Told Ya So

Auburn won. Big. But it could have been much different. (Thanks rogue, corrupt SEC officials.) There was no indisputable evidence and so many holding calls that weren't called against the Tigers, but magically were called against the Rebels.

But give Auburn credit. They played hard and were hungry for this one. I knew it was going to happen, but didn't want to say it - wish I wasn't typing it right now.

Stubborn coaching, plus a terrible quarterback that needs to be benched, plus poor OL play, plus tired defense, plus slow receivers = not the best season in over 40 years. The waiting continues. The death march goes on - on to Northern Arizona. Maybe the Rebels can defeat another FCS opponent.

Here's hoping the Rebels don't end up needing a win in Starkville to become bowl eligible...

On a related note, RB Rodney Scott deserves much praise and recognition for his heroic actions in possibly saving Auburn's Zac Etheridge from paralysis or death. Outstanding, Rodney!

Happy Belated Halloween

Meant to post this yesterday.  Enjoy watching the slowest white boy you will ever see run a punt back for an 87-yard TD.  50 years ago, Heisman trophy winner Billy Cannon's Halloween run lifted No. 1 LSU over No. 3 Ole Miss 7-3.  Guess losing on Halloween is a bit of a tradition for the Rebels.  Interesting historical note: this was Ole Miss' only loss in 1959.  They met LSU again in the Sugar Bowl, beat them 21-0, and shared the national championship with Syracuse.  Oh yeah, and Billy Cannon later served 2 years in federal PMITA prison for being part of one of the top ten conterfeiting rings in U.S. history.

Nothing quite that colorful happened yesterday, if you don't count the wardrobes.  Tennessee served up more tricks than treats by beating South Carolina in festive black jerseys and orange pants.  And I'm not sure if Georgia's black helmets and black pants (c'mon, they're the sons a' bitches in SILVER britches!) were intended to recognize Halloween, or, like when they wore black jerseys against Alabama, to mark their own funeral. 

Halloween was a treat for UF, who, with more than a month to go until the SEC Championship game in Atlanta on December 5, punched its ticket.  Florida's win over Georgia gives the 'Dawgs 3 league losses (LSU, UT and UF); SC's loss to UT gives the 'Cocks 3 SEC losses (UGA, UA and UT).  The Vols already have 3 SEC losses (AU, UF and UA).  The Gators only have two league games left (Vandy and SCar), so even if they lost both, they'd still be in.  In case you're wondering, UK already has 4 league losses (UA, UF, SC and MSU) and Vandy is winless in league play (0-5).  Speaking of Vandy, their loss to Ga Tech puts them at 2-7 on the season and ensures that the Commodores will not be back-to-back bowling this year.

In the West, the title will likely be decided next week in Tuscaloosa between LSU and Alabama.  If Bama wins, they're in.  LSU will have two league losses (UF and UA) and even if Bama lost both its remaining SEC games (MSU and AU, so not likely) it would own the head-to-head tie-breaker over the Bayou Bengals.  Every other team in the West already has at least 3 SEC losses.  However, if LSU wins Saturday, they're in the driver's seat, as both The Tide and Tigers would have 1 SEC loss, and LSU would own the head-to-head tie-breaker.  Bama would have to hope LSU slips against either Ole Miss or Arkansas (not unreasonable) to sneak in to the Championship game.  Believe it or else, Auburn's win yesterday (which also got them bowl eligible at 6-3) puts them at 3rd in the West.  All 3 of Auburn's losses are against SEC foes.  Ole Miss and MSU also have 3 SEC losses each.  I know what you're thinking, it's possible to have some sort of crazy four-way SEC West tie. (It can't be 5-way because Ole Miss and MSU still have to play each other.)  Here's how.  Bama loses to LSU then drops its last two to MSU and AU, making them 5-3 in league play.  LSU wins against Bama, but then loses to Ole Miss and Arky, and the Tigers are also 5-3 in the SEC.  Auburn wins out (against UGA and Bama) so they're also 5-3 in the SEC.  Then, either Ole Miss (UT, LSU and MSU) or MSU (UA, UA, OM) wins out, and they're 5-3 too.  If you think you know who would play in ATL under that (admittedly very unlikely) scenario, show your math in the comments.

Also, enjoy this inteview of frequent King Football commenter Sugar Lumps:

Picks - Week 9

Our updated standings (last week, overall):

Chuck Visor: 4-4, 32-21

Drake McHugh, Esq.: 5-3, 28-25

Max Power: 5-3, 27-17

Brocktoon: 3-5, 26-27

Carter Slade: 6-2, 23-19

Woody Widenhoefer: 1-6, 22-18

Full Monte Kiffin: 5-3, 21-22

Dick C'est Bon: 0-0, 14-12

Arnold Porkzenegger: 0-0, 3-4

Herschel Talker: 0-0, 0-1

Tubby-bowl ‘09:
Ole Miss (-4.5) at Auburn, 11:21 AM, SEC Network:
In this match-up of Tommy Tuberville’s two former teams, I agree with Max. It’ll be a “Navy Nightmare,” but for the team in Burnt Orange and Navy Blue, not the team in Harvard Crimson and Yale Navy. In fact, the description of the game as a nightmare is appropriate since, given the performance against Arkansas with the 11:21 start, it is unlikely Auburn will be awake. This year’s coach drama is a bit different. Instead of Rebs angry at Tommy “Pine Box” Tuberville for leaving them, Ole Miss’ Nutt is mad at Auburn’s Malzahn for creating division in the program at Arkansas, and Malzahn is mad for being fired by Nutt. Last week I said Auburn would have a chance against LSU if Todd played well. I said there was no reason for Todd to play well against LSU’s defense. Just replay that comment this week, as Ole Miss’ front 7 is as good as it gets. Ole Miss wins and covers.

The Game Formerly Known as the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party:
Florida (-14.5) vs. Georgia, 2:30 PM, CBS:
If you ask me, it’s tough to call anything that starts at 3:30 local time a cocktail party, but here it is. Call me crazy, but I think the Dawg’s have a chance to win this one. I certainly don’t like a UF team that struggled against Arkansas and Mississippi State as a two-touchdown plus favorite. I’ll Hunker down with the points.

Must be Homecoming:
Eastern Michigan (+36.5) at Arkansas, 6:00 PM, ESPNU:
Can’t remember which of the Michigan directional schools is good and which is bad? The Western Michigan Broncos are OK, 4-4, 3-2 in the MAC. The Central Michigan Chippewas are good. They’re 7-1 with their only loss to Arizona. They beat Michigan State and are undefeated in the MAC and lead their division. The team that the Hogs will play, the Eastern Michigan Eagles, is bad. As in, 0-7 with losses to Army, Temple, Kent State and Ball State bad. This is a big line, but I’ll take the Hogs to cover.

Questionable Rivalry Game I:
Mississippi State (+3.5) at Kentucky, 6:00 PM, FSS:
Since the league split into divisions in 1992, and started the one-permanent cross-division rival schedule in 2003, MSU and UK have played every year. I suppose there’s some deep tradition of rivalry between these teams of which I am unaware (checking Wikipedia, nope). These teams have only played 36 times, with UK holding a slight edge 20-16. Anyway, this is a flip-a-coin game. I’ll take MSU only because it comes with 3.5 extra points.

ESSS EEE SEEEEE RULEZ!!11!:Georgia Tech (-11.5) at Vanderbilt, 6:30 PM:
As an SEC homer, normally I’d have to take the SEC team over any SEC opponent. However, this is Vandy and Ga Tech. The Jackets already beat MSU, who beat Vandy, (also Ga Tech beat Va Tech, who lost to Bama, whow beat Ole Miss who beat Vandy) so by transitive property Ga Tech is clearly the better team. I know Vandy beat BC in a bowl last year, but they also lost to Wake Forest and Duke last year. BEEEEEESSSSSSS RULE !!!11!!

Mouths of the South:
South Carolina (+6) at Tennessee, 6:45 PM, ESPN:
I thought this game would have lost some luster with the departure of Phil Fulmer. After all, it was kind of fun to see Spurrier scrap and sometimes barely beat the Coach and team he had tormented and dominated when he was at UF. Well, in comes Kiffin and whoa, Nelly, has this guy got a mouth that can match the OBC’s. Locker-room bulletin board fodder this week: Kiffin allegedly told SC’s leading wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey that if he went to SC he’d end up pumping gas for a living. Both QBs are spotty, so whether Garcia or Crompton has the better game will determine who wins. If I were picking this straight up I’d likely take Tennessee since the game’s on Rocky Top, and unfortunately, it looks like Jeffrey has the flu. But I believe SC’s D is for real, so I’ll take them plus the points.

Questionable Rivalry Game II:
Tulane (+36) at LSU, 7:00 PM:

This game is the inverse of UK-MSU. While the Cats and Dogs are two evenly-matched mid-league powers on the rise but with no history as rivals, The Tigers and Green Wave have a history dating back to the Southern League, but they are no where near evenly matched today. These squads have played some 97 times since 1893, but the most recent Tulane victory was 1982. But any rivalry that includes a riot (1938) is not a rivalry to be taken lightly. My only hesitation in picking LSU is the size of the line and the fact that I don’t expect LSU to go all out or leave the starters in too long with a West-division championship game coming up next week in Tuscaloosa. I’ll take the Wave plus the points.

Auburn....what's left to say?

I know I didn't post a recap of last week's game against the Bayou Bengal Tigers, but that's because I didn't watch it (that's two weeks in a row where I found something more productive-working on my dissertation-than watching the Auburn Tigers go down in flames). I imagine the game went like this: Auburn completes a pass for 1 yard, then runs for 2, then punts on third, just to catch LSU off guard. Then LSU scores. Repeat ad nauseam.

Is this week's game going to be any different? Max Power thinks so, but I think it'll be another game that a team other than Auburn runs away with. At a 4.5 point line, I think you take Ole Miss on this one, and put a lot of money on it...that is, unless they decide to bench Chris Todd, then you just put about half of what you were going to bet on the game, but still on Ole Miss. Charles Hollis of The Birmingham News likes Ole Miss here too, by more than the spread. They came out like gangbusters against Arkansas, and that trend continues this week against highly-favored-turned-laughing-stock AU. I'm not saying I'm laughing, but I probably won't watch the game again either. Prediction: Ole Miss 34, Auburn 13. I hope I'm wrong again.

The Blind Side

I dare you not to get teary eyed...

Navy Nightmare!

Auburn has declared this Saturday's Halloween game against Ole Miss as a Navy Nightmare. But, I have to ask a couple of questions. One, will navy scare a team and fans who wear the color all the time? Also, whose nightmare will this game be?

I suppose some could argue that the nightmare could belong to Houston Nutt. Or Gus Malzahn. Because as most people who follow these teams expected, this game is turning into a grudge match. Don't believe me? Check out here, here and here. For much of this season, my fellow Rebels and I have discussed how Malzahn has been wanting to stick it to Coach Nutt ever since their messy separation in Fayetteville. But what about Coach Nutt? One could argue that Coach Nutt is equally bitter about how Malzahn splintered the fanbase and began Nutt's unfortunate departure from the school he loved. So, don't be surprised if Ole Miss' coaching staff (many of whom were also affected by the feud with Malzahn) has some tricks up their sleeves.

There are a lot of questions in this game. Will Auburn's high octane offense shake off the last three games and return to its early season form? Will Malzahn choose to use different players in order to kickstart "Gus' Bus?" Will Dexter McCluster continue to shine like he did last Saturday? Which Jevan Snead will show up? Can Ole Miss' defense slow down the AU offense and hold them to 20 points or less?

Many Auburn fans I know who have tickets to the game aren't going. They cite Halloween, the weather, Auburn's current three game slide and the fact that Auburn has not played well in early games in recent history. But for weeks now I've had reservations about this game and I still do. I think Ole Miss can win this game, but it is going to be a fight and the Rebels don't historically play well in Auburn.

Bottom line is this - as the "homer" for Ole Miss on this blog I am picking the Rebels to win this one. But it will be close - Ole Miss 27, Auburn 21.

Forward Rebels and Happy Halloween!

Congrats to Herschel

Herschel and Mrs. Talker welcomed a 7 lb 13 oz, 20 inch little girl into the world yesterday. Congratulations. You'll get her home from the hospital in plenty of time to watch the Georgia-Florida game together.

Jevan & Co. Take Down Petrino's Pigs

Final score: Ole Miss 30, Arkansas 17. But that score was closer than the game actually ever was as the much heralded Ole Miss offense finally lived up to some of the preseason hype last Saturday.

Arkansas fans made a huge showing in Oxford as they REALLY wanted to take the evil Houston Nutt down and strut through the Grove post-game telling all Rebel fans how terrible he is. Alas, they are left to wonder for another season and off-season about what might have been had they had the sense to keep him in Fayetteville.

Jevan Snead and the offensive line looked spectacular. Dexter McCluster was a man on a mission and received SEC Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts. Heck, he only had 36 less yards than all of Arkansas' offense! And speaking of retrospect, Ole Miss fans were left wondering what might have been had this offense shown up in Columbia in September or Oxford a few weeks ago. But, that's water under the bridge now. What Ole Miss can still do is win out. Do that and they assure themselves of probably the 3rd best record in the SEC.

First things first, though. The Auburn Tigers are up next and on a bad skid. And if you don't think Gus Malzahn has had this game circled since he was hired you're smoking something. There is still plenty of bad blood between Nutt and Malzahn for how things ended in Fayetteville and Gus will have plenty of tricks up his sleeves to try and embarrass his old coaching "buddies."

More on the Rebels and Plainsmen later in the week. For now though, enjoy the sound victory Rebels!

Gameday Open Thread

Two sort-of Heisman hopefuls square off today in T-town with Mark Ingram carrying the ball for Bama and Eric Berry trting to stop him. Woody and I will be there live.

Plus, tiger-on-tiger action in the swawp tonight on the Deuce; the up-and-coming Hogs vs. the down-and-falling Rebels in the brunch game; Gators and Gamecocks on varying levels of upset alert (UF in Stark-vegas tonight; SC hosting Vandy); Kentucky looks to take a step toward bowl eligibilty vs. the Warhawks of La-Monroe; and the Bulldogs of Athens looking to avoid a defeat vs. Bye week. Quite a slate of SEC action.

Leave your thoughts, reactions, and suggested punishments for any referee incompetence in the comments below.

South Carolina v. Vanderbilt

What exactly has South Carolina done the last two seasons when they woulda coulda shoulda gotten a win against Vandy? Just take a look to the left for a visual answer to that question.

Granted in the past Vandy has been a pretty formidable opponent. However, this year things have started to swing in the other direction for both teams. South Carolina actually looks like they have the talent to compete with the better teams in the nation. Vandy, on the other hand, has been on a bit of a backslide. All that being said, Vandy is not to be taken lightly. A couple of big plays or sloppy plays can change both teams' seasons in a hurry.

South Carolina starting corner back, Auguste will be back on the field after a 3 game suspension. That coupled with another week for the young players to mature (hopefully...after all maturity is not something that abounds in that locker room lately) and learn should make the Gamecocks prepared to right the wrongs of the last two years against Vandy. This one is a night game in Columbia, so you know the fine establishments in the Vista and Five Points are rooting for a happy fan base to leave the stadium (perhaps early if the Gamecocks have a heafty lead late) to fill their bar stools. Go Cocks.

I'll take the Tigers to win.

Found this out there by some LSU fan. Don't know if they realized that "irrelevance" was spelled incorrectly. You might say that was the joke, but I don't think so.

I agree with Dick that this game used to be THE matchup in the SEC west, with the winner going on to represent the west in the SEC championship game. Unfortunately for both teams, neither is living up to the hype. Auburn is looking like the team to beat in the west, and by that, I mean teams are looking to their matchup with Auburn as a win. LSU has had a couple of close games against Georgia and Mississippi State. With a combined 10-3 record, I'd expect more out of these teams.

I don't really understand the whole jersey controversy. LSU likes to wear the away jersey, and Auburn always wears their home jersey. Doesn't the home team get to pick? I don't really know what the rules are for jerseys, but this seems like two coaches trying to get a psychological advantage in the game.

I think this game takes a while to get going, and look for a lot of sputtering, a lot of wheels turning but going nowhere. If you're looking for a prediction, I think LSU ends up winning late (this would make the third game in a row), taking the game away from Auburn. Call it LSU 26, Auburn 20. I hope for Auburn's sake they can pull it out, though.

War Eagle!

Third (Fourth) Saturday in October!!!

Tomorrow afternoon (2:30c) the mighty Crimson Tide will take on the Tennessee Volunteers in a classic rivalry match-up. Tennessee has a lot of momentum from their dismantling of the UGA defense and consecutive off-week, but Alabama should present a challenge for the inconsistent Jonathan Crompton. This game has the chance of being a low-scoring defensive struggle. Both teams will likely attempt to stack the box in order to inhibit the running game, and force the QB's to beat them. Greg McElroy started strong early in the season against Virginia Tech, but has taken on shades of former Bama QB John Parker Wilson during SEC play.

Bama RB Mark Ingram achieved quite a Heisman buzz following his 246 rushing yards on South Carolina last week, and he will be the Tide's go to back against the Vol's as well. Nick Saban likes to keep a fresh set of legs in the mix, so look for freshman phenom Trent Richardson as well as the seasoned Roy Upchurch to get plenty of carries as well. Look for Bama to mix it up much more with the Wildcat set. You may even see some explosive players get some reps...

Ultimately, however, this game will come down to which team's QB can take what the opposing defense gives him. This is why Alabama will defeat Tennessee tomorrow, 21-10.

Picks - Week 8

Picks - Week 8

Our updated standings (last week, overall):

Chuck Visor: 5-2, 28-17

Brocktoon: 6-1, 23-22

Drake McHugh, Esq.: 4-3, 23-22

Max Power: 6-1, 22-14

Woody Widenhoefer: 4-3, 21-12

Carter Slade: 4-3, 17-17

Full Monte Kiffin: 5-2, 16-19

Dick C'est Bon: 0-0, 14-12

Arnold Porkzenegger: 0-0, 3-4

Herschel Talker: 0-0, 0-1

I tried mobile blogging from the blackberry this am from a CLE presentation at the Sheraton in downtown Bham, where word on the street is both Miley Cirus and KISS are staying. It didn't work. So here are my belated picks (typed on a blackberry while listening to presenters dicuss the 3 areas of the law doing well in the down economy: (1) employment law, (2) bankruptcy, and (3) something about tax credits and real estate development and govt housing that reminded me a little bit of the commercial paper lecture from bar review where about 1 hour into it I was like, "they're just talking about checks, right? commercial paper is just checks, right?"). Anyway, leave your picks in the comments:

Ark +5 @ Ole Miss - with all due respect to the Rebs' big win over, um, UAB, unless Arky is hung over from their near win against UF, I like piggies to win. And you're giving me 5 points! Soowee!

UT +16 @ Bama - don't get me wrong, I think bama wins here, but not by more than 16.

La-Monroe +16 @ UK - heck if I know. I picked UK to cover over Louisville and got burned. Plus La-Monroe beat Bama on 9/11, or something. I'll take the war hawks (ragin cajuns?) to cover.

Vandy +11.5 @ SC - this is tough. I don't like SC to beat anyone by 12, but I don't think this Vandy team is good at all. Against my better judgment, I'll take Vandy, cause nerds have to stick together.

UF -21.5 @ MSU - this line is way too big. Even if he could (which I doubt) would Urban really run up the score on Mullen? More cowbell.

AU +8 @ LSU - Easy call. Take the tigers. (Rimshot) If Todd plays better than last 2 weeks, Au has a chance. Reasons to believe Todd will play better against LSU D? (crickets) take the corndog scented tigers.

UGA +5 vs. BYE - kidding, kidding.

Bonus pick:

TCU @ BYU (straight up) - TCU to win.

Plus, my ACC always take the cold team over the hot team lock: take UVa plus the points at home against the Bees of Ga Tech.

This game used to mean so much more...

I really enjoyed the LSU-Auburn rivalry in its heyday. During the early- and mid- "aughts" this game decided the SEC West - and was always a supreme example of defensive ferocity.

At least LSU still plays defense.

Will Muschamp no longer incurs sideline warnings or headbutts players for (either of) the Tigers, but Gus Malzahn (at least until two weeks ago) and John Chavis have restored some luster to the assistant ranks for each team. As compelling as the new Auburn offense v. new LSU defense matchup is, however, the LSU offense v. Auburn defense matchup has the potential to be a stink fest. LSU's offense has, except for the last two minutes of the Georgia game, made defenses from Athens to Seattle look great all season. Then again, if Charles Scott and Keiland Williams are going to start looking like DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart anytime this season, Auburn's defense will certainly supply the butt.

If you want to hear a prediction, you should know that I've been predicting the arrival of LSU's running attack all season long. We're still waiting for that. I can confidently predict that something weird or sensational (having little or nothing to do with the competition itself) will happen. (See the barn burner, the cigar chomp, the no-call pass interference and, of course, the Lesticles game.) I've read that Coach Cheesedick has reported on Alabama sports radio that the War Chickens will don their road whites in Tiger Stadium, "forcing" LSU to wear navy (it really does look purple in the stadium, though). Unfortunately I don't get Alabama sports talk radio in New Detroit, so I don't know what was said. I also don't know if anyone really feels like they have a handle on the SEC-white jerseys-at-home rule, though.

The game is at night on the deuce. As incredible as it is for Auburn to lose three in a row, I think LSU steals this one. Whatever you do, don't take the "over" on points.

Trivia Pt. 4: Lions & Tigers & Bears, Oh My!

More mascot/nickname trivia! This one is in honor of the Tigers-Tigers matchup this week in Red Stick.

1) What is the most prolific nickname used in both I-A and I-AA football: Tigers, Wildcats, Bears, Bulldogs, or Eagles?

2) What is the most prolific nickname used amongst I-A football teams: Tigers, Wildcats, Bears, Bulldogs, or Eagles?

3) What is the most prolific nickname used amongst I-AA football teams: Tigers, Wildcats, Bears, Bulldogs, or Eagles?

4) What is the most prolific nickname used solely in I-A football (that is, no I-AA team uses the nickname for its football team): Huskies, Owls, Cougars, Aggies, or Broncos?

5) What is the most prolific nickname used solely in I-AA football (that is, no I-A team uses the nickname for its football team): Dukes, Lions, Bison, Lumberjacks, or Hornets?

6) How many teams in Division I football have the word "Fighting" in their nickname?

7) How many teams in Division I football have the word "Golden" in their nickname?

8) How many teams in Division I football have the word "Red" as part of their nickname?

9) How many teams in Division I football have the word "Blue" as part of their nickname?

10) Which of these is not a Division I football team's nickname: Demons, Jackrabbits, Seawolves, Lynx, or Delta Devils?

11) Which of these is not a Division I football team's nickname: Huskies, Retrievers, Great Danes, Terriers, or Bulldogs?

12) Which of these is not a Division I football team's nickname: Fightin' Injuns, Ragin' Cajuns, or Runnin' Bulldogs?

Answers in the Comments section.

An X's and O's Look at Saban's Defense

Came across this article a little while ago from brophyfootball. It's a very interesting read if you like to understand the technique and schemes involved in football.

Part I

Part II

Part III

Oh my.

SEC Commissioner Mike Slive is grounding until Nov. 14 the crew that brought you the phantom excessive celebration call against UGA in the LSU game and the phantom unsportsmanlike conduct call against Arky in the UF game (along with other questionable calls in that game).  And he doesn't want you just goofing off and playing video games for a month, this is supposed to be punishment!
Memo to all other aggrieved fanbases: complain long and loud enough about the officiating and you too can get public apologies and suspended crews.  You will still lose the game, but you have to take solace wherever you can find it, I guess.

If you ain't cheatin' you ain't tryin'!

The OBC is at it again.  This time, he has accused Bama of cheating on its kicks by placing tape on the ground to mark the spot for the holder to place the ball.  Bama cheating and Spurrier complaining about other teams' cheating are up there with death and taxes on the inevitability scale.  By the way, did Kiffin ever take that NCAA recruiting test?  Anybody know where I can put my hands on some extra textbooks?

UPDATE: The Great Saban responds:

"I have to be very honest about this. I was not aware of this," Saban said. "I have become aware of it since it was brought to our attention. We certainly don't want our players to do anything that's illegal. It is a 5-yard penalty if you do anything to enhance the spot. We've done some research on it, and over half the teams in the league do something with it. They put a piece there or whatever it is so the kicker knows where the ball's going to be spotted. We even saw verification where last year South Carolina's kicker did it. This is not something that is really unusual for people to do. It is something that shouldn't be done because it's against the rules. We're actually happy that it was brought to our attention because I wasn't aware of it. It's something that will not do because it's certainly not worth a 5-yard penalty."

Rebel Offense Shows Up in Big Win

Jevan Snead and the Ole Miss offense decided to show up for most of the game against UAB and hopefully gained some confidence heading into the game against Arkansas. Obviously, no one is deluded enough to think a win against UAB means all the Rebels problems are solved. But, this game was needed for Ole Miss' offense to feel at least competent heading into a must win against a Razorback team that ALMOST upset Florida in the Swamp. (And might have won if not for the corrupt SEC referees who protect the SEC's cash cows - Alabama and Florida - at all costs.)

The game was never in any doubt. All that was in doubt was whether or not Jevan would complete more passes to his receivers than the new FieldTurf at Vaught-Hemingway. He did and the Rebel offense showed glimpses of the 2008 team -albeit against a pitiful C-USA team.

Defensively, Ole Miss continued to shine and was able to get through Homecoming without many injuries. Marshay Green is still questionable for this Saturday, but was cleared to practice today.

Preview of the game versus UPIG later in the week. We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming...

NO ORANGE JERSEY FOR YOU!

Tennessee, casting about for any type of advantage in their upcoming game against the AP Poll's No. 1 team in the country, asked the Mighty Saban if they might please take advantage of the new USC-UCLA rule (which allows both teams to wear colored jerseys if the home team agrees) and wear their creamsickle orange jerseys at Bryant-Denny this Saturday.  Understanding that all Tiders know 2 things: (1) Tradishun and (2) The Bahr, UT pointed out that UT used to wear orange jerseys as the visiting team back when the Bahr coached.  The Vols' plea fell on deaf ears, as Bama's Jersey Nazi, noted scholar and Athletic Director Mal Moore, said he thinks visiting teams ought to wear visiting jerseys. Mal added that Mrs. Lane Kiffin can wear whatever she wants.

I am going to the game with Woody Widenhoffer and his parents.  The Widenhoffers are UT grads and will be pulling for the Vols, but Woody, despite being a Vandy grad, is a Bama fan and will be pulling for the Tide.  I am a fan of neither team but my initial inclination was to wear red since I am a Bama (law school) grad.  However, in honor of the jersey color controversy, I will wear whatever color (orange or crimson) gets the most votes in the comments to this post.