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It’s Friday, so before another college football Saturday overtakes your world, let’s settle down this morning and get ready for it shall we?
Last night a College Football Playoff contender went down in flames. The door’s opened for someone to now take control. Who will it be??
A kicker kicks some scooters (Alligator Army)
While Piñeiro may face — or have faced — some internal punishment, and will likely end up with a deferred prosecution agreement that may include making restitution to the owners of the scooters, it seems unlikely that he will miss any time because of the incident, given that he’s already played, making two field goals against South Carolina, since it occurred. But because Piñeiro was not formally charged until this Wednesday, there’s room for doubt.
Better know the Rebs (Anchor of Gold)
Anyway, both sites agree Ole Miss has had the toughest schedule on the planet. The Rebels have played seven different ranked teams this season, along with live dogs Memphis and Georgia Southern. If Derek Mason had faced this schedule, we’d be blasting Kyle Shurmur’s body out of a spaceship to honor him in the proper Vulcan tradition.
Let’s go back in time (Arkansas Fight)
Mississippi State has often been a formality, a speed bump, or at worst a small hill with a not-so-steep incline. In fact, Arkansas enjoyed a 15-2 record over the Dogs from 1995 through 2011. The only losses coming in Bobby Petrino’s first season (that loss was 10% of Croom’s 10 SEC wins) and a fiasco in 1998 the week after the Stoernover. The Bulldogs kicked 5 field goals including one with 7 seconds left to keep Arkansas out of Atlanta and a rematch with the Vols.
History repeats itself? (College and Magnolia)
Oof. What a nightmare of a week. Last Saturday was one of the worst Auburn football games I have ever watched. For the first time all season, I contemplated turning the television off and doing something—anything—else. My desire to finish watching the game was as weak as a Sean White pass to the flat.
Chatting with Hogs (FWtCT)
Welcome to this week’s edition of Cookin’ Up the Competition! The end of the 2016 season is rapidly approaching and I’m not sure how I feel about it. November is just a little too early for basketball to me, ya know? This week the University of Arkansas Razorbacks are coming to town for Davis Wade’s second night game of the year! This game is YUGE for State.
Podcastin’ about the Gamecocks (GAB Attack)
The GABACast is back and we’re here to discuss a variety of topics in anticipation of Senior Day on Saturday. This week we talk about: Our winners and losers, Gamecock basketball and where the program is headed this season. Reviewing the Florida and what we should expect against Western Carolina. Our predictions. Also, are we part of a larger conspiracy. And of course, we take your Twitter questions.
Guess the score! (Good Bull Hunting)
The English philosopher Roger Bacon once said, “reasoning draws a conclusion and makes us grant the conclusion, but does not make the conclusion certain, nor does it remove doubt.” Bacon was also imprisoned by the church in his sixties for “interest in certain astrological doctrines” so he knew what the hell we was talking about. The point is, we’ve tried projecting our wants and justifications surrounding what should happen onto the team in the past couple weeks and the result has been utter futility. Who the hell really knows what’s going to happen on Saturday?
Don’t overlook Vandy’s defense (Red Cup Rebellion)
The last time I said Ole Miss wouldn’t have much trouble as a heavy favorite against a lesser opponent, the Rebels fell into a 21-10 hole against Georgia Southern, so I’m not doing that again. A cautious approach against Vanderbilt may be fitting here anyway, as every loss the ‘Dores have suffered in 2016 has come down to a difference of one possession, with the exception to a slip against Georgia Tech. The Commodores’ defense has proven that they’re fully capable of limiting even the most potent of offenses.
A Damarea Crockett story (Rock M Nation)
You may not have heard this, but Missouri true freshman running back Damarea Crockett is having a heck of a season. The Little Rock, Arkansas, native -- and, until about, oh, Jan. 24, a Boise State commit — has a program-record (for a freshman) nine rushing scores to go along with 837 yards on only 129 carries, or 6.49 per.
Numbers for ol’ Mizzou (Rocky Top Talk)
The Vols hope for a good day this Saturday as they host the Missouri Tigers at Neyland Stadium and the Florida Gators visit LSU in Death Valley. An LSU win coupled with a Vols win puts Tennessee back in the driver's seat in the SEC East. Here are the keys to a Vols' victory this weekend.
‘Bama vs. an SEC All-Star team: Who wins? (SB Nation)
The SEC East is collectively not good. You can even argue it’s the worst Power 5 division. On Dec. 3, one SEC East team will be the blood sacrifice Nick Saban demands on his altar in the conference title game. The options are a Tennessee that the Tide have already straight dominated or a Florida that wouldn’t know competent offense if it walked up and kicked ’em in the gonads.
LSU shined up the boot (SB Nation)
LSU rolled over Arkansas last week, and in so doing, the Tigers won the Golden Boot. That’s the programs’ rivalry trophy, which is a golden cutout of Arkansas and Louisiana on a map. Together, those states are shaped like a boot. Get it? Over the years, a rivalry trophy gets grubbed up a lot. It can lose its shine, or it can get downright dirty. LSU decided to deal with that, but only partially.
How did Malik Monk do that? (A Sea of Blue)
From the first two games in Kentucky’s young season, it looked like Malik Monk winning the 3-point contest during the McDonald’s All-American Game festivities was just a one-night show. Monk hit just three of his 12 attempts from long range against Stephen F. Austin and Canisius for the Wildcats, and shot just 36 percent from the field in those games, including a woeful 25 percent from deep.