SEC Report Card Labor Day Weekend 2016

                                    SEC Report Card Labor Day Weekend 2016

Tennessee Weekly Grade = C

Tennessee 20 Appalachian State 13 Thursday 9/1/16   

Appalachian State almost beat Tennessee, another good team, in overtime. The perception is by the UT fan base is that they are a CFB payoff team.  No, Tennessee is a good 3-4 loss team.  Appalachian State is a good team that will again go bowling.

South Carolina  = C     Vanderbilt =  C-                                                                          South Carolina  13 at Vanderbilt 0           9/3/16  

                     

Vanderbilt played well and missed a chance to be atop of the SEC standings going into October.  Vandy broke out the crisp white and black Anchor Down unis.  South Carolina looked liked they broke out some retro early 1970’s era high school unis.  Will Muschamp is highly regarded as a defensive coach.  He is going to have to justify and show why he has become a millionaire being a head coach without the big winning results SEC teams expect.   Vandy plays A level defense.  The offense is the big missing piece for Coach Derek Mason.

Mississippi State  Weekly Grade= F

South Alabama 21 Mississippi State 20  9/3/16                                                                                                               

Bama alum Joey Jones took a South Alabama program that began in 20009 and beat Mississippi State a SEC  competitive member.  Dan Mullen began his head coaching career at Mississippi State in 2008 a year before South Alabama started to play in 2009.  In the South it matters how you treat people.  Mullen took a player in who was a 5 star recruit and was videoed and later arrested for beating a woman.  He consistently refuses on purpose to say his in state rivals name The University of Mississippi or “Ole Miss”.   He chooses to go full Yankee and call them “The School up North”.  He further divides needlessly the feeling of the people of these two great schools.  All I can say to Coach Mullen is that “you're not from around here”  and will not be much longer if you treat people wrong and do not win.

Missouri Grade = F

Missouri 11  West Virginia 26 9/3/16

Missouri broke out uniforms that were hard to recognize as to who wore them.  This proves they do not understand the concept of uniforms.   Bringing Mizzou into the SEC 3 years ago Coach Picknel came in strong and geared up for his entry into the SEC East by winning it twice.  Grade F for the conference putting them in the East.  Does the conference understand the importance of rivalries, fan travel and all things that make the SEC great?  Now we are getting the Missouri we thought we would get.  No interest games to the fan base plus a hard to get to location that will render Missouri unimportant in the SEC for the immediate future to other SEC fans.  The conference did not help them.

Texas A&M Grade = B+

UCLA 24 Texas A&M 31   9/3/16

My preseason prediction, because of the demands of Aggie fan,s was that Coach Kevin Sumlin would leave or be asked to be excused after the season.  Texas A&M  and its spending on football makes them assume they have a level of status in the SEC they have not achieved yet.  You better whin now coach.  The Aggie QB situation was in shambles with many transfers out of College Station.  The Aggies received a  transfer into College Station Trevor Knight.   Knight has good skills and is regarded as a unifying leader for the club.  UCLA was an equal opponent with similar circumstances.  UCLA also wrongly believes their program is a top 10 club. Good job Aggies.

LSU grade = reality C+, Fans grade = F-

LSU 14  Wisconsin 16         9/3/16

(Admitted bias) I love how Les Miles gets the Tigers to play with tremendous effort every week.  Anybody that wears #18 is a baller and get out of their way.  LSU seems headed to be a good team and not a top 10 team.  Many considered them for the playoff team.  The LSU QB and total offensive play is still not up to standards  for the fans who expect the best.  Wisconsin is good. LSU is good.  To keep Miles the Tigers have to get a potent offense.

Arkansas Grade = C

Louisiana Tech 20 Arkansas 21 9/3/16

Skip Holtz is a good coach for LT.  Arkansas fans yearn for the old days.  The Hogs also think they have arrived.  They are not in the CFB champion city limits.  They are good not great. Coach Bret Bielema will need to accelerate the speed of arrival to keep Hog fans happy and delivering money to the program, and him employed. 

Georgia Grade =A-      

Georgia  33  North Carolina 24  9/3/16

Let me start by saying my new dog will be named Chubb for Georgia legend and inspiration Nick Chub.  222 yards and winning the day in your first day since wrecking your knee severely last October?  You sir are a state of Georgia legend for all people.  Coach Kirby Smart adjusted some boo-boos on the go.  Senior QB Lambert was steady.  Freshman QB Jason Eason got everyone’s blood pumping.  Chubb defied logic and moved the chains. North Carolina is Good.  The Dawgs might now can be thinking things like making a run for the SEC East banner.

Kentucky  Grade = F

Southern Miss 44  Kentucky 35 9/3/16

What do you say about a team that fires its Offensive Coordinator?  Then the OC Shannon Dawson goes to a smaller conference school and hangs 44 on your SEC team for a crushing start to the season?  Jay Hopson is a “for real” head coach for Southern Miss.

Florida   Grade = B-         

UMASS 7  Florida 24 9/3/16

Florida has bored us for years with unremarkable opponents for their openers.  Florida Coach Jim McElwain will get the Gators in position to go to the top when UT falters and if UGA does not maintain their progress. 

Alabama Grade = A++         

 Southern Cal 6  Alabama 52 9/3/16

Bama gets the extra plus for Coach Saban not breaking into a giggling fit on the sideline and during post game interviews.  USC, can you say Donkey Kong?  That is what happened to you.

Auburn Grade = C    

Clemson 19  Auburn 13 9/3/16

Auburn opened against what many feel is a certain CFB playoff team in Clemson. Auburn faced the best player in college football Deshaun Watson.  Auburn and Coach Gus Malzahn have an uncertain feeling on how his up and down career at Auburn will proceed. This was a better start than most predicted against the toughest opener in the SEC besides Ole Miss and FSU in Orlando.

Ole Miss  grade = Incomplete  

Ole Miss at Florida State (Orlando) 9/5/16 Labor Day

Ole Miss opens up Labor Day night in what is called a neutral site in Orlando.  Their grade does not matter.  Ole Miss will be in the top 5 or out of the top 25 after the first 4 games.  Florida State, Woffford, Bama, Georgia.  By October first we will know the Rebels exact grade.

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 Lift Jesus Up!  Fletcher Law