SEC review

Written by Jason Brubaker | 12 October 2009

 The Weekend in the SEC has come and passed. Two matchups of top-15 teams were supposed to separate the contenders from the pretenders. Florida at LSU. Alabama at Ole Miss. Two great games. Four alleged great teams. So what did we learn? Well for one thing, Alabama has a pretty darn good running game. And Florida can play a little defense.

But what else do we know about the SEC near the halfway point of the season? Here's a look at the East, with a few predictions for the rest of the way.

Florida: The Gators still haven't found suitable replacements for Percy Harvin or Louis Murphy, which has limited their passing game. But led by a stable of speedy running backs, and of course, Tim Tebow, the offense is still powerful enough to put points on the board. But any talk of a title defense starts with the Gators defense, which features as many as four first-rounders. Everyone knew about LB Brandon Spikes, but DEs Carlos Dunlap and Jermaine Cunningham have spent a ton of time in opposing backfields, and CBs Joe Haden and Janoris Jenkins showed their coverage skills in shutting down LSU's receivers. Having cleared their biggest hurdle, the Gators should remain undefeated until the SEC Championship game, where they're likely to meet Alabama in what could be another classic. A road game at South Carolina could be tough, but look for the Gators defense to carry them to Atlanta and possibly further.

South Carolina: The surprise of the young season, the Gamecocks are a four-point loss at Georgia away from a perfect 6-0 start, which few saw coming. They're led by a stout defense, but after years of frustration, Steve Spurrier finally appears to have found a suitable QB to run his offense. Stephen Garcia still is prone to poor decisions, but he has improved his maturity level and has shown some mental toughness in helping lead the team in close games against NC State, Kentucky and Ole Miss. The Ganecocks have some talented young players at the skill positions, led by WRs Tori Gurley and Alshon Jeffrey. They still have road dates at Alabama and Tennessee, as well as home games against Florida and Clemson, but there's no reason this team shouldn't push for nine wins and a New Year's Day bowl this year.

Georgia: Things are quickly getting ugly in Athens, where a porous defense can no longer count on being bailed out by an explosive offense. Despite an impressive array of athletes, the Dawgs can't seem to stop anybody, having given up at least 37 points three times already this year. Offensively, Joe Cox is solid, but hardly spectacular, and they still haven't found a capable replacement for Knowshon Moreno. WR AJ Green is one of the league's best, but he can't do everything. The Dawgs will still go bowling this year, but if their defense doesn't get better quick, they could struggle to exceed eight wins.

Tennessee: I was all set to write how Jonathan Crompton was among the worst QBs in the country...until his 310-yard, 4 TD performance on Saturday. The Vols picked up a huge win by pounding Georgia, especially with games against Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina remaining. The Vols are still led by their running game, but if Crompton can give them something resembling a passing attack, they could find themselves bowling this season. Their defense, led by safety Eric Berry, is again solid, although the loss of LB Nick Reveiz has hurt. Lane Kiffin certainly won't win any popularity contests, but he appears to have the Vols believing in him and his staff. Look for UT to end up with seven wins.

Kentucky: Well, only a few more weeks until basketball season starts. The Wildcats have some moxie, but unfortunately, just not the type of talent to be a consistent threat to the league's elite. Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke are explosvie weapons, and Trevard Lindley and Micah Johnson are talented defenders, but the depth of talent on both sides of the ball just isn't there. Now, faced with the prospects of throwing an inexperienced QB on the field for the next few weeks, the Cats could find themselves in a deep hole as they try to make it to their fourth straight bowl. Six wins is still certainly possible, but any more than that might just be a pipe dream this year for UK.

Vanderbilt: The Commodores won a bowl game last year for the first time in 53 years. To have a repeat of that, they may need divine intervention. Vandy is coming off an overtime loss to Army, which bowl-bound programs don't usually do. They fought hard against LSU, Ole Miss and Mississippi State, but managed a total of just 19 points in those three games. The schedule also doesn't do them any favors, with games against South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Georgia Tech still ahead. The Vandy defense isn't bad, but their offense has been virtually non-existent. QB Larry Smith was being counted on for big jump in production during his sophomore year, but so far he has only 2 TDs against 6 INTs, and he's also been sacked 14 times. In short, barring a miracle, Vandy should not plan on making any postseason plans this season.

Check back this week for the state of the West.