Biscuits & SEC Week 6 Game-by-Game Recaps
Florida shocks Texas, Bama gets revenge, and the Aggies and Dawgs romp.
By: Bossman, Hammer
“Oh, we have a few good games this week, but it’s mostly sleepy.” If you’re friend said that, you need to banish them! Another week, more chaos. We saw three top 15 teams go down in a raucous Week 6. Florida toppled Texas and finally looked like a competent team, and previously 0-4 UCLA STUNNED #7 Penn State in Pasadena. Absolutely electric. Everything that came out after that game about Rick Neuheisel’s kid, Jerry, who was in his first game calling plays for the Bruins, was awesome. Just watch his Rick living and dying with every play late in the game.
Here’s how Bossman & Hammer fared in Week 6:
Another mediocre week against the spread for Hammer and Bossman – Bossman only hit on Kent State and A&M, while Hammer made a big prediction by taking Florida to cover against Texas, and also hit on A&M. Otherwise, it was a bunch of misses.
Let’s hit the recaps.
Bossman: Outmanned and outgunned. Mark Stoops and Kentucky had no answers for Georgia in this one, except to screw me over with a backdoor cover touchdown with 1:51 left in the game. Thanks, MARK. I guess that was revenge for my tweet last week. The Wildcats were down by 14 going into the half, which meant it was already over because they didn’t have an answer for the Bulldogs offense. Up 21-7, Georgia punched it in on their first two possessions of the second half to go up 35-7 and put this one to bed. Cutter Boley had a decent game, throwing for 225 yards on 25/41 passing for 2 TDs/1 INT, though one of those TDs was in garbage time. The problem for the Wildcasts was the rushing attack, which only mustered 45 yards on the day - 2.2 YPC. Gunner Stockton had a solid day, posting a 92.8 QBR and tossing a TD while also rushing six times for 48 yards and two TDs. Most impressively, he spread the ball around, hitting nine different receivers on the day. Kentucky had serious trouble sustaining drives, going 3/11 on third down - that won’t help you win ballgames. After the game, Mark Stoops insisted he’s going nowhere - and with his exorbitant buyout, he’s probably right.
Hammer: This game went exactly how I expected, except for the fact that Georgia still can’t cover a dang spread and allowed the Wildcats to score a TD with 1:51 seconds left to secure a backdoor cover. This one wasn’t close, and it shouldn’t have been. The Kentucky offense continues to be stuck in the mud, only mustering 270 total yards and going 3/11 on third down. Gunner Stockton had a solid game, and it’s starting to feel like these stat lines (15/23, 196 yards, one TD, one IN,T and 48 yards rushing with two more TDs) are going to be commonplace. He is a solid passer but not elite, and Bobo’s offense doesn’t ask that much of him, especially in a game like this. Is this Georgia offense good enough to get over the hump and win a national title? I have my doubts, but they are definitely good enough to win a bunch of ball games. A bright spot for the Georgia offense that has emerged as of late is the play of Dillon Bell. Bell led the way, receiving with 4 catches for 68 yards, and added two rushing TDs on two carries. Solid win for UGA and yet another glaring example of how far away from being competitive Kentucky is right now.
Bossman: WOW, what a scene in Gainesville! Despite the early-season struggles for Florida, Gator Nation showed up and were LOUD on Saturday. The crowd in The Swamp affected Arch Manning and the Texas offensive line all day – the Longhorns were flagged for five false start penalties, which kept them behind the chains. It wasn’t just the crowd; the Gators front wreaked havoc all day long, racking up six sacks and seven TFLs. Brien Taylor Jr. was a menace, posting three total tackles, 1.5 sacks, and 1.5 TFLs. Tyreak Sapp was also everywhere, with six tackles and a TFL. The Florida front completely bottled up the Texas run game, allowing just 52 yards for 2 YPC. The offensive line was a mess, and Texas never really tried to establish the run – Quintrevion Wisner had just eight carries for 11 yards. Arch Manning looked like he was seeing ghosts yet again and threw two costly INTs. His counterpart, DJ Lagway, finally looked like things were clicking, posting a 75% completion percentage, 298 yards passing and two TDs for a 94.8 QBR! That’s the Lagway we thought we were going to get before the season began. Credit to Jadan Baugh and the Gators rushing attack as well - Baugh went for 107 yards and a TD, and Florida rushed for a total of 159 yards. A MASSIVE win for Billy Napier, who seems to get his team to play their best football when his back is completely against the wall. As for Texas, the AP Poll now has them unranked - are they the fastest team to go from preseason #1 to unranked?
Hammer: Womp, womp, womp…I tried to tell y’all Texas ain’t all that. I picked them to go under for their preseason win total of 9.5 and settled on a 9-3 record prediction preseason, which now looks generous. This team is not very good. Arch Manning is not very good. In their two games against Power 5 competition thus far, the Horns have scored a total of 28 points. Turns out replacing all that skill position talent, multiple offensive line starters, and a QB is hard, and Texas is not simply a program that just reloads. But enough about the losers, how about Billy Napier and the Gators? Lagway tried to tell us the offense was close to clicking, and scoring 29 on that defense is very good. As down as I am on Texas, I do think that defense is salty. And Florida went to work on them, rushing for 159 yards (4.3 YPC) and throwing for another 298. The Gators were simply the better team in this game. Both teams had two turnovers, both teams had numerous penalties (10 for Texas, 7 for UF), and Florida simply outgunned the Longhorns. Florida had 6 sacks and 7 tackles for loss, while Texas had no sacks and only three tackles for loss. It’s simple. The better QB was Lagway, and the more physical team was Florida. Great win for Napier to save his job at least for the moment. Meanwhile, Texas has a ton of work to do.
Bossman: Diego Pavia and the Commodores talked plenty of smack in the offseason and this week leading up to the game. They kept it close for much of the game before Kalen DeBoer pulled a trick out of the book of his predecessor and went Boa Constrictor mode on Vandy. Up 17-14 midway through the third quarter, the Tide went on consecutive 11-play and 16-play drives, chewing up over 14 minutes of clock and wearing out the Commodores' defense before a late 20-yard Jam Miller TD put the final dagger in Clark Lea’s upset bid. The Tide defense frustrated Diego Pavia for much of the day, forcing him into two turnovers that turned into 10 points for the Tide. You also have to give Ty Simpson props again - the kid has been lights out since the season-opening loss to FSU. He went off for 340 yards and 2 TDs/1 INT, finishing with an 80.1 QBR. He’s playing like the best QB in the SEC and has Bama back on track for a College Football Playoff berth.
Hammer: Man, this one felt like a legit big-time matchup, and it was living up to that for a while. When that scoop and score for Vandy got reversed, it felt like the Cinderella story was ending. Diego Pavia and Vandy went into Tuscaloosa with the expectation of winning, and they competed for a while but ultimately lost to the better team. Ty Simpson was decidedly the better QB in this game and is quickly making a case as the best QB in the SEC, if not the country. Simpson finished with 340 yards, two TDs, and one pick on 23/31 attempts. Pavia played valiantly but only mustered a 21/35 for 198 yards and one TD with two costly turnovers. Alabama’s run game looks better now that Jam Miller is back, too. It’s not great, but thanks to Miller, who finished with 136 yards on 22 carries, Bama had momentum on the ground. This was a hard-fought game on both sides, but Alabama was the better team here and outlasted Vandy for a big win.
Bossman: This one was much closer than the final score makes it look, but the Aggies turned it on in the second half to get a comfortable win. The Aggie faithful went off for “Operation Blackout,” posting the 5th largest crowd in the stadium’s history, and multiple SEC Network crew members said it was the loudest they’ve ever heard it. The 12th Man is fully behind Mike Elko as well, as six of the nine largest crowds in stadium history have come during his year-and-a-half tenure. As for the game, the Aggies started out slow for the second week in a row, and fans were getting antsy - letting Mississippi State hang around has not gone well for A&M over the course of this series. In the second half, though, the Aggies turned on the jets and scored 24 points to put down the Bulldogs. Marcel Reed was again shaky at times, second-guessing himself and missing some wide-open throws - especially a few deep balls, which remains an issue. The story in this one, though, was the Aggie defense, which is suffocating, playing like one of the best units in college football. Mississippi State converted just one third down, and the A&M defense has allowed just ONE third down conversion in the last two weeks. Absurd! Cashius Howell now has seven sacks on the season after adding three to his tally on Saturday. On offense, A&M wore down the Bulldogs front in the second half and relied heavily on the run game, with Reuben Owens leading the way with 142 yards on 21 carries. Mississippi State still showed plenty of improvement, and this team is going to be a tough out - I think they’ll get an SEC win this season.
Hammer: Another week, another sloppy win for the Aggies. Yet again, A&M struggled with penalties, committing 9 for 66 yards. Thanks in part to those penalties and some errant throws from Marcel Reed, the Aggies were awful on offense in the first half. The second half was a different story, though, as Reed found some rhythm and the run game got going. The Aggies finished with 483 yards of total offense and scored 24 points in the second half. The real story here, though, for the second straight week was the Aggie defense, who held Mississippi State to 219 total yards. Cashius Howell continues to be a beast off the edge, tallying three sacks and tormenting Blake Shapen all night long. Overall, the Aggie defense had 9 tackles for loss and 4 sacks. Mississippi State battled hard and is still a much better team than they were a year ago, but A&M is better right now by a considerable amount. Now, the Aggies have a lot to clean up; otherwise, they will start losing some of these games, but right now, they just keep winning.
Other games on the slate:
#5 Oklahoma 44 - Kent State 0
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