2014 Bye Week #1 Thoughts

It is frankly too early to draw many conclusions about this Auburn team, I think the first of those can be made after this coming Thursday.  However initial impressions were made all around the SEC and here are a few that hit me…

·         Steve Spurrier is still a great coach.  There are not many coaches that can get a team off the turf after the beat down South Carolina got from Texas A&M.  However Spurrier did it and Carolina won a huge game taking down Georgia 38-35 at home.  Carolina’s cause was aided by an unbelievable chip shot field goal miss by Georgia but they looked like the best team most of the day. 

Spurrier might now be Georgia’s greatest nemesis.  He was 11-1 against the Bulldogs as Florida’s head coach and has now won 4 out of the last 5 against the Bulldogs at South Carolina.  He has ruined another promising Georgia season in many ways.  Georgia was getting a lot of national love after the big win against Clemson and that all evaporated after the setback in Columbia.

·         Kentucky looks much improved under Mark Stoops but they should not almost beat Florida in the Swamp in coach Will Muschamp’s fourth year at the helm.  Florida survived 36-30 in overtime.  A loss surely would have signaled the end for Muschamp right now but I think that moment will still come this season.  Muschamp has had plenty of time and the Gators are a shadow of themselves just a few years ago.

·         There were a couple of notable SEC-Big 12 matchups this weekend in Tennessee vs. Oklahoma and Arkansas vs. Texas Tech.  Both turned into laughers as Arkansas ran Texas Tech out of its own stadium and Oklahoma overwhelmed a gutsy Tennessee team.  I think both Arkansas coach Bret Bielema and Tennessee coach Butch Jones desperately need a couple more big wins.  They are both building up their programs but are both at that key point and need momentum.

·         The rest of the slate were all cupcakes although that might have provided Vanderbilt with the only win it is going to get this year.  The Commodores barely squeaked by UMass (and in football that is not good).  It is obvious now why former head coach James Franklin was so desperate to get out of Nashville as the bottom has completely fallen out at Vandy.  A good coach can squeeze a few good seasons out of Vandy with the right timing, i.e. Tennessee being down, but long term success is not possible.

The countdown is now on for the first game of next week’s college football schedule and that is Auburn travelling to Kansas State for another huge SEC-Big 12 matchup…