THURSDAY’S SCORE
Auburn at Kentucky, late
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Ole Miss at Memphis, noon, ABC
Louisiana Tech at Mississippi State, noon, SEC Network
Alabama at Texas A&M, 3:30 p.m., CBS
Vanderbilt at South Carolina, 4 p.m., SEC Network
Florida at LSU, 7 p.m., ESPN
Missouri at Georgia, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network
This has been a tough week for Jim McElwain.
Florida’s first-year coach knew the eighth-ranked Gators (6-0, 4-0 SEC) would have to face Leonard Fournette and No. 6 LSU (5-0, 3-0) on Saturday.
He didn’t know they would have to do it without quarterback Will Grier, who was suspended for the season for violating the NCAA’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
And then freshman cornerback Deiondre Porter was suspended for a September incident in which he faces several charges, including aggravated battery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
“What we try to do in our program in general is try to create as much unknown and chaos, so you understand the key is that you have to focus on the details of the task at hand and don’t let any of the periphery get to you,” McElwain told reporters.
And now, Fournette, who became the 11th FBS player in NCAA history to rush for 1,000 yards in five games, waits.
The Gators are allowing only 99.2 yards rushing per game, which ranks 12th in the country.
Fournette averages 204.4 per game, despite sitting most of the second half of Saturday’s win over South Carolina.
“I know I couldn’t tackle him,” McElwain said on the weekly SEC coaches teleconference. “Here’s what I told our guys. Somebody jump on his back, maybe that will slow him down. Maybe somebody else grabs a shoelace and he trips.”
Florida struggled stopping the run in its 28-27 victory over Tennessee on Sept. 26, when Joshua Dobbs rushed for 136 yards and Jalen Hurd for 102.
“I’m sure the way we tackle, I’m sure the guy from Tennessee, (Jalen) Hurd and (Fournette) were talking, and I’m sure Leonard is licking his lips and saying, ‘This is probably a chance to get 300. The heck with these 200-yard games,’ ” McElwain said, somewhat joking.
Rolling with Allen: Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin turned to freshman quarterback Kyle Allen last year when Kenny Hill's season turned from Heisman-worthy to horrible.
The Aggies lost five of the final seven regular-season games after a 5-0 start, including a 59-0 disaster against Alabama.
Allen struggled, but the experience he gained, the SEC’s best group of receivers and new defensive coordinator John Chavis have helped the ninth-ranked Aggies start 5-0 (2-0 SEC) heading into Saturday’s game against No. 10 Alabama (5-1, 2-1).
“This is a completely different team,” Allen told reporters this week. “We don’t really think about last year or last year’s team. We have a lot of different people and a much different mindset.”
Allen ranks fourth in the SEC with 1,274 yards passing and second with 13 touchdowns (to go with only two interceptions).
He spreads his completions around to Christian Kirk (32 catches for 519 yards), Josh Reynolds (18 for 383), Ricky Seals-Jones (15 for 128) and Damion Ratley (nine for 138).
“We’re not great, but we definitely have improved, and you can see signs we’re getting better,” Sumlin said. “We’ll see here coming up, because we’re going to be challenged in different ways.”
High school reunion: Five former Stephenson High School players are on the rosters at Vanderbilt and South Carolina, which play Saturday.
Starting linebacker Darreon Herring, backup defensive end Jonathan Wynn and backup running back Dallas Rivers are at Vanderbilt.
Backups D.J. Neal, a receiver, and Ali Groves, a safety, play for South Carolina.
Herring is Vanderbilt’s third-leading tackler with 24, Rivers has rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown, and Wynn has two sacks.
Neal has one catch for 15 yards.
Scoring in bunches: Ole Miss needs to be careful against Memphis.
These Tigers aren’t like many of their predecessors, who often showed up on opponents’ schedules at homecoming.
Memphis (5-0) hasn’t cracked the AP Top 25, but averages 47.8 points per game, fourth in the FBS, after going 10-3 with a victory over BYU in the Miami Beach Bowl in 2014.
And if the offenses are awake at 11 a.m. Central time, expect plenty of points.
The Rebels (5-1) average 46.8 points, just behind Memphis.
“You hope on your end that you can score some points that other teams have done, and I’m sure they’re hoping the same thing,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said on the teleconference. “Sometimes, that’s not the case in the way some games go.”
Road-weary Gamecocks: Saturday's game against Vanderbilt is South Carolina's only game at Williams-Brice Stadium between Sept. 26 and Nov. 14.
Last week’s game against LSU was scheduled to be played in Columbia, S.C., but was moved to Baton Rouge, La., because of the flooding in South Carolina.
He said it: "We need a hustler, a guy with fire and passion, a guy that is going to out-recruit (Clemson coach) Dabo (Swinney) and (Georgia coach) Mark Richt and (North Carolina coach) Larry Fedora. I think it's obvious our talent is not quite as good as it was, and that's my fault. We haven't recruited, maybe, quite as well. We thought we had, but it hasn't played out." — Steve Spurrier on the qualities South Carolina needs in its new coach, as told to The (Columbia) State.
Etc.: Tennessee led SEC teams with 90 snaps in Saturday's victory over Georgia, followed by LSU (83), Alabama (79) and Florida (77). Mississippi State had 48 snaps, the fewest among FBS teams, but defeated Troy 45-17. … LSU trailed for the first time this season when South Carolina took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter last week. The Tigers won 45-24. … Spurrier's teams had never started 0-4 in the SEC until this season. He retired from South Carolina this week. … Mississippi State has outscored opponents 48-12 and hasn't allowed a touchdown in the fourth quarter this season. … Brandon Harris is 5-1 as LSU's starting quarterback.
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