SEC Football Q&A: Will Tennessee Spoil Ole Miss' Dream Season?
Here we are just past the midway point of the season, and the eyes of the college football world are squarely on the state of Mississippi.
Just as we all planned in August, right?
Ole Miss and Mississippi State have vaulted to the top of the SEC pack, posting 6-0 records and jumping feetfirst into the inaugural College Football Playoff discussion.
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Will the Rebels' dream season come crashing down this weekend when the Tennessee Volunteers roll into Oxford? What will Arkansas' offensive line do to Georgia's front seven? Are we headed for chaos?
Those questions are answered in this week's SEC Q&A.
I don't.
It's been a crazy season, sure. The SEC is still a line-of-scrimmage conference, and Ole Miss' front four will have a field day with a Tennessee offensive line that has been searching for answers all season.
The Vols rank last in the SEC with 23 sacks allowed and 48 tackles for loss allowed, while Ole Miss' front four—led by defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche—has not only been paying rent in opposing backfields but owning real estate.
"[Ole Miss is] No. 2 in the country in defensive scoring; they have only given up six offensive touchdowns all year; a number of those have come at the end-of-game situations," Vols head coach Butch Jones said in quotes emailed by Tennessee. "[Ole Miss' defense is] 32 percent on third-down efficiency and very explosive. Again, I think it is a byproduct of depth, and it is a byproduct of experience."
The combination of pressure up front and back-end talent in Ole Miss' defense will make Vols quarterback Justin Worley's head spin. Worley has been good this year given the uncertainty up front, but he hasn't seen anything like this Rebels secondary.
Not only will Ole Miss avoid the upset, but it won't even be close by the start of the fourth quarter.
It's a problem for sure, and it will put a ton of pressure on Georgia's four linebackers.
Arkansas' offensive line averages 328.4 pounds per player, and when those boys get on you, they're moving you. It's a big challenge for Georgia's defensive line, which averages 294.8 pounds on its two-deep.
The holes will be there for Razorbacks running backs Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams, and it'll be up to Georgia's linebackers to fill those holes and shut down the Hogs' rushing attack. Can they do it? Highly decorated inside linebacker Ramik Wilson is a star, but his speed has been used against him at times this year. He has to play with discipline, otherwise Arkansas' running backs will turn five- or six-yard gains into game-changers.
Georgia's defense looked great in the shutout of Missouri when it only allowed the Tigers to run four plays inside Georgia territory—three of which were turnovers. Was that an anomaly created by Tigers quarterback Maty Mauk essentially handing the ball to the Georgia defense repeatedly?
We'll find out this weekend in Little Rock. My gut tells me that Georgia will find a way to slow down Arkansas enough to give its offense a chance, and it'll be up to quarterback Hutson Mason and the rest of the Bulldogs offense—which may or may not be with running back Todd Gurley—to get a big road win.
An underdog winning the SEC Championship Game and ruining the favorite's national title hopes has been a concern ever since the inaugural conference title game in Birmingham in 1992.
The conference has 11 national titles since then, and a true contender has only fallen once—when BCS No. 2 Tennessee fell 31-20 to BCS unranked LSU in 2001, allowing Nebraska to slide into the title game at the Rose Bowl.
It's a legitimate concern this season, though.
No. 1 Mississippi State and No. 3 Ole Miss are cruising along at 6-0, with one-loss powers Auburn and Alabama lurking right behind them. Whoever gets to the SEC Championship Game will likely be a heavy favorite even against a team like Georgia that could be getting things figured out defensively midseason.
Would an upset in the Georgia Dome knock the SEC out of the College Football Playoff?
It's hard to tell without knowing the specific scenario. With six unbeaten teams left and a max of four at the end of the season (including Marshall), if that SEC Championship Game loser is either Mississippi State or Ole Miss, it's hard to imagine a scenario where Marshall jumps them.
Now, if a loss in the SEC Championship Game is a team's second loss, then it very well could prevent the SEC from getting a team in depending on what the rest of the college football landscape looks like.
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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