College Football Review: Recap of Every SEC Game in Week 4

Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, and LSU pulled away from the rest of the conference in key Week 4 games. 

Georgia (1-2) vs. Ole Miss (1-2)

Georgia’s defense held the Ole Miss offense to 185 total yards during a dominating performance winning 27-13.

Nothing seemed to click for Ole Miss against Georgia except Blair Walsh’s three missed field-goal attempts for the Bulldogs.

One of the strengths of the Rebels team going into the season was their offensive line and running game. The Rebels were held to 36 yards rushing led by Jeff Scott’s 27 yards on seven attempts.

The Rebel passing attack did not prove to be much better, a problem for most Houston Nutt-coached teams. Zack Stoudt finished the game 9 of 23 for 71 yards passing and Randall Mackey, the thought starter for the Rebels after spring practices, finished 3 of 7 for 78 yards passing with one touchdown and one interception. Both Rebel quarterbacks were sacked twice.

Aaron Murray was effective for the Bulldogs. He finished the game 17 of 26 for 269 yards passing with two scores and one interception. Murray also added a rushing touchdown in the first quarter.

True freshman Isaiah Crowell got his second career start and another 100-yard rushing game. Crowell rushed 30 times for 147 yards.

Next week’s games

Mississippi State (2-2) vs. Georgia (2-2)

Mississippi (1-3) vs. Fresno State (2-2)

Arkansas (3-0) vs. Alabama (3-0)

Alabama was able to take advantage of several early Arkansas miscues on their way to an impressive 38-14 win in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama got on the board first on a 37-yard touchdown pass thrown off of a fake punt by AJ McCarron. Arkansas answered with a 10-yard Tyler Wilson touchdown pass to Dennis Johnson just before the end of the first quarter.

Bama was able to take advantage of a Wilson tipped pass before halftime returning the interception 25 yards for a touchdown making the score at the half 17-7.

To start the second half, Marquis Maze returned an Arkansas punt 83 yards for a touchdown. From there Arkansas’ defense seemed to wear down from Alabama’s ground attack. Alabama was able to rack up 197 yards of rushing to Arkansas’ 17 yards. Trent Richardson ended with a game-high 17 carries for 123 rushing yards.

Tyler Wilson was held to 185 yards passing and two touchdowns.

Next week’s games:

Arkansas (3-1) vs. Texas A&M (3-1)

Alabama (4-0) vs. Florida (4-0) 

Kentucky (2-1) vs. Florida (3-0)

Florida will get their first test of the season next week when Alabama comes to town, but so far this year the Gators have looked impressive under first year head coach Will Muschamp. They thoroughly dominated Kentucky for their 25th straight win in their series Saturday winning 48-10.

Kentucky was able to hold the Gator offense on their first two series but a Kentucky fumble ignited a 21-0 run before Kentucky kicked a 24-yard field goal ending the first quarter.

The Gators led 31-10 at halftime and were able to cruise through the second half of play. Jeff Brantley’s arm was not needed as Jeff Demps (157 yards) and Chris Rainey (105 yards) provided 262 rushing yards combined. The Gators finished the game with 405 total rushing yards.

Morgan Newton provided the majority of the Wildcat’s 300 yards of total offense. He threw for 124 yards and rushed for a Kentucky game-high 50 yards.

Next week’s games:

Alabama (4-0) vs. Florida (4-0)

Kentucky (2-2) vs. LSU (4-0)

Vanderbilt (3-0) vs. South Carolina (3-0)

A mark of a great team is finding different ways to win and South Carolina did that against Vanderbilt Saturday winning 21-3.

Vanderbilt’s defense was able to stop Marcus Lattimore (20 rushes for 79 yards) and Stephan Garcia (222 yards passing, one touchdown, four interceptions) but more impressively Vanderbilt offense was held to 73 total yards by the Gamecock defense.

Vandy finished the game with negative four yards rushing after Larry Smith was sacked six times for a loss of 42 yards. Smith and Jordan Rodgers combined for 77 passing yards. Smith left the game in the third quarter but Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin refused to comment on Smith’s status after the game.

Both teams had ball control issues. The Gamecocks fumbled three times but never lost possession. The Commodores fumbled four times losing three possessions.

Next week’s games:

Auburn (3-1) vs. South Carolina (4-0)

Vanderbilt (3-1) Bye

Florida Atlantic (0-2) vs. Auburn (2-1)

Auburn’s defense finally showed up when needed Saturday stopping the Owls 30-14 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Auburn was able to intercept Graham Gilbert three times and pick up critical third-down stops when needed. Auburn’s defensive woes are not fixed by any means. Auburn gave up 306-total yards of offense to a team that was only averaging 92 yards of offense per game. Auburn also allowed the first offensive touchdown of Florida Atlantic’s season in the fourth quarter on a 12-yard pass.

Auburn’s offense did not seem motivated after their first loss of the season to Clemson last week. Michael Dyer was held to 53 yards rushing and Barrett Trotter only completed 54 percent of his passes against the Owls.

True freshman quarterback Kiehl Frazier (Springdale, Arkansas) got playing time in the wildcat offense for the Tigers. He finished the game with 31 yards on three rushing attempts but did not attempt a pass.

Auburn only had 13 more total yards than Florida Atlantic finishing with 319.

Next week’s games:

Auburn (3-1) vs. South Carolina (4-0)

Florida Atlantic (0-3) vs. Louisiana Lafayette (3-1)

Louisiana Tech (1-2) vs. Mississippi State (1-2)

The offensive and defensive struggles continued for the Bulldogs Saturday but they held on to win 26-20 in overtime against Louisiana Tech.

Mississippi State’s defense was put to the test by quarterback Nick Isham, a 17-year old true freshman from Westlake Village, California (3-star recruit, Rivals.com). Isham completed 29 of 40 passes for 228 yards with one touchdown but had two costly interceptions. Isham’s first interception ended a 60-yard drive late in the fourth quarter that could have won the game for the visiting Bulldogs. His second interception happened on Louisiana Tech’s second offensive play in overtime.  

MSU’s offense was held to 176 net yards rushing; Vick Ballard rushed for 68 yards on 18 attempts with one touchdown. Chris Relf was held to a 48 percent passing percentage. Not the type of performance Dan Mullen and the Mississippi State faithful were expecting.

Chris Relf threw a 16-yard game-winning touchdown to LaDarius Perkins on their second play in overtime.

Next week’s games:

Mississippi State (2-2) vs. Georgia (2-2)

Hawaii (2-2) vs. Louisiana Tech (1-3) 

LSU (3-0) vs. West Virginia (3-0)

WVU tried to make it interesting in the third quarter but LSU was too much for the Mountaineers winning 47-21.

LSU stormed out to a 27-7 halftime lead behind three Garrett Lee touchdown passes. But Geno Smith put on a show throwing for 424 yards and two touchdowns against the Tigers. Smith started the scoring in the second half with his second touchdown pass of the game to Tyler Urban. Just before the end of the third quarter, WVU pulled the score to within six on a one-yard touchdown run by Dustin Garrison. On the ensuing kick Marcus Claiborne returned the ball 99 yards for the Tigers.

WVU outgained the Tigers in total yards 533 to 368, but the Tigers were able to get two Geno Smith interceptions and recover two Mountaineers’ fumbles to end critical drives. LSU only lost one fumble and Jarrett Lee did not throw an interception in the game.

Spencer Ware and Michael Ford continued their two-back rushing attack for LSU combining for 174 yards and two touchdowns.

Next week’s games:

Kentucky (2-2) vs. LSU (4-0)

Bowling Green (3-1) vs. West Virginia (3-1) 

University of Tennessee (2-1)

University of Tennessee

Bye

Next week’s game:

Buffalo (1-3) vs. Tennessee (2-1)