College Football

Georgia’s Brian Herrien

draytonBy: Drayton Hogarth

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

What was considered to be a source of strength coming into the Georgia Bulldog’s 2016 football season was the position of running back.

With running backs such as Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, Brandon Douglas, plus the addition of true freshmen Elijah Holyfield and Brian Herrien it was thought that they would be a strong stable of running backs, and while that is still true it is the level of play and contributions of that freshman running back Brian Herrien that has been the biggest surprise of the season.

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Florida Chomping For Dawgs

kenBy: Kenneth Harrison Jr.

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The University of Florida has been synonymous with greatness since Steve Spurrier took over as head coach in 1990. The program never won an officially recognized conference title prior to him returning to Gainesville.

They’ve won 8 conference titles since 1991 and had the best record in the SEC in 1990 but were ineligible for the league title due to NCAA probation. Their also tied with Alabama with the most SEC Championship game appearances with ten.

They haven’t won a conference championship since 2008 though. Back when Urban Meyer was the head coach and Tim Tebow was quarterback. Second year head coach Jim McElwain is working to end that drought.

So far the Gators are off to a good start, 5-1 and ranked in the top 15 in the Coaches Poll and in the AP Poll. The one loss was at Tennessee and they gave up a 21-point lead to lose 38-28.

The LSU game originally scheduled for October 8th was postponed because of the weather from Hurricane Matthew. The game was at home but now it’s been moved to Baton Rouge on November 19th.

Florida was impressive in their last game with a 40-14 blow out of Mizzou. They scored two defensive touchdowns.

“Anytime you get a defensive score or a non-offensive score, it’s a momentum shift for the whole team,” cornerback Jalen Tabor said. “I felt like I did that for my team today.”

Florida has one of the best defenses in the nation, currently ranked 3rd in total defense. They only allow 253 yards per game and 12 points per game. They have 19 sacks, which ties them for 20th nationally.

Tabor is the best player on defense, widely considered a first-round pick in the 2017 NFL draft. He returned an interception 39-yards for a touchdown. The opposite corner Quincy Wilson also took a pick to the house.

“When you’ve got two great corners like that, they’ve got to pick one side of the field,” Gators coach Jim McElwain said. “It’s like pick your poison. Where you going to go with it?”

Quarterback Luke Del Rio made his return from a sprained left knee, playing for the first time in a month. The offense looked sloppy and he didn’t play well. He threw 3 interceptions and they were flagged for 8 false starts.

“Knee felt great,” Del Rio said. “Brett Favre said it: Playing injured or hurt is not an excuse for playing poorly. The knee didn’t affect me at all. It was just bad decisions, bad throws.”

Del Rio played well before he was injured. He’s passed for 998 yards, 7 touchdowns, 5 interceptions and a 57.6%completion rate.

The Gators have some talented skill players. Running back Jordan Scarlett leads the team with 375 yards and 5 TD’s. Lamical Perine has 300 rushing yards and Mark Thompson has 262 yards. Receiver Antonio Callaway has 23 receptions, 399 yards, 2 scores and averages 17.3 yards per catch.

The Gators are far from being a prolific offense but they can become more efficient. They have bye week before the October 29th showdown with Georgia. They will get the chance to rest players and get them healthy. It will also give them more time to game plan against true freshman quarterback Jacob Eason.

Both teams should be prepared and well rested for this rivalry game. I give the advantage to UF.

The Rivalry

jjBy: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

You learn at a pretty young age one of the things that makes sports so great are all the different rivalry games that take place year in and year out.

It almost starts as this kind of rite of passage that every young sports enthusiast must take. In elementary school you start pulling for a particular team, normally based upon who your parents root for, and learn fairly quickly there are certain teams that under no known circumstance, are you ever to pull for. Surely you remember going to school in the shirt with your favorite team’s logo plastered all over it, joking around the with kids pulling for the other team.

Some rivalry games are more localized than others, while some are on a much larger, nationwide scale. The Georgia/Florida games falls somewhere in between.

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The SEC Stock Market

kippBy: Kipp Branch

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

My oldest daughter Alexia and one of her closest friends embarked last Thursday night on her first SEC road trip to Oxford, Mississippi. My daughter is an avid Ole Miss fan and her daddy is a lunatic Georgia fan. Back to that shortly. October is upon us and now the SEC landscape is starting to come into focus.

There is nothing better to a football fanatic than an SEC road trip with friends. It is like waking up on Christmas morning and running into the living room and seeing what Santa left under the Christmas tree.

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It’s Getting Hot in Here

kenBy: Kenneth Harrison Jr.

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Les Miles was fired the day after LSU lost 18-13 at Auburn. Miles was on the hot seat last season and he was almost fired in November. We all know coaching can be a high-pressure profession so this comes with the territory.

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Gotta Geaux Les

jjBy: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Well, that sure escalated quickly.

When Les Miles walked out of Jordan-Hare Stadium late Saturday night, I’m sure he didn’t feel too comfortable with his current position of employment. I know I wouldn’t have. I seriously doubt he expected to be loading his resumé onto Monster.com less than 24 hours later.

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Rocky Top Or Gator Bait

kenBy: Kenneth Harrison Jr.

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The first big SEC East showdown occurs in Week 4. No. 16 Florida travels to Knoxville to play rival No. 12 Tennessee. Both teams are undefeated with 3-0 records.

The Gators looked like they finally found a solid quarterback this year. They’ve struggled at the position since Tim Tebow exhausted all of his eligibility in 2009. Luke Del Rio has passed for 762 yards, completing 61% of his passes for 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

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Miami’s Richt Answer

jjBy: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Last week, on a flight from Miami to Asheville, my Dad happened to be seated next to two Hurricanes fans who were traveling to North Carolina to watch their team take on Appalachian State.

Both of the passengers were former professors from the university (the wife was the former head of one of the academic departments) and they were avid fans of all Miami athletics. At some point during the hour and a half flight home the comment was made “Well, Georgia’s loss is certainly our gain.”

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Future Of College Football

draytonBy: Drayton Hogarth

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

All of the talk in the college football universe is about the eventual move for the so-called power five conferences to expand more and further monopolize the college football playoff.

The SEC, ACC, Big 12, Big 10, and Pac 12 comprise the power five conferences.

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Wreck for Tech?

kenBy: Kenneth Harrison Jr.

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The first college football Saturday is in the books. A lot of questions have been answered now that games have been played but some new ones have been presented. In the case of Georgia Tech I have to wonder are they in trouble?

The Yellow Jackets played Boston College in Dublin, Ireland. Both teams were terrible last season finishing with identical 3-9 records. The Eagles were winless in ACC play and Tech only won one conference game.

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