Week Eight in the SEC: A Recap of Action Around the League
Saturday was kind of the “Snow Day” for the Southeastern Conference. It was that one unexpected day schoolkids get off for bad weather and are able to have some fun.
Florida, Ole Miss and Kentucky were able to have a lot of fun. Kyle Trask and Matt Corral were absolutely giddy at the end of their games.
Alabama, Texas A&M, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Missouri and Georgia must feel like they were in detention while the cool kids were able to go out and play.
NO. 6 FLORIDA 63, ARKANSAS 35
Florida quarterback Kyle Trask is playing some of the best football in the nation at the quarterback position. The Gator remains on fire, throwing for 356 yards and six touchdowns in just over a half of football Saturday against the Razorbacks. What is more impressive? Trask did this without outstanding tight end Kyle Pitts in the lineup.
The first QB in SEC history to throw four TD in five consecutive games:@GatorsFB’s Kyle Trask 🔥 pic.twitter.com/GBNlMsTZxe
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) November 7, 2020
Should this be an Alabama-Florida Southeastern Conference title game, it might come down to who has the ball last.
Arkansas is the most-improved team in the league. But they are still a work in progress. The Razorbacks are on the right path, but they still have a few steps to take. Once the Hogs figure out those improvements, they might make some noise in the SEC West. At the moment, with Feleipe Franks on offense and Bumper Pool on defense, Arkansas is already a dangerous team under first-year coach Sam Pittman.
OLE MISS 59, SOUTH CAROLINA 42
Matt Corral set an Ole Miss record with 513 passing yards against the Gamecocks on Saturday. Elijah Moore amassed more than 200 yards receiving for the second consecutive week. The Rebels punted once, turned it over once and scored on every other possession.
The longest TD pass in @OleMissFB history!@corral_matt ➡ @e_moore03 ➕ @Lane_Kiffin's clipboard 📋🤣 pic.twitter.com/8ckWDGmluX
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) November 15, 2020
On the other side of the ball, well, the Landsharks struggled against South Carolina. But if the Ole Miss defense can step up its game, the Rebels can make some noise the rest of the season.
It is worth noting that South Carolina has no quit in them. After being held to three points last week against Texas A&M, the Gamecocks put up six touchdowns against Ole Miss. Kevin Harris ran through the Rebels all night for 243 yards and Deshaun Fenwick added another 82. Carolina is able to move the ball and if its defense will cooperate a little, the Gamecocks could be fun to watch.
However, whatever happens for South Carolina will be with a different coach. Reports out of Columbia Sunday evening are that head coach Will Muschamp has been fired and first-year offensive coordinator (and former head coach at Colorado State) Mike Bobo has assumed the role of interim coach. Muschamp’s buyout is $13.2 million.
KENTUCKY 38, VANDERBILT 35
Yeah, Kentucky can run the football. The Wildcats ran for 308 yards, 149 from Chris Rodriguez in the win. Quarterback Terry Wilson add 83 yards on the ground as each player averaged over 11 yards per carry. Kentucky seems to be hitting its stride, but the next two games are at Alabama and Florida.
Another look at that Chris Rodriguez 74 yard run! #BBN pic.twitter.com/fCsJBnxDhY
— OTH Kentucky Wildcats #BBN (@OTHwildcats) November 14, 2020
Vanderbilt scored two touchdowns in the last three or so minutes to make the score close, but the hole had already been dug. Freshman quarterback Ken Sears continues to be unassumingly impressive, throwing for 225 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Keyon Henry-Brooks helped his quarterback best he could by running for 121 yards, but that amounted to all the offense the Commodores could muster. Vanderbilt is running out of chances to avoid a winless season with Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Missouri left on the schedule.
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
