Dan Mullen wore a Darth Vader mask in his post-game media briefing on Saturday night. That’s probably the most unlikely way we ever thought we would lede off the Georgia football SEC Week 6 roundup.
Prior to that, we were probably going to start this quicker-than-ESPN recap on all things SEC each week with something regarding the fight which ensued at midfield of the Florida-Missouri game late Saturday night and Mullen (see above) coming out of the tunnel to whip GatorNation into a frenzy like this was something out of the WWE.
The hook here is that each week this recap is built around the framework of the 2020 Georgia football schedule.
Consider’s this your weekly need-to-know on all things SEC. Just served up for the appetite of the discriminating Georgia reader.
This Week’s Scores
No. 2 Alabama 41, Mississippi State 0 No. 5 Georgia 14, Kentucky 3 No. 8 Texas A&M 42, Arkansas 31 No. 10 Florida 41, Missouri 17 Auburn 48, LSU 11 Ole Miss 54, Vanderbilt 21
What does all of that mean for Georgia? Here is all of what DawgNation needs to know:
Next Opponent: Florida (3-1)
How the Gators fared: Florida fell down 7-6 after Missouri turned a first-half Kyle Trask interception into a Pick-6. The Gators and Trask steadied their fortunes quickly with an explosive play to quicksilver receiver Kadarius Toney, a fumble recovery, and then another big play between Trask and Toney. Flordia led 20-7 at the half and took control of the game by scoring the next 28 points of the contest.
What Florida did well: Trask throwing the ball around. Rinse. Wash. Repeat. Trask had well over 200 yards passing in the first half. The big thing for the Gators was their defensive effort. They held Missouri to 40 yards on 23 carries and just 248 total yards.
What Florida did not do well: Florida only converted four of its 13 third-down tries. Trask also led the Gators in rushing with his 47 yards on six carries.
The big stat lines: Trask completed 21 of his 36 attempts for 345 yards. He threw for four touchdowns and that lone interception. Playmaking tight end Kyle Pitts only had five catches for 81 yards and no scores. Toney had four catches for 60 yards and those two scores. Former Georgia DE Brenton Cox had five tackles, one tackle for loss plus a fumble recovery.
DawgNation Outlook: It remains to be seen what the SEC office will do with that fracas at the end of the first half. It was all sparked with what looked to be a questionable hit on Trask for the final play of the first half on a Haily Mary heave. Florida had two players ejected and some felt that Mullen was in the middle of it all. If he applies a Vader-esque force chokehold to anyone in the vicinity, it was not captured on camera.
Week 8 opponent
Missouri (2-3)
How the Tigers fared: The Tigers gave up 514 yards of total offense on the road at Florida, including 345 through the air. Missouri grabbed a 7-6 lead in the first half but did not score again until the fourth quarter.
What Mizzou did well: Connor Bazelak completed 26 of his 40 passes for 206 yards with nary a touchdown or an interception. As stated earlier, the work the Tigers did getting Florida off the field on its third downs was the most unorthodox stat of the game given the decisive nature of this defeat.
What Mizzou did not do well: Run the football. Cover Florida’s receivers and limit Kyle Trask in the passing game.
The big stat lines: The Tigers averaged just 1.7 yards per rush against Florida. Sophomore LB Devin Nicholson had a game-high 13 tackles against the Gators.
DawgNation Outlook: After handling Kentucky easily last week and holding one SEC East contender to approximately 150 yards of total offense, the Tigers could not take another bold step toward division contention and do the same against Florida. How many Tigers, if any, might be facing suspension here for that melee with the Gators? That will be up to further review from the league office. That will be worth paying attention to as Mizzou has a bye next week before hosting UGA on Nov. 14.
Week 9 opponent
Mississippi State (1-4)
How the Bulldogs fared: Mississippi dropped its fourth straight game by a 41-0 margin at Alabama. The Bulldogs have now only scored three offensive touchdowns in their last four games. Remember KJ Costello? The hero of the season-opening win at LSU? He’s no longer the primary QB for Mike Leach.
What Mississippi State did well: The Bulldogs did recover two Alabama fumbles and that’s probably the only bright spot we can include here. New starter Will Rogers completed 23 of his 47 passes, but for only 147 yards.
What Mississippi State did not do well: Rogers did throw two interceptions. Mike Leach’s team threw for only 163 yards on 48 attempts and that’s probably all that needs to be said here. The defense was shredded by Alabama on the ground and through the air in giving up 499 total yards.
The big stat line: Mike Leach’s team threw for only 163 yards on 48 attempts and that’s probably all that needs to be said here. That’s an average of 3.4 yards per attempt.
DawgNation Outlook: The Bulldogs appear to be a team in free fall. Especially with the recent news of several players putting their names in the transfer portal. Mississippi State is not doing anything well at this point of the season offensively or defensively.
The Rest of the Schedule:
South Carolina (Week 10): The Gamecocks (2-3) were idle this week. They will host Texas A&M next weekend.
Vanderbilt (Week 11): The Commodores (0-4) were not competitive in quickly falling behind at home against Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss. Freshman QB Ken Seals did complete 31 of his 40 pass attempts for 319 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Arkansas (Week 1 win): The Razorbacks (2-3) could not hang with Texas A&M in a key SEC West road game on Saturday night. Arkansas took a 7-0 lead and got a great night from Felipe Franks (23 of 31 for 239 yards and three TDs) but couldn’t hold back Kellen Mond and the Aggies. Sam Pittman’s team got that big night from Franks plus a 100-yard rusher and a 100- yard receiver, but couldn’t outscore A&M in the 42-31 loss.
Auburn (Week 2 win): Auburn (4-2) demolished LSU in building a big 21-3 lead en route to a runaway 48-11 victory. Bo Nix threw for 300 yards and led his Tigers with 81 rushing yards and tallied up four total touchdowns through the air and on the ground. It proved to be the biggest Auburn win against LSU in the long history of that SEC rivalry.
Tennessee (Week 3 win): The Vols (2-3) were idle this week and probably needed it after dropping their third straight game last week at home against Alabama. Tennessee will travel to take on Pittman’s Razorbacks next week.
Alabama (Week 4 loss): The Crimson Tide still looked like the class of the SEC in their first game without the explosive Jalen Waddle. Alabama threw for 291 yards, ran for 208 and held Mississippi State’s “Air Raid” offense to 200 total yards. That is a beautiful display of balance in every phase of the game. Mac Jones threw for four TDs and Najee Harris ran for 119 more yards. Former Georgia commitment Devonta Smith had a whopping 11 catches for 203 yards and four touchdowns.
The Rest of the SEC:
TEXAS A&M: The Aggies have something cooking. Mond, a four-year starting QB, went 21 of 26 through the air for 260 yards and three scores. His 10,105 yards of total offense for a career is now the most in Texas A&M history. The four sacks on defense also aided a third straight win for the Aggies. The next four games (South Carolina, Tennessee, Ole Miss and LSU) seem winnable and those can set up a big 10th game at Auburn.
LSU: The Tigers (2-3) lost all the momentum from a big home rebound win against South Carolina with a deflating performance in the CBS afternoon slot at Auburn. Auburn led 21-3 at the half and 41-3 after three quarters in a game that wasn’t really as close as that 48-11 game sounds. LSU threw for a lot of second-half yards in garbage time but ran for just 32 yards on 27 carries.
OLE MISS: The Rebels built 21-0 and 33-14 leads in the first half at Vanderbilt. Ole Miss will see two of its players up for SEC Offensive Player of the week honors after Matt Corral completed 31 of 34 passes for 412 yards and six touchdowns. Former Georgia WR commit Elijah Moore had 14 catches for 238 yards and three touchdowns. Ole Miss (2-4) amassed 645 total yards but gave up 421 in a 54-21 win.
