Football games often fall into a category of explanation at the conclusion of the contest. Think about it, how many times have you ever heard the game was closer than expected? Not as close as it looks. Closer than it looks. Just the blowout we expected. Oh, and who saw that coming?
These, my friends, are the five most common cliches used around the Monday morning water coolers throughout the SEC. Sure, some will say, those phrases are common in every football conference in the nation. But within the SEC, the most competitive collection of football programs, these go-to phrases are each used every weekend.
They’re not the only phrases you will see bantered about on social media by SEC fans. Some exhibit more patience. Others are downright nasty. We will look at some of these and their respective games as we go through our SEC Wrap-up for Week 9.
Three Takeaway Games
(8) LSU 23, (14) Texas A&M 38: The battle for sole possession of first place in the conference and the driver’s seat to a playoff berth unexpectedly went through Kyle Field on Saturday. It was close going into the fourth quarter, but then LSU just petered out.
X user Brandon Walker felt “LSU’s last 10-minutes might be the worst 10-minutes of football this entire season.”
Whatever happened to the Tigers and their placeholder is beyond me. The Aggies just looked better for the most part, and their perfect 5-0 conference record to set themselves atop the leader board, with no chance of them not being the favorite until they square off against Texas to close out the regular season.
(5) Texas 27, (25) Vanderbilt 24: Vandy just does not give up, and their offense insistent on turning the ball over in the second half still did not prove to be an effective deterrent from pulling another Top 5 upset this season. We all are aware successful onside kicks are a rarity in football, but try to imagine how the landscape for 2024 would have changed had the Commodores been able to pull it off and put one more touchdown into the endzone.
Texas would most likely be on the outside looking in for the playoffs, and Vandy would have catapulted themselves into the Top 15. Instead, the Longhorns are still a favorite to compete for the national championship, and the ‘Dores will be wondering “what if”, hoping they can work their way back into the rankings, which is a feat for which they often long.
Vanderbilt’s quarterback did receive some praise on the social media sphere. A user with the handle of ‘Wake Up SEC’ stated, “Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia is on the cusp of entering the Heisman Trophy race.”
(21) Missouri 0, (15) Alabama 34: This game should have been closer, truly. Missouri got whipped like your great-aunt’s overly sized lemon meringue.
It was so bad even Tennessee fans were having the fantasy of Missouri being on their schedule this season. Austin Brown stated, “Words can’t describe how robbed I feel that Tennessee doesn’t get to play Missouri this year.” Brown then went on to extend a pleasant thought about Missouri Head Coach Eli Drinkwitz.
Remaining Results for Week 9
Arkansas 58, Mississippi State 25: For a few brief moments late in the 3rd quarter, the Hogs almost looked like they were going to do what Arkansas does best: lose composure, a big lead, and possibly the game. Fortunately, quarterback Taylen Green and the Razorback backfield kept their cool and poured on more offense in the fourth. Arkansas’s defense also stepped up with key stops and forcing crucial turnovers to keep them in the top half of the conference.
With Arkansas basketball’s big exhibition win over No. 1 Kansas Friday, X user Hog Call expressed his jubilation after the football game: “It feels really weird being happy about basketball and football in the same weekend.”
Oklahoma 14, (18) Ole Miss 26: This one came out the way any informed football fan would have expected, and it took going into the second half for the Rebels to finally get the final lead and put the game away. With the win, Ole Miss keeps themselves on the fringe of hope of making the playoffs, but no one should bet on it.
Auburn 24, Kentucky 10: Simply a bad team beating an up-and-down team with no consequences on the season. Maybe… just maybe, Tigers coach Hugh Freeze got some critics off of his tail for a week. He did not get nine-out-of-nine of them, but perhaps a few.
Check back here next week for more SEC wrap-up.
