Get up, Dawgs! It’s game day….for other people.
There are a few things I enjoy more than cheering on the Georgia Bulldogs. But one thing that’s right up there on the list is a crisp fall Saturday in which I can watch other college football teams free from the creeping dread, and outright rage engendered on occasion by watching the Red and Black.
And as it so happens this bye week is one of those glorious midseason Saturdays when we are set to find out a lot about the college football landscape. There
are some top 25 matchups, including some which will go a long way to clarifying conference title game possibilities and Playoff potential.
The Starter: Lane’s on the Plains (ABC, Noon).
Ole Miss heads to Norman this week to face Brent Venables’ ferocious Oklahoma pass rush and, well, whatever it is the Sooners are doing on offense this week. This one may very well be an SEC Championship Game elimination game. And if the rumors of Lane Kiffin’s interest in the Florida job are true (they are), and if the Rebels know this (they do), it sets up as a real test of mental preparation for the visitors. I’ve seen a team (read:several) quit on Lane Kiffin before, and we may get our best read on his chances for the Gainesville gig based on whether this team does the same.
Flipping Out: Bobby Petrino Is Interested (In What? Yes!)
At 12:45 on SEC Network Auburn will travel to Arkansas, which is led by interim head coach Bobby Petrino. Petrino is surely not interested in the soon to be available Auburn job, at least not interested enough to get on an Auburn booster’s private plane and fly to Auburn to hammer out a contract before the current coach has even been let go. At least not this time around. Right? Right????
Afternoon Delights: Just like Greg Sankey drew it up.
If you had asked the commissioner of college football’s premier conference in August whether he’d be excited about a 3:30 ESPN matchup of a #15 SEC team and a #10 in week nine with SEC Champioonship Game and CFP playoff implications he’d have said “Sure!!!” If you’d told him that the #15 team is Missouri and the #10 team is Vanderbilt and that Texas would be playing Mississippi State on the SEC Network while desperately clinging to a chance of a New Year’s Bowl, well, his enthusiasm may have flagged.
Alternately you could watch Alabama do terrible things to South Carolina on ABC. Few teams in America have experienced a season of quiet desperation quite like the 3-4 Gamecocks. From a trendy pick to fight for a playoff spot with a Heisman candidate QB to needing a win over at least one of the top ten teams they play in the next three weeks (Bama, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M) just to have a shot at reaching bowl eligibility. Life comes at you fast, especially if you’re Shane Beamer and/or hired Mike Shula of all people as your offensive coordinator. That brain sprain still might not prevent Virginia Tech from taking a flyer on bringing Beamer Ball back to Blacksburg.
I anticipate this thread will be the hub of activity for the day.Feel free to chime in with your observations from the day’s action, or swap thoughts on the Georgia Bulldogs, who absolutely will not be mounting a fourth quarter comeback today.
Go ‘Dawgs!!!
