The Southeastern Conference had its second “instant classic” game of the season this past weekend. The first was Alabama 49/Texas A&M 42 on September 14th. The second was Georgia 44/LSU 41 in Athens this past Saturday.
It was a thriller that went back and forth all afternoon. Zach Mettenberger led LSU back to a 41-37 lead when Jeremy Hill scored from eight yards out with four minutes to play. Unfortunately for the Tigers, that was too much time for Aaron Murray.
The Georgia quarterback led the Bulldogs on a 75-yard, six-play drive that consumed 2:27 seconds and ended when Murray hit Justin Scott-Wesley with a 25-yard touchdown pass to pull out the win.
“In the moment of truth, we took care of business,” said Mark Richt. “That had to be fun for America to watch and for our fans to watch. You don’t get many opportunities like that and have it come out the way it did. It’s been an emotional day for me, for the players and coaches, for the fans. We knew it would take everything we had in this game. Everything was so crucial.
“I’m just humbled and thankful to be the head coach here and be able to enjoy what happened here today. I thought it would be a knock-down, drag-out fight. I didn’t think we’d be able to slow down their run like we did.”
Murray threw four touchdown passes and scored one on a QB sneak but all he wanted to do was talk about the team.
“That was awesome,” he said. “I’m so proud of the entire team and how we came out today. It’s been a tough start to the season, playing three top 10 teams in our first four games, and I am so proud of the way our team has gotten through it. We knew that today was going to be a fight, and we were up to it.”
The one dark cloud for Georgia came when Todd Gurley hurt his ankle early, but Keith Marshall stepped in and led the Bulldogs in rushing with 96 yards on 20 carries.
Another big game in the SEC race took place between two unbeaten teams when Alabama and Ole Miss met in Tuscaloosa. This one was anything but a classic, unless you are talking about Alabama’s classic defense. The Crimson Tide found a running game in the second half and took a 25-0 win over the high-powered Rebels. It was the 11th shutout by a Nick Saban-coached team.
“C. J. Mosley really did a great job of leading the defense,” said Saban. “He was really fired up about playing in this game, and he did a great job. The [defensive] front did a great job. We were able to play a lot of split safety coverages out there, which helped us from giving up big plays and we were still able to stop the run, which is really critical in terms of how well the front played. We got some turnovers when we needed them.”
“We looked at it as a challenge, as we were being hunted,” said defensive lineman Jeoffrey Pagan. “With all the things that Ole Miss was saying, we took it personal and we wanted to come out and dominate the game and the line of scrimmage.”
They did just that by holding Ole Miss to 46 yards rushing 205 yards of total offense.
Arkansas gave Texas A&M more of a struggle than the Aggies expected by trailing by five points, 38-33, going into the fourth quarter.
“I’ve known (offensive coordinator) Jim Chaney a long time,” said Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin. “I thought they had an excellent plan. They kept us off balance, wheel routes, reverses. You name it. We got the kitchen sink tonight. There were balls all over the place and just a really diversified attack. I wasn’t surprised. I thought that they protected him. The change in protection was good and gave him one or two receiver routes when they needed to and got him comfortable early. Like I said, I thought their plan was excellent and free-wheeling and something I really thought would happen coming from Jim.”
Bret Bielema was proud of his team’s effort against the No. 7 team in the country.
“A critical point for us was we knew we needed to score every time we had it and had to monopolize the football,” said Bielema. “I thought Brandon Allen was outstanding. To come in the way he did, with a limited amount of practice, was impressive. I thought Alex Collins provided a spark. He and Jonathan Williams did some good things.
“Defensively, against the rush attack we kept rotating the guys. In the third and fourth quarter we just ran out of steam. I give a lot of credit to A&M. Johnny Manziel is a great player, a great competitor. He makes things happen out of nothing. I’m excited about this group. If they continue to give me the effort they gave me this week during practice and then the way they played today we’ll be able to win some games.”
There wasn’t a lot of drama in Florida’s 27th consecutive win over Kentucky other than the continued growth of Tyler Murphy as the Gator quarterback replacing. He replaced the injured Jeff Driskel and played well. Murphy was 15 of 18 passing for 156 yards and a touchdown. He also added a score on the ground.
“My offensive line did a great job, the receivers made some nice catches, and Matt Jones took the ball in the hole with some nice runs,” Murphy said. “Anytime you can have a long drive like that to start the game, it’s a big plus for you. You can’t ask for a better start. That’s a heartbreaker for a defense.”
With the loss of Driskel and defensive tackle Dominique Easley to injuries this past week, there was reason for Will Muschamp to be worried despite the long Florida winning streak against the Wildcats.
“I was very concerned going into the game,” Muschamp said. “We’ve got a bunch of guys that care about each other. They are there to pick each other up regardless of the situation. You can’t always control your circumstances in life but you can control your vision and where you are headed.
“We are headed in the right direction. We have had a couple of setbacks, but no one really cares. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. So we just need to roll our sleeves up and go to work. That’s what we’re going to do.”