SEC Extra Points with Barrett Sallee: Alabama and Auburn Ignoring Last Year
"Kick-Six?" What's that?
It's hard to go anywhere this week without seeing former Auburn defensive back Chris Davis running 109 yards at the end of last year's Iron Bowl and into college football history.
ESPN's promo, stories on what that game meant to the rivalry's history and what it means as motivation to this year's Alabama squad are all dominant storylines during rivalry week.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Just don't tell Alabama head coach Nick Saban or Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn that, because neither is very interested in discussing it.
For Alabama, the leadup to this week is more about remembering what happened but not dwelling on the past.
Coach speak? Of course it is.
But this while the rest of the world focuses on the revenge factor, Alabama has bigger fish to fry. It has to win to claim the SEC West title and keep its national-championship hopes alive. Yes, revenge is important, but that would only serve as a byproduct of Alabama reaching its ultimate goal anyway.
For Auburn, this game is about playing spoiler to its intra-state rival and not proving that last year was legit, but establishing a legacy of dominance. It's about taking control of the game with more than just one second left and proving that it can do it without the benefit of one of the most remarkable plays in college football history. It's about putting the month of November behind them and building some momentum heading into bowl season.
The "Kick-Six" was great, and as we point out in the video below, it was one of the most remarkable sporting events in American sports history. But once the Tigers and Tide step between the white lines, it will be as far away from the minds of the players and coaches as "Punt, Bama, Punt," "The Kick," "Bo Over The Top" and all of the other great games between the two programs.
It'll be history.
A Unique Challenge
The words "discipline" and "defense" used to go together at Georgia like—to steal a phrase from Big Daddy—"lamb and tuna fish."
Then the Auburn game happened, and the entire perception of the Georgia defense changed.
The Bulldogs held the potent Auburn offense that is loaded with eye candy and multiple options off of every play to just 292 total yards in only seven points—the first time in Gus Malzahn's Auburn head coaching career that he's been held to single digits.
This week, there's a similar challenge in store for the Bulldogs. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets will roll into Athens looking to unleash their triple-option offense and force a Georgia team that still has outside hopes of earning a College Football Playoff berth to stay disciplined.
"That's a good way of putting it, 'forcing discipline' on a defensive team," Richt said on Wednesday's teleconference. "If you don't have the discipline to have your eyes where they belong and to handle the gaps and responsibilities that you're assigned to and if you don't play fundamental football, you can't win one-to-one."
The last two games for Georgia are important. While Auburn and Charleston Southern run different schemes and neither mirrors the triple-option attack of the Yellow Jackets, similar principles are in play.
"Those things were crucially important in that game, and even our last game against Charleston Southern," Richt said. "They run a lot of option principles out of the gun. It's the same types of things that you have to get your mind right for. Hopefully it'll help us, it's just really difficult to simulate what Georgia Tech does on offense with our scout team."
A month ago, this Yellow Jackets offense would seem like a major problem to a defense that struggled with offenses as vanilla as Florida. Now? Not so much.
The ninth-ranked Bulldogs know that style points are important now that two-loss UCLA is one spot above them in the new playoff rankings. They have had Tech's number since Paul Johnson's second year in 2009 and have some much-needed defensive momentum.
Can you say blowout?
A Key Injury?
Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace injured his ankle in the first half of the 30-0 loss to Arkansas last week, but he came back to try to lead the Rebels back to no avail.
That injury may linger into the Egg Bowl.
Wallace has been practicing this week, but he is not at full strength heading into a critical intra-state rivalry with No. 4 Mississippi State in Oxford.
"He's been limited some, but you'd have to chain him down to keep him from going in this game so I anticipate him being ready to go," Freeze said.
Wallace's injury should concern Ole Miss fans. The Rebels offense clearly doesn't have an identity without star wide receiver Laquon Treadwell and has struggled to run the ball all year, and now its quarterback—who is known for being good or bad with nothing in between—is ailing.
Uh-oh.
Mississippi State needs style points in what might be the last chance it has to impress the selection committee, and shutting down a reeling Rebels offense would be just what the doctor ordered.
A "Big" Challenge
Everybody has an opinion of Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, and on the field, Florida head coach Will Muschamp has high praise for the redshirt sophomore and defending Heisman Trophy winner.
Muschamp compared Winston to Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger due to his size and ability to keep plays alive.
"A big guy who is very difficult to get down," Muschamp said on Wednesday's teleconference. "You have to tackle him high. He's got 280- or 300-pounders hanging around him and he still delivers it 30 or 40 yards downfield. The play is never over when he drops back."
Muschamp's Gators certainly have the personnel to get the job done, though. The Gators have 25 sacks on the year, a front seven that is known for getting after the quarterback and a secondary that pounces on mistakes created by pressure.
Winston has shown that he can be rattled this year, and if the Gators are able to do that and put a dent in the scoreboard early, it could be the team that ends Florida State's two-year winning streak.
Quick Outs
- No jabs from South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier in the direction of Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney. That's disappointing. What's rivalry week without a good Palmetto State war of words?
- Georgia head coach Mark Richt said his team won't be watching the Arkansas/Missouri game on Friday. A Missouri loss would send the Bulldogs to the SEC Championship Game for the third time in four years. "We are not going to be doing anything but focusing on these gentlemen from Atlanta," Richt said. Yeah...right.
- Tennessee could get bowl-eligible with a win over Vanderbilt in Nashville, and head coach Butch Jones knows how important it would be for his young team to earn those 15 bowl practices and find success in what has been an up-and-down season. "We've gone through the natural adversity that going through a football season presents," he said. "Our leadership has continued to grow. I think we have great competitive character in our program and understand where the program is going."
- College Football Playoff chairman Jeff Long said Tuesday that where a team was ranked at the time of the game is being discussed. "We certainly discuss and know when a team was previously ranked in the Top 25," he said in quotes emailed by the CFP. That's not just a slippery slope, it's a vertical drop. Should Florida State be credited for a big win over Notre Dame? Mississippi State given a boost for a win over an average-at-best LSU team? Of course not. I miss you, BCS.
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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