The goings on of the rest of the SEC are somewhat difficult to truly follow. Because of the number of times that BWE and I have seen uninformed fans make sweeping judgments of opposing teams based solely on their quarterback and halfback, we decided to start a segment where, though we will talk about halfbacks and quarterbacks, we'll also talk about the other players on teams that are succeeding or failing.
Like every week, Brian Walker's Elbow should have a post up relatively soon that analyzes the SEC East. Come back for that.
ALABAMA
Get this. Alabama throws to their halfbacks, fullbacks, and tight ends, and their fans don't want their coach to be fired. Turns out that what brought criticism to Houston Nutt at Arkansas seems to work in college football. Imagine that. Alabama's leading receivers, Tight End Colin Peek and starting halfback Mark Ingram. I know, I know. Nutt didn't throw to the tight end at Arkansas. He did, however, dial up plays to get the ball to fullbacks and h-backs which are becoming equally as irrelevant in college football.
ARKANSAS
It surprises me that Broderick Green was overtaken for the backup tailback job at Arkansas, but Ronnie Wingo Jr. has made very good things happen with the ball. Wingo is an explosive player, and with limited action (limited carries all around for the Razorbacks), he is averaging 9.2 yards per carry (including one carry for 62 yards). Wingo is only a freshman, and he should contribute heavily next season as the Razorbacks look to replace Michael Smith.
AUBURN
Lost in their "awesome" win against 2-3 Tennessee was the fact that Auburn's defense allowed Jonathan Crompton to pass for a career-high 259 yards. Yeah. Jonathan Crompton. However, Auburn's team is scary right now. Onterrio McCaleb and Ben Tate are both proving to be excellent pieces in Malzahn's offense, and Mario Fannin is being integrated very well as a quarkback. Still, Auburn is going to need more defenders than Craig Stevens to step up if they intend to make noise for the rest of the season.
LSU
I just want to take this time to say that I think Patrick Peterson, LSU's star cornerback, is incredible. I watched him all game against UGA WR AJ Green, and he was very successful. Sure, Green still got his, but that was generally when Peterson wasn't covering him. Ole Miss has never had a corner with that level of skill, and that's something we have always been severely lacking. A corner as talented as Peterson is just a lot of fun to watch. LSU's offense, however, still sucks. They're starting to look a little bit better, but they still only averaged 3.5 yards per carry against UGA even with the monster run from Charles Scott to seal the game.
STATE
Well, Chad Bumphis is likely to make the All-SEC Freshman team. If our coaches really didn't think he was good enough to play for us, they need to work on evaluation. Bumphis came up big-time against Georgia Tech, raking in six receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown as well as a ten yard scoring run. He may not be incredible, but I bet he's better than at least one or two of the qualifiers from last recruiting class. On the defensive side of the football, Pernell McPhee's pledge of leading the SEC in sacks isn't quite coming true. MSU ranks eighth in the statistic. Close to first, I guess.