I was listening to Cowherd’s interview with Gary Danielson yesterday, and the SEC championship was framed as a clash between defense (Alabama) and offense (Florida). This isn’t to pick on what was a good interview or disagree with that storyline because – let’s be honest – most people are looking at it that way because those have been two very dominant units.

But framing the game that way tends to underrate the other elements of the game – namely Alabama’s offense and Florida’s defense and special teams. First let’s look at the Alabama offense. It has most of the pieces you’d expect from a quality offense. The line is veteran and talented. Knowshon Moreno might be the best back in the SEC, but no school has a running back tandem as good as Coffee and Ingram, and Upchurch isn’t bad. Receivers are adequate until you come to difference-maker Julio Jones. It’s a long time ago, but the way this offense came out, mixed it up, and took it right at teams like Clemson and Georgia earlier in the season opened a lot of eyes.

As the Senator notes, it all comes down to quarterback play for the Tide. He’s been shaky a few times this season but nothing like the roller coaster ride that was 2007. If he has time, he should be fine, and Alabama’s experienced OL should help them here against a talented but young Florida defensive front.

Then there’s the Florida defense. It was assumed during the offseason that the Florida defense had to be better because – hey- it couldn’t get much worse. I don’t think many people expected this kind of improvement though. How good is the Florida defense? You know that great Alabama defense everyone sees as a strength in this game? They check in at #3 in total defense (248.5 YPG) and #3 in scoring defense (11.5 PPG). Pretty damn good, right? Florida is #7 (275.67 YPG) and #4 (12.3 PPG) in the same categories. Less than 30 YPG and 1 PPG separates these two defenses.

Florida also has the edge in turnovers. They lead the nation in turnover margin thanks in large part to being third in the nation with 32 takeaways. Florida has 23 interceptions this year, and that’s just one less than Alabama’s total number of takeaways.

Any distinction between the two defenses becomes even more hazy when you look at common opponents.

Common Opponent – Georgia: Florida W 49-10, Alabama W 41-30. Both teams had one explosive half against the Dawgs, but Florida’s defense held Georgia off the scoreboard better than Alabama’s. You can argue whether or not Alabama let up, and Florida did give up close to 400 yards to the Georgia offense.

Common Opponent – Kentucky: Florida W 63-5, Alabama W 17-14. Not even close. Kentucky had the Tide nervous, and Florida reduced the Cats to rubble.

Common Opponent – LSU: Florida W 51-21, Alabama W 27-21. Both teams feasted on LSU turnovers, but the difference was in the ground game. LSU rushed for 201 yards against Alabama but only 80 against Florida. Did the nature of the game matter? The LSU-Alabama game was a close one where LSU could stick with the run. At Florida, the Tigers were down 20-0 and in comeback mode not long into the second quarter.

Common Opponent – Ole Miss: Florida L 30-31, Alabama W 24-20. Both teams played Ole Miss close, and Florida actually held Ole Miss to fewer yards than Alabama did. The difference might have been turnovers. Florida forced only one Rebel miscue, and Alabama came away with three. Florida in 2008 mostly avoided the big play bug that hurt them so much in 2007, but an 86-yard TD pass in this one made them pay. Again, Alabama let up in this game and saw a 24-0 lead evaporate.

Common Opponent – Tennessee: Florida W 30-6, Alabama W 29-9. Both teams held Tennessee to a few field goals, but Florida held the Vols to nearly 100 fewer yards.

Common Opponent – Arkansas: Florida W 38-7, Alabama W 49-14. Alabama was definitely the more dominant team against the Hogs. Florida was in a 17-7 game in the second half while the Tide used offense and defense to put their game away by halftime in a foreshadowing of what was to come in Athens.

After looking at that, is the Alabama defense really that much of a relative advantage in this game? Special teams will also matter. Both teams have exciting return men, but Florida’s punt block unit has been one of the big behind-the-scenes development of the season. They plowed through Kentucky and Vanderbilt punt protection with speed and skill that would make Poland nervous. Florida right now is the opposite of what we’ve seen this year from Georgia. Instead of offense and special teams making it tough at times for an already-shaky defense, Florida defense and special teams are making things easier for an already-potent offense.

Alabama has the pieces to win this game, but I have to go with a Florida team that has been consistently excellent over the past two months on offense and defense. The Alabama and Florida defenses are statistically very close over the course of the season, but the gap between the offenses is nowhere near as tight. Florida wins, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the underrated Florida defense make its mark on the game in a very big way.

A Pennsylvania company is coming out with a line of unique fragrances aimed at fans of certain colleges. Penn State was the first school with its own fragrance which, in cologne form, “smells of blue cypress and cracked pepper.” Somehow “old man smell” didn’t make the cut for the Nittany Lions.

UNC is the second batch of suckers fan base with a signature scent. As the Carolina Man is a complex animal, it follows that his scent is an intricate bouquet that is part Willie Wonka, part Willie Nelson, and not at all flaming. (Note that what follows is a description of a cologne and not a dish from last week’s Top Chef.)

UNC for men is a light and crisp fragrance that embodies alluring Carolina Blue in a bottle. The fragrance opens with fresh Sicilian lemon and bergamot. The aromatics extend with lavender and the subtle spice of sensual white pepper. The base notes combine a soft white amber and tonka bean. An irresistible and fresh creation for the proud Carolina man.

The company will wisely dip its toe into the SEC market next season (insert corndog joke here), but we suggest that the SEC game day fragrance is already available in bottled form.

Any other guesses about the fragrances for Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, and LSU?

• Waiting for us in the mailbox Saturday evening was the Hartman Fund renewal envelope. Talk about perfect timing. Somehow I don’t see 10,000+ points as the cutoff for new season tickets next year.
• Aside from Massaquoi’s afternoon, the one good memory I’ll take away from the game was the block that Chapas threw to spring Moreno around the end for his touchdown run. It was Tony-Milton-2002-Kentucky good.
• Speaking of Chapas, his contribution this year was a bright spot. He answered the call and really set himself up as the next Georgia fullback. But what ever happened to Southerland? Was his conditioning just shot after the injury kept him off his feet for so long? Southerland played and contributed where he could – even at tight end in certain packages – but surely this isn’t the way most of us thought and hoped it would end for him.
• Either Lane Kiffin stole HeismanPundit’s girlfriend once, or Tennessee will be looking for another new coach in a few years. HP first warned athletic directors back in September and has continued to beat the drum since. No punches pulled there.
• Clemson’s new coach also fails to impress. It comes off like a cross between Bill Stewart and Ray Goff. He’s regarded as a recruiter, young, liked by his players, and has embraced his school’s traditions, but the win over South Carolina sure seems a lot like Stewart’s win over Oklahoma last year. I look at it this way – if Swinney were in the same assistant position at, say, his alma mater Alabama, would he even register on a Clemson coaching search?
• If Georgia has a kindred spirit this year, it’s Missouri. The Tigers started the season around the top 5, didn’t have to play Texas Tech or Oklahoma in the regular season, and still finished 9-3 giving up 40 points to a 7-5 team in their last game and loss. Yet they’re playing for a conference title this weekend.

You’ve really got to hate it for Texas safety Blake Gideon. A single dropped interception a few weeks ago is all that stands between Texas and the #1 spot in the polls, a spot in the Big 12 title game, and the inside track to the national title game. Instead, Texas is now on the outside looking in for not only the national title game but even the championship of half of a conference.

The bits and bytes will be burning up this week debating the subject, so here are a few more points to ponder.

First, understand that this is a Big 12 problem, not a BCS problem. The Big 12 chose to make the BCS part of its tiebreaker process. Blaming an undesirable outcome on the BCS in this situation makes as much sense as pointing out the flaws in rock-paper-scissors if the conference had chosen that method to break its ties. The conference will surely revisit its tiebreaker scenarios after this year, and it’s on them for not taking care of it earlier.

Second, the BCS got it right. As much as Texas wants to boil this down to a 45-35 45-35 45-35 45-35 45-35 argument, it’s not that simple. To begin with, it conveniently skips over the loss to Texas Tech and the fact that the #1 team in the nation couldn’t hold a lead with a minute to go. That’s not a fatal flaw for Texas by any stretch – all three Big 12 co-champs have their warts. But it is enough to step back and remember that the BCS evaluates not only individual results but also the entire season.

That’s where Oklahoma shines, and I’m glad to see that in this case schedule was rewarded. Oklahoma has wins over BCS-bound Cincinnati and #11 TCU. Texas’ best nonconference opponent was Arkansas – a middling SEC school. Texas Tech played no one from another BCS conference. Texas did have their tough gauntlet that culminated in the loss at Texas Tech, but among a group of three teams that played the conference season to a deadlock Oklahoma’s out of conference slate has to tilt things in their favor.

Much, if not all, of the talk leading up to this weekend’s game will center around Georgia’s challenge in stopping Georgia Tech’s option offense. There’s plenty of reason for that: it’s a look we’re not used to, it’s effective, and it did a lot of damage in the game most of us used to scout the upcoming opponent. Defending the option will require exceptional preparation and execution. But don’t take for granted the size of the job on the other side of the ball. Keep this fact in mind:

Tech hasn’t scored more than 17 points on Georgia since 2000.

That might or might not change this year. Tech’s offense is different and improved this year, and past performance does not guarantee future results, etc., etc., etc. We’ve seen what the Tech offense can do against teams like Miami and Mississippi State, but they’ve also scored 21 or fewer points in over half of their games to this point thanks largely to turnovers.

Yet from 2004-2006, the games were way too close for comfort. In 2004, David Greene had to come off the bench and play injured just to get a field goal. Georgia scored 30+ in four of its last five games in 2005 but could only manage 14 against Tech. In 2006, Georgia couldn’t even break double-digits without help from the defense. In games where the Georgia offense has performed well, the result has been wins by double-digits.

Georgia in 2008, statistically speaking, has one of their best offenses in recent history. The quarterback, running back, and receivers are among the SEC leaders, and it’s all being done behind a young and depleted line. But those of us who have seen the offense in operation should know that statistics over the course of a season have a way of smoothing over what’s actually happened. Yes, this is the same Georgia offense that had its way with Arizona State, LSU, and Kentucky. It’s also the same offense that struggled for 14 points at South Carolina, skipped the first half against Alabama, shot itself in the foot against Florida, and couldn’t put Auburn away. If the Georgia offense had been performing consistently at a high level on the way to those nice averages, I wouldn’t be as concerned. But they haven’t.

Georgia Tech is currently #12 in scoring defense at 16.7 PPG – that’s the best unit on either team in this game in terms of scoring offense or defense. #12 puts them more or less between Auburn and Tennessee in that stat. They are strongest up front with Darryl Richard and Michael Johnson leading the way, but they have also been opportunistic with 17 interceptions (10th best in the nation).

The performance of Georgia’s offense will have a bigger impact on the game than just putting points on the board. With everyone fretting about stopping the option, what better way to affect an offense’s gameplan than to put it in a come-from-behind situation? Even in its losses Tech has done a good job this year of keeping the games close and within reach, and they’ve been able to stick to the offense. It wasn’t until North Carolina built a lead on them that Tech QB Josh Nesbitt attempted a season-high 22 passes.

It’s the last home game for Massaquoi, and it could be the swan song at Sanford for Stafford and Moreno as well. That trio, along with the rest of the offense, just might be Georgia’s best weapon to slow down Tech’s option attack. I go back to what I wrote back over the summer: if Tech is going to end the streak any time soon, (defensive coordinator) Dave Wommack will have as much or more to do with it than Paul Johnson. If Georgia’s stars on offense go out with a signature performance, it won’t matter what kind of offense Tech is running.

Back in July when the SEC media made its preseason predictions, a single vote stood out among the dozens cast. David Paschall pretty much captured my reaction when he wrote that, "The Ole Miss Rebels somehow received a first-place vote after going 0-8 in the league last year." That’s right: Alabama, zero votes. Ole Miss, one vote. The SEC media split its SEC West first-place votes among Auburn, LSU, and….Ole Miss.

The Rebels are in no danger of winning the SEC West, but in hindsight that lone voter – through luck or skill – had a lot more insight than the rest who put LSU or Auburn at the top. With Saturday’s win at LSU, Ole Miss moved into second place in the SEC West behind undefeated Alabama. The Rebels are 4-3 in the conference and 7-4 overall. This week’s Egg Bowl played at home against Mississippi State stands between the Rebels and a very solid 5-3 SEC record made all the more remarkable when you consider that Ole Miss won a total of 3 SEC games during the three years with Ed Orgeron at the helm.

With that record, it would be tough to keep Ole Miss out of a pretty nice bowl game. Only Alabama, Florida, and Georgia would have better SEC records. If Houston Nutt, with a new program and a new quarterback, could turn Ole Miss from a team that went winless in the SEC a year ago to a team headed for a New Year’s bowl, I don’t see how anyone else could be considered the SEC’s Coach of the Year.

Of course it all comes down to this weekend. Not only would a loss to Mississippi State drop the Rebels into a 4-4 mess, a loss in their biggest rivalry game would also take a lot of the shine off of a nice season. The memory of last year’s epic collapse in Starkville still has to hurt, and a win this year to top off a winning season would go a long way towards erasing the bad memories left from the end of the Orgeron era.

Where is Penn State among the discussion of 1-loss teams? Their dismantling of Oregon State looks better every week, and their only loss was a 1-point road upset against an 8-4 Iowa team. Not saying they necessarily stand out over Texas, Florida, or any of the others, but it’s amazing how quickly they were written out of the conversation after the Iowa game.

Jarrett Lee’s taking a lot of heat for LSU’s woes this season, and he has made his share of mistakes, but issues at quarterback were more or less a given entering the season. Most expected LSU to follow a tried-and-true SEC formula: play well enough on defense to get by with average offense. The story of LSU’s season hasn’t been Lee’s struggles at quarterback; it’s been the slippage on defense. LSU has given up 31+ in five of their last seven games. Houston Nutt has won at Death Valley in consecutive seasons with two different teams and seems to have his quarterback for the next several seasons. The Alabama-Auburn-LSU power structure in the SEC West has been shaken up this season, and if the Rebels can win the Egg Bowl this year, an 8-4 Ole Miss team might be headed to the Cotton Bowl.

How might a guy named Sammie Stroughter impact Georgia’s postseason? Pac-10 leader Oregon State had to come from behind to win at Arizona, and Stroughter was Mr. Clutch for the Beavers down the stretch. He tallied 3 catches for 88 yards on OSU’s final two drives, caught the touchdown pass that pulled the Beavers to within 1, and then set up the game-winning field goal with a 49-yard reception with under 40 seconds remaining. With the win, Oregon State remains in position to win the Pac-10 if they can beat Oregon this weekend. If OSU does win out and earn a Rose Bowl trip, it will likely keep Ohio State out of the BCS and put them in a position for a possible game against Georgia in the Capital One Bowl. If OSU loses to their rival, Southern Cal heads to the Rose Bowl, Ohio State gets an at-large BCS bid, and it would be Michigan State heading to Orlando.

Is it possible for a team like Vanderbilt to have a letdown game? Twice this year after milestone wins (the Auburn victory in front of a national Gameday audience and the Kentucky victory which made them bowl-eligible), the Commodores have come up with an ugly loss. Mississippi State and Tennessee have a combined 4 SEC wins, and Vanderbilt accounts for half of them. It’s great and all that Vandy is headed to a bowl game, but they are still very much Vanderbilt.

David Cutcliffe’s Duke team was the talk of the college football scene after a 31-3 win over Virginia gave the Blue Devils a 3-1 start. Entering the final week of the season, Duke is now 1-6 in the ACC and will be favored to lose to rival North Carolina this weekend. Duke has won just one game since that blowout of Virginia back in September…naturally, that win came against Vanderbilt. Four wins would still be as many victories as Duke had from 2004-2007, but that quick start might have inflated expectations for this season. Cutcliffe is still a heck of a coach and will continue a tough turnaround job.

When sorting out the Big 12 South mess, how important is the strength of schedule factor? Texas’s win over Oklahoma on a neutral field surely counts for a lot, but we can’t forget that Texas (and Muschamp’s defense) had the game in Lubbock for the taking and didn’t get it done. Looking outside their respective Big 12 schedules, Oklahoma should get credit for a slate that includes wins over respectable TCU and Cincinnati teams. Meanwhile, Texas’s best nonconference opponent was SEC bottom-dweller Arkansas, and Texas Tech hasn’t played a BCS conference team outside of the Big 12.

Georgia Southern (6-5): –

Central Michigan (8-3): CMU’s hopes for another MAC title came down to a single game on Wednesday, and they came up short. They led undefeated Ball State in the 4th quarter, but a pair of late touchdowns flipped the game, and a final drive ended on an interception. It was a thoroughly entertaining game, and it did well to illustrate that the best MAC teams have no business anywhere near the BCS. With the conference title out of the picture, the Chippewas can aim for 9-3 and hope for a bowl bid. THIS WEEK: Lost to Ball state (Wed.)

South Carolina (7-4): Even the strong South Carolina defense didn’t come to play in Gainesville. The ugly loss does take a bit off of what had been a nice turnaround, and they’ll have to win the in-state rivalry to avoid settling for just a winning season. THIS WEEK: BYE

Arizona State (4-6): It wasn’t quite the 60-point beating other teams put on Washington State, but the Sun Devils had few problems routing the Pac-10’s worst team. Even though their current two-game winning streak came against horrible teams, it’s still good to get back in the saddle. Now they have consecutive wins and a bye week to get their heads straight for season-ending games against UCLA and rival Arizona. They’ll need to win both to have a shot at the postseason. THIS WEEK: BYE

Alabama (11-0): After consecutive losses to Mississippi State, it had to spook some Alabama fans to be down again in the second quarter last week. Defense and special teams took care of that, but you expect a bit more from an offense that seems to have all of the pieces. No chance they overlook the Iron Bowl. THIS WEEK: BYE

Tennessee (3-7): There’s not much left to play for. The fans have moved on to the ongoing coaching search. All that’s left is avoiding the program’s worst season in history. Tennesse scraped by Vanderbilt and Kentucky last season, but the close games have been going against them this year. THIS WEEK: @ Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt (6-4): Congratulations to the bowl-eligible Commodores. They brushed off the Florida loss and won a road SEC game to get over the six-win hump. In fact, half their wins this year have come on the road, and the ability to win away from home is often the hallmark of a quality team. Even more impressive, the win at Kentucky assured Vandy of finishing in the top half of the SEC East. Vandy is certainly legitimate and interesting to watch, if only to see D.J. Moore. With the sixth win out of the way, the story becomes how far the team can go. Will Vandy fans for once outnumber Tennessee fans in Nashville? THIS WEEK: Tennessee

LSU (7-3): In 1994, the Kentucky basketball team pulled off "the greatest comeback in college basketball history" when they rallied from 31 points down in the second half to beat LSU. LSU was on the other side of an incredible comeback last week when they stormed back from a 31-3 second half deficit to beat Troy. Over / under on the number of LSU fans who will claim they stayed and supported the team through the end of the Troy game is 125,000 – roughly the same number who claim to have sat in the rain to watch the thrilling finish of Georgia’s 1996 win over Texas Tech. The question now is whether LSU was simply caught sleepwalking or if they are in trouble against teams like Ole Miss and Arkansas. THIS WEEK: Ole Miss

Florida (9-1): Georgia fans can find small comfort in the fact that the Dawgs at least hung with Florida until halftime. The Gators have just had to take the field to get Vandy and South Carolina to lay down. It’s going to be very, very ugly this week for the Citadel. Will Tebow play at all in the second half? THIS WEEK: Citadel

Kentucky (6-5): It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the Wildcats. They found new life in quarterback Randall Cobb, but they’ve come up just short when given a chance to win games against Georgia and Vanderbilt. They have that critical sixth win already, but a loss against Tennessee in the season finale would leave them at 6-6 and a pretty unattractive bowl team. THIS WEEK: BYE

Auburn (5-6): The big question: where the heck was Mario Fannin at the end of the game? He didn’t just score Auburn’s two touchdowns earlier in the game; he also scored in Athens last year. Instead Tommy Tuberville chose to "split carries" and had the ineffective Ben Tate in the game. Tate was the target on the game’s final pass, but he couldn’t come up with it. There’s more going on with the Auburn offense than just the coordinator. THIS WEEK: BYE

Georgia Tech (7-3): The divisional and conference titles are still in play, but it’s amazing that a team can be one game away from either an outside shot at the title or finishing .500 in the conference. That’s where Tech is, and it will be decided tonight when they host Miami. Tech has had the Canes’ number lately, but this year’s Miami squad is rounding into form towards the end of the season. Expect to see some good defense on display. THIS WEEK: Miami (Thurs.)

I suppose I should add my congratulations to Bulldog alum Will Muschamp on the occasion of his impressive promotion and raise. Some will be disappointed that he won’t be coming back to Athens in some sort of coaching capacity, but we’ve been just fine when he’s on the other sideline lately. I understand that they are making the move with Muschamp’s career trend line in mind, but is he who they would hire if there were a vacancy today? I doubt it.

I do find it interesting that among the universal “no-brainer” reaction to this announcement that there hasn’t been much discussion raised over one issue.

It was only a week or two ago a report from the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport was all over the sports news. The biggest item getting play from that report was the number FOUR – the number of black Division I head football coaches.

Of course the coach-in-waiting thing isn’t necessarily a barrier to improvement in this area – Joker Phillips at Kentucky is Prince Charles to Rich Brooks’ Queen Elizabeth. But as long as the number of black head coaches remains an issue, will the practice of naming a successor beforehand come to have the appearance of a way to get around a more thorough interview process without appropriate attention given to minority candidates? Will groups like the BCA begin to speak up about the practice?

Anyway, it’s not even a given that Muschamp will end up with the head coaching job. Sure, he has a nice raise and the promise of the top job when it becomes available, but I don’t see this move as much more than a way for Texas to lock up a promising coordinator. Muschamp could still leave whenever he likes, but now it’s likely not to be for another coordinator position, and it would have to be one heck of a head coaching opportunity to renounce the throne in Austin. For now, it means that Tennessee and Clemson can go pound sand. Down the road, we’ll see.

I made the call back at the beginning of the year that one of these things is going to happen sooner or later to one of these coach-in-waiting deals.

• The program fires the current staff before the old coach has a chance to step down, leaving the successor without a job he assumed was his.
• The fan base grows weary of the outgoing coach and everything about the old program. The successor is seen as a slipcover on worn-out furniture.
• The successor loses luster as an assistant before the transition can take place, leaving a program stuck with a guy they didn’t even want as an assistant.

None of them seem very likely right now when applied to Texas, but Mack Brown is still a relatively young guy to be making this move. We’ll see how the fans feel about Brown and Muschamp in five to ten years.

USA Today: College athletes studies guided toward ‘major in eligibility’

You mean that in the name of the APR and graduation rates student-athletes are being steered towards easier majors? Who would have ever seen that coming? Read the article for an insight into the wonderful world of unintended consequences and human nature.

The bottom line of course is that the NCAA is more or less powerless to do anything but wag their finger at the practice. So long as the student-athlete is making academic progress in a legitimate course of study at a member school, there is no differentiation between a social sciences major at Kansas State and a biochemistry major at Columbia.

“There are limits to what the national office can, and should, do,” (NCAA President Myles Brand) says. “Anything to do with the academic programs really falls entirely within the purview of the individual institutions.”

Even after this disappointing season, you’d think that 6 straight wins over Alabama would give Auburn fans just a little bit of faith heading into the Iron Bowl. Not so much for the Huntsville Madison County Auburn Club.

After an opening win over SC-Upstate on Friday, the men’s basketball team laid its first egg of the season on Monday night. The Dawgs lost 74-53 to Loyola-Chicago in the opening round of the preseason NIT. The game was tied at 29 at halftime, but Georgia was outscored 45-24 in the second period. For reference, Loyola lost to Division II Rockhurst in their season opener.

The SEC Tournament aside, this is the kind of rubbish performance that had people more than ready to make a change last March. If there is a saving grace, it’s that Howard Thompkins didn’t play as he continues to work back from injury. It should be a different and better team in there, but even he is not going to help much on nights where the Dawgs shoot 1-for-12 from outside and get a combined 13 points from the 9 players who weren’t Terrance Woodbury or Travis Leslie.

NBC is challenging Notre Dame and Syracuse fans to participate in a bit of environmental competition centered around NBC’s “Green Week“.

NBC challenged both Notre Dame and Syracuse to get as many people as possible to join their Carbon Rally teams.

“You basically sign up and you can elect to take personal challenges,” Long said.

Challenges may include making sure tires are properly inflated and driving more “delicately,” without pushing the gas pedal more than necessary, Long said. The school that gets the greatest number of people to join its team wins $10,000, Long said.

If they want to go beyond silly symbolism and the fuzzy math that will be necessary to declare this game “carbon neutral”, I can’t think of a better way to show a commitment to the planet’s well-being than just agreeing to skip a completely meaningless game between an irrelevant Notre Dame team and a Syracuse team that’s beyond awful. Forget inflating tires – keep the Syracuse plane on the ground, tell the subway alums to stay home and plant a tree, and skip the mountains of gameday garbage. Trust us, the game won’t be missed.

Even if they can’t get the game called off, NBC can do the right thing in the name of their own cause and pull the plug on the broadcast. Even the TV crew has a carbon impact on the game – everything from travel to power needs – and every little bit counts. Do the right thing, NBC…for the good of the planet and college football.

Green caught 5 passes for 81 yards and had the game-winning reception to lead Georgia over Auburn. Green’s emergence as a playmaker has been one of the biggest positives to come out of the 2008 season.

Also a tip of the hat to Vandy’s D.J. Moore who was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week. He could have easily received consideration for Offensive Player of the Week as he hauled down two touchdown receptions in the Commodores’ landmark win at Kentucky. On defense he now has six interceptions which ties him for the national and SEC lead.

Link: SEC Honors

Maybe it’s the play of the defense and special teams lately. Maybe it’s the nature of the rivalry. For whatever reason, Georgia fans seem really gun-shy about this weekend’s game. The Dawgs are nearly a ten-point favorite, but good luck finding someone willing to take Georgia and give the points.

No one really knows what to expect. It’s true that Georgia’s offense seems to be the biggest advantage that sticks out, and the Dawgs have put up some points on Auburn for, well, for the last three seasons. If there’s something we can put our finger on, it’s concern over the defense. Georgia should be able to keep the sputtering Tiger offense in check. The only two times Auburn has scored over 20 in SEC play this season they’ve needed a score from the defense or special teams to get there.

Corvey Irvin in particular has been saying all the right things this week about the play of the defense, but it’s Missouri time now. Show me. Nothing Auburn will do is going to be a surprise. Mario Fannin will likely get the start, but we’ll see plenty of Lester and Tate too. Kodi Burns is primarily a running threat, but when he throws it’ll probably be in the direction of Smith or Trott. Auburn’s not a hard scout – it’s all up to execution.

LSU’s Charles Scott had success running against Georgia, and Fannin is the same type of back – 5’11", 220+. Irvin and the others can rant and hold meetings, but their success will come down to their ability to do the basics. Get penetration, contain Burns, play assignments, play with intensity and aggression, and watch how much better the defense looks.

I admit I don’t have a good read on the game either, so I’ll just look at what worked in 2006 and 2007.

The story of 2006 was possession. I had forgotten how lopsided it was. You had Battle’s three interceptions of course, but the memorable thing about Brandon Cox’s line that day was that he threw as many interceptions as completions and incompletions (4 of each). Clock rules or no, Auburn ran an astonishing 37 plays on offense. 12 passes, 25 runs. Georgia ran nearly twice as many plays – 46 runs and 20 passes. Georgia held the ball for over 38 minutes.

The day was also a bit of redemption for Matthew Stafford. He not only took a beating at Kentucky the week earlier, but fans were beginning to question just what we had after another game full of turnovers and a second half meltdown. Stafford hit deep passes to A.J. Bryant (yes, actually A.J. Bryant in case Dave Neal is reading) and Kenneth Harris to set the tone, and Stafford’s lone miscue of the day was a fumble after a decent run. Even with the fumble, Stafford showed off his ability to run the ball and finished the day with 83 yards and a rushing touchdown that put the game away early in the fourth quarter.

The 2007 game followed several of the same themes. Kelin Johnson took over for Tra Battle and picked off Brandon Cox’s first pass, and Georgia was off and running. Stafford again found success on the deep pass with a long touchdown strike to Massaquoi. The Bulldog defense again picked off four of Cox’s passes.

Unlike the 2006 game, Auburn responded and even took the lead in the third quarter. Georgia answered with another long pass from Stafford to Bailey, and then Knowshon and Thomas Brown took over.

Those two Auburn wins showcased every tedious key to victory you’ve ever heard:

• Get out early
• Capitalize on turnovers
• Win the turnover battle
• Have a 100+ yard rusher
• Keep the other guy from running (Auburn didn’t have a player go over 60 yards in either game)
• Hit some deep passes to keep the defense honest

If Georgia can find a way to do all of that again, the result will be just as enjoyable.