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Earlier on TSK: AP Top 25: Rematch Redux and a Good Week for Bulldogs
Our recap of the polls that were released after the weekend in college football.
Connor Shaw expected to play against Missouri
We'll get into the wisdom of this in a moment. But the status report first.
"It could be a hairline fracture in there, doctors say, that causes a lot of pain when he lands on it," Spurrier said. "He should be very similar status-wise to what he was last week. Whether or not he can practice, we’ll have to wait and see. But he should be certainly able to suit up and play this weekend (against Missouri)."
So Missouri and South Carolina will both go into this game with hobbled starting quarterbacks who might or might not play over their backups. Take the under.
Garnet and Black Attack says Dylan Thompson should play
Which is the right call. On the other hand, I'm not quite sure I'm ready to go this far.
Shaw isn't ready. He might not be ready for Kentucky, either. Or Georgia. But we'll need him to get healthy as fast as possible. As a starter you might ask? No. Don't you get it, yet? Right now, Connor is the back-up.
For now, though, Thompson should get the chance to prove that the nice throws he had against East Carolina and UAB were more about his learning to play the game and less about the defenses he was facing. (For the record, he had a couple of really bad throws against UAB that should have been interceptions. So let's not get ahead of ourselves here.) It's not ideal for a player to essentially be trying out during an SEC game, but it's the only real option that South Carolina has right now.
The Shaw that played Saturday night will be hard-pressed to beat Missouri. Kentucky's a gimme, but then Georgia is on the schedule. If nothing else, South Carolina needs to find out whether Shaw really offers the best opportunity to win.
Brian Randolph is done for the season
Well, no one has officially said that Brian Randolph won't be back this year after getting injured in the Florida game. But -- yeah.
Well-wishers flooded his Facebook page, and Randolph responded appreciatively. "Thanks for all the support from everyone," he said. "I'll be back next year!"
Randolph was the team leader in tackles before the game started, which is not really what you want your safety to be, but I digress. It's a big loss for the Vols, and a sign that the toll of the Florida defeat on the season might not be known yet.
Yeah, that sounds about right
Kentucky is saying all the right things about fighting on despite the loss to Western Kentucky. But then comes one of those parts of an article where the reporter slaps you in the face with reality just by stating facts.
The last time a Kentucky team was beaten by a team outside of the BCS was a 28-16 loss to Ohio University in 2004.
That UK team, in its second season under Rich Brooks, finished 2-9, with the last win coming over Vanderbilt that season, 14-13.
Is there a chance Joker Phillips and Co. could rally improbably and find the five wins that would make them bowl-eligible? Sure. And there's a chance that a giant asteroid will hit the earth tomorrow and make the whole argument a moot point.
Texas came close to Sewanee in Saturday night's game
And that's bad news for Ole Miss.
Nick Saban is not going to be happy about this
Alabama is a 51-point favorite in one set of Las Vegas books. It's literally the highest Alabama line on record, though the records only go back to 1985.
When memes attack
We've mostly brought up the rematch talk to dismiss it. USA Today is taking it all serious-like and wrote an article about it.
Great move by Troy Calhoun
The Air Force head coach is revealing his weekly ballot to USA Today. Hey, coach, you can send it to us here at Team Speed Kills if you should ever find yourself in Knoxville. For any reason.