SEC Football Q&A: Will Muschamp Hot Seat, Stopping Amari Cooper
Nearly a month into the season, and the SEC is already dripping with storylines.
The West looks not only like the toughest division in college football, but the most competitive division at any level of football. Meanwhile, the SEC East is over there searching for answers, with every team that has played at least one conference game with at least one conference loss.
Florida head coach Will Muschamp's seat has become scorching, a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender has emerged at a non-traditional position, and a team left for dead emerges as a competitor in the wild, wild West.
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Let's get you ready for Week 5 with a little SEC Q&A.
"@BarrettSallee If Muschamp can't muster up a Victory at Rocky Top, will he survive the season as head coach?
— Phil Webber (@61Webhead) September 22, 2014"
No, he won't, and he shouldn't.
Before the Alabama game, I would have said that a loss to the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa wouldn't have much of an impact on Will Muschamp's job status at Florida. After watching Florida play defense—or not play defense—it clearly did.
Florida has given up 1,095 yards over the last two games—a triple-overtime win over Kentucky and the loss to Alabama. During that time, the offense looks as inept as it has always been. Some speed bumps with the offense were to be expected, but the one strength of Florida's program during Muschamp's tenure has been defense. If he suddenly can't do that right, either, what's the point?
The road trip to Tennessee on Oct. 4 is critical. Even during Florida's downturn, the one constant has been Florida's domination of the Vols. Florida has won nine straight in the series, with its last loss coming in former head coach Ron Zook's final season in Gainesville.
If that ends, too, what else does Muschamp have to hang his hat on?
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Does former LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson have any eligibility left? No? Well, then, I don't think there's an answer out there.
Cooper has been the MVP of college football this year, giving new quarterback Blake Sims and new offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin a reliable target outside so both could ease into their new roles. Against Florida on Saturday, Kiffin opened up the offense, and Cooper was the biggest beneficiary, catching 10 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns.
His 655 receiving yards on the season are more than the passing yardage for 31 FBS teams, including Georgia, Arkansas and Texas. He's dangerous after the catch, physical at the line of scrimmage and has the speed to take the top off a defense.
Kiffin uses him well, too. Against Florida, Cooper lined up all over the field—including in the slot on his 79-yard touchdown reception to tie the game vs. the Gators at 14.
The only person who can stop Cooper is Kiffin, and that doesn't seem like a possibility at the moment.
He's one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the SEC, that's for sure.
No, Brandon Allen isn't going to light up the stat sheet. Considering the strength of Arkansas' offensive line and three-headed rushing attack, if he did, that'd probably indicate a much bigger problem for Arkansas. His job is to play smart and take what the defense gives him when appropriate, and he has done a pretty good job of that.
He has only thrown for 552 yards but has completed 61.4 percent of his passes (43-of-70), tossed eight touchdowns and only one interception. That's exactly the type of season this Arkansas team needed early on. He has limited his mistakes, done what he's been asked to do and—most importantly—not made unforced errors.
Head coach Bret Bielema wants to win at Arkansas the same way that he did at Wisconsin—with a punishing running game and effective defense. When that happens, all the quarterback needs to do is manage the game.
Allen has proved that he's capable of doing just that through four games, and if he keeps it up, Arkansas will get back to a bowl game for the first time since the 2011 season.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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