SB Nation Atlanta - SEC College Football, Week 12: LSU And Arkansas Avoid Upsets, Tennessee's Streakinghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46601/atlanta-fave.png2010-11-20T23:04:00-05:00http://atlanta.sbnation.com/rss/stream/15815142010-11-20T23:04:00-05:002010-11-20T23:04:00-05:00SEC Football Schedule, Week 12: Tennessee Pulls Away From Vanderbilt Late, Wins 24-10
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<p>A solid 14-3 halftime lead for the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/tennessee-volunteers">Tennessee Volunteers</a> turned into a rather shakier-looking 17-10 lead late in the fourth quarter after Vanderbilt’s backup QB, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/11050/jared-funk">Jared Funk</a>, tossed a 16-yard touchdown pass to <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/116267/jordan-matthews">Jordan Matthews</a>. But Tennessee marched down the field on their ensuing drive, and on 4th-and-2 from the Vanderbilt 28, UT running back <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/37887/tauren-poole">Tauren Poole</a> squirted through a scrum of defenders and raced into the end zone, moving the lead back to two touchdowns and effectively putting the game out of reach for a Vandy offense that had accomplished precious little for most of the night.</p>
<p>Vandy is now 2-9 and needs a win over Wake Forest next week to avoid a second straight two-win season — not an inspiring position to be in just two years after Bobby Johnson led the Commodores to their first bowl game (and first postseason win) since the early 1980s. Tennessee, meanwhile, has reason to feel quite a bit better about themselves. After a soul-crushing 2-6 start, the Vols have now won three straight, and with a win in Knoxville next week over Kentucky — whom they’ve beaten 25 straight times — the Vols will be bowl-eligible in Derek Dooley’s first season as head coach.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.anchorofgold.com/">Anchor of Gold</a> will soon have a recap of the game for Vandy fans. Vol partisans can head over to <a href="http://www.rockytoptalk.com">Rocky Top Talk</a> for the Big Orange take on the game and how it sets the Vols up for the critical matchup with Kentucky next Saturday.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/georgia-bulldogs/2010/11/20/1827133/sec-football-schedule-week-12-tennessee-pulls-away-from-vanderbiltDoug Gillett2010-11-20T22:51:45-05:002010-11-20T22:51:45-05:00SEC Football Schedule, Week 12: Arkansas Outlasts Mississippi State In Double-OT, 38-31
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<p>After Mississippi State erased a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime, the Razorbacks and Bulldogs traded fruitless possessions in the first extra period. MSU’s <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/116144/vick-ballard">Vick Ballard</a> rushed all the way down to the Arkansas 1 before fumbling the ball out of the end zone for a touchback; Arkansas then stalled at the <span class="caps">MSU</span> 21 and watched Zack Hocker miss a 38-yard field goal wide left.</p>
<p>In the second set of OT possessions, Arkansas went first and moved swiftly down the field, with the drive culminating in a 7-yard TD pass from <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/6810/ryan-mallett">Ryan Mallett</a> to a wide-open Knile Davis. Mississippi State moved down to the Arkansas 12 on their ensuing possession but stalled at 4th-and-7, and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/10636/chris-relf">Chris Relf</a> was sacked on the final play to seal the win for the Razorbacks.</p>
<p>Now 9-2, Arkansas has an outside chance at an at-large <span class="caps">BCS</span> berth if they can upset <span class="caps">LSU</span> in Fayetteville next week. Head over to <a href="http://www.arkansasexpats.com/">Arkansas Expats</a> for the full rundown on tonight’s game and the lookahead to the big matchup with <span class="caps">LSU</span> next Saturday; <a href="http://www.forwhomthecowbelltolls.com/">For Whom the Cowbell Tolls</a> will have the post-mortem from the Mississippi State side and the inside dope on the upcoming Egg Bowl grudge match with Ole Miss.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/georgia-bulldogs/2010/11/20/1827117/sec-football-schedule-week-12-arkansas-outlasts-mississippi-state-inDoug Gillett2010-11-20T22:34:55-05:002010-11-20T22:34:55-05:00SEC Football Scores, Week 12: Arkansas, MSU Headed To OT; Tennessee Toying With Vandy
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<p><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/arkansas-razorbacks">Arkansas Razorbacks</a> at <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/mississippi-st-bulldogs">Mississippi State Bulldogs</a>: Arkansas grabbed a 10-point lead with two touchdowns in the second half — the first an 88-yard catch-and-run from <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/6810/ryan-mallett">Ryan Mallett</a> to <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/35277/jarius-wright">Jarius Wright</a> late in the third quarter, the other a 1-yard <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/85440/knile-davis">Knile Davis</a> rush — but Mississippi State answered with a <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/116144/vick-ballard">Vick Ballard</a> touchdown run late in the fourth, and then Derek DiPasquale tied the game with a 25-yard field goal with four seconds left in regulation. Mississippi State gets the ball first in overtime.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/tennessee-volunteers">Tennessee Volunteers</a> at <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/vanderbilt-commodores">Vanderbilt Commodores</a>: Tennessee took a 14-3 lead into halftime and hasn’t done much since, but fortunately for the Vols, Vanderbilt hasn’t either. The Commodores have started drives at the Tennessee 20 (after a fumble) and the Vandy 47 (after <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/116203/tyler-bray">Tyler Bray</a>’s second interception of the game) but had nothing to show for it; Vandy’s evening can be pretty well summed up by a fourth-quarter sequence in which VU appeared to score a touchdown but had it called back due to an illegal touching penalty — and then tossed an interception to Tennessee’s <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/79025/janzen-jackson">Janzen Jackson</a> just a few plays later. If the Vols hold on, it won’t be a pretty win, but they’ll take it, particularly considering that it’ll bring them within one win of bowl eligibility after a painful 2-6 start.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/georgia-bulldogs/2010/11/20/1827101/sec-football-scores-week-12-arkansas-msu-headed-to-ot-tennesseeDoug Gillett2010-11-20T21:08:14-05:002010-11-20T21:08:14-05:00SEC College Football Scores, Week 12: Mississippi State, Tennessee Lead At The Half
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<p><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/arkansas-razorbacks" class="sbn-auto-link">Arkansas Razorbacks</a> at <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/mississippi-st-bulldogs">Mississippi State Bulldogs:</a> We have an upset alert in Starkville, as #22 Mississippi State leads #13 Arkansas at halftime, 21-17. We’re not just on upset alert, we’re in total Bizarro World: State QB <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/10636/chris-relf" class="sbn-auto-link">Chris Relf</a> is actually having a better day than Arkansas’ <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/6810/ryan-mallett" class="sbn-auto-link">Ryan Mallett</a> — more yards (136 to 103) and a better completion percentage — while Arkansas has a slight edge in rushing thanks to <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/85440/knile-davis" class="sbn-auto-link">Knile Davis</a>’ 135 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries. In the first quarter, Davis had what is so far the game’s leading candidate for ESPN’s top plays of the week with a 62-yard touchdown sprint.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.arkansasexpats.com/">Arkansas Expats</a> and <a href="http://www.forwhomthecowbelltolls.com/">For Whom the Cowbell Tolls</a> both have open threads going if you’re looking to check in on the action.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/tennessee-volunteers" class="sbn-auto-link">Tennessee Volunteers</a> at <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/vanderbilt-commodores" class="sbn-auto-link">Vanderbilt Commodores</a>: The Vols haven’t had quite the offensive success that either of the previous two teams have had, but they’ve done enough on both sides of the ball to carry a 14-3 lead into intermission. QB <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/116203/tyler-bray" class="sbn-auto-link">Tyler Bray</a> has tossed his first pick in three weeks, but he’s also thrown both of UT’s touchdown passes. The Tennessee defense, meanwhile, has held Vandy to only 124 total yards in the first half.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.rockytoptalk.com/">Rocky Top Talk</a> has your open thread going if you’re a Vol; <a href="http://www.anchorofgold.com/">Anchor of Gold</a> has you covered if you’re a Commodore fan.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/georgia-bulldogs/2010/11/20/1826977/sec-college-football-scores-week-12-mississippi-state-tennessee-leadDoug Gillett2010-11-20T20:08:28-05:002010-11-20T20:08:28-05:00SEC College Football Scores, Week 12: Arky/MSU Putting Points On The Board, UT/Vandy Not So Much
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<p><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/arkansas-razorbacks" class="sbn-auto-link">Arkansas Razorbacks</a> at <span class="caps"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/mississippi-st-bulldogs">Mississippi State Bulldogs: </a>MSU</span> quarterback <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/10636/chris-relf" class="sbn-auto-link">Chris Relf</a> kicked off the scoring with a 23-yard scramble into the end zone early in the first quarter, and then the prolific Arkansas offense took it from there, scoring on a 62-yard <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/85440/knile-davis" class="sbn-auto-link">Knile Davis</a> run and a 25-yard pass from <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/6810/ryan-mallett" class="sbn-auto-link">Ryan Mallett</a> to D.J. Williams. State tied it up early in the second period, though, with a 1-yard Vick Ballard TD run. Give credit to Dan Mullen for going for it (and succeeding) on 4th-and-2 from his own 37 earlier on in the drive.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.arkansasexpats.com/">Arkansas Expats</a> has a game thread going for Hog fans; if you’re of the Mississippi State persuasion, head over to <a href="http://www.forwhomthecowbelltolls.com/">For Whom the Cowbell Tolls.</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/tennessee-volunteers" class="sbn-auto-link">Tennessee Volunteers</a> at <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/vanderbilt-commodores" class="sbn-auto-link">Vanderbilt Commodores</a>: The offensive fireworks have been muted by comparison in Nashville, but Tennessee’s freshman-phenom receiver just caught a 15-yard TD pass to open the scoring with 4:12 left in the first quarter. The pass was QB <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/116203/tyler-bray" class="sbn-auto-link">Tyler Bray</a>’s 11th touchdown pass since taking over the starting job full-time against South Carolina three weeks ago, and he’s only thrown one pick (to the Gamecocks) in that time.</p>
<p>Head over to <a href="http://www.rockytoptalk.com">Rocky Top Talk</a> for more on the Vols, or <a href="http://www.anchorofgold.com/">Anchor of Gold</a> for the Vanderbilt perspective.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/georgia-bulldogs/2010/11/20/1826896/sec-college-football-scores-week-12-arky-msu-putting-points-on-theDoug Gillett2010-11-20T19:24:59-05:002010-11-20T19:24:59-05:00SEC College Football Scores, Week 12: LSU Survives A Shootout With Ole Miss, 43-36
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<p>The game ended as it began — with not a lot of defense, and a <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/37380/jeremiah-masoli">Jeremiah Masoli</a> interception. <span class="caps">LSU</span> and Ole Miss traded touchdowns for basically the entirety of a wild 32-point fourth quarter, but <span class="caps">LSU</span> got the last word with a 7-yard <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/10536/stevan-ridley">Stevan Ridley</a> touchdown run with less than a minute remaining. A pair of failed Hail Mary attempts by the Rebels’ Masoli, the second of which ended up in the hands of <span class="caps">LSU</span> cornerback <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/36522/patrick-peterson">Patrick Peterson</a>, sealed the win for the Tigers.</p>
<p>Peterson was the star of the game with numerous clutch defensive plays, as well as five kickoff returns that totaled 121 yards. But give some credit to LSU’s much-maligned Jordan Jefferson, too, who completed 13 of 17 passes for a season-high 254 yards (nearly as many yards as his last four games combined), a TD and a pick and also rushed nine times for 45 yards and another score.</p>
<p>With the loss, Ole Miss is eliminated from bowl contention for the first time in Houston Nutt’s tenure, something that’s sure to go over swell with Rebel fans. <span class="caps">LSU</span>, meanwhile, will likely retain a top-six <span class="caps">BCS</span> ranking and can make an at-large <span class="caps">BCS</span> bid all but official with a win at 13th-ranked Arkansas next week.</p>
<p>For postgame analysis, point your browsers toward SBN’s <a href="http://www.andthevalleyshook.com/">And the Valley Shook</a> and <a href="http://www.redcuprebellion.com/">Red Cup Rebellion.</a></p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/georgia-bulldogs/2010/11/20/1826830/sec-college-football-scores-week-12-lsu-survives-a-shootout-with-oleDoug Gillett2010-11-20T18:32:43-05:002010-11-20T18:32:43-05:00SEC College Football Scores, Week 12: LSU 29, Ole Miss 24, With A Quarter To Go
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<p><span class="caps">LSU</span> still has a lead over Ole Miss, but they’re hardly out of the woods yet. The Rebels’ <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/48017/brandon-bolden">Brandon Bolden</a> scampered around right end for a three-yard TD late in the third quarter, giving Ole Miss its first lead of the game, 24-23. <span class="caps">LSU</span> answered on the second play of the final period, with Jordan Jefferson pounding it into the end zone from three yards out.</p>
<p>Ole Miss has only cobbled together 251 yards of offense so far, but they’ve gotten some help from a couple nicely timed takeaways and from the powerful running of Bolden, who’s up to 87 yards and a pair of TDs on 14 carries. They’ve also found a definite spark in the kickoff-return game. Jefferson, meanwhile, has been surprisingly clutch, with 200 yards on 10-of-14 passing.</p>
<p>Lot of hard hits in this game, <em>most</em> of them legal. But it’s clear that nobody on the Ole Miss side is conceding this one without a fight.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/georgia-bulldogs/2010/11/20/1826761/sec-college-football-scores-week-12-lsu-29-ole-miss-24-with-a-quarterDoug Gillett2010-11-20T17:27:48-05:002010-11-20T17:27:48-05:00SEC College Football Scores, Week 12: LSU 20, Ole Miss 17 At The Half
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<p><span class="caps">LSU</span> is the top-five team, Ole Miss is the team that had 50 hung on it by Tennessee last week — and yet the Rebels are hanging in there, trailing <span class="caps">LSU</span> by only a field goal in Baton Rouge as the marching bands hit the field for halftime.</p>
<p>After an atrocious performance in Knoxville, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/37380/jeremiah-masoli" class="sbn-auto-link">Jeremiah Masoli</a> has moved up to “merely mediocre” (5-of-9, 49 yards, no TDs, one pick), but tailback <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/48017/brandon-bolden" class="sbn-auto-link">Brandon Bolden</a> is carrying the offense quite nicely with a 66 yards and a score on nine carries. In what can only be viewed as a further indictment of the Rebels’ defense, the rest of the offensive stars are on LSU’s side of the field: QB Jordan Jefferson is a tidy 5-of-7 for 117 yards and no turnovers, while running back <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/10536/stevan-ridley" class="sbn-auto-link">Stevan Ridley</a> has rung up 68 yards and a pair of touchdowns.</p>
<p>As for your defensive stars, well, that discussion begins and ends with LSU’s <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/78703/craig-loston" class="sbn-auto-link">Craig Loston</a>, who <a href="http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2010/11/20/1826433/second-shift-giggityhat-giggityhat-giggityhat#52442546">effectively negated the existence</a> of Ole Miss’ <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/10726/lionel-breaux" class="sbn-auto-link">Lionel Breaux</a> while blocking on a punt return in the second quarter. Loston may be made of pure energy, a la Dr. Manhattan in “Watchmen.” We’re looking into it.</p>
<p>For less theoretical musings on the game, check in with open threads at SBN’s own <a href="http://www.andthevalleyshook.com/">And The Valley Shook</a> (<span class="caps">LSU</span>) and <a href="http://www.redcuprebellion.com/">Red Cup Rebellion</a> (Ole Miss).</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/georgia-bulldogs/2010/11/20/1826687/sec-college-football-scores-week-12-lsu-20-ole-miss-17-at-the-halfDoug Gillett