“I think it’s what football is right now.”

Here’s a stat you don’t see every day:

With three of the top four scoring teams in the country this season, SEC teams lead all conferences with an average of 39.7 points per game.

That’s up eight points per game from last season – you know, the one that had all the quarterbacks who aren’t in the conference anymore.

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So you’re telling me there’s a chance?

Not even the AJ-C‘s Georgia Tech beat writer can lay this one down with a straight face.

This just in: the SEC West is pretty good.

Over at Football Outsiders, Brian Fremeau explains how his wins projection total for undefeated Alabama has dropped since the season started:

Alabama’s mean wins forecast has dropped from 9.6 FBS mean wins (10.6 total) to only 8.3 FBS mean wins (9.3 total) — and that’s despite the fact that the Crimson Tide are undefeated and rank fifth nationally in net points per drive. They haven’t looked flawless, but they’ve looked very good. The problem for the Tide is that the rest of the SEC West has looked better than projected.

Arkansas has climbed from No. 66 to No. 38 in four weeks, increasing its mean wins projection by 2.2 games. Mississippi State has climbed from No. 36 to No. 18 (+1.5 mean wins projection). Ole Miss has climbed from No. 30 to No. 11 (+1.5 mean wins). Texas A&M has climbed from No. 18 to No. 4 (+1.8 mean wins). Auburn has climbed from No. 8 to No. 3 (+1.1 mean wins). Alabama (-1.3 mean wins) and LSU (-1.0 mean wins) are still top-10 teams in the FEI ratings, but they aren’t the projected division leaders anymore.

Gulp.  Five teams are now projected to garner 8 more wins than expected.  Those wins have to come from somewhere.  Just ask South Carolina.

“This isn’t about Hutson Mason.”

Maybe not, but it’s part of how your team wins games.

“I know the pass game probably statistically isn’t very pretty right now,” quarterback Hutson Mason said this week, “but when you’re throwing a high percentage of completions and no picks, you give your team a chance at winning every ballgame. This isn’t about Hutson Mason. It’s not about passing yards. It’s about winning ballgames. As a fifth-year senior who only has one shot at this, my goals and my dreams aren’t about going 8-4 but being No. 1 in passing yards in the SEC. It’s about being in Atlanta and winning a championship and accomplishing those goals. That’s what is most important to me.”

He’s not turning the ball over and he’s directing an offense that’s fourth in the country in scoring.  And he has no ego about it.

I’m impressed.

Returning to the scene of the crime

… or, as Marc Weiszer puts it,

Martinez and Tennessee defensive coordinator John Jancek will be first former Georgia assistant coaches who spent considerable time under Richt to return to Sanford Stadium coaching an opposing team in his 14 seasons.

And Mike Bobo tries to find a polite way to discuss third-and-Willie.

“They’ve got a good feel for what I like to do having gone against me in practice, but the same thing here,” Bobo said. “You don’t try to overthink it too much.”

But don’t ignore it, either.

Herbie, you go, girl.

The man cut loose on SportsCenter.

Herbstreit on Finebaum’s CFB analysis: “It’s throwing [shit] against the wall.” Niiiiice.

— The Solid Verbal (@SolidVerbal) September 24, 2014

I’m starting to wonder if it’s possible Finebaum could outlive his welcome on the WWL.  Eh, who am I kidding?

Dan Mullen decides to let Mike Slive have his way… this time.

So Mississippi State has an offensive lineman who repeatedly mistook LSU defenders for the turf.  The SEC took offense to that – a natural response, seeing as even TV managed to pick those up – and suspended the kid for the TAMU game.

And Dan Mullen took offense to that.

“We completely disagree with the ruling that was given to us by the league, but we are going to follow the commissioner’s decision.”

So he’s not going to perform an act of civil disobedience, or something?  That’s mighty big of him.

Boy, you finally win a big conference road game and the next thing you know, you think you’re co-commissioner.

Miscommunication breakdown

Tennessee offensive tackle blames high sack rate on miscommunication.  But that’s all fixed now.

“It really is important to be able to spend time together, and these past weeks, being able to work at the same positions has really helped,” Kerbyson said. “I’ve started to mesh more at left tackle. Getting good reps against quality guys with Curt [Maggitt] and [Derek] Barnett over there has really gotten me ready for whatever I have to face.

“Then Jashon and Coleman working together, they’ve got to be able to mesh really well, whether it’s games from the defensive end or double teams and what they need to do on run-blocks. It really is important for the past two weeks of all working together.”

I’m trying to figure out which will have a greater impact Saturday – an extra week of practice, or a loud, noisy home crowd disrupting timing, snap counts and protection calls.  Hmm…

“It’s easy to go back and Monday-morning quarterback something like that.”

So Mark Emmert washes his hands of domestic violence.

NCAA president Mark Emmert believes it’s the responsibility of individual schools to handle issues of domestic violence and sexual assault, and that a spate of recent cases reflect greater societal problems.

Question:  what if Emmert discovered that a school was enabling a player or players who were accused of such violence and/or sexual assault?  Why would that be a different situation from what moved him to act against Penn State?

“We have manhood sessions once a week.”

In Jonathan Taylor’s situation, what do you figure is the loophole to the Malzahn Rule?