Sometimes, it wasn’t that good: Bottom 10 SEC Moments

Don’t worry friends, we’ll get to our ‘Top SEC Moments’ this week, so you can remember fondly the great season that we’ve had a conference (unless you’re Auburn, Tennessee or Kentucky, who combined for 1 conference win between them).

But to go up, sometimes you have to start from the bottom. Here are our Bottom 10 SEC Moments (both off and on the field)….

Our song? Oh: Fun’s ‘Some Nights’….

10) The Fall of Auburn

There was nothing nice to say about Auburn football in 2012. They won no games in their conference. They came close at home to LSU, but that was about it. Otherwise, they completely and utterly stunk. Kiehl Frazier justified his ranking as the SEC’s worst quarterback, and the fans simply stopped coming along. It was tragic. Gene Chizik ran the table in the SEC in 2010-1, and then was run out of the SEC in 2012. Welcome back, Gus Malzahn.

9) Et thou, Kentucky?

We put Kentucky just above Auburn in our celebration of SEC awfulness because they should have beaten Georgia and outplayed South Carolina for a half. Otherwise, they were terrible and Joker Phillips quite rightly lost his jobs. Welcome, Mark Stoops.

8) Arkansas awfulnesss

Once ranked in the Top Ten, the Arkansas Razorbacks were meant to make a run for the SEC West title, and  possible (just possibly) a BCS spot. Knile Davis was back. Tyler Wilson was the quarterback. Cobi Hamilton was the wide receiver. This offense was going to be a lot of fun under Bobby Petrino. Unfortunately for Hog Nation, this wasn’t the only thing under Bobby Petrino. In August, Petrino was involved in a motorcycle crash….and then lied about the student assistant who he was having an affair with. He was fired, and replaced by John L. Smith. Smith provided a lot of fun for the TV cameras, but not a lot of fun on the field. Sorry John, but we can’t smile about the Razorbacks season. Maybe Bret Bielema will be doing better.

7) Zach Mettenberger

If there’s been a bigger let-down quarterback that Zach Mettenberger in the SEC, then please let us know. This tall, strong-armed quarterback was meant to bring LSU to the promised land this year, but in the first half of this year, was absolutely awful. There wasn’t another QB who could overthrow his wide receivers quite like this LSU Tiger did. At Death Valley, we hear that they nearly put warning signs on the sidelines and end-zones when LSU was driving, just in case someone was hurt by the errant throw. Funnily enough, he came good against Alabama and has been pretty good ever since, but he was still a let-down.

6) Mississippi State’s fall from grace

Mississippi State was unbeaten going into Alabama, and everyone thought: “Maybe Dan Mullen’s team won’t be overrated this year”. They were. After a 7-0 start, the Cowbellers lost four out of their last five, including getting blown out by a born-again Ole Miss. But it wasn’t just that. MSU were terrible in the losing run. My only question: How in God’s name did they get their No.11 ranking in the first place? By playing nobody??

5) The let-down that was Dorial Green-Beckham

Dorial Green-Beckham came in at Missouri as the No.1 player in the country. He was athletically brilliant – a no miss, wide receiver. He ended up with 395 yards receiving and 5 TDs, and only 28 receptions. He didn’t have one game of over 7 receptions. Criminally underused? Oh, and he was suspended for the Vanderbilt game for – you guessed it – smoking weed near the school’s stadium. Anyway, we should get a big future out of him next year (early prediction), but this year, Gary Pinkel could have used him more and helped Missouri get a bowl game. Maybe.

4) No unbeatens

On one hand, this shows the strength of the SEC, but on the other hand, it shows that no-one was good enough to run the table this year. No team was particularly amazing in the conference, but we’re pleased to see that the conference’s track record has meant Alabama in the SEC Championship. Oh, and thanks to Stanford and Baylor, too!

3) Rocky Top, Tennessee

Everything was rocky about Tennessee this year. After beating NC State at the start of the year, people started thinking: “Maybe Tennessee could be a dark horse for the SEC title this year”. They weren’t. Truth be told, this wasn’t the worst Tennessee side in recent years that Derek Dooley has coached. They came close in a lot of games, losing two by three points, one by seven points, and they led Florida. Having said that, Tyler Bray continually made bad decisions despite having an excellent offensive line, his wide receivers dropped the ball waaaay to much, and the defense quite simply gave up at the end of the year (see Blowout at Vanderbilt for details). Derek Dooley, who was hated in Neyland by many going into the season, was summarily fired. Oh, and there was the small butt-chugging incident, too, which meant one of the most hilarious denials in the history of hilarious denials. Welcome, Butch Jones…don’t bring any boxed wine.

2)  Tyrann Mathieu Honey Badgers himself

12 months ago, we were cursing ourselves because Tyrann Mathieu didn’t get the Heisman Trophy. 12 months ago, we were replaying highlight reels of Tyrann Mathieu, using the words: “Game changer”, “NFL prospect”, “Incredible”, and asking ourselves questions like: “How on earth does he do that?” Now, we’re asking the question: “How could such an incredibly athletic, game-changing NFL prospect get himself in such trouble over and over again? How on earth does he do that?” Tyrann Mathieu destroyed his own legacy at LSU. And worst of all, he destroyed himself. Here’s to hoping we see you play again, Tyrann Mathieu. But here’s to praying you don’t end up in a very bad way.

 

1) Marcus Lattimore’s saddening exit

Lattimore’s career should not have ended like this. No athlete’s career should have ended like this, but least of all Lattimore, who was looking to rebound after a horrific injury in 2011 took him out. The image that still haunts us is the shocked look of Lattimore’s family, and the prayers of both the South Carolina and Tennessee players. God….