Monday Morning Lookback

Not a pleasant weekend if you wear the orange and blue, of the Auburn type that is....I must admit that my football viewing this past weekend was basically limited to the big 3 SEC games. Other thoughts and takeaways are from talking with other people or reading others' thoughts.

• I stated last week that Auburn is not a national championship caliber team....after this weekend; it appears that Auburn is not a SEC championship caliber team.
• Auburn has absolutely no downfield offensive threat...still curious if the reason is because of the poor play of the offensive line or if Auburn is lacking a big play skill guy. I think both reasons play into the equation.
• Size versus speed....Auburn's fast, but small, D got physically abused by Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl and again by a very physical Arkansas offense.
  
• I was absolutely wrong in predicting that Houston Nutt would be fired at seasons' end. It's miraculous how the Arkansas faithful has warmed up to him. Isn't amazing what winning will do for you? Ask Tommy Tuberville post 2003 jetgate.
• I still think Arkansas looses at least 2 SEC games and potentially 3. With a true freshman running the show, Arkansas will have struggles.
• Still can't figure out why Auburn didn't put 8 guys in the box and force Mustain to throw?
• Darren McFadden proved on the playing football that he is the SEC's best running back.
• Could it be that the preseason top 2 teams in the SEC West are grossly overrated?
• To repeat what I have been saying for 4 weeks, the duo of Chris Leak and Tim Tebow is awesome.
• LSU, simply put, has absolutely no running game which is killing its offense.
• Anyone see the 5 turnover stat in the LSU-Florida game? Amazing, teams that turn the ball over 5 or more times are something like 0 - 58 over the last 10 years.
  
• How about the turnaround for Eric Ainge? It's safe to say that David Cutcliffe returning to Knoxville was huge for Fat Phil's future.
  
• Georgia's return game on special teams was sick Saturday night. The rest of the team, not so pretty.
• Apparently, UGA's defense was a wee-bit overrated coming into the Tennessee game.
• UGA was in a similar position as Auburn - have struggled recently and it was just a matter of time before the wheels came off.
• Just exactly how did Ole Miss pull off a W versus Vanderbilt? Thanks to 5 Vanderbilt turnovers, Ole Miss managed to win with only 7 1st downs and 179 yards of offense.
• Brent Schaeffer continues to blow....3 of 8 for 31 yards and 2 interceptions.
• It's amazing what Steve Spurrier is doing with the South Carolina offense and Syvelle Newton.
• Bama remains a big mystery....apparently; they enjoy playing to the level of their competition. However, having been in the game in the 4th quarter with both Arkansas and Florida, maybe they are better than they are getting credit for.
• West Virginia thanks for playing an SEC team and showing the country what a team you have. I feel no pity that you got jumped by Florida in the AP and Coaches Poll.
• How about the Sun Belt battle between North Texas and Florida International? The teams played 7 overtimes, kicking only 5 field goals between the two in 7 overtimes. I'd rather watch quite possibly the worst sports television show ever made, Friday Night Lights, over and over again (to borrow the phrase from Nelly and Tim McGraw).
• Great job of clock management by the Huskies of Washington. Yea, they got screwed by loosing a few seconds on the clock after the 1st down, but with all the confusion had at least a minute to line up with a called play before the referee started the clock.
• Speaking of the poor job of stopping the clock by the officials, Ty Willingham should play the "race card."
  
• USC is in a similar position as UGA and Auburn, except they have yet to loose. Based on the last few weeks, a loss seems to be eminent for the Trojans.
• In case you haven't heard, Oklahoma is still undefeated according to Bob Stoops. Had the officials not cost them the game against Oregon, Oklahoma would have played with more intensity against Texas and won that game as well.
• Finally, I think the Michigan - Ohio State game is going to be something special this year. I'm totally buying into the Michigan hype and I think Ohio State has more than proved their worth on the field. I really believe that we will see two undefeated teams playing at the end of November.