescott inconceivably let the play clock run out on third down. A 47-yard field goal turned into a 52-yard attempt. A pass incompletion moved the clock down to three second remaining. From there, the Bulldogs Devon Bell missed his first attempt to the left but Les Miles had called a timeout before the try to freeze the kicker. Bell then missed the actual kick wide left and the timeout went unused.

Missouri Tigers (2-0, SEC 0-0, P5 0-0, MM 1-0, CC 1-0) 1 Point

Points this week: 1 road win (0.5) over MM Arkansas State (0.5).

UConn at Missouri 11am/12noon, ESPN

I'm not sure how they do it but Mizzou continues to develop top-level defenders. Senior linebacker Kentrell Brothers tallied 16 tackles for the second game in a row and had two interceptions in the fourth quarter against Arkansas State.

Florida Gators (2-0, SEC 0-0, P5 0-0, MM 1-0, CC 1-0) 0.5 Points

Points this week: 0.5 home win over MM ECU.

Florida at Kentucky 6:30/7:30, SEC NETWORK

You know a little bit of Nick Saban has rubbed off on Gators coach Jim McElwain. But DANG! The former Bama OC went absolutely bonkers on running back Kelvin Taylor after he was penalized for making a throat slash penalty upon scoring a touchdown.

calm down, damn pic.twitter.com/cWOdwiNAsw

— El Flaco (@bomani_jones) September 13, 2015

Georgia Bulldogs (2-0, SEC 1-0, P5 1-0, MM 0-0, CC 1-0) 1.5 Point

Points this week: 1.5 road win over Vandy.

South Carolina at Georgia 5pm/6pm, ESPN

Despite the 31-14 margin for UGA over Vandy, the offense was a bit anemic outside of Nick Chubb's 189 yards rushing. A pick-six and a punt return for a score accounted for 14 points. The two Dawgs QBs combined to go 13-25 for 141 yards and no TDs thrown.

Arkansas Razorbacks (1-1, SEC 0-0, P5 0-0, MM 0-1, CC 1-0) -1 Points

Points this week: -1 home loss (-0.5) to MM Toledo (-0.5).

Texas Tech at Arkansas 6pm/7pm, ESPN2

I know I have railed on this before but it just does not seem advantageous for the Razorbacks to continue to play games in Little Rock any more. The distance to creeky old War Memorial Stadium is 190 miles which is close to the distance from Tuscaloosa to Atlanta. And LR is no Atlanta. If the university feels the need to placate rich alumni, then maybe they should play their spring game there. But for now, it has become a burden. Dare I call it a jinx? Arky in LR the last four seasons:

Sept 8, 2012	UL-Monroe	Lost 34-31 OT
Oct 27, 2012	Ole Miss	Loss 30-27
Sept 7, 2013	Samford	Won 31-21
Nov 23, 2013	Mississippi State	Lost 24-17 OT
Oct 18, 2014	Georgia	Lost 45-32
Sept 12, 2015	Toledo	Lost 16-12

Vanderbilt Commodores (0-2, SEC 0-1, P5 0-1, MM 0-1, CC 0-0) -1 Points

Points this week: 0 loss to UGA.

Austin Peay at Vanderbilt 3pm/4pm, SEC NETWORK

Vandy had more first downs (21-19) than UGA and less penalties (4-20 to 9-83). They basically hung with the Dawgs but three INTs and special teams breakdowns doomed their upset bid.

Kentucky Wildcats (2-0, SEC 1-0, P5 1-0, MM 1-0, CC 0-0) 2 Points

Points this week: 1.5 road win (0.5) over a P5 South Carolina (1).

Florida at Kentucky 6:30/7:30, SEC NETWORK

Kentucky broke a 22-game road losing streak with their win in Columbia, SC. They now have back-to-back wins over the Gamecocks.

Alabama Crimson Tide (2-0, SEC 0-0, P5 1-0, MM 1-0, CC 0-0) 2.25 Points

Points this week: 0.5 for win over MM MTSU.

Ole Miss at ALABAMA 8:15pm/9:15pm, ESPN

Since arriving at the Capstone in 2007, Nick Saban is 9-1 in "revenge" games with the one exception being two regular season losses to LSU in 2010 and 2011. However, that second loss was followed later in 2011 by a win in the BCS National Championship Game over the Tigers.

OTHERS:
Ohio State (2-0, B1G 0-0, P5 1-0, MM 0-0, CC 1-0) 1.5 Points (road win at Va Tech)
TCU (2-0, B12 0-0, P5 1-0, MM 0-0, CC 1-0) 1.5 Points (road win at Minn)
Baylor (2-0, SEC 0-0, P5 0-0, MM 0-0, CC 2-0) 0 Points (road win at CC SMU, see #1 at top of page)
(is there anyone else we should track?)

TOTALS:

Team	Points
Alabama	2.25
Texas A&M	2.125
Kentucky	2.0
LSU	2.0
Georgia	1.5
Auburn	1.25
Missouri	1.0
South Carolina	0.75
Florida	0.5
Ole Miss	0.5
Tennessee	0.0
Mississippi State	-0.5
Arkansas	-1.0
Vanderbilt	-1.0

#ROLLTIDE!