Huge wins for Tide and AU.
Bama had to come back from a 17-7 halftime deficit to beat Arkansas, 24-20, in Fayetteville. It was a statement game for Alabama for sure, particularly Mark Ingram and the young defense. The defense gave up a lot of yards to Ryan Mallett in the first half, but Robert Lester and company came back in the second half to slow the Hogs down and allow only three points after halftime. Lester had two huge interceptions on the day and Dre Kirkpatrick, who had been getting burned most of the day, came up with a major pick that iced the game for ‘Bama.

What else can you say about Mark Ingram? The superlatives just keep on coming. One hundred fifty seven yards on 24 carries, a beautiful 54-yarder for a score; he was tremendous. Another performance similar to that this weekend against Florida and Ingram is a major player in the Heisman discussion. Trent Richardson was pretty special, too. He’s something else. He had 85 yards on eight carries including a 53-yard run, and caught a 20-yard pass for a td from Greg McElroy.

McElroy struggled a little bit in the first half with a couple of picks, but got it done in the second half when the team needed him the most. Mallett will be a high draft pick, but if I want to win a big game, I want McElroy on my side. He’s just a winner.

Now the Tide faces Florida Saturday Night at 7 on CBS. Should be a classic. Part of a tough three game stretch for the Tide. ‘Bama goes to South Carolina next week. If they can get through these next two with victories, I like their chances of possibly running the table. They also have games at LSU and against Auburn which will be big tests as well. AU playing great.

On AU, Cam Newton was outstanding. He is Tim Tebow with more speed. He ran it 25 times for 176 yards and had that beautiful 54 yard run to open the scoring. Michael Dyer showed what kind of player he’ll be with 100 yards on the day. I’m not sure who’s better Dyer or Marcus Lattimore. After the first three weeks I definitely would have said Lattimore, but not so fast after week four. Dyer is a tough, hard runner. Lattimore runs over you too. Both have pretty good speed, but they’re more power backs. Both should be outstanding for the next three years.

But Auburn’s season is going to be determined by Newton and so far the returns are pretty good. Newton was 16-of-21 throwing the ball for 156 yards and two tds, a seven yarder to Philip Lutenkirchen in the fourth and another in the fourth for 12 yards to emerging superstar Emory Blake.

And the AU defense stepped up big when they had to forcing two key Stephen Garcia fumbles and intercepting Connor Shaw twice. The first int was beautiful by Josh Bynes, who read Shaw’s eyes and picked it off over the middle deep in AU territory. Then Demond Washington made the game clinching int in the end zone on a ball intended for the all world Alshon Jeffery. Zac Etheridge broke it up and Washington caught it before it hit the ground. The Tigers have proved they can do it on offense, and, like Alabama, are really showing signs of greatness on defense. The defense held Lattimore to 33 yards on 14 carries.

Not sure why Steve Spurrier went with Connor Shaw late. Guess he just didn’t trust Garcia. I wouldn’t either, really. The guy just makes mistakes in the clutch. Another disappointing loss for the Gamecocks.

‘Bama and Auburn looking very good going into week five. Alabama with a huge game against Trey Burton (six tds last week) and a heralded Gators defense that leads the country in interceptions. Florida can play some defense so Greg, Mark, Trent and Julio and that fantastic offensive line will be tested. The defense will have to contend with Florida’s speed though Jeff Demps looks like he’s out for the game. AU should not have too much trouble with Louisiana Monroe.

UAB almost pulled it off against Tennessee. They came so close, 32-29, in double OT. They have a good football team despite their 1-3 record. Bryan Ellis and David Isabelle are working well together at qb for Blazers and their defense played very well against UT. Gave up a td on an interception return, but got good pass rush all day and the linebackers made a lot of  plays. Neil Calloway should have gone for it on fourth and two instead of trying to kick a 54 yard field goal late in the game. The field goal kicker, Zahn, was terrible most of the day missing his first five kicks. UAB should have gotten out of Knoxville with a win if their kicker could have made one of his kicks in regulation. He made a couple in the two overtimes. Tough loss for Blazers. They need to regroup and bounce back for their next game at Central Florida on Wed. Oct. 6 on ESPN. They have talent, just need to learn how to win.

Mississippi State was impressive in their victory over Georgia. Chris Relf showed what kind of force he can be and their defense manhandled Georgia. Georgia just not the same team without A.J. Green. Mark Richt and his team will have to do a lot of soul searching and dig deep if they want to salvage this season.

Ole Miss got a big win over Fresno State. They needed it. Brandon Bolden is a tremendous running back. Two hundred twenty two rushing yards. Ole Miss 55-38. Ole Miss still hasn’t found their defense though.

Florida mauled Kentucky, 48-14, and will be ready for ‘Bama this week despite maybe not having Jeff Demps for the game. You never know though. Demps might surprise Tide and be there. Players have been injured before and there seems to be no chance they’ll play and they somehow come back. From what I’ve read, looks like Demps might be ready.

Vandy off last week. Big game this Sat. against UCONN as they try to build on momentum from Ole Miss victory.

LSU wins ugly again. Their defense is outstanding and Patrick Patterson is having a Charles Woodson-Heisman like year. There are  so many outstanding performers this year that it will be hard for Peterson to win it, but he’s something else as is the rest of the LSU defense. Just don’t get enough out of Jordan Jefferson at quarterback. The guy is talented, but when is he going to step up? Didn’t throw for 100 yards for the third straight week. He needs to get it straightened out pretty quickly or LSU needs to find a qb (Jarrett Lee) who can throw the football or they will lose their big games.

Here’s the schedule for this Saturday and next Saturday:

Vandy @ UCONN 11 a.m. on ESPN Game Plan

Louisiana Monroe @ Auburn 11 a.m. ESPNU

Alcorn @ Mississippi State 11 a.m. Fox Sports South, ESPN 3

Kentucky @ Ole Miss 11:21 a.m. SEC Network, WTTO, B’ham

UT @ LSU 2:30 p.m. CBS

Georgia @ Colorado 6 p.m. Fox Sports South

Florida @ Alabama 7 p.m., CBS

Off: Arkansas and South Carolina

Saturday, Oct. 9

Tennessee @ Georgia 11:21 a.m. SEC Network (WTTO, B’ham)

Alabama @ South Carolina, 2:30 p.m.  or 6:30, CBS or ESPN

Arkansas @ Texas A&M 1:30 p.m. ABC

LSU @ Florida 2:30 p.m. or 6:30 CBS or ESPN

Eastern Michigan @ Vandy 5 p.m. ESPNU

Auburn @ Kentucky 6:30 ESPN2

Miss. State @ Houston 7 p.m. CBS College Sports

Off: Ole Miss

(Robert Lester, left, and Josh Bynes, led their respective defenses and teams to huge victories.)

What a game last night in the NFC North. Vandy grad Jay Cutler played a heckuva game, and Brian Urlacher and the Bears defense stepped up when they had to in the Bears’ huge 20-17 victory over an outstanding Green Bay Packers team.
Cutler was 16-for-27 for 221 yards one td to tight end Greg Olsen for nine yards, another that could have been a better throw and could have been caught by Desmond Clark in the end zone on fourth and goal at the one (though it was a tough catch), and one int. Aaron Rodgers was everything we thought he was. He was 34-for-45 for 316 yards, one td and one meaningless int at the end of the first half on a Hail Mary pass. Rodgers is unbelievable.

The Bears struggled at first to get in sync offensively and the Pack moved it right down the field on their opening possession scoring on a seven-yard td pass from Rodgers to Greg Jennings with 4:26 left in the first. Mason Crosby kicked a 38-yard field goal to put Pack up 10-0 with 4:41 left in second quarter. After a nice 20 yard Hester punt return, the Bears took it in with 26 seconds left in the half. Cutler had hooked up with Johnny Knox for a 35 yard gain with Knox using nifty footwork to get both feet inbounds before going out of bounds at GB 17. A couple of plays later, Cutler hooked up with tight end Greg Olsen for a nine-yard td pass to cut the lead to 10-7 going into the half.

The Bears were still trailing 10-7  in the third quarter when Cutler led them on a drive that reached the Packers’ one where they faced fourth and goal late in the third period. Lovie Smith decided to go for it. Ron Jaworski of the Monday Night football crew said Lovie should have taken the field goal and tied it up, but I kind of liked Lovie going for it. I always like it when coaches are aggressive. OC Mike Martz had the perfect play called and Cutler threw a semi roll out pass to Clark. The ball was behind Clark and he couldn’t haul it in. The Pack had the ball at the one with the lead as the quarter wound down. That’s when the real drama took place.

The Pack couldn’t move the ball and punted. That’s when lightning struck at Soldier Field.  Devin Hester, the Bears electrifying punt returner, fielded the Packer punt at his own 38, and jetted down the right side of the field  field for a 62 yard td. Hester is one of the five fastest guys in the league–he has to be–and he turned on his amazing jets to race through the Packers punt coverage unit. He jumped into the ecstatic crowd much like the Packers do when they score tds. It was kind of a dig at the Packers. These teams don’t like each other. When Rodgers got a first down running the ball he cocked his arm forward for the first down signal. Both these teams wanted this badly. It was a very important game particularly for the Bears as they needed to beat the Pack at home.

Rodgers led his team on another drive hitting quick hitches to his receivers (he did that all night) and ran it in from three yards to put the Pack ahead 17-14 with 6:52 left.

Cutler led his team back aided by a roughing the passer call and a personal foul by the Pack. The Pack were flagged 18 times for 152 yards. Pretty amazing stat there. Gould kicked a 25-yarder to tie the game at 17.

Rodgers got the ball back, and, after a run, set the Packers up first and ten at around their 42-yard line. Rodgers connected with James Jones on the sideline. As Jones was running at the Pack 47 ready to pick up a good gain, Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs tackled him and Urlacher punched the ball out of Jones’ arms. It was right on the sidelines and, amazingly, the ball stayed in bounds and Tim Jennings pounced on it to put the Bears at the Packers’ 44 yard line with just over three minutes left and a chance to take the lead.

After a holding penalty moved the ball back 10 yards, Cutler threw it up for Olsen at the Pack 35. Olsen jumped up and pulled it in; it was a beautiful catch. Then Cutler threw it deep for Earl Bennett. Bennett tried to go get the ball but was interfered with. The Packers safety intercepted the ball, but the ref threw the flag for interference. The Bears had it inside the 10 and rolled the clock down to four seconds. Gould came in and kicked it through from 19 yards for the game winner.

Cutler doesn’t have the greatest mechanics sometimes, but he is getting it done under Mike Martz, a brilliant offensive coordinator. He has such a strong arm that even when his mechanics are shaky he can still get the ball in there. He’s pretty similar to Brett Favre though he probably throws off his back foot even more. But he is getting it done this year and leading this team on what could be a magical season.Urlacher and Briggs had nine solo tackles. Urlacher is a superb player, one of the best if not the best linebackers in the NFL.  This could be a special Bears team. The Packers are pretty special, too. Rodgers is phenomenal.

Next up: Chicago @ NY Giants, 7:20 p.m., Sunday, NBC

Detroit @ Green Bay, noon, Sunday, FOX (probably not televised in B’ham) and DirectTV 708

(Jay Cutler and Brian Urlacher lead Bears to huge win over Packers Monday Night.)