SEC Saturday Round-Up – Week 2

Kentucky had Saturday off, so instead of focusing my energy on the ‘Cats game, I’ve been watching Kentucky’s SEC opponents trying to evaluate exactly where UK stands with respect to each of them. I know we’ve only gotten to see UK at full speed for about 3 quarters against an overmatched MAC squad, but I still keep wondering, can we beat those guys?

So, with that in mind, I’m going to be giving you a brief breakdown of each game involving an SEC team with a “Beatability Index” from 1-10 based on what we have seen to this point from each team, with a focus on the performance from this weekend. 1 means “no chance”, 10 means “I’d be ticked if UK lost”.

Florida 56 Troy 6

The Gators are number 1 for a reason and I’m not sure if there’s a team on their schedule I would expect to stay within 3 touchdowns. Troy took their turn this weekend, sustaining a substantial beating. They were down only 7-3 at halftime, but everybody’s favorite choir boy, Tim Tebow, led Florida to 4 touchdowns in the second quarter.

Tebow had a pretty standard afternoon based on his past, throwing for 235 yards and 4 TD’s and running for 76 yards and another score. The Gators lost their most dynamic weapon in Percy Harvin to the NFL, but they have not missed a beat in their two so-called “pre-season” games leading up to their SEC opener against Lane Kiffin and Tennessee.

Riley Cooper has emerged as Tebow’s favorite target thus far, catching 10 balls for 187 yards in the first two games.

The Florida defense was stouter than in their opener against Charleston Southern, allowing only 151 yards to Troy compared with 323 the previous week.

Beatability Index – Florida: 1

I was tempted to throw a zero at the Gators, but I will never say never. Like I said earlier, I’m not sure any team will be able to stay with them before the SEC Championship game or maybe even the National Title game.

UCLA 19 Tennessee 15

Wow the Vols looked bad against a mediocre UCLA squad. Well, I guess I should say wow, the Vols’ OFFENSE looked bad against a mediocre UCLA squad.

Lane Kiffin better be glad his daddy is taking care of the defense and that he has Eric Berry, because otherwise, it was ugly. Jonathan Crompton made a strong case for the dubious distinction of worst SEC QB, completing only 13 of 26 passes with 3 picks. Those numbers are bad enough, but add to them the fact that his 13 completions resulted in 93 yards.

The running game was better, but not by much. They ran for 119 yards on 44 carries.

Amazingly, the Vols outgained UCLA thanks to some excellent defense, but were undone by 4 turnovers to UCLA’s 1. Luck was on UCLA’s side when the ball was on the deck, because they fumbled 6 times and only lost 1.

When UT wins games this season, they won’t be all that pretty. The Vols D is going to tough for everyone to beat (save for maybe Florida) and the offense is marginal at best.

Beatability Index – Tennessee: 6

I basically look at the Vols as 2 different teams. I would give the offense a score of 9 on the index and the defense a 3, so averaging the two, it’s a 6. I know UT is UT and the streak is ongoing and all that, but I think UK is going to have a golden opportunity to take down Tennessee.

Auburn 49 Mississippi State 24

Auburn may be just a little bit better than we thought. In Tommy Tuberville’s last year, the Tigers dealt with a failed experiment with the spread offense and one of the worst seasons in War Eagle memory. This season, it looks like Gene Chizik’s squad is going to earn its money on the ground.

Auburn punished Mississippi State on Saturday to the tune of 390 yards and 6.6 yards per carry. The Tigers look like they will contin