2008 Scoring Averages

Last year, one of the big storylines throughout the season was the ridiculous scoring numbers a lot of the teams put up. This year's numbers are down 8.44% from last year though. Only a handful of teams - Alabama, Georgia, and Florida - returned experienced QBs and - not surprisingly - they rank 1st, 2nd, and 4th in the league in scoring. LSU and Kentucky round out the top 5, but aside from LSU's game against Auburn, neither has played anyone worth mentioning.

Notes:
* Only 4 teams - Ole Miss, Vandy, Alabama, and Georgia - are scoring more than last year. As everyone faces mostly SEC defenses the rest of the season, that could actually drop to 3.

* Ole Miss has upped their scoring average more than 50% over last year. I guess that's what happens when Ed Orgeron is no longer in charge of game planning.

* Both Tennessee and Arkansas are down more than 40% from last year. Everyone knew Arkansas would be bad, but I don't think many knew UT would be this useless on offense. Sure there's an adjustment period with a new QB and a new OC, but with the talent that shows up in Knoxville every year, that's inexcusable.

* When Tuberville instituted the spread, I don't think he anticipated scoring 18.2% less than Auburn did last year. Unless something changes, this'll be the third straight year for a scoring decrease for the Tigers.

* Unless Stephen Garcia can really get things going, this will be the second straight year that the Gamecocks' PPG decreases

My Week 5 SEC Power Poll Ballot

What a crazy weekend of SEC football. Here's how I see it after 5 weeks:

1.Alabama – Systematically picked apart the ‘Dawgs in as dominant a half of football as you’ll ever see. Let up in the second half, but if they stay as fundamentally strong as they have been, they’ll be in the BCS.
2. LSU – Almost fell victim to the trap game against MSU last weekend, but rode Charles Scott to victory. Off this weekend before heading down to the Swamp.
3. Georgia – you knew the penalties would bite them in a big game at some point. Negating the turnover on Alabama’s first drive of the game set the stage for an ugly, ugly game for the ‘Dawgs.
4. Florida – Offense was sloppy and defense played well except for a handful of breakdowns that resulted in big plays for OM. Instead of complaining that the PAT block was illegal, Urban needs to work on technique with his linemen.
5. Vanderbilt – They’re 4-0, ranked for consecutive weeks, and hosting GameDay. These aren’t your father’s ‘Dores. Or even your ‘Dores.
6. Ole Miss – Lose at home to Vandy, then beat Florida in the Swamp. Rebels, welcome to the Houston Nutt era.
7. Auburn – It’s a damn good thing AU’s defense is so good.
8. Kentucky – Impressive again against a nobody, but real questions will be answered Saturday when they head to Tuscaloosa.
9. South Carolina – The Stephen Garcia era begins Saturday in Oxford. Whether it’s enough to turn their conference season around remains to be seen.
10. Tennessee – The Vols are bad. No two ways about it.
11. Mississippi State – Saturday night was a real State of the Union Game for the Bulldogs. Their best offensive effort of the season wasn’t enough to beat a completely disinterested LSU team. MSU is destined for 1-7 this season in conference.
12. Arkansas – On the bright side, the defense scored a TD. Now they get to deal with an angry Gators team. Life in the SEC’s grand, ain’t it Bobby?

Week 5 Grades

Alabama: A+
Aside from a blip against Tulane, the Tide have been the league's most consistent team this season. Thoroughly dominated UGA from opening kick, though 11-point margin may say otherwise, this game was never close.

Ole Miss: A-
Forced UF into their first three TOs of the year and took full advantage of it. That defensive line is going to bother a lot of teams the rest of the year. Tebow may have seen Greg Hardy in his sleep last night.

Kentucky: B+
The 'Cats blew out another patsy last night, holding WKU to 8 FDs and 157 total yds. The offense seemed a bit more in sync as well, particularly under center. They'll be catching Alabama at a good time next weekend.

Mississippi State: B
Even MSU's best offensive effort of the year wasn't enough to beat a sleepwalking LSU team. You know your team isn't thought of very highly when this is the headline to your recap. Last night's effort at least gives a shimmer of hope for future games.

South Carolina: B-
UAB is horrid and, while the Gamecocks won, hard to say it was impressive. Stephen Garcia probably did enough to earn the starting job for next week's tussle with Ole Miss, but I don't know that he's the answer to the Gamecocks' offensive woes.

LSU: C
Sleepwalked through last night's game and still won, though not by as much as they should've. Charles Scott continues to impress.

Tennessee: C
Hard to even watch the AU/UT. Two bad offenses on display, headed by the Orange and White. The Vols couldn't even get 200 yds of offense on the books. Defense played much better, but Auburn's offense tends to do that to teams.

Auburn: C-
Another day, another game where the defense bails the offense out. Worse grade than Tennessee because they're better than the Vols and should win that game by more than 2 points. Gotta figure Kodi Burns is the guy for that offense...

Florida: C-
Picked a bad day to turn the ball over three times as a hungry OM team stunned them in the Swamp. Tebow was off on a couple of seemingly easy throws and even apologized to the Gator Nation after the game. But it wasn't him who missed tackle after tackle on the Rebels' big plays yesterday.

Arkansas: D
Basically the only thing that saved them an "F" is the fact they're horrible and would probably get beat by close to 42 points each time if they played Texas 100 times.

Georgia: F
The winning margin is deceiving. Alabama dominated this game from the opening drive. They exposed UGA' OL and DL as soft and capitalized on the 'Dawgs' tendencies to shoot themselves in the foot with penalties. UGA looked scared and timid and completely lost.

Thoughts from a crazy Saturday

This may just be the Fat Tire talking, but:

* When healthy, Ole Miss may have the best defensive line in the SEC. They ended up with 7 TFL this afternoon and basically wore Tebow's jersey for him all day long.

* Urban Meyer is a very good coach, so far be it from me to question him, but that last possession seems like it could have been handled significantly better.

* Houston Nutt may not be the best Xs and Os guy in the world, but the man can motivate his players. He's won 2 road games at top 5 opponents in his last 6 games coaching.

* It's a damn good thing Auburn's defense is so good.

* Things are getting ugly in Knoxville. Barring a remarkable turnaround, I don't see how Fulmer's back next year. Even with last year's extension, the natives are getting a wee bit restless.

* No way Tommy Bowden is back at Clemson either.

* Arkansas is just plain bad. Any game they win the rest of the year is an upset.

* South Carolina won again, but only put up 6 points in the 2nd half against a UAB team that was shredded by the otherwise inept Tennessee offense. Garcia played well at times, but you gotta believe that more points should've been put on the board.

* Georgia really was going to a motherfarking funeral.

* Georgia's receivers drop the easy balls and make the spectacular catch. It's uncanny.

* Alabama's getting my #1 vote in next week's SEC Power Poll.

* How much money did Croom pay Bob Davie to continually wax poetic about what a great coach Woody McCorvey is?

* LSU's disinterest and lack of effort in tonight's game cost them some "style points" later on in the season.