SEC Update

The LSU-Alabama game is not this weekend! It just seems that way due to coverage (over coverage?). There is still plenty of SEC action to grab your attention, beyond the behind-the-scenes machinations involving Missouri.

For one thing Florida-Georgia is this weekend and that game is usually fun, if a bit one-sided. But this year, the dominant team in the series in recent years, Florida, is the dog so the game should be compelling. The Bulldogs cannot rewrite their recent series history (only 3 wins in last 21 games) and need to get that out of their minds as they focus on a potential SEC East title. Still you wonder how they will handle adversity. As for the Gators, they obviously value this game as a rivalry and coach Muschamp played for Georgia. More importantly, they need to win to avoid falling to .500 at 4-4 with South Carolina and Florida State still to play.

The other key game in the SEC East takes place in Knoxville, where a struggling Vols team host a South Carolina squad trying desperately to hold onto their slim first place advantage. Tennessee is 0-4 in SEC play for the second straight year and have lost those games by an average of 32 points. They go with a true freshman at QB in Justin Worley against an SC club that has had two weeks to scheme plays for a number of offensive weapons not named Marcus Lattimore. If the Gamecocks can mix the ball around on O and pressure the kid on D, they'll remain number one in the East for one more week while sending the Vols to a second straight 0-5 conference start. SEC game number six this year? At Arkansas on November 12.

Speaking of the Hogs, they have a big game at Vanderbilt this weekend. I say that it is big as Arkansas needs to keep winning in an attempt to claim the unofficial number three ranking among SEC clubs. Although this is not a year for depth in the conference, being considered third best here always carries a lot of credit and a nice January bowl game. Of course, Arkansas has a sot to finish as the team considered second best in the SEC, but I'll believe a win at LSU later this year wen I see it.

Auburn-Mississippi was never much of a rivalry back 50 years ago when both were good because they did not play. The Tigers are 24-4 in the series since 1971 and should up that to 25-4 on Saturday. Meanwhile Mississippi State must get their act in gear this season and there is no better place to do that than in Lexington against the Wildcats.

Remember When

Present day memories of the Florida-Georgia rivalry are so ingrained in the nation's psyche that one has to step back to remember a time when the game was more of a regional affair. Although Georgia has been on the national football scene for a century, Florida is more of an upstart and has not consistently earned attention beyond the SEC until the 1960s during the coaching era of Ray Graves. Under Graves Florida won nine games in a season for the first time ever in 1960 and earned their first-ever Sugar Bowl bid after the 1965 season. The Gators of 1966 were ready to challenge for what would have been the school's first SEC title.

Georgia, meanwhile, had slipped a bit during the 1950s and '60s, but was ready to return to prominence under new coach Vince Dooley. Beginning his Hall of Fame coaching tenure with the Bulldogs in 1964 with a 7-3-1 record, Dooley also had his charges prepared for a successful 1966 season. The 1966 version of the Florida-Georgia rivalry would have great implications for both the conference race and national rankings. As recapped in The USA Today College Football Encyclopedia, this game would feature two squads ready for the big time:

Georgia 27 Florida 10 (Jacksonville): Favored Florida (7-1) had never won SEC title since league's inception in 1933, and Georgia (7-1) was its last hurdle to conf glory. Gators ate more than 5 mins of clock on opening drive that ended by FB Graham McKeel's TD push. Florida led 10-3 at H. Reforcusing on their run attack, Bulldogs tied it late in 3rd Q as FB Ronnie Jenkins scored from 4YL after QB Kirby Moore converted 4th down run at Gators 28YL. Under intense pressure from stalwart DT George Patton, Gators QB Steve Spurrier (16-29/133y, 3 INTs) threw INT that Bulldogs DB Lynn Hughes ran back 39y for go-ahead score at 17-10. Georgia D soon forced punt and later made 4th down stop. Each time UGa halted Blue and Orange, it led to important score: K Bob Etter's FG and Moore's TD run. Florida's O completely faded as it was limited to single 1st down in 2nd H.

Georgia finished tied atop SEC with Alabama at 6-0, with Florida one game back at 5-1. The Bulldogs finished as the no.4 ranked team in the final AP Poll. Despite the rough performance against Georgia, Spurrier won the Heisman Trophy that season by a more than 2-1 margin over runner-up Bob Griese of Purdue.