Biscuits & SEC Week 9 Game-by-Game Recaps
Texas A&M conquered Death Valley, the afternoon games went wire-to-wire, and Ole Miss got back in the win column.
By: Bossman, Hammer
Does it get any better than this?! Every single week, we have close, fun, consequential games in the SEC. I can’t remember an SEC season with this many games that come down the wire. Vandy held off Mizzou in a defensive battle, Bama escaped Willaims Brice, Texas mounted a wild 4th quarter comeback in Starkville, and Texas A&M beat LSU so bad in Death Valley that Brian Kelly was fired on Sunday. WHAT?
Here’s how Bossman & Hammer fared in Week 9:
The boys were in lockstep against the spread this weekend, picking every game the same and going 5-2. Hammer went out on a limb and predicted Mississippi State would upset Texas outright, and was heard muttering profanities under his breath for hours after the Bulldogs completely collapsed. What a race to the finish we have in our pick standings though! The fellas are locked up in the straight up category at 77-11 and against the spread at 48-40 a piece. It’s going to be a fun November!
Let’s hit the recaps.
Bossman: On a rain-soaked morning in Norman, it looked like Ole Miss was going to run away with this one, but Oklahoma fought back and took this one all the way into the fourth quarter. When it came down to crunch time, though, Trinidad Chambliss made critical plays down the stretch to get Ole Miss the win. On back-to-back drives in the fourth quarter, Chambliss connected on a 39-yard pass and a 43-yard pass to Winston Watkins that effectively sealed the game for the Rebs. OU mistakes also helped Ole Miss, as the Isaiah Satenga fumble on the punt return midway through the third quarter took away a possession from the Sooners, trailing by five at that point, and ended in an Ole Miss Field goal, putting the Rebels up 34-26. John Mateer again did not look 100%, and while Oklahoma gained nearly 360 total yards, they couldn’t get it done in critical situations. They were 4/14 on the day on third down, and just 1/3 on fourth down. The Rebels look like a bona fide playoff team, while the Sooners are staring down a gauntlet left on their schedule that could see them finish with 3-4 more losses if they aren’t careful.
Hammer: Coming into this game, I kept saying that Ole Miss was by far the best offense Oklahoma had faced. The Sooner defense has been elite all year long, but when elite defense meets elite offense, who has the edge? Unfortunately for Oklahoma, the answer was offense wins. Don’t get me wrong, Oklahoma’s defense is still very good and did not make things easy for Ole Miss. The Rebels totaled 431 yards of offense and ran for just 116 yards on 41 carries. They made their hay through the air though, as the Sooners struggled to cover the Ole Miss wideouts. Trinidad Chambliss continues to impress, going 24/44 for 315 yards and 1 TD while adding 53 yards rushing. Doing that on the road against a very good defense without a turnover in wet, sloppy conditions is extremely impressive. On the other side, Oklahoma’s offense is just not very good. Many thought the Rebel defense was vulnerable and Oklahoma could take advantage. That wasn’t the case. Yes, the Sooners fought their butts off and scored 26 points, but 14 of those points came off explosive plays of 76 and 65 yards. Not to discount those plays, they were excellent. However, explosive plays are hard to replicate and on a down to down basis, the Sooner offense struggled. John Mateer was not accurate enough, missing open guys far too often in his 17/31 for 223 and one TD performance. At the end of the day, Ole Miss is a better team and they showed in for four quarters on Saturday.
Bossman: l’m honestly shocked. I know Auburn has a solid defense, but this Arkansas offense has only been stuffed in a locker once this season, and that was too a good Notre Dame team. The Auburn defense showed up to play, turning Arkansas over four times and returning one pick for a TD. Auburn LB Xavier Atkins was a total menace in this game, totaling 13 tackles, nine solo, two sacks, and four TFLs. The man was all over the place and helped bottle up Taylen Green, who had just 14 yards rushing on seven carries. It wasn’t all roses for Auburn, as Jackson Arnold was pulled before halftime after a pick-six that put Arkansas up 21-10 going into halftime. Ashton Daniels came in, and while he didn’t light the world on fire, he was steady, and Hugh Freeze leaned on the run game (I feel like I’m having an out-of-body experience writing that), to the tune of 230 yards rushing for the Tigers, to seal the win. Also, how about that catch in the first half by Cam Coleman…WOW. Finally – I think this will quiet Hogs fans on hiring Bobby Petrino long term. As for Hugh Freeze…he survives another week.
Hammer: Welp, coming into this game, I absolutely did not trust Hugh Freeze and Auburn to make enough plays to win an SEC road game. While I stand by that reasoning for the most part, what I failed to take into account is how good Arkansas is at giving games away as well. Both of these teams possess a superpower of making critical errors at inopportune times, and Auburn made me eat my words this weekend. The Razorback defense has been awful all year, but they actually played decent here, holding Auburn to 380 yards of offense and 3/12 on third down. Taylen Green’s pick-six and four total turnovers from Arkansas sealed their fate in this game. For as inept as Auburn’s offense continues to be, Arkansas handed Auburn 13 points in the second half on turnovers. One pick was returned for a touchdown, and two other turnovers led to Auburn field goals, where the Tigers couldn’t even muster a first down but were already in field goal range. After Jackson Arnold was benched, Ashton Daniels steadied the Tiger offense. By that, I mostly mean he didn’t turn the ball over. Daniels was only 6/8 for 77 yards, with another 25 yards rushing, but that was enough to steady the ship. Jeremiah Cobb took advantage of a porous Hog defense to the tune of 153 yards on 28 carries. Hugh Freeze FINALLY stuck to the run game that was working as Auburn ran the ball 50 times for 230 yards as a team, and only threw the ball 20 times. The Tiger defense played well again, forcing those 4 turnovers, but also limiting Arkansas to just 63 yards rushing. Solid win for Auburn.
Bossman: Two years in a row now, Alabama has escaped by the hair of their chinny chin chin against South Carolina, as the Gamecocks nearly blew their house down. Instead, the Gamecocks blew another prime opportunity to take down the Tide. The biggest thing the Tide survived was having to hear endless taunts from South Carolina fans about how Mike Shula, the former Tide QB and head coach, beat them as the OC for the Cocks. Instead, the Tide gets the last laugh. Ty Simpson had a good, not great, day, tossing two TDs and not throwing a pick, and he helped pick up the slack in the run game as Alabama had trouble running the ball. LaNorris Sellers had some big-time moments, too, but the early pick-six and the late fumble really hurt SC, along with other mistakes like the holding penalty that negated a 15-yard TD run by the Carolina signal caller. You had’em, and you let’em off the hook. It was another heartbreaker for the Gamecocks, while the Tide escaped and continued Simpson’s march to Atlanta.
Hammer: Whoa nelly, Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks almost pulled off a massive upset. I expected Alabama to handle this game despite the dynamics of playing four ranked teams in a row, traveling to a desperate South Carolina team with a bye week awaiting the Tide. As Gandalf would say, fool of a Took! This game was set up perfectly for Bama to struggle, and they did just that. South Carolina gave Bama’s offense fits all day. Ty Simpson made the plays he needed to in the end, but didn't have his best day, going 24/43 for 253 yards and two TDs and a fumble. Alabama continues to struggle running the ball, and it almost came back to bite them here. Running for 72 yards on 23 carries on the road in the SEC puts a ton of pressure on your QB. Again, Simpson did what he had to in this one, but the Tide have to figure something out running the ball if they want to reach their goals. On offense, South Carolina did some nice things, surprisingly. LaNorris Sellers was 18/32 for 222 yards, ran it 18 times for 67 yards, had two total TDs along with a pick and a fumble. The fumble is what ultimately cost South Carolina the ballgame. Alabama scored a TD with just over seven minutes to go and converted the two-point conversion to tie it up at 22 apiece. On the Gamecocks ensuing drive, Sellers fumbled and gave Bama the ball on the South Carolina 28-yard line. The Tide punched it with 34 seconds left to seal the win. Given the circumstances, this was a solid, gutsy win for Alabama and another gut-wrenching loss for South Carolina.
Bossman: *Queue music. *Enter Vandy pimp stage right. Another day, another dolla for Vandy 2Turnt. This one was a knife fight in a phone booth, a defensive struggle to the bitter end - it was 3-3 at halftime, and the first five drives of this game ended in punts. There were nine punts total in this game. Vandy finally broke the plane in the waning minutes of the third quarter on the first play of the drive, an 80-yard house call from RB Makhilyn Young, a kid from Midland, Texas. I’d say he’s got mojo. The ‘Dores would score the go-ahead and game's final TD late in the fourth after a nine-play, 44-yard drive that started from a Mizzou fumble. Vandy made the plays when they needed them most, and Mizzou didn’t. Simple as that. I said it on SEC After Dark last week, but I’m done betting against the Commodores! This team is legit, they have grit, they believe, and they can hang with anyone. As for Mizzou, I feel for them, as they are staring into the abyss this season after Beau Pribula’s season-ending injury.
Hammer: The Vandy boys keep rolling! This one wasn’t pretty. After all the praise that came Vandy’s way after beating LSU, and rightfully so, they laid a bit of an egg in this one. Pavia was just 10/19 for 129 yards with an interception. Missouri’s defense held the ‘Dores to just 265 yards of total offense. Yet, as good teams will do, the Vandy defense came to play and picked up the offense. Holding Mizzou to 10 points thanks to a missed Tiger FG, a great 4th down stop deep in Vandy territory, and stopping Mizzou at the one-yard line at the end of the game, the ‘Dore defense answered the bell. It’s possible this game turns out differently if Beau Pribula doesn’t go down with a brutal injury in the third quarter, but it’s not like the Mizzou offense was humming with him in the ballgame. Vandy just showed they can win their clunkers, and that is not something I ever thought I would say about Vanderbilt. For Mizzou, this was a really tough loss. The injury to Pribula likely changes the ceiling of this team, and despite that injury, they were ever so close to escaping with a win here.
Bossman: Texas got another overtime win…but if they keep this up, they’re gonna get bit. The Longhorns' win was insanely improbable, as they had just a 1.6% chance to win according to ESPN when they were down by 17 points in the fourth quarter…and then, Texas went to work. The Horns ripped off 17 unanswered points to close out the game, capped off by a Ryan Niblett 79-yard punt return TD to tie the game up with 1:47 left in the fourth. Aside - WHY ARE YOU KICKING TO HIM?? Punt the dang ball out of bounds. After that, the wheels had fallen off for the Bulldogs, and it was a matter of time before Bevo stuck them through with the horns. Texas went into OT and scored on a beautiful ball from backup QB Matthew Caldwell to Emmett Mosley. Mississippi State got their chance to answer, but shot themselves in the foot, going the wrong way on the final drive of OT - four plays, -41 YARDS. It’s the third game that has slipped out of the grasp of Jeffy Lebby and the Bulldogs in the SEC this year, and State fans are numb. How can you not be? For the Longhorns, Arch Manning played a solid game but is now having to overcome a concussion suffered in overtime. Their matchup with top ten Vandy in Austin looms large.
Hammer: Man, oh man, this one hurt me cause I picked the Bulldogs to get the upset outright and THEY HAD TEXAS. Blowing a 31-14 fourth-quarter lead is inexcusable, I don’t care what the logos on the jerseys look like. Mississippi State had this game won, and let it slip away. For all the talk about the Texas defense, Blake Shapen carved them up for 381 yards and four TDs on 26/42 attempts. The loss of Michael Taaffe clearly hurt Texas as they struggled in coverage all day long. Now for Texas. I have been very critical of Texas all year, and justifiably so. They deserve plenty of criticism in this game for even needing a massive comeback to sneak out with a win, but they also deserve praise for how they responded. That comeback was awesome and showed serious metal for a team that I wasn’t sure had that in them. Arch Manning had his best game in burnt orange, going 26/46 for 346 yards with three TDs and one interception. With the help of yet another Ryan Niblett punt return TD, Arch led a hell of a comeback in a hostile, cowbell-clad environment. Texas still has many issues and is very unlikely to live up to their SEC favorite and preseason #1 billing, but they found a way to win this ballgame when it looked like they were dead to rights. Good on the Longhorns.
Bossman: What a night in Death Valley for so many reasons. Texas A&M got kicked in the teeth in the first half, making mistake after mistake in the second quarter. Marcel Reed INT in the endzone. Reed INT on the next possession. Dumb unnecessary roughness call that extends an LSU drive. Dropped INT in the red zone. Blocked punt for a safety. They did everything that triggers Aggie fans' PTSD, or in this case, Battered Aggie Syndrome (BAS). They’ve seen this movie before, and they’ve seen A&M fold like an accordion on Bourbon Street in these situations. BUT NOT ON SATURDAY NIGHT IN TIGER STADIUM. The Aggies came out in the second half, down 18-14, and took the Tigers out behind the woodshed, effectively ending Brian Kelly’s career on the bayou. The Aggies were relentless, on both offense and defense, and showed that this team is built for the big stage. They don’t flinch, even in pressure cooker situations, and step up to the plate when their back is against the wall. Until LSU got a garbage time TD on their last drive when the game was well in hand, the Tigers gained just 24 YARDS IN THE SECOND HALF. The Aggie defense was all over Garrett Nussmeier all night, and it felt like he was picking himself up off the turf every other play. Cashius Howell is an animal, a total freak, and he put the freshman OT for LSU in a blender all night. This one was a baffling performance for the Bayou Bengals, and inexcusable for a coach in his fourth year at a place like LSU…that’s why Brian Kelly is gone. This Texas A&M team can legitimately win a national title.
Hammer: I was down on LSU coming into the season, predicting an 8-4 year for the Tigers. But I never saw this coming. If you had Texas A&M beating LSU so badly in Tiger Stadium that Brian Kelly gets FIRED the next day, please pass go and collect $200. I’m getting my board games mixed up there, but you get the idea. This was a beatdown of the highest order, so bad that the LSU brass ran Brian Kelly out of town and will eat a $50+ million buyout to just get rid of the guy. In the first half, this looked like a classic A&M game. They were outplaying LSU in every phase of the game, but made some critical mistakes and costly penalties, allowing LSU to take an 18-14 lead into the half. Yet, just like last year, the Aggies came out in the second half and took a belt to the ass of LSU, administering a beating that both fanbases will not soon forget. The Aggies outscored LSU 35-7 in the second half, and that seven points from LSU came late in the fourth quarter when A&M emptied the bench. As expected coming into this game, the Aggie defense gave LSU issues all game. Poor Garrett Nussmier got sacked seven times, and A&M added 11 TFLs for good measure. Meanwhile, the A&M offensive line didn't allow any sacks, just two TFLs, and helped A&M rush for 224 yards (5.6 ypc) against a good LSU front. I know the Tigers were missing Whit Weeks here, but even he would have been no match for the Aggies. Texas A&M beat LSU so badly in the trenches on both sides of the ball, Superman could have been playing defense for LSU, and it wouldn’t have mattered.
Bossman: Is Mark Stoops next on the chopping block? It’s getting ugly in Lexington, and they’re pretty tired of getting choked out by Tennessee. That’s the fifth straight win for Tennessee in this series, and the Vols have beaten the Wildcats in those games by an average of 15.8 points per game. Cutter Boley had a dang good game tossing five TDs, but that pick-six in the first half was a killer. Kentucky’s defense also couldn’t stop a turtle crossing the road, as the Vols scored a TD on six of their final eight possessions. Joey Aguilar went off, picking apart the Kentucky defense, and DeSean Bishop added two TDs on the ground as Star Thomas tacked on a TD of his own. Tennessee is still a force in this conference this year, with plenty still left to play for at 6-2. As for Kentucky, it looks like another season down the drain, and change is in the air.
Hammer: Big win for the Vols here. Kentucky is not very good, but they just took Texas to overtime a week ago. Tennessee was coming off the brutal loss in Tuscaloosa and got up off the mat on the road in Lexington. Joey Aguilar played a nearly flawless game, carving up the Cats defense for 396 yards and three TDs on 20/26 attempts. Right now, Kentucky just doesn’t have the players to hang with a team like Tennessee if the Vols play well. Cutter Boley looked good again, tossing 5 TDs and 330 yards on 26/35 attempts, so perhaps there is hope for the future. But right now, Kentucky is overmatched by offenses like Tennessee. Solid win for Heupel and the Vols.
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