SEC Rundown: Tigers vs Bulldogs, Crimson Tide vs Rebels & More

By: Amber Pennycuff

LSU TigersLSU (4-0, 1-0) vs. Georgia (2-1, 1-0)
After taking down rival SEC opponent Auburn (3-1, 1-1) 35-21 last week, the Tigers will make their way over to Athens, GA in the land of the red-and-white Bulldogs (2-1, 1-0). Head coach Les Miles says that the team is working on things that need to be “dressed-up and made ready.”

“Looking forward to going to Georgia,” said Miles, “playing between the hedges.”

On Georgia’s side, the Bulldogs know the challenge that lies ahead.

The Bulldogs have won the last 14 games in a row at Sanford Stadium, and that ranks them at the third-longest home winning streak in school history and best current rank streak in the SEC. This will be Georgia’s second attempt to beat a top-10 ranked team this year. Earlier in the season, the Bulldogs took a win over no.6 South Carolina. This week, their attention turns towards LSU.

This match-up dates all the way back to 1928 with a16-21-1 record. Under head coach Mark Richt, Georiga is 3-4 against LSU and took a victory last time in 2008 on the purple-and-gold Baton Rouge turf.

Richt says that if everyone buys in, it could add some energy to the day on Saturday.

After Wednesday’s practice discussion with media-officials, Richt seemed to have a cool-calm-and-collective sense about him.

The Tigers will kick-off over on the Bulldog turf on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on CBS.

Alabama FootballAlabama (3-0, 1-0) vs. Ole Miss (3-0, 1-0)
Regardless of what the tabloids  have presented over the last few weeks, Alabama and Ole Miss are on a level playing field.

Texas (2-2) and Alabama have been quite familiar with each other these past couple of weeks, with rumors stirring of stealing head coach Nick Saban out from under the wave of the Crimson Tide.

Ironically, Ole Miss decided to take a “W” from Texas (44-23) two weeks ago, right before its bye-week. The Rebels will travel down to Tuscaloosa this Saturday to see if they stand a chance against no. 1 Alabama.

Head coach Hugh Freeze says the bye-week was a crucial point in the Rebels preparation.

“It’s a brutal stretch. We’ve talked about that,” stated Freeze. “It’s a beginning. It doesn’t get any more difficult than to go over to Alabama and play on a Saturday night.”

Freeze says Alabama has essentially become a standard that you hold yourself to and measurement of your success in the conference. “It’s another opportunity for us to measure ourselves and see where we are. I’m OK with the results as long as our best effort is put forth. I expect our kids to do that.”

The Head Coach also says that his team will need to compete at a high level these next few weeks but is excited for the opportunity.

On the Crimson Tides coaching side, head coach Nick Saban says that everybody needs a lot of excitement and positive energy.

“Everybody has just sort of gotten overwhelmed with expectations,” stated Saban, “and it’s been my word from the beginning of time that this is a different team…this is a new team.”

Saban made a clear point that creating positive reinforcement and support from fans will be a key point in Alabama’s success.

“We expect this to be a tough game and are looking forward to the challenges,” noted Saban.

The Rebels will travel over to Crimson Tide territory Saturday and kick-off at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Arkansas MascotTexas A&M (3-1, 0-1) vs. Arkansas (3-1, 0-0)
The Texas A&M Aggies will travel up to Arkansas this week to take on the Razorbacks.

After a 42-13 win at Kyle Field last week against SMU, the Aggies will leave College Station to take on its second SEC team of the season. After falling to Alabama two weeks ago, the Texas based-team is looking to take another win not just for its overall record, but in its conference as well.

This will be A&M’s first trip to Fayetteville since 1990, which resulted in a 20-16 against the Razorbacks. Arkansas holds a 41-25-3 advantage against A&M, ever since the first meeting in 1903.

Second-year Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin will be leading the team in hopes of the Aggies ninth straight win away from College Station.

Arkansas will be at home again this week, after falling to the Rutgers in Indiana last weekend, 24-28. The Razorbacks are the only team in the NCAA leading in its conference in sacks per game and sacks allowed per game.

This poses as a challenge for the Aggies on Saturday.

Texas A&M is currently ranked 7th in the Western Division of the SEC teams, right under Arkansas’ no. 5 positioning in the division.

The Aggies will kick-off in Fayetteville at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN2.

Florida Gators HelmetsFlorida (2-1, 1-0) vs. Kentucky (1-2, 0-0)
The Gators chomped through the Volunteers with a nine game winning streak last week beating Tennessee at home 31-17. Florida will be getting out of the swamp to dry-off and head north to Lexington to face the Kentucky Wildcats.
After a bye-week last Saturday, the Wildcats realize the difficult game that lies ahead. Head coach Mark Stroops says his guys had good focus at practice throughout this week in his comments about the SEC opener against Florida.

“We’ve got to work on technique on our side of the ball,” stated Stroops.

This will be the 64th time that the two schools will meet in the match-up. The Gators are 46-17 against the Wildcats, and since 1986, Florida has managed a 26-game winning streak over Kentucky. It has become the longest winning streak over a major opponent in an annual series.

Under head coach Derek Dooley, the Vols ended its 26-game winning streak back in 2011, falling 10-7.

Florida only allowed Tennessee’s longest drive of the day to be 8 plays that resulted in only three-points on the scoreboard for the Volunteers.

This will pose a challenge for the Wildcats to break the Gators winning streak.

The two teams will kick-off at 6:00 p.m. on ESPNU Saturday evening.

The Rest of your SEC line-up for this week:
-After South Carolina’s (2-1, 1-1) win (35-25) over Vandy (2-2, 0,2) two weeks ago and a bye-week under its belt, the Gamecocks will be taking on UCF in Orlando at 11:00 p.m. on ABC.
-FSN will be hosting Vanderbilt’s (2-2, 0-2) kick-off against UAB (1-2) in Nashville this Saturday at 6:30 p.m. After a 24-7 win against Massachusetts last week in New England, the Commodores will be on the hunt for another “W”.
-Tennessee (2-2, 0-1) will travel back home as well this week, after suffering a 31-17 loss down at the swamp against Florida (2-1, 1-0) last weekend. The Vols will take on South Alabama (2-1) at 11:21 a.m. and televised on SEC TV.
-An undefeated Missouri (3-0, 0-0) will be traveling back home to Columbia from Indiana this weekend to face Arkansas State (2-2) for the initial mark of Family Weekend for the Tigers. Their game will be televised on CSS at 6:30 p.m. this Saturday evening.
-Falling to rival LSU last week, Auburn (3-1, 1-1) will enjoy a bye-week this Saturday, before taking on Ole Miss next week at home.