SEC Extra Points with Barrett Sallee: Jeff Driskel's Last Stand, Angry Spurrier
Jeff Driskel's Last Stand
Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel was benched late in the third quarter of the Gators' 10-9 win over Tennessee last week and watched from the sideline as true freshman Treon Harris led a 10-point fourth-quarter comeback to topple the Vols.
Two days later, Harris was suspended indefinitely from the program while under investigation for a sexual assault that allegedly occurred Sunday morning at an on-campus residence hall.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
The quarterback job is Driskel's yet again, but he's going to have to be much better than he was against the Vols, when he completed just 11 of 23 passes for 59 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions.
"Jeff's a very strong, mentally tough guy," head coach Will Muschamp said on Wednesday's teleconference. "We had a talk Sunday and Monday. He was going to play in this game regardless of the situation if he started or not, and we expect him to play well."
What if he doesn't, though?
Muschamp already ripped the tablecloth off the table and made the move to Harris—and it worked. Would he make a similar move to Skyler Mornhinweg or true freshman Will Grier if Driskel struggles against LSU? It certainly seems that way, according to David Jones of Florida Today and Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel:
Muschamp knows how important this game is.
LSU is a far cry from where it was in 2011 when it last won the SEC title. Its defense is soft in the middle, can't contain running backs and running quarterbacks on the edge, and its offense is unlikely to make major dents against Florida's defense and force a shootout.
If Driskel is ineffective again, Muschamp will make a move. The season, and his job, might depend on it.
Angry Steve Spurrier Is Angry
South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier in front of a hot microphone is always a good idea, and the "Head Ball Coach" came through for the college football world on Wednesday, taking shots left and right—mostly at himself.
The Gamecocks have sputtered to a 3-3 record to start the season, which includes back-to-back losses to Missouri and Kentucky. What's the problem? Everything.
"Well that's a good question, what isn't working?" Spurrier said on the coaches teleconference. "We're pretty much near the bottom in every stat."
He's not lying. The Gamecocks rank 12th or worse in all four major defensive categories.
"We've got some coaching to do, and we're trying to. We don't have a pass rush, as everybody knows. That makes it difficult when the other team is throwing. Run defense is actually a bigger issue than pass defense. So anyway, we have some issues, but we're going to try to keep coaching these guys."
| Total Defense | 441.2 YPG | 14th |
| Passing Defense | 264.3 YPG | 12th |
| Rushing Defense | 176.83 YPG | 12th |
| Scoring Defense | 35.0 PPG | 13th |
During Spurrier's radio show on Wednesday night, he went "full Spurrier," knocking himself and the team essentially all night, per Josh Kendall of The State:
Never change, Head Ball Coach.
Never change.
Big Game Dan
For the second straight week, all eyes will be on the state of Mississippi.
No. 2 Auburn will travel to Starkville to take on co-No. 3 Mississippi State on Saturday afternoon, one week after the Bulldogs throttled then-No. 6 Texas A&M 48-31 at Davis Wade Stadium.
"Someone who looked it up told me that a matchup of these highly ranked teams could make it the biggest game ever in the history of Mississippi," head coach Dan Mullen said. "That's pretty exciting for us. Our guys understand that we have a long way to go, a lot of work and a great challenge ahead of us."
Hard work for Mullen, who isn't concerned about getting his guys up two weeks in a row for "the biggest game of their lives."
"We're only 2-0 in the SEC, and I think we wanted to win a lot more in the SEC than those two games," he said. "I think our guys really understand that focus. A lot of the attention that comes is kind of cool and kind of neat, but it really has nothing to do with our goal of winning the SEC West. That has always been our focus."
Is it coach speak? Yeah, probably.
Can Mullen—or any coach—really get 100 or so 18-to-22-year-olds to focus on the process and only on the process? Of course not.
He is, however, taking the approach of a big-game coach, which is a good sign for the Bulldogs.
A Shining Star
Ole Miss is riding high following its 23-17 win over then-No. 3 Alabama last weekend in Oxford, but there's no time for the Rebels to pat themselves on the back.
A road trip to College Station for a 9 p.m. ET tilt with Texas A&M awaits, and it's one that features one of the most promising up-and-coming stars in the SEC.
Aggies defensive end Myles Garrett has been the brightest star on A&M's otherwise anonymous defense, notching 6.5 sacks through the first six games of the season.
"He is a phenomenal talent," Rebels head coach Hugh Freeze said. "He's really quick-twitched, he has good pass-rush moves that he's worked on in his craft. He's a guy who you better know where he is."
Halfway through the season, Garrett finds himself just 1.5 sacks away from tying the SEC single-season freshman sack record, which was set in 2011 by some guy named Jadeveon Clowney.
"I wasn't even aware of that until somebody pointed that out the other day," Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin said. "He's extremely explosive, he's very, very gifted naturally, and he's working on his technique as all young guys are gonna do. He's starting to see different blocking schemes, which is the greatest compliment. We sat him down a couple weeks ago when he was frustrated and said, 'that's the best compliment you can have when running backs and tight ends are sliding out and chipping you on the way out and protection is sliding to you, that's good."
Garrett will be coming after Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace on Saturday night in College Station, and if "Bad Bo" is out, it will be a long night for the co-No. 3 Rebels.
Quick Outs
- Mississippi State walks a fine line with its cowbells, which are allowed to be used inside Davis Wade Stadium only if fans "ring responsibly." Athletics director Scott Stricklin reminded fans—25 percent of whom he surmised didn't ring responsibly last week—to play by the rules or risk having the privilege revoked.
- Kentucky is suddenly a football school following its 45-38 win over South Carolina. According to KentuckySportsRadio.com, fans received black T-shirts last week that say "why not?" There's not really a good answer to that question yet for Mark Stoops' crew, which sits at 2-1 within the conference.
- Auburn's defense has allowed conference opponents to convert just two of 24 third downs this year. That'll work.
- What's the most challenging part about this week's opponent for Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema? "A-L-A-B-A-M-A," he said. He's not wrong.
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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