LSU freshman quarterback Brandon Harris, who led the Tigers to seven touchdowns in seven possessions last week after coming off the bench in their 63-7 victory over New Mexico State, will get his first start Saturday at Auburn.
"I think he deserved the opportunity," LSU Coach Les Miles said of naming Harris the starter earlier this week. "I don't think it was a difficult decision."
SEC TOP TO BOTTOM
RANK;PREVIOUS;ARROW;RECORD;COMMENT
1;(1);same;Alabama;4-0;Major road test at Ole Miss
2;(2);same;Auburn;4-0;Looking to avenge last season’s loss to LSU
3;(3);same;Texas A&M;5-0;Had to work overtime to beat Arkansas
4;(4);same;Mississippi State;4-0;Looking to hand Aggies first loss
5;(6);up;Georgia;3-1;Close one with Tennessee
6;(7);up;Ole Miss;4-0;Can make statement vs. Alabama
7;(8);up;LSU;4-1;Harris gets first start at Auburn
8;(10);Missouri;4-1;Rallied to win at South Carolina
9;(9);same;Arkansas;3-2;Open date to get ready for Alabama
10;(5);South Carolina;3-2;Two SEC home losses already
11;(11);down;Florida;2-1;Muschamp needs to win at Tennessee
12;(12);same;Tennessee;2-2;Better, but struggling for SEC victories
13;(13);same;Kentucky;3-1;Broke 17-game SEC losing streak at Vandy
14;(14);same;Vanderbilt;1-4;Road won’t get easier at Georgia
BY THE NUMBERS
10 Punts by Missouri in its first 11 possessions at South Carolina before the Tigers rallied for two touchdowns in the final minutes
2004 Last time Tennessee beat Florida, 30-28 in Knoxville. The Gators have won nine in a row since then.
99 Victories for Les Miles as LSU’s coach.
OVERHEARD
“The fact that there’s a lot of success with the two schools in Mississippi right now gives everybody in the state an awful lot of pride and allows them to sit up tall, hold their head up high and stick their chest out further.”
— Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen on his team being ranked No. 12 and Ole Miss being ranked No. 11 in this week’s Associated Press poll
“I’ve still got a bad taste in my mouth from the LSU game last year. The first half, it was embarrassing.”
— Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn on last year’s 35-21 loss
“I’m looking for any hole or push or seam I can find. I pretty much put my head down and went as far as I could.”
— Missouri’s Russell Hansbrough on bulling into the end zone for a touchdown on a fourth-and-goal play from the South Carolina 1 for the game-winning score with 1:36 left
GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 15 LSU at No. 5 Auburn
6 p.m. Saturday, ESPN
Auburn will look to avenge its only SEC loss last season when the Tigers take on LSU at Jordan-Hare Stadium. LSU beat Auburn 35-21 — after building a 35-7 lead — before Auburn got rolling toward winning the SEC championship. The Auburn defense will look to try to rattle LSU freshman quarterback Brandon Harris, who is making his first start. Harris came close to signing with Auburn, but the Bossier City, La., native decided to stay closer to home and play for LSU.
Harris replaces sophomore Anthony Jennings, who is 5-1 as a starter going back to last year's Outback Bowl victory over Iowa, but has struggled. Jennings had two interceptions and lost a fumble against New Mexico State before Miles replaced him with Harris.
Harris completed 11 of 14 passes for 178 yards and 3 touchdowns against New Mexico State and ran for 2 touchdowns.
"There is some ad‑lib to his game that's very, very positive, and he's a guy that is really fast and a guy that can really throw the ball," Miles said. "You put him in a quality position to extend a play, some good things can happen."
LSU senior running back Terrence Magee said the team is ready to rally around Harris at Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium.
"Hopefully we can make him feel comfortable by putting some points on the board early and not let it get too rowdy in there," Magee said. "At times when it gets too loud and the ball is rolling their way, it can be easy for a young guy to get nervous."
Mississippi first
Mississippi has taken its share of lumps for ranking low in a lot of categories among the 50 states, but Mississippi will be at the top of the college football world Saturday.
The state will host two matchups involving four top-15 teams when No. 3 Alabama play at No. 11 Ole Miss and No. 6 Texas A&M plays at No. 12 Mississippi State.
This is the latest in a season both Mississippi schools have been ranked in the top 15 since the final regular-season Associated Press poll in 1957, when Ole Miss was No. 7 and Mississippi State was No. 14.
"There have been some big games, some big moments and some great players in this state, but I'm not sure anything tops what we're going to see [Saturday]," Rockey Felker, a former Arkansas assistant who played and coached at Mississippi State, told ESPN.com. "A lot of eyes will be on the state of Mississippi."
Tough call to play
Georgia starting guard Brandon Kublanow, who is Jewish, said he plans to play against Vanderbilt on Saturday, which falls on Yom Kippur, a day of atonement for Jews to ask forgiveness for sins of the past year.
Coach Mark Richt said whether to play is up to Kublanow, a sophomore from Marietta, Ga.
"He has a right to do what he wants to do," Richt said. "I think he wants to play, which will be great. But if he came to me today and said he didn't feel right playing, we would honor that. So it's whatever he chooses."
Kublanow told the Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald he plans to play but that he missed some games in high school because of the Yom Kippur conflict.
Jewish custom calls for fasting from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, but Kublanow said he won't be able to do that if he wants to play effectively.
"I would love to try, but realistically I'm not going to," he said. "I've got to be ready for the game. It is what it is."
Coach backs Driskel
Florida Coach Will Muschamp has given Jeff Driskel a vote of confidence to remain the Gators' starting quarterback despite the redshirt junior's struggles.
"We'll continue to move forward this season and he'll make the Gator Nation proud he's their quarterback," Muschamp said. "I know that the majority are.
"That's the frustrating part, that you've got to listen to the negativity of the small few, but that's part of it."
A lot of Florida fans have expressed frustration with Driskel and want true freshman Treon Harris to start at quarterback, but he's thrown two passes this season, both against Eastern Michigan.
"Treon continues to improve," Muschamp said. "He's going to be a really good football player. I've got all the confidence in the world in him and his abilities and what he presents to our football team.
"When that opportunity presents itself, he'll have an opportunity."
Payback
Missouri rallied to win at South Carolina 21-20 last week after trailing 20-7 in the fourth quarter.
It was role reversal from last season when the Gamecocks came back to win 27-24 in double overtime at Missouri after trailing 17-0.
"When things got tough, the defense kept us in it but stayed totally positive with the offense the whole time, which I thought was really crucial for us to have the mindset to get back," Tigers Coach Gary Pinkel said. "Big, big win for us."
Missouri junior Andrew Baggett's, who missed a 24-yard field-goal attempt in the second overtime against South Carolina last year, made the extra point for the winning margin this season.
"Yeah, I thought about it," Bagget told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of last year's kick that bounced off the left upright. "I didn't think about it like, 'Oh, no!' But I wanted to come through for my teammates."
Oh brother
Ole Miss offensive line coach Chris Kiffin, a former Arkansas State assistant, used to work for his older brother at Southern California when Lane Kiffin was the Trojans' head coach.
The Kiffins will be on opposing sidelines Saturday when the Rebels play Alabama, where Lane Kiffin in his first season as offensive coordinator.
The Kiffins' father is Monte Kiffin, the longtime college and NFL defensive coordinator who was at Arkansas in 1977 when the Razorbacks finished 11-1 and No. 3 nationally after being Oklahoma 31-6 in the Orange Bowl.
"I know a lot of their family is coming, and I'm sure Chris is getting them tickets, so I assume they are cheering for him," Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze said. "Anytime you compete with people you love, you want to win.
"I wanted to beat my brother growing up and my cousins growing up in anything we did, but that certainly didn't mean that after it's over you fight with them in life. I'm sure it'll be the same Saturday."
Sports on 10/02/2014