SEC report

LITTLE ROCK — Vanderbilt trying again for a bowl

If 13 1/2-point favorite Vanderbilt, fresh off a 17-6 victory at then-No. 6 South Carolina, can dispose of visiting Miami of Ohio on Saturday, the Commodores (4-3) will need one victory in their final four games to become bowl-eligible.

But as its history suggests, victory No. 5 has been far easier than No. 6 for Vanderbilt.

Since 1982, when Vandy went 8-4 and lost 36-28 to Air Force in the Hall of Fame Bowl, five Commodores teams have gone 0-11 in attempting to secure a sixth victory that would have clinched a winning record and at least a good shot at going bowling.

That doesn't include the 2005 Commodores, who started 4-0, 2-0 in the SEC, but dropped six consecutive games to continue a postseason drought that's closing in on a quarter century.

"These guys are some great guys," quarterback Chris Nickson told The Tennessean of Nashville. "They've worked so hard, they deserve a bowl game."

If Vanderbilt gets by Miami (Ohio), it still has some work to do.

The Commodores' final four games are at Florida, at home against Kentucky, at Tennessee and at home against Wake Forest. Vanderbilt likely would be considered an underdog in the first three, with the Wake Forest game a probable toss-up.

But performances like the South Carolina game, when the Commodores limited the Gamecocks to 26 rushing yards and 1 for 12 on third-down conversions, are savored, particularly with so many close losses on Vandy's resume.

"We hope that helps," Coach Bobby Johnson said. "But the last couple years most of our wins have been fourth-quarter wins. It's not a unique problem when you're trying to gain on other programs and make progress in your own program. You're going to have those kinds of games, and you win some and you lose some."AUBURN-LSU Busting their chops

Auburn and LSU each offered their side of the argument regarding a questionable block on LSU All-America defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey that involved Auburn freshman offensive lineman Lee Ziemba of Rogers.

In the third quarter of Saturday's 30-24 LSU victory, Dorsey was doubleteamed by Ziemba, Auburn's left tackle, and freshman left guard Chaz Ramsey.

ESPN replays showed Ziemba blocking Dorsey high and Ramsey hitting him low, almost at Dorsey's knees. He left the game favoring his right knee and did not return.

Dorsey didn't practice Tuesday but is expected to be OK when LSU plays Alabama on Nov. 3.

Since no flag was thrown and ESPN announcers Mike Patrick and Todd Blackledge argued that it was an illegal block, talk began to surface that Ziemba and Ramsey combined on what was once known as a "post and chop" maneuver.

"There's one thing if it's not intentional," said LSU Coach Les Miles, who played offensive guard for Michigan from 1974-1975. "But if it's an intentional post and chop, that went out in the '70s."

Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville thought an illegal block penalty should have been called on his team but was adamant it wasn't meant to be a cheap shot on Dorsey, one of the nation's top defensive players.

"Those things happen," Tubervillesaid. "We do not teach it. We will not teach it. We won't tolerate it.

"One thing all the coaches in our league have talked about is chop blocks at the line of scrimmage and roughing the quarterback. We want the officials to call those. That should have been a 15-yard penalty." AUBURN

Mistake or brilliance?

Auburn beginning 2007 with two home games against BCS-conference opponents Kansas State and South Florida was quite the nonconference scheduling contrast to teams like Arkansas, which feasted on Sun Belt Conference teams and Chattanooga from the Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA).

The Tigers split with Kansas State and South Florida in two physical games but prepared themselves well and are playing some of the SEC's best football now, with two big road victories over Florida and Arkansas and almost a third at LSU.

But while the Tigers should be applauded for their nonconference schedule, they paid the price in September.

"The biggest thing that happened to us is we got beat up," Coach Tommy Tuberville said. "We lost probably eight starters in terms of losing some kind of playing time or practice time.

That really set us back for the next few weeks.

"It's a major gamble to play teams out of our conference early in the season that are very good teams and can affect your conference games coming up.

"It's good for college football. Was it good for us? You've got to evaluate that as you look at your schedule."GEORGIA-FLORIDA Leave it alone

Shame on the suits from Georgia and Florida who frown on the term "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" for this classic. Tradition, folks, tradition.

Now there is a movement from Georgia to rotate the game between its usual Jacksonville site and Atlanta, which would strip the game of a little more of its legacy of thrillers played at the old Gator Bowl stadium and now the home of the NFL's Jaguars.

Florida Coach Urban Meyer said he can relate to the Bulldogs' concerns considering the Georgia campus is located roughly 360 miles from Jacksonville compared to the 71-mile drive from there to Gainesville. But he also said moving such a storied rivalry away from Jacksonville would "be a shame."

"It's like the Red River Shootout with Oklahoma and Texas," Meyer said of the Sooners' and Longhorns' meeting in Dallas each year.

Also in the Big 12, Missouri's annual game with neighboring state rival Illinois has moved to Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. This November's Missouri-Kansas game will be played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

"There are only a couple of those that exist," Meyer said. "And I think it would take away from the uniqueness of the rivalry."

Georgia Coach Mark Richt when asked about it Wednesday.

"Is it neutral, truly neutral? I don't know if it is or not," Richt said. "Right now we're going to Jacksonville and excited to be going to Jacksonville."Two-minute drill

Georgia senior running back Kregg Lumpkin's career is over after he underwent surgery on his ailing left knee. The former Parade All-American gained more than 1,600 yards the first three seasons, but was limited to nine carries for 37 in 2006.

If 4-4 Mississippi State wants to become bowl-eligible for the first time since 2000, the Bulldogs can't afford to be dominated as badly as they were in the first quarter at West Virginia last week. The now-No. 7 Mountaineers led 31-0 six seconds into the second quarter and held a 221-18 advantage in total yards in the first quarter.

Bear Bryant's tradition of lighting up a victory cigar after beating rival Tennessee during the teams' annual meeting on the third Saturday of October was filtered out by the NCAA. So last Saturday's 41-17 blowout of the Vols was smoke-free in the Crimson Tide locker room. "It's against NCAA rules to use tobacco.

I don't think anybody even thought about it, to be honest with you," Alabama Coach Nick Saban said when asked if he had stashed away a stogie just in case. "I know it's tradition here.

But the players never came and asked me about it, and I never mentioned it to them. It's not really my style." m What happened to the Fun 'N' Gun offense Steve Spurrier is so famous for? South Carolina is an anemic 93rd in the nation in total offense at 340.5 yards a game. The 26 sacks of Gamecocks quarterbacks are more than just six of 119 teams in the NCAA's Bowl Subdivision.

Information for this report was contributed by other SEC beat writersGame of the week

NO. 18 GEORGIA VS. NO. 11 FLORIDA

2:30 P.M. AT JACKSONVILLE, FLA., CBSEither the Gators or the Bulldogs have represented their division in six of the past eight SEC championship games. Don't be surprised if Saturday's winner makes the trip to Atlanta on Dec. 1. A Georgia victory would set up the Bulldogs, who follow the neutral-site game with home games against Troy, Auburn and Kentucky. The rejuvenated Gators want a potential rematch with LSU in a game they probably should have won in Baton Rouge on Oct. 6.

Sick sixth sense

Six times since its last bowl appearance in 1982, Vanderbilt has finished a year with five victories, one shy of a winning record and opportunity to play in a bowl. In five of those years, the Commodores couldn't secure a sixth victory despite having 11 chances to do so. Here's a look at Vandy's failed attempts: 1984 The Commodores stunned Alabama 30-21 in Tuscaloosa and beat Ole Miss to go to 5-3, but lost their last three games (27-18 to Kentucky, 23-3 to Virginia Tech and 29-13 to Tennessee).

1991 In Coach Gerry DiNardo's first season in Nashville, Vandy put together a four-game winning streak with victories over Georgia and Kentucky to reach .500, only to lose 45-0 at Tennessee.

1993 A 5-4 mark entering the final two games gave the Commodores hope, but Florida and Tennessee won the final two games by a combined margin 114-14.

1994 An almost carbon-copy finish for DiNardo in his final season at Vanderbilt. The Commodores were 5-4 with two to play, but lost 24-7 to Florida and 65-0 to Tennessee.

1999 A cruel ending for Coach Woody Widenhofer's team that had three opportunities after a 5-3 start but lost close games to Florida (13-6) and Kentucky (19-17), only to serve as a 38-10 punching bag for rival Tennessee.

2005 Vandy's 28-24 victory in Knoxville was its first over the Vols since that 1982 bowl season, but this time the Commodores kept themselves out of bowl contention by blowing the Middle Tennessee game and losing to South Carolina, Florida and Kentucky by a combined 19 points.