Only close in their heads

So, it turns out that Andy Staples ($$) is a Tennessee Truther.

This is why I’ve always advocated a simpler way to decide who is No. 4 and who is No. 5. The best way is to kidnap the head coach of the No. 1 team, take him to an undisclosed location and administer a truth serum. Then ask that coach one question: Who would you rather play?

So in this case an unmarked van would roll up on Kirby Smart in Athens. A bag would be placed over his head — he’s a former All-SEC safety, so our hired goons are getting elbowed in the face for sure — and the next thing he’d see are the CFP committee members. The needle would go in, and NC State athletic director Boo Corrigan would ask the magic question.

Corrigan: Kirby, would you prefer to play Tennessee or USC?

Smart: Give me the Trojans.

Corrigan: Vols it is.

Based on what, exactly, pray tell?  Not the game that Seth Emerson ($$) and I watched.

Tennessee on a neutral field — if Atlanta can be called that — still could be interesting. But what we saw in Athens was about more than just the home-field advantage; it was a reminder about the Jimmy’s and the Joe’s. There’s some revisionist history going on about the Georgia-Tennessee game, but Georgia had a 24-6 lead at halftime — it should’ve been 28-6 if not for overthinking the clock in the final minute — and total yards were lopsided. Then the rain hit, and Kirby Smart decided to play for the win, not the style points.

This was predictable. The further we get from the game, the more the case is made in some quarters that it wasn’t the blowout it really was. But even without the rain, if Georgia punches in that touchdown at the end of the half, or if Arian Smith hauls in that deep ball in the fourth quarter, you’re talking about a final score of 31-13 or even 34-13, which seems a lot different than 27-13.

Even that understates things.  The Vols were outclassed on both lines of scrimmage and if there’s one eternal truth about SEC football, it’s that you can’t lose the lines of scrimmage and still win the game, neutral field or otherwise.

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Take the under

So, Kentucky’s been passable on defense this season.

Kentucky ranks 17th nationally in total defense at 317 yards per game, and it is giving up only 20 points per game, which ranks third in the SEC and 21st nationally. And the Wildcats rank second in the league against the pass, giving up only 182 yards per game.

On offense, though, it’s been a different story.

Kentucky, meanwhile, has scored more than 21 points on offense against an SEC opponent only once — a 27-17 win over Mississippi State. In the Wildcats’ past three games, they’ve managed a total of five touchdowns.

What’s strange about that is the ‘Cats are getting decent production from the players they expected decent production from.

The optimism for the Wildcats this summer stemmed largely from the presence of quarterback Will Levis and running back Chris Rodriguez, both seniors.

Individually, they’re each doing a decent job. Rodriguez leads the SEC with a 122 yards per-game rushing average, and Levis ranks third in pass efficiency (153.57), less than a point ahead of Bennett.

The catch is that their offensive line has… problems.

Kentucky quarterbacks – and mostly Levis – have been sacked 39 times. Not only is that last in the SEC, but it’s the most allowed in FBS through 10 games since 1999.

Jalen Carter, come on down!

Add in what sounds like motivation issues…

“Not enough hype. Not enough juice. We talked about it among us all week, and we did not buy into it,” Levis said following the Vanderbilt loss.

And you can’t help but wonder how much juice UK will have tomorrow against a defense that’s a step up from Vandy’s.

Georgia, 10-0 and ranked No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings, is second nationally in scoring defense, allowing 11.6 points per game. The Dawgs have allowed just nine touchdowns on defense, and three of those came in the fourth quarter when the outcome was all but decided.

I’m not sensing a lot of points being scored tomorrow.  Can’t wait to here how Brad and Gary try to spin this one up.

Fergit, hayel.

Here’s a game that left a scar.

“If you see ever see our school on the schedule of an FBS school, you can stop with that feeling sorry for us stuff, because we love it,” Nicholls coach Tim Rebowe said one year ago as his Colonels, members of the Southland Conference, prepared for the second of their season-opening back-to-back FBS matchups vs. Memphis and Louisiana, all while stuck in a hotel away from home due to Hurricane Ida.

During his eight seasons in Thibodaux, Louisiana, Rebowe’s teams have played 13 games against FBS opponents. They won once, a 26-23 OT win at Kansas that started a season that ended in the second round of the FCS playoffs. In 2018 they gave Texas A&M all it wanted before losing 24-14, and in ’16 they famously rallied in the fourth quarter to scare the dawg collars off Georgia before losing 26-24.

“Those trips, for us, those are a measuring stick of where we are as a program,” Rebowe said. “We’re in Athens, Georgia, and came in at halftime and our guys said, ‘Hey, we have a chance to be in this game if we limit big plays.'”

That game was only Kirby Smart’s second Saturday as his alma mater’s head football coach. He remembers it well, still rolling his eyes whenever it is mentioned, even seven seasons later.

Eye roll?  Shit, that’s mild compared to how I react when I’m reminded about that travesty of a game.  At least there was nowhere to go but up.