Time Out
by Dan Rutledge

One down, two to go on the Alabama Crimson Tide’s 2008 “Revenge Tour.” That’s what they’re calling it in Tuscaloosa.

Articles about last season’s late meltdown are posted in the Tide locker room as a reminder – not that any of the Tide players are likely to forget last Novemeber, when Bama saw a promising season ruined by a four-game losing streak that started with Louisiana-Monroe, ended with Auburn, with LSU and Mississippi State sandwiched in between.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban daily, sometimes more than once a day, reminds his charges about the dangers of being overconfident, of underestimating any opponent. Part of the reason Bama is 10-0 today and ranked No. 1 in the nation in all of the polls is that Saban has managed to keep his team hungry, approaching every game with an underdog mindset.

That’s not quite as hard as it would seem. Saban only needs to use history as a reminder.

It’s not only last year’s four-game losing streak that can be pointed at … the Tide’s lack of success against LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn is not a one-year story. Last Saturday, Bama snapped a five-game losing streak to LSU. The next reversal of November fortune will be halting a two-game losing streak to the Bulldogs from Starkville, Miss. And bringing to an end the six-game skid to Auburn will be the final and most rewarding victory on the Revenge Tour.

A prediction here: the Bama win over AU will prompt some “finger T-shirts” from the Tide side. Can anybody guess which finger will be displayed?

Alabama, undefeated (10-0 overall, 6-0 in conference play) and playing at home against a struggling Mississippi State team (3-6, 1-4) should have little trouble in racking up win No. l1 on the year, or so it looks on paper (Line: Alabama by 19_). But as the old saying goes, they don’t play the games on paper, but on a field.

Again, a little examination of history can keep one from being overcome by overconfidence. It’s not just the two-game losing streak that makes the Tide wary of the Bulldogs. It’s the fact that the Crimson Tide hasn’t scored an offensive touchdown since 2004 in the Highway 82 series. Then there’s that thing about just who coaches the Bulldogs – Sylvester Croom, an ex-Alabama star, one of Bear’s Boys. And although he hasn’t had outstanding success in Starkville, his rebuilding job still in progress, Alabama is just 2-2 against State since Croom’s arrival.

The game itself should be decided up front in the trenches, where Bama’s offensive line should be able to pave the way for Glen Coffee and Mark Ingram to roll up some big yardage on the ground. Mississippi State’s pass defense is No. 1 in the league, but it’s run defense is only so-so, ranked 11th in league play.

From here, it looks like the Tide will be able to run the ball and thus control the clock and beat the spread. Look for long drives and the Tide to go back to its early-season ways of coming out hot and putting early points on the board. Once that happens, the suspense will fade as fans’ fears of another 6-3 defeat vanishes. Then Bama will see if it has learned to not let down with that big second half lead.

There are three other conference games on tap on the Week 11 SEC football schedule. South Carolina (7-3, 4-3) at Florida (8-1, 6-1) (Line: Florida by 21) is an interesting one that has one Florida Heisman winning quarterback against another. Tim Tebow will lead the Gators against the Gamecocks, who is coached by the 1966 Heisman winner, Steve Spurrier. Florida is one of the hottest teams on the grid scene right now with impressive victories in its last outings. But can South Carolina’s top-ranked defense slow down the Gator point machine? That’s the question.

Vanderbilt (5-4, 3-3) will be visiting Kentucky (6-4, 2-4) (Line: Kentucky by 4_). Vandy will be trying for the fifth straight week to get that sixth win that will make it bowl eligible. The Commodores haven’t gone bowling since 1982 and have lost their past 17 games that would have given them their sixth win in a season. Another bad omen that seems to suggest the ‘Dores won’t make it this time either – the game is going to be broadcast on ESPN2 and Vandy is 0-7 when on that channel.

The final league game of the week has Georgia (8-2, 5-2) down on The Plains facing the Auburn Tigers (5-5, 2-4) (Line: Georgia by 8_). The War Eagle boys are in the same boat as the Commodores – seeking a sixth win to become bowl eligible and to stave off a losing season. Looks like another tough week for Tommy Tuberville. The Bulldogs have too much talent for the ailing Tigers.

The other two game on tap this week have SEC teams facing lesser foes. Ole Miss (5-4) will be favored to become bowl eligible when it hosts Louisiana-Monroe (3-7) (Line: Ole Miss by 21). And pity the Troy Trojans (6-3), who will be visiting Baton Rouge Saturday to face the LSU Tigers (6-3), still smarting from the overtime loss to Alabama.

WEEKEND TV LINEUP

Saturday’s television lineup follows (all times CST):

11 a.m.
Duke at Clemson (CW), Notre Dame at Navy (CBS), Ohio State at Illinois (ESPN), Northwestern at Michigan (ESPN2), Princeton at Yale (Versus)

11:30 a.m.
Georgia at Auburn (Raycom Sports), Texas at Kansas (FSNS)

Noon
Middle Tennessee at Western Kentucky (CSS)

2 p.m.
North Carolina at Maryland (ABC), South Carolina at Florida (CBS), Minnesota at Wisconsin (ESPN), Wake Forest at N.C. St. (ESPNU)

5:30 p.m.
Missouri at Iowa St. (FSNS)

6 p.m.
Connecticut at Syracuse (ESPNU), Southern Cal at Stanford (FSNS)

6:45 p.m.
Mississippi St. at Alabama (ESPN)

7 p.m.
Vandy at Kentucky (ESPN2), Boston College at FSU (ABC)

9:15 p.m.
UCLA at Washington (FSNS)

Time Out
by Dan Rutledge

The main event on Week 9 of the SEC football season is the game once known as The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. This year, the loser will have a heckova hangover.

Every November, the Georgia Bulldogs and the Florida Gators get together on neutral ground in Jacksonville, Fla. The game always has emotion and the result always plays a big part in deciding who represents the East Division in the SEC Championship Game in the Georgia Dome.

This year, with the two schools tied at the top of the East standings (Georgia 4-1 in SEC play, 6-1 overall and Florida 4-1 and 7-1 (Line: Florida by 6), the winner may as well make reservations for Atlanta since the next challenger, now at second place in the East standings, is Vanderbilt and as everyone knows, even after a fast 5-0 start, the Commodores are having a hard time getting that sixth win to be bowl eligible.

The Florida-Georgia game is an interesting matchup pitting two teams with outstanding quarterbacks against one another. The Gators’ Tim Tebow has something Bulldog QB Matt Stafford doesn’t have — a Heisman Trophy. But Stafford has something Tebow doesn’t — a win in the annual Cocktail Classic. Last year Stafford threw three TD passes in leading Georgia to a 42-30 win over Tebow’s Gators. That loss, and this game, means a little extra to Tebow, being from the Jacksonville area himself.

“It means a lot to me,” Tebow was quoted as saying this week, ”growing up as a kid in Jacksonville.”

In addition to the win, how each plays against each other could have something to say about who wins this year’s post-season awards. Both are semifinalists for the Davey O’Brien Award, given each year to the nation’s top QB. And the two junior signal callers are tied for the SEC lead with 12 TD passes each and are the only SEC quarterbacks ranked in the top 40 nationally in passer rating. The similarities continue in that both QBs have lost just five games as starters.

And the two quarterbacks aren’t the only players to watch Saturday in Jacksonville. It should be a real barn burner in that the Gators and Bulldogs may have more true game-breakers than any other two teams in the league — and all will be on the same field at the same time. Percy Harvin, Knowshon Moreno, Chris Rainey, A.J. Green, Jeff Demps, and Brandon James can all break a game open on a single play with their speed.

There are three other conference games on tap this week.

One of them, Tennessee (1-4, 3-5) at South Carolina (2-3, 5-3) (Line: S.C. by 6), would be a big game some seasons, but not this one with both teams out of the running for the East title. It is big for the Vols in that they need a league win to turn around a dismal season. South Carolina would like to become bowl-eligible this early in the year to help them land a good holiday destination.

The second league game is a so-so affair matching Kentucky (1-3, 5-3) from the East and Mississippi State (1-3, 3-5) from the West (Line: Mississippi St. by 3). The Cats started out strong, but have faltered since hitting the conference part of their schedule. Mississippi State started slow, but has shown improvement lately and would like a win to keep that momentum going.

The third SEC matchup is a Western battle that pits two teams, Ole Miss and Auburn (Line: Ole Miss by 6) with matching records (2-3 in league play, 4-4 overall) but different feelings about those marks. Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville is fighting for his future as angry fans mob the call-in shows to complain. Tuberville’s questionable decision to fire offensive coordinator Tony Franklin in midseason has put his team behind the eight-ball, as he himself admitted this week.

“I put the team in a bind in the middle of the season,” Tubs said. “We should be a lot better right now but we’re kind of in the third or fourth game of the season instead of the eighth game in terms of what we’re doing on offense and defense.”

Ole Miss fans, after suffering through three losing seasons under former coach Ed Orgeron, are highly satisfied with the Rebel’s 4-4 mark under Houston Nutt. Look for Ole Miss fans to remain happy, while AU fans get even angrier.

The non-conference games this week have Alabama (8-0) entertaining Arkansas State (4-3) for homecoming (Line: Alabama by 22 _). Kickoff is at 2 p.m. but the game is on pay-per-view only, so crank up the radio wherever you are.

Then there is Tulsa (8-8, ranked No. 19) at Arkansas (3-5) (Line: Tulsa. by 7) and Tulane (2-5) at LSU (5-2) (Line: LSU by 25).

An interesting sidenote: Nick Saban continues to remind older Tide fans of the good ol’ Bear Bryant days. Saban seems to channel Bear almost every week now.

As said before, he doesn’t mumble like the Bear, but the words or thoughts behind those words sure are similar. Bear always used to play up the upcoming opponent, finding some way to complement them and point out how dangerous they were – even if it was Vandy, Southern Miss, or Lousiana Tech coming up. Saban was hard at it this week, promoting Arkansas State QB Corey Leonard as “the best dual threat we’ve seen all season.”

Of course, remembering homecoming last year, Saban has every reason not to let his team get close to complacency or overconfidence — but it won’t happen this time around. The Tide will continue to roll. How much? Well, that’s hard to say. Saban, like Bear, doesn’t believe in “style points” achieved by running up the score on a lesser foe.

WEEKEND TV LINEUP

The Friday night game on the weekend television lineup (7 p.m. ESPN2) pits Wofford and Appalachian State. Saturday’s television lineup follows (all times CST):

11 a.m.
Miami at Virginia (CW), Wisconsin at Michigan St. (ESPN), Northwestern at Minnesota (ESPN2), Air Force at Army (ESPNU), Brown at Penn (Versus)

11:30 a.m.
Kansas St. at Kansas (FSNS), Auburn at Ole Miss (Raycom Sports)

1:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Notre Dame (NBC)

2 p.m.
Furman at Sanford (SportSouth), FSU at Georgia Tech (ABC)

2:30 p.m.
Georgia at Florida (CBS), Illinois at Iowa (ESPN), Clemson at Boston College (ESPNU)

5:30 p.m.
Washington at USC (FSNS)

6 p.m.
Louisville at Syracuse (ESPNU), Tennessee at South Carolina (ESPN2)

7 p.m.
Nebraska at Oklahoma (ESPN), Texas at Texas Tech (ABC), UAB at Southern Miss (CSS)

9:15 p.m.
Arizona St. at Oregon St. (FSNS)

Dan Rutledge is a veteran sports writer and editor who recently retired after 25 years with Gulf Coast Newspapers in Baldwin County, Alabama. He writes this advance column on college football exclusively for The Locust Fork News-Journal every Friday during football season.

Time Out for SEC Sports
by Dan Rutledge

The Southeastern Conference football season rolls into Week 3 with nearly half of its members ranked in the national Top 25 polls (Georgia No. 2, Florida No. 4, LSU No. 7, Auburn No. 9 and Alabama No.11) and coming off a week that saw just two of its 12 members suffer defeat last weekend.

And one of those defeats came in a head-to-head meeting of league teams in which one had to fall. And that losing team, Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina Gamecocks, is involved in one of the two big games on the SEC schedule this Saturday.

The most interesting matchup on this week’s menu will involve those same Gamecocks, playing at home in Columbia in a game that will be a factor in the SEC Eastern Division race. Spurrier’s ‘Cocks will host the pre-season No. 1 pick in the land, the Georgia Bulldogs (Line: Georgia by 7).

Georgia head coach Mark Richt has called this week’s matchup against Carolina a new beginning.” He could have called it the beginning of the regular season, since it is the first league game for the Bulldogs. Georgia played a two-game “exhibition season” against two “directional schools” Georgia Southern and Central Michigan. And the Dogs did very well in their “preseason” outings, rolling up 50-plus points per game in routing the two sacrificial offerings.

And while the game is important to the Dogs, it is crucial for the Gamecocks. LSU proved last year that you can win it all with two league losses – but you have to be lucky as well as good. South Carolina can’t afford a second league loss and will be highly motivated. If Georgia comes in even a little complacent, with the Cocks playing at home, it could be interesting. Carolina has a good defensive outfit that could give the Dogs some trouble.

The other top game this week pits SEC Western Division rivals Auburn and Mississippi State (Line: Auburn by 10). With Auburn finally settling on Chris Todd as its quarterback, maybe the Tigers’ offense will pick up. But if the game follows previous AU-Mississippi State contests, it will be low scoring and hard fought. Mississippi State will have to defeat history as well as the War Eagles to win. The Bulldogs have lost eight straight conference openers.

The Losers’ Bowl in Knoxville is an interesting match-up simply because somebody will have to win. Tennessee should be ready and awfully hungry when it hosts 0-2 University of Alabama-Birmingham at Neyland Stadium Saturday morning (Line: Tennessee by 30). The Vols have had a week of to digest their upset loss to UCLA in their opener two weeks ago and should come close to covering the line … but notice the word “should.” Tennessee is sort of like Alabama in that they often have the most trouble when they are supposed to trounce their opponent. They, like Bama in recent years, seem to play up (or down) to their opponents’ level.

Alabama will host Sun Belt Conference foe Western Kentucky Saturday at 6 p.m. (Line: Alabama by 28). After the letdown against Tulane and after hearing “I told you so” all week, look for Bama’s players to come out ready to play.

The rest of this Saturday’s SEC slate continues the opening weeks trend – playing easy foes to inflate the ol’ record. The rest of the weekly slate includes: Middle Tennessee (1-1) of the Sun Belt at Kentucky (2-0) (Line: Kentucky by 16), Rice (2-0) at Vanderbilt (2-0) (Line: Vandy by 7), Samford (2-0) at Ole Miss (1-1) ) (No Line) and North Texas (Sun Belt again!) at LSU (Line: LSU by 42).

Arkansas (2-0) was scheduled to play at Texas on Saturday, but the game was postponed until Sept. 27 due to Hurricane Ike.

Once again – as is usually the case at the early stages when, for the most part, league teams have a habit of playing weak teams to pad their records and up their chances of being bowl eligible — it looks like another big win week for the SEC. The only league loss this week should be either South Carolina – again!! – or Georgia if Spurrier’s ‘Cocks can pull off the big upset again – and either Auburn or Mississippi State.

WEEKEND TV LINEUP

The weekend television lineup includes, as always, a Friday night ESPN contest. This week’s game is an interesting one, pitting two undefeated teams from BCS conferences – Kansas from the Big 12 versus South Florida from the Big East.

Alabama will host Sun Belt Conference foe Western Kentucky Saturday at 6 p.m. It’s only available on pay-for-view or online.

Saturday’s schedule, other than pay-for-view:
11 a.m.
N.C., State at Clemson (CW), California at Maryland (ESPN), Florida Atlantic at Michigan St. (ESPN2), Navy at Duke (ESPNU), New Hampshire at Rhode Island (CSS)
11:30 a.m.
UAB at Tennessee (Lincoln Financial), Washington St. at Baylor (FSNS)
2:30 p.m.
Arkansas at Texas (ABC), Georgia at South Carolina (CBS), Michigan at Notre Dame. (NBC), UMass at James Madison (CSS), UCLA at BYU (Versus)
2:45 p.m.
Chattanooga at FSU (ESPNU)
6 p.m.
Memphis at Marshall (CSS), Auburn at Miss. St. (ESPN2)
6:30 p.m.
Virginia at UConn (ESPNU)
6:45 p.m.
Oklahoma at Washington (ESPN)
7 p.m.
Ohio St. at USC (ABC)
9:30 p.m.
Wisconsin at Fresno St. (ESPN2)