Sports

College Football Scores: SEC Week 8

Gators chomp Gamecocks, Tide rolls over Volunteers and Dawgs dodge defeat.

Any doubts about which team should be sitting on top of the SEC East were likely erased Saturday with No. 2* Florida’s thrashing of No. 7 South Carolina. By the half, the Gators had a 21-6 lead and things only got worse from there as Florida cruised to a 44-11 victory.

Can Georgia beat Florida? How quickly should Auburn fire Gene Chizik? Is LSU lucky or good? Let us know your thoughts about this week's games in the comments below.

As Matt Hayes of the Sporting News noted about Florida, “They don’t miss tackles, aren’t out of position and have a killer instinct in the second half. They’re so physically intimidating on both sides of the ball, the quarterback --the most important position on the field -- just has to stay out of the weeds.”

The Gators (7-0) host No. 11 Georgia next week. South Carolina (6-2) welcomes the Volunteers to town.

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In other SEC action Saturday:

No. 1 Alabama 44, Tennessee 13 – Solid offensive performances by Tide quarterback A.J. McCarron and freshman receiver Amari Cooper were just part of what made Saturday so bad for the Volunteers. Defensively, the Tide also shined, holding Tennessee to just 282 yards to Alabama’s 539. “They break the line, and they do that to everybody,” Tennessee coach Derek Dooley told AL.com after his team fell to 3-4 (0-4 in the SEC). “We just joined the ranks of the rest of the country.” The undefeated Crimson Tide will face No. 12 Mississippi State next week in Tuscaloosa. The Vols head to South Carolina.

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No. 6 LSU 24, No. 18 Texas A&M 19 – The Aggies beat LSU in almost every category except the one that counts the most -- points. Texas A&M jumped out to a 12-0 lead by midway through the second quarter, but quickly blew it allowing the Tigers to score 24 unanswered points before getting back on the board late in the 4th. According to the Bleacher Report, “Overall, LSU was outgunned by the Aggies to the tune of only 18 first downs versus A&M’s 26, and 316 yards of total offense versus TAMU’s 410. Even more distance is illustrated via the Tigers’ dismal 97 yards of passing versus the Aggies’ 276.” Next week, A&M (5-2) begins a three-game road series starting with Auburn, followed by trips to Starkville and Tuscaloosa. LSU (7-1) gets a week off before the Tide comes to the Bayou.

Auburn 17, Vanderbilt 13 – The calls for Gene Chizik to get the heck out of Auburn got a lot louder Saturday as the Tigers fell to 1-6 (0-5 in the SEC) after losing to Vanderbilt (3-4). As Kevin Scarbinsky of AL.com wrote, “You change coaches when you’re off to your worst start in 60 years, and you’ve passed the season’s midpoint and you still can’t be sure you’ve hit bottom. You change coaches when you’ve fallen so far behind your biggest rival that you have to trade in your binoculars for a telescope to watch him pull farther and farther away.” Scarbinsky added, “At best, Auburn will finish this year 4-8, and that’s likely only if Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Football quits in the next week to play baseball.” Johnny Football will be in town next week as the Tigers host Texas A&M. Vanderbilt will take on the University of Massachusetts.

No. 11 Georgia 29, Kentucky 24 – Georgia entered Saturday’s matchup against the Wildcats a 27-point favorite. Things didn’t exactly worked out like the bookies planned though. “Nearly a four-touchdown favorite, the No. 11-ranked Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1 SEC) found themselves in a street fight with the 1-7 Wildcats.,” Chip Towers of the AJC wrote. However, barely scraping by Kentucky is not likely to inspire confidence heading into next week’s matchup with No. 2 Florida -- the team that just whooped the team that whooped Georgia. For Kentucky (1-7), next week promises perhaps a more even match against Missouri.

Middle Tennessee 3, No. 12 Mississippi State 45 – “Mississippi State led just 10-3 at halftime and was struggling to move the ball in the third quarter before Perkins' breakthrough touchdown run. It was the first of three Bulldogs touchdowns in the decisive third quarter,” CBSSports.com reports. The win sets up next week’s matchup between the undefeated Bulldogs and the undefeated Crimson Tide.

Idle Oct. 20: Arkansas, Ole Miss and Missouri  

*Listed rankings according to BCS week one.

You might also be interested in reading:

  • College Football Scores: SEC Week 1
  • College Football Scores: SEC Week 2
  • College Football Scores: SEC Week 3
  • College Football Scores: SEC Week 4
  • College Football Scores: SEC Week 5
  • College Football Scores: SEC Week 6
  • College Football Scores: SEC Week 7


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