Both teams are trying to heal up. Auburn about healthy. ‘Bama has Barrett Jones nursing a couple of injuries and some others who are banged up. Eddie Lacy been playing through turf toe all year. Anthony Steen is back. Dre playing through a concussion. Maze a little hobbled. But they’re toughing it out. AU getting back Emory and Reed helps, especially Blake. AU’s had some injury problems, too. Both teams need to get through these games to set up the Iron Bowl next Saturday, 11-26, at 2:30 PM on CBS.
12-2 last week; 72-27 overall

Georgia Southern (9-1) @ No.3 Alabama (9-1); 1 PM, Pay Per View:

Georgia Southern is a very good FCS football team. They are 9-1 and are ranked No.2 in the latest FCS poll. They are legit. They are averaging 320 yards per game on the ground and are led by running back Robert Brown who has rushed for 834 yards and five touchdowns. Jerick McKinnon has rushed for 489 yards and seven touchdowns, and quarterback Jaybo Shaw has rushed for only 297 yards, but 10 TDs. Georgia Southern is not a passing team. They line up and run it at you. Shaw is 49-of-92 for 1,057 yards and seven TDs, not bad numbers, but they don’t spend a lot of time passing  the ball. Johnathan Bryant leads the team in receptions with eight for 264 yards and one TD.

They give up 123 yards on the ground on defense and 322 total. They have 13 interceptions on the year and 23 sacks. Hudson Presume and Laron Scott both have three ints to lead the team. Deion Stanley leads them in tackles with 54. Josh Rowe is next at 53 and Darius Eubanks has 51. Brent Russell has 10.5 tackles for loss and five sacks. John Douglas has 8.5 tackles for loss and five sacks.

Coach Jeff Monken in his first year last year, led his team to the semifinals of the FCS playoffs and they’re primed for a big postseason this year.

With all that said, the Tide should be fine here. This team isn’t Kent State, but they’re not LSU or Arkansas either even Tennessee. Trent has run for 1,205 yards and 18 TDs, amazing numbers. And Eddie Lacy has been great despite a turf toe running for 580 and seven TDs. Lacy ran for over 100 last week against Ms. State.

A.J. needs to keep getting better. I like A.J.’s potential both the rest of this season and next year. He’s going to be a very good quarterback and he’s already pretty good. Not his best game against LSU, but he wasn’t bad. Struggled a little against State, but also made some good throws. He’s made some mistakes in the last couple of weeks, but S is going to stay the course with him and that’s smart.

The defense will control the game like they have all year and Trent and Eddie will grind it out to get the Tide to 10-1 and set them up for the Iron Bowl. The BCS Championship game is far from decided and the Tide looks like one of the two best teams in the country; maybe the best. I guess you could get an argument from Oklahoma State, Oregon and Oklahoma, but the defenses at those places aren’t close to the Tide’s or LSU’s. Oklahoma’s is the closest, but they’ve struggled with injuries on defense. I do see a rematch possibility or the Tide playing somebody else for the national title, but we have to see how things play out over the next three weeks.

‘Bama 35, Ga Southern 7

Samford (6-4) @ No.24 Auburn (6-4); noon, Pay Per View

Samford has a pretty decent team. They beat a pretty good Furman team. Pat Sullivan is doing a good job there. Fabian Truss, from Hewitt-Trussville High School, leads the Bulldogs in rushing with 847 yards and seven TDs. Quarterback Dustin Taliaferro has completed 216-of-339 for 2,140 yards, 13 TDs and eight ints. Kelsey Pope is their leading receiver with 73 catches for 720 yards and five TDs. Samford did lose to Georgia Southern the first game of the season, 31-17, at home.

Their leading tackler is linebacker Justin Shade, Sam Shade of Alabama fame’s son. Justin has 59 stops on the season and three tackles for loss. Alvin Hines adds 58 tackles and Keith Shoulders 56.

But AU should win this. They need to get some momentum heading towards Alabama. I think Chiz should give Kiehl Frazier a shot at some point to see how he does. Kiehl and incoming 2012 freshman Zeke Pike are the future so why not give Kiehl a shot. Michael Dyer has had a solid year even though he’s been a little under the radar with AU losing more than usual.

There’s heat on Ted Roof and the defensive coaches. A friend of mine pointed out that the Auburn staff is the highest paid staff in the country so they need to produce. I know people don’t like to hear about youth, but that has played a role in this defense’s struggles. I don’t understand the defensive line though; why they’re not better. Maybe Chiz needs to make some tough decisions on his defensive coaching staff and make some changes. I still go back to the point that this is the same staff that helped AU win a national championship last year, and even though the defense struggled some last year, the coaches seemed to make pretty good adjustments at halftime. There will be some tough decisions for Chiz after  the season. A lot of people want Roof to go. I say it’s 50-50 he will along with the defensive backs coach and defensive line coach.

Still Auburn should get this one and these coaches have a chance to save their jobs in the next two weeks. Samford might give Auburn trouble for a little while, but the Tigers should be OK. May be a little bit of a struggle though.

AU 31, Samford 17

Vanderbilt (5-5) @ Tennessee (4-6); 6 PM, ESPNU:

This is the best game of the day in the SEC. Two evenly matched teams though ‘Dores playing a lot better than Vols right now. Derek Dooley should get quarterback Tyler Bray back, most likely, and that will help. If Bray can’t play, Justin Worley, the freshman, has had some games under his belt now and he’s getting better. UT with weapons in Da’Rick Rogers, Tauren Poole, Marlin Lane and Rajion Neal. Rogers is a stud with 55 catches for 886 yards and seven touchdowns. If they had Justin Hunter, who got hurt against Florida, UT would be prolific on offense. That’s if Bray had been healthy, too. Poole has had a down year only rushing for 554 yards and four TDs (3.5 yards per carry) and Lane has 255 and two TDs (3.8 per carry), but they’re good players and Vandy’s defense has been a little bit suspect against the run and the pass lately, even though they had a good game against Kentucky. Tight end Mychal Rivera is a good target, too, with 26 receptions for 315 yards and one TD. Neal is an explosive player who can make big plays for the Vols. VU has to watch out for him.

For Vandy, the playmakers have really come alive. Putting Jordan Rodgers behind center was the best thing James Franklin could have done for his football team. Rodgers hasn’t put up huge numbers, but he’s like Tim Tebow in that he just wins football games. Rodgers is 80-of-155 for 1,166 yards, seven touchdowns and six ints. But he’s been awesome lately and has some weapons around him along with what has become a fine offensive line. Wesley Johnson is the leader on the line and he looks like a potential NFL player. He’s just a sophomore and is like a Barrett Jones in that he can play many positions on the line. He’s tough, physical and talented. Kyle Fischer is a fine offensive tackle as well. The offensive line has really been solidified by line coach Herb Hand.

Jordan Matthews has been a beast at wide receiver particularly in the last three games. He’s caught 29 passes for 569 yards and four touchdowns. He had two last week against Kentucky including a beautiful 40 plus yarder in which he caught the ball and ran around three or four defenders to get in the end zone. He’s big time.

Zac Stacy has been all world this year. He’s rushed for 891 yards and nine TDs. His 18-yard TD run against Kentucky was a beaut. He carried six Ky players with him into the end zone. All these guys look like NFL players.

The defense has been very solid led by linebacker Chris Marve. They should get linebacker Chase Garnham back this weekend and that will help. LB Archie Barnes has been incredible. The linemen, Rob Lohr, T.J. Greenstone (coming back from injury), Tim Fugger and Walker May have been outstanding both rushing the passer and helping stop the run. The secondary has talent, but they’ve struggled some lately. They started out the season blazing. Casey Hayward looks like an NFL player to me next year. He needs to step up, play big and lead the guys in the back five. Marve, a senior like Hayward, looks like an NFL player, too.

With all that said, I like the ‘Dores to get it done tomorrow night in Knoxvegas. Think it will be a tough game, but Vandy is playing with a ton of confidence under James Franklin. They should have beaten Arkansas and could have beaten Georgia; two very good football teams. ‘Dores have better talent than Vols. Think they beat Vols and go to a bowl game this year.

‘Dores 28, Vols 24

Other games in the SEC:

South Carolina 35, Citadel 3

Georgia 48, Ky 14

Florida 21, Furman 17

Arkansas 31, Ms. State 7

LSU 41, Ole Miss 6

National games:

Oklahoma State 28, Iowa State 24

Oklahoma 31, Baylor 30

Florida State 30, Virginia 24

Oregon 41, USC 35

Kansas State 28, Texas 27

(S trying to stay in national title hunt and get either a rematch with LSU or a shot at SEC title and then go from there. Chiz trying to right ship.)

The signature play of the game, and there were a lot of good plays for the Blazers, particularly offensively, was the beautiful 32 yard diving catch by Patrick Hearn that set the Blazers up for the game winning field goal. Hearn leapt in the air, stretched out and pulled the ball down. Maybe the play of the year for the Blazers who knocked off 20th ranked Southern Miss, 34-31, before 14,103 at Legion Field. Wish there had been a better crowd, but if the University Board of Trustees for the state colleges will get it together and help this University build an on campus stadium, that would go a long way towards making this program a marquee program in C-USA.
The keys to the game were the play of the offensive line, Jonathan Perry, his receivers and the defense doing enough good things to slow down Southern Miss quarterback Austin Davis and his offensive mates, who had put up huge numbers coming in.

Seniors Matt McCants (left tackle), Caleb Thomas (left guard), Darion Smith (center), Terence Edge (right guard) and junior Chris Hubbard played exceptional.

“That was our statement going in was we had to win the battle up front offensively to have a chance because, to be quite honest with you, I thought Southern Miss was a very good defensive football team,” Callaway said. “They had 21 sacks on the year and had just been a very physical group and I do think our offensive line played extremely well. I think our running backs ran well so that went a long way in helping us win the football game. We had a pretty good edge in time of possession (36:48 to 23:12) and all that has to do with those guys and being able to run the football and not giving up sacks. I think JP (Jonathan Perry) got hit once, maybe twice, and we only gave up one sack. So those guys did play well.”

It was tremendous balance. JP was 17-of-26 for 236 yards, one TD pass, a three yarder to D.J. Vinson, and no interceptions. Great night from JP, a sophomore. Sophomore running back Greg Franklin ran for 85 yards on 17 carries and scored on a three yard TD run. Freshman Darrin Reaves ran for 62 yards on 19 carries and scored on a two yard run. And JP ran for 49 yards on 13 carries and scored on a three yard run. The Blazers ran for 189 yards on the night. Southern Miss ran for 251 led by Jamal Woodyard who ran for 95 and a TD and Desmond Johnson ran for 85 yards on 14 carries. Davis was 20-of-29 for 264 yards with two TDs and one int.

Senior Marquis Coleman had a beautiful interception with the Blazers down 14-7 that led to the tying touchdown The Blazers trailed 14-0 with 11 minutes left in the first quarter.

“We actually put them in a bind early like we’ve done a couple of times this year,” Callaway said. “They got up 14-0 early on a fumble and then they got their fake field goal for their third touchdown (to go up 21-14), We gave up more yardage than we’d like to (523 for Southern Miss, 425 for Blazers), but at the same time, we did a decent job of keeping them out of the end zone and making them go a long way. We’re not good enough to stone anybody, but if we get to where we don’t give up the easy ones and make’em go a long way then I think it’s going to help us.”

Ty Long kicked a 38-yard field goal with 3:04 left to put the Blazers ahead 34-31, then the defense had to bow up. They did. They were aided by a chop block penalty, but made the plays when they had to. And Jamie Bender knocked down a Davis pass on fourth and six to seal the victory for the Blazers, who moved to 3-8 overall and 3-5 in C-USA. Southern Miss dropped to 9-2 overall and 5-2 in conference. Southern Miss hosts Memphis next week to try and clinch a spot in the C-USA championship game against either Houston or Tulsa. The Blazers finish their season off in Boca Raton next Saturday against Florida Atlantic.

Callaway was pleased with JP at quarterback.

“Overall I was very pleased with what he did,” Callaway said. “He’s still learning some things, but he’s obviously making enough good plays to help us win.”

Callaway was also very pleased with how his receivers played; a young group for the most part that keeps getting better.

“I think there was one drop all night and four or five outstanding catches,” Callaway said. “Pat Hearn, Jackie Williams and Nolan Smith off the top of my head made catches that you just go ‘wow,’ when they caught’em. It’s good to see those guys step up. Going into the year we thought we had six guys we could play with and we got off to a slow start but the last four, five games we’ve got six guys we can go play with and not really worry about it. The skill guys, a lot of them are young and they’re stepping up and doing a lot of good things.”

Redshirt freshman Jamarcus Nelson continues to impress, also.  I asked Coach what the locker room was like afterwards.

“It was about as excited as I’ve seen it,” he said. “Any win is big especially when you struggle like we have. We’re just excited we beat a team that is ranked No.20 in the country. We knew that was a good football team coming in. Our guys were very excited.”

Callaway said the Blazers will have to get back to work on Sunday when they hit the practice field and get ready for Florida Atlantic.

“Last night was proof that you can’t overlook anybody because I’m sure Southern Miss came in here assuming they were going to beat us. But when you walk between the lines all bets are off. You’ve got to be ready. We have to be ready for Florida Atlantic.”

Callaway said this should be a boon for recruiting.

“We’ve got 15 guys committed so far and a lot of them are local guys which is good. We need to beat Florida Atlantic and that would give us three wins in a row and I think that’ll certainly help propel us into the recruiting season.”

Great effort by Coach Callaway, his coaches and his players.

(Coach Callaway and JP get’er done.)

Mountain Brook Coach Chris Yeager and his talented group of Spartans head to East Alabama to play the Oxford Yellowjackets in the third round of the Class 6A playoffs. The Spartans  (12-0) are ranked number one in the state while Oxford is 11-1 and loaded with college talent.
Coach Yeager calls this “a great high school football atmosphere.” Oxford won the state in Class 5A in 1988, 1999 and 1993. They have done well in Class 6A as they’ve been in and out of the class in years. Fourth  year coach John Grass took Spain Park to the state championship game as head man in 2007 and has kept the physicality of the Oxford program in place while adding the playmaking ability in space for the offense.

“The biggest thing is they have a balanced offensive attack,” Yeager said. “They have a sophomore running back who’s run for 1,000 yards in the last five games. He’s an unbelievable athlete.”

Racean Thomas is 6’3″. No weight was given on their website. He ran for 301 yards against Spain Park two weeks ago in the first round of the playoffs. The Yellowjackets also are excellent at quarterback and receiver. Yeager calls quarterback Jackson Stephens “extremely efficient.” Stephens was 11-of-17 for 203 yards and three touchdowns in an Oxford  55-19 victory over Northridge of Tuscaloosa last Friday. Trae Elston is the team’s top receiver. He has several college offers. Their best defensive back is Monte Bass,a 5’8″, 170 cornerback, who reminds Yeager of Marlon Humphrey at Hoover, considered the top cornerback in the state. Oxford has two defensive ends, Trent Simpson (6’5″, 230) and Ulrich Jones (6’6″, 245), who are highly disruptive and have to be accounted for.

“Those two are just good at making plays from the backside,” Yeager said. Both are juniors and should have many offers before the year is over.

The linebacking corps lost Kwon Alexander, the Alabama commit, to an injury a while back, so the leader is sophomore Weston Caldwell (5’9″, no weight given). Yeager calls Caldwell, “a good playmaker.”

The thing that stands out to Yeager the most is “this is the most physical offensive line we’ve played all year.”

Michael Flint (6’4″, 295) and Calvin Baker (6’3″, 270) are the line’s leaders. Flint has  several FBS offers and Yeager calls him ” a big time player.”

Yeager says the Spartans offensive line led by center Walker Byrd (5’10”, 225) and tackle Paul Davis (6’5″, 280), will have to give QB Edward Aldag time to throw the ball. Yeager calls Byrd, “the most savy lineman I’ve ever coached.” Davis has offers from South Alabama, UAB, Southern Miss and others, but he wants to play at Vanderbilt. That offer may come.

So it’s up to the line and the playmakers to get this done for the Spartans. Mark Rector, Gavin Golsan and Coates Doss will have to step up like they always do and make plays up the middle, in Rector’s case, and on the perimeter in Golsan, Rector and Doss’s case. Aldag has played well for 11 of 12 games this year. He may not have been his best last week, but he’s been stellar all year and deserves offers from FBS programs.

The defense will be tested. Senior linebacker Hatton Smith will have to show his leadership getting the defense to play at a high level to contain the explosive Yellowjackets’ offense.

Yeager likens the atmosphere at Oxford to Valdosta, Ga, where football is life. It’s the same way in Oxford. Expect 7-8,000 Oxford fans tonight and two or three thousand Mountain Brook fans.

Yeager says the key to victory is winning the turnover battle. Mountain Brook has won the turnover battle in 11 of 12 games this season by two turnovers in those 11 games. If the Spartans can do that, look for them to move on to round four.

Spartans 24, Oxford 21

(Chris Yeager leads his Spartans team into a hostile environment to try to move on to the semifinals of the playoffs.)