‘Bama 28, UGA 17

Wow, that was a sensational performance by the Tide and another brutal one by the Tigers. A.J. McCarron 15-of-21 for 216 yards and four TDs. Wow, that’s something else. Eddie Lacy 18 carries for 131 yards and two more scores. Amari Cooper five catches for 109 yards and two TDs. Robert Lester and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix each with a pickoff. Dee Milliner with a fumble recovery he returned 17 yards. What else can you ask for? I thought Jeoffrey Pagan showed off some of his massive potential at defensive end. The oline was terrific as usual. Now it’s Georgia and a chance to play for an SEC, and, with a win, another national championship. ‘Bama is a 6 1/2 point favorite right now. I think they’re going to win by more. Georgia is a very good football team, and this is no knock on them–they’ve had a great season– but I just think the Tide has recovered fully from A&M, and is ready to excel on the biggest stages. Notre Dame, to me, is not as good as Georgia, Florida, Texas A&M or Stanford. They beat Stanford at home barely on a very controversial call in the end zone in which the Stanford player was ruled he didn’t score while in fact he did. The refs blew that game. I’d like to see Stanford, Florida or A&M play Notre Dame. I think they’d win. Notre Dame is pretty good. Not great. Georgia is better than Notre Dame. Boy a playoff would be interesting this year with the winner of the SEC Championship game playing Notre Dame and A &M playing Florida or even Stanford. There is a committee that will select the teams in the 2014 playoffs and in my opinion those are the four teams that should be playing in it if a playoff were held this year. I’d have a little trouble between Stanford and A&M, but if Stanford won the PAC 12 title game, they’d get the nod. A&M would if Stanford lost. But we don’t have a playoff yet, so we can just speculate. Stanford still has to beat UCLA for the second week in a row (ridiculous) to make it to the Rose Bowl to play either Nebraska or Wisconsin. Like Stanford and Nebraska in the Rose Bowl. If Stanford gets upset by UCLA, then it’ll be interesting to see how the bowls shake out. UCLA would be in it, but they shouldn’t get by Stanford to make the Rose Bowl. I like Florida in the Sugar most likely, and A&M in the Cotton, with Georgia going to a New Years’ Bowl, most likely the Outback. That’s assuming the Tide beats Georgia, which I think they will. But this could be a very entertaining game. Still not sold on Mark Richt and Aaron Murray in big games. Know they beat Florida in Jacksonville which propelled them to the East title, but Murray had thrown three interceptions in the first half, and his clinching touchdown pass was really just a seven yard pass, which Malcolm Mitchell, Georgia’s talented wide receiver, took to the house 50 yards to beat the Gators. But Jarvis Jones, Alec Ogletree, John Jenkins and Bacarri Rambo are outstanding defensive players, and there are playmakers on offense. Todd Gurley is an elite running back and Keith Marshall is pretty outstanding as well. But can Georgia run it on the Tide? Nobody else has been able to this season besides Johnny Football and Jeremy Hill of LSU. I think Alabama will be geared up to stop the run, so Murray is going to have to make something happen with his arm. Like Dan Mullen said before his team’s game with the Tide, you have to try and run it and establish something on the ground to set up the pass. If Georgia can run the ball, that would help their chances exponentially. But I like S, Kirby Smart and their talented football team in this game. Just think they’ll have too much power and skill for the ‘Dawgs. And if the Tide gets by the Dawgs, I like them against the Irish in title game. Like S and the team to bring home the programs’ third national title in four years. It doesn’t get much better than that, though for Alabama fans the future looks very bright too. Who knows what the Tide can do if they could keep S and company at the helm for 10 more years? He’s not even close to retiring, he’s like a 30-year old coach energy-wise, so the Tide will keep on rolling.

I just hate this for Auburn fans. Gene Chizik had a 5-19 record coming into Auburn, and while he did win a championship with an NFL quarterback and some stellar offensive players and some pretty good defensive players whom he didn’t recruit except for Cam, he just wasn’t cut out for a big time job. Seems like a nice guy, but just couldn’t get the job done. Auburn has a lot of talent. I truly believe it. Whether it was lack of good coaching or players who didn’t care, well, it was both really. When you have talent like Auburn has, though there were some young guys, you need to be winning 10 games, not losing nine. Where does Auburn go from here? Hopefully the NCAA won’t hammer the Tigers with sanctions from this Javon Robinson mess out of Memphis and whatever else Trooper and Luper may have done . That would add more insult to injury. Who can AU get? The first guy that came to my mind before last Saturday was Jimbo Fisher. But does he want to leave FSU to come to what would be considered somewhat of a lateral job, though Auburn is considered by many to be an elite job.  And even if he did, the loss to North Carolina State and then the domination by the Gators over the ‘Noles puts some doubt in ones’ head about Fisher and if he can get it done. But Fisher would be a quality candidate. Somebody I’m sure the Tigers would take. I’ve heard Jeff Fisher, who’s coaching the St. Louis Rams, is a potential candidate. His son, Trent, plays for AU. That could be possible. He’s not been wildly successful in the NFL. He won earlier in his career, struggled with Tennessee later in his career but is doing pretty decently in his first year at St. Louis. So that’s interesting. Maybe a good d coordinator. I don’t know if Kirby Smart would take it. Auburn may not offer and he may not accept if offered. The guy at Florida, Dan Quinn, is an excellent defensive coordinator. Florida was outstanding on defense this season. He might be an interesting choice. I’ve heard him in interviews. He’s impressive. The offensive coordinator for Florida, Brent Pease, is also stellar. The offensive and defensive coordinators at A&M, Kliff Kingsbury (offense) and Mark Snyder (defense) could be interesting choices. It might be exciting to get a young, hungry guy, who would sprint to Auburn for the opportunity to coach  the Tigers. Should be a pretty fascinating time on the Plains. Bo Jackson, Pat Sullivan, Jay Jacobs and some business guy are on the committee to find a coach. A couple of good football minds, so they should make a good choice. We’ll see what happens. Hopefully, AU can avoid the wrath of the NCAA also.

Otherwise, tremendous day in college football Saturday. Georgia and Florida both looked awesome. Florida really impressed me as they just dominated the fourth quarter over FSU. Really impressive football team right now. Will Muschamp has it going in Gainesville. Miles and LSU earned a hard fought win on Friday at Arkansas. Can’t argue with Miles’ results. Keeps getting it done and his recruiting class is ranked second by Rivals. LSU is behind only USC in recruiting rankings. Miles has LSU in good shape now and shaped well for the future. He’s a character, which is refreshing, and he gets the job done well. Ball Coach with another classic season at SC with 10 wins. Beautiful second half against Clemson. The backup quarterback , Dylan Thompson, threw for three touchdowns, and Jadeveon Clowney is a dominator. Four and a half sacks against Clemson. Are you kiddin me? The guy is terrific. The bad news for the SEC East is he’s coming back next year. Steve Spurrier has gotten Mr Football in South Carolina since 2009, from Alshon Jeffrey to Jadeveon Clowney to Stephon Gilmore to, there’s another one. He just keeps excelling and at 67, he’s not slowing down.

Vanderbilt is a pretty impressive story as well. 8-4 in James Franklin’s second year at the helm and there’s a good chance the Commodores could go to the Gator Bowl. Franklin is a hot commodity. As a Vandy alum, I hope James wants to retire from Vanderbilt, but that may be wishful thinking. How about Ole Miss and the job Hugh Freeze did this year. When I watched the Rebs in their spring game, I thought the team would be lucky to win two games. But they finished with a 6-6 record and are going bowling. I think the future for the Rebels is very bright under Freeze. They, like Vandy, have a very fine recruiting class coming in. Excellent job from a guy who has paid his dues and has earned his early success.

This weekend was terrific, and with title games, bowl games and the national championship coming up, a lot to look forward to. I’ll have more as the week progresses.

Last week: 13-3; overall: 115-33 (78%)

‘Bama 51, AU 7

LSU 31, Arkansas 21

Georgia 38, Tech 24

Ole Miss 31, State 27

A&M 38, Mizzou 27

Clemson 31, South Carolina 30

Florida State 28, Florida 24

Kentucky 28, Tennessee 24

Vanderbilt 31, Wake 27

Central Florida 41, UAB 30

Notre Dame 34, USC 20

Ohio State 37, Michigan 24

Stanford 28, UCLA 27

Oregon 42, Oregon State 35

There are some good national games tomorrow and a couple of good SEC games, but overall this is almost as bad as a bye week for fans of Alabama and Auburn as far as entertainment value goes. I guess Auburn fans haven’t gotten too much entertainment in anything their football team has done this year. Basketball doesn’t look too swift at this point either after a blowout loss to Murray State. That’s OK. Basketball has never mattered much at Auburn. But football does. And the talk of a new football coach is the paramount issue at Auburn.

You get to see your teams play this weekend, so that’s better than a bye week, and you want them to be as good as they can be. But after the last couple of weeks, this weekend is a real yawner. But Alabama is still playing for a lot, so the Western Carolina game matters to them. Maybe they both need these games. Alabama needs a break from a brutal two weeks and AU, what can you say, they just need a win any way they can get it if anybody cares.

So Western Carolina and Alabama A &M come to ‘Bama and Auburn respectively this weekend to get blasted, though A &M should do better against an Auburn team that has slid downward to its lowest point maybe ever in its proud football history. I don’t know how Auburn brings Chizik back next year. He’s lost the program. If this year is not proof, what else do you need? They’ll finish 0-8 in the SEC and win three games overall if they can get by A&M. Auburn has to get a new coach and a new athletic director.

For ‘Bama, a more exciting game is tonight’s basketball game vs. Villanova in the 2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden. Game will be at 6:30 PM CT on the Deuce. Should be a pretty fun game to watch. The Tide beat a good Oregon State team on a three-pointer from the left corner by Rodney Cooper last night in the final 10 seconds. It was very exciting. Expectations should be high for the basketball team. Anthony Grant is an exceptional coach.

But back to football. The Tide needs to win out over Western Carolina, Auburn and Georgia and HAS to get some help with two out of the three of K-State, Oregon or Notre Dame losing for the Tide to get a shot at the national championship. Western and AU will be wins, though Auburn should be up for ‘Bama, but Georgia now that’ll be a challenge. ‘Dawgs are a good football team and playing very well on both sides of the ball right now. Todd McShay has three of the Georgia defensive players in his mock draft going in the first round. Linebacker Jarvis Jones is projected by McShay to be the first pick overall. That’s pretty heady stuff.  Defensive tackle John Jenkins (16) and linebacker Alec Ogletree (17) are also in McShay’s first round. They are highly talented on defense. And Aaron Murray looks like he can win big games now. He’s always had talent, but he’s struggled in the big games. That Florida win with his clutch game-winning throw to Malcolm Mitchell may have changed his fortunes in big games. The ‘Dawgs could give the Tide some trouble. That’s three weeks away though.

Here’s a look at this week’s games with predictions.

Last week: 7-3; Overall: 102-30 (77%)

Western Carolina @ Alabama

Where: Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa

When: 11:21 AM CT

Network: SEC Network (WTTO-21 in Birmingham)

Line: No line

Western Carolina is 1-9. Should not be a big problem. Tide just needs to play well and stay injury-free to get ready for the Iron Bowl and the SEC Championship game and hope for some help from USC, Stanford, Baylor or Oregon State.

Tide 52, Western Carolina 0

Alabama A&M @Auburn

Where: Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn

When: 2 PM CT

Network: Pay Per View

Line: No line

Surely Auburn can win this game. I don’t know how they can keep Gene Chizik regardless of this game, but if he loses this one, he might as well have the moving van waiting in the driveway when he gets home or Yella Fella and Pat Dye will gladly oblige if he doesn’t.

Auburn 31, Alabama A&M 10

Tennessee @Vanderbilt

Where: Vanderbilt Stadium, Nashville

When: 6 PM CT

Network: ESPN2

Line: Vandy by four

Should be a very interesting game here. If James Franklin wants to really  change the culture at Vanderbilt–which he has done a tremendouns job doing so far in his two years at the helm–he needs to beat the Vols. Tyler Bray, Justin Hunter and Cordarrelle pose problems for the Vanderbilt secondary, which has talent, but just can’t make stops or get interceptions this year like they could last year. But the Vanderbilt offense looks to be clicking pretty well right now. Big question is will running back Zac Stacy play. Franklin does not disclose any information on injuries, so all I can assume is that Stacy is questionable. I read where he practiced Wednesday Night, so that’s a good sign for VU. Should be the best SEC game of the weekend. Looking forward to this one. VU wins this and beats Wake they finish the season 8-4. That would be historic for Vandy.

VU 31, UT 24

Other games:

Miss State 28, Arkansas 17

Georgia 35, Georgia Southern 24

Florida 27, Jax State 21

South Carolina 42, Wofford 24

LSU 31, Ole Miss 17

Texas A&M 52, Sam Houston State 7

UK 27, Samford 24

Syracuse 42, Missouri 38

UAB 44, Memphis 20

National games:

K-State 41, Baylor 31

Oregon 42, Stanford 37

Notre Dame 35, Wake 13

UCLA 42, USC 40

Getting behind 20-0 in the first quarter was not ideal, and there was some carry over effect from the LSU game. That LSU game was such a hard fought affair that the team may have had a little mental fatigue from it. That may sound like an excuse, but it’s just human nature to get tired mentally after a 15-week grind of football, and particularly after a game like the LSU game. And Texas A&M had a lot to do with it. They are playing as well as anybody in the country right now. They are an excellent football team. There is no doubt about that. Manziel, to me, is the co-leader for the Heisman Trophy with Collin Klein of Kansas State. If K-State goes undefeated and Klein keeps it up, he should win it. A player who is the heart and soul of his team that  finishes the regular season undefeated and puts up the numbers to go with it like Klein does, deserves the Heisman. If it’s close with somebody else and his effect on his team and the stats are similar to the other guy who’s on a team that may have lost a couple of games, the guy on the undefeated team should get the nod. I don’t have a Heisman vote, but that’s the way I see it. But Manziel, if he keeps this up, will win the Heisman Trophy possibly next year. The guy is sensational. Highlight reel after highlight reel. Manziel was 24-of-31 for 253 yards and two TDs. His play in the first quarter in which he juggled the ball after the snap, retained possession and then threw a 10-yard TD pass to Ryan Swope was epic. Then his 24-yarder to Malcome Kennedy in the fourth quarter was a beautiful throw and catch in the end zone. Dee Milliner looked like he had pretty good coverage on Kennedy. It was just an exceptional play by Kennedy. Swope caught 11 passes for 111 yards and a TD. He’s the next Wes Welker and he may even be better than Welker as he makes more explosive plays. He should be a pro.

They were ready to play and Alabama had that sluggish start. Should ‘Bama have run when they had it  first and goal on the last drive? Yes, at least two times. But I didn’t think going into that last play that they should absolutely run it.  It could have gone either way with the play call. A&M had the line stacked, so even a run might have been difficult.  Not sure about that particular pass play call. Thought A.J. should have dropped back and had four guys going out with Michael Williams over the middle for a possible TD. But I didn’t totally disagree with the play call. But there’s no looking back now. It’s over. That last first and goal situation was somewhat questionable, but you can’t have it back. Tide has to move forward as hard as that loss was and as questionable as the play calling was at the end. They did try a run with Eddie and it only got a yard. So Doug Nussmeier thought the Tide would have to pass to win it. After A.J.’s final drive performance against LSU, Nussmeier felt he wanted to put the ball in the hands of A.J. and let the line give him time to find a receiver. Thought rolling him out on fourth and goal was a little questionable. A dropback or maybe a run over Fluker were probably better calls, so that was tough to take. It’s over though. For Nussmeier it’s hard to learn on the job because people aren’t patient around here with mistakes when their team is always playing for the national championship and that is expected. So he’s got to learn from this. I hope he gets another shot. He’s done a good job this year, though that last drive play calling was a little questionable at first and goal.

Still have a lot to play for: the SEC championship, of course, the rest of this schedule with the Western Carolina game and the Iron Bowl. The matchup with a very good Georgia team in the Georgia Dome should be classic. That will be a very interesting game with two outstanding football teams. And it’s not out of the question for the Tide to get back in the mix for the national championship. Two teams have to lose in front of the Tide and the Tide HAS to take care of business. Oregon has games at home vs Stanford this Saturday. That’s is not a given. Stanford is a pretty good football team. Don’t know if they can keep up with the speed of Oregon, but if they can control the football, maybe they can pull off the upset. And then the Ducks have a rivalry game against a pretty good Oregon State team at OSU to close out the regular season. Then they’ll play in the PAC-12 championship game assuming they get through Stanford and Oregon State. They could beat Stanford and lose to OSU and still get in PAC-12 champ game. A lot to be decided for Oregon. A loss would probably knock them down behind the Tide. K-State plays at Baylor and at home against Texas to close out their regular season. Those are no kick-ins either by any means. Baylor can put a lot of points on the board and Texas is playing a lot better. They’re both pretty decent football teams. If K-State can get through those two games they’re most likely in. Notre Dame plays Wake Forest at home, and at USC. Wake Forest is pretty winnable, but USC at the Coliseum is no guarantee. So that’s interesting. Then there’s Georgia. If both the Tide and Georgia win out–the Dawgs have Georgia Southern and Tech at home, both should be wins– and the two of the top three teams lose, the SEC title game will be an epic. Should be a tremendous game regardless, but with losses by the 1, 2 and 3 teams–two of them will have to lose–then the title game will have the national title on the line.

So there is a lot to play for. But S is worried about the process; getting better every day as he should. I really learn a lot in his press conferences. He says everybody is concerned with the results, but he and his team need to focus on the process of getting better every day. I think you’ve got to have a mix. Ninety percent should be devoted to the process of getting better every day and 10 percent about the end result, the big picture. You always want to keep championships in your mind, but to get there you have to focus on being the best player you can be every day. You’ve got to improve. That’s S’s consistent message and I agree with him 100 percent. I learn a lot from S in that regard. Anyway, there is a lot of excitement left in college football, and ‘Bama is still in the hunt.

Auburn just need to start over. I thought they would lose handily to Georgia but not even that badly. Wow, that was rough. Chizik has just lost’em. Who do they turn to? Maybe Jimbo Fisher or Kevin Sumlin, but I don’t think they can get Sumlin away from A&M, and I don’t know if they can get Fisher away from FSU. Fisher may be more attainable. Jon Gruden? I’m just throwing out names. He would be an interesting option. Maybe a top flight assistant like the guy at A&M,  Kliff Kingsbury, though that may be a reach going that route. Going from an assistant coach to a high profile head coaching job is a big step. Auburn is going to have to work hard to get a guy that can get this thing turned around, but there are coaches out there they can get who will be good fits for the university and the team, and who can turn this around. Auburn has a very solid football tradition. There are good football players on the Plains. They need a motivator, someone who’ll change the culture to a winning culture, the one Pat Dye had down there. There are coaches out there who can do that.There are good coaches out there who want this job. The players are good though untapped, the facilities are excellent and the support from the Auburn family is excceptional. Auburn just wants to start winning again. They can get that done with the right guy in charge. I’m sorry for Chizik, but he’s lost his authority on this team and he can’t win. Change is necessary and needed. AU fans deserve to be cheering for championships. The program has the tools for it. They just need a good coach. There’s somebody out there, more than one guy, who can get this thing turned around.

Will have more later.