Top 10 SEC Games of 2017
It’s a strange few weeks in college football. It’s not the summer yet so we haven’t seen SEC players get arrested for robbery, possession of weed, public intoxication, and fights. Spring practice has ended so there are plenty of questions. Players who aren’t going to start are looking to graduate to other programs. We think it’s a childish approach, but then again, that’s just us.
So we decided on a retrospective. Here are your top SEC games of the 2017 season.
- Georgia 54, Oklahoma 48: Down 31-17 at the half of the National Championship Semi-Final, Georgia takes the game to double-overtime before Sony Michel takes it to the house for a 27-yard touchdown. Talk about redemption for Michel: It was his fumble with 6:52 left in the fourth quarter that came back for a TD and nearly blew the game for the Bulldogs (and then Nick Chubb saved the day).
- Alabama 26, Georgia 23: Alabama sometimes wins driving a stick up your behind, and sometimes they win dramatically. But Nick Saban knows one thing: How to win. After an awful first half by Jalen Hurts, Alabama switches its man behind the O-Line to Tua Tagovailoa, who is sensational, throwing the ball to DeVonta Smith for the winning TD. The coaches watching the game as part of the live feed saw the bad coverage coming a mile off, but for UGA fans, it meant yet another wait for a major championship. Still, what a game….
- Missouri 48, Arkansas 45: Missouri showed us for one final time in the 2017 season: The offense was awesome, the defense was clueless. And Bret Bielema was fired after the game. The game itself was a fun one, featuring FIVE lead changes, and over 1,300 yards of total offense (and three turnovers).
- Florida 26, Tennessee 20: Winning a game on a Hail Mary is always a cool thing to do. I was watching the game in a bar in California waiting for the Ole Miss vs Cal game to start, and everyone was stunned. Particularly the dude in the orange. The reaction from the UF Student Section is just amazing. I would have sworn too if I was there.
- Texas A&M 50, Arkansas 43 (OT): This rivalry has never failed to deliver in JerryWorld. Razorbacks’ hearts were once again broken, and Aggies fans had something to smile about. It might not have been one for the defensive purists, but SEVEN lead changes makes it quite the game for anyone who loves watching football (unless you’re a fan of either team, and then you’re probably still recovering from your heart attack).
- Alabama 31, Mississippi State 24: After having an awful first half, Jalen Hurts comes back from the dead to lead Bama to an unbeaten season-preserving victory, throwing the game-winner with 25 seconds left. Mississippi managed to get two tries at a Hail Mary, but college football’s rule about pass interference saved the day.
- LSU 27, Auburn 23: With two minutes to go in the first half of of one of the hottest games in LSU history, Ed Orgeron was out of a job. LSU was down 23-7 to one of their biggest SEC West rivals. Then with 32 seconds left, Russell Gage scored to make it 23-14. The Tigers held Auburn in the third quarter and scored 13 in the fourth to win out, and no-one could quite understand what had happened. Suddenly, the seat was warming for Gus Malzahn. And then Auburn smashed Georgia and Alabama on successive weeks.
- Ole Miss 37, Kentucky 34: Kentucky once again find a way to lose. This time it was with 5 seconds left. Oxford crowned a new king of The Grove, Jordan Ta’amu.
- Georgia 20, Notre Dame 19: Georgia fans certainly got their mouths moving before this one, crowding out Wrigley Field , getting screwed over for game tickets , and Calling The Dawgs during Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame Radio Show in a bar. The game was pretty good, too, with QB Jake Fromm getting crowned as the New King Of Athens.
- LSU 17, Florida 16: You think it’s strange why I put this exhibition of inept offense as one of the games of the season, but I give you two things. The Florida fans’ excellent rendition of Tom Petty’s “I won’t back down” , other UF fans getting upset at the LSU band for playing “Neck”, and Florida’s kicker Eddie Piniero made a pinata of himself in the third quarter by missing an extra point that ended up winning the game for LSU.