SEC REPORT

Coaches put bond to the side

At left, in a Sept. 17, 2016, file photo, South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp communicates with players before an NCAA college football game against East Carolina, in Columbia, S.C. At right, in a Sept. 3, 2016, file photo, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart gestures as his players warm up before an NCAA college football game against North Carolina in Atlanta. Smart and Muschamp have been friends since they played safety for the Georgia Bulldogs. Now the two coaches are set to meet for the first time Saturday night with Smart back at their alma mater and Muschamp at South Carolina. (AP Photo/File)
At left, in a Sept. 17, 2016, file photo, South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp communicates with players before an NCAA college football game against East Carolina, in Columbia, S.C. At right, in a Sept. 3, 2016, file photo, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart gestures as his players warm up before an NCAA college football game against North Carolina in Atlanta. Smart and Muschamp have been friends since they played safety for the Georgia Bulldogs. Now the two coaches are set to meet for the first time Saturday night with Smart back at their alma mater and Muschamp at South Carolina. (AP Photo/File)

Will Muschamp and Kirby Smart first met as teammates at Georgia in 1994 when Muschamp was a senior and Smart was a freshman.

Later they were assistants together at Valdosta (Ga.) State -- where Smart lived with Muschamp and his wife for about a month before finding a place of his own.

SEC TOP TO BOTTOM

Rank;(previous);record;comment

1;(1)Alabama;5-0;Brings 17-game winning streak to Arkansas

2;(2)Texas A&M(2);5-0;Another strong start, but can Aggies finish?

3(3);Tennessee;5-0;Comeback kids strike again at Georgia

4;(4)Ole Miss;3-2;Open week to get ready for Razorbacks

5;(5);Arkansas;4-1;Hasn't beaten Alabama since 2006

6;(6);Florida;4-1;Welcomes LSU to the Swamp

7;(8);LSU;3-2;Can Coach O go 2-0?

8;(7);Auburn;3-2;First road game at Mississippi State

9;(9);Georgia;3-2;Brutal home loss to Vols

10;(10);Mississippi State;2-2;Should be ready for Auburn after open date

11;(11);Missouri;2-3;Not a pleasant first trip to Baton Rouge

12;(12);Kentucky;2-3;Excited for opening of hoops practice

13;(13)South Carolina;2-3;Muschamp taking on Kirby

14(14);Vanderbilt;2-3;Has a shot to win at Kentucky

PLAYER TO WATCH

TEXAS A&M QUARTERBACK TREVOR KNIGHT

Knight might not be as talented as some quarterbacks who have transferred from Texas A&M in recent years -- Kenny Hill, Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray -- but the graduate transfer from Oklahoma seems to have brought a maturity and stability to the position that was lacking.

Knight has been a strong runner, as expected, and a solid passer who has taken good care of the ball.

Knight has completed 98 of 181 passes for 1,261 yards and 7 touchdowns with 3 interceptions, and he has rushed 50 times for 392 yards -- including 157 against Arkansas -- and 6 touchdowns.

Knight is making his second start against Tennessee. His first one was with Oklahoma in 2014 when he passed for 308 yards in the Sooners' 34-10 victory.

GAME OF THE WEEK

Tennessee at Texas A&M

WHEN 2:30 p.m. Saturday (CBS)

WHERE Kyle Field, College Station, Texas

RECORDS Tennessee 5-0, 2-0 SEC. Texas A&M 5-0, 3-0.

RANKINGS Texas A&M is ranked No. 8. Tennessee is ranked No. 9.

LINE Texas A&M favored by 6½ points

Texas A&M has started 5-0 for the third consecutive season, but the Aggies are hoping to keep the good times rolling after they slumped to 8-5 finishes in 2014 and 2015.

An improved defense in John Chavis' second season as coordinator and a more consistent running game have given the Aggies a different look as they prepare for Tennessee.

The Aggies and Vols are meeting as conference opponents for the first time. Their previous two matchups were in bowl games, with Tennessee winning both times -- 3-0 in the Gator Bowl to cap the 1957 season and 38-7 in the Cotton Bowl to cap the 2004 season.

BY THE NUMBERS

37-2-1 -- Alabama's record against Kentucky after beating the Wildcats 34-6 on Saturday.

634 -- Yards of total offense for LSU in its 42-7 victory over Missouri. It was a record for LSU against an SEC team, surpassing the 630 yards the Tigers had in their 42-13 victory over Ole Miss in 1987 and their 55-0 victory over Mississippi State in 1967.

41-10 -- Margin Tennessee has been outscored in the first quarter by its five opponents.

OVERHEARD

"We're just getting started."

-- Ed Orgeron, LSU's interim coach, after the Tigers beat Missouri 42-7 in his first game since replacing Les Miles.

"I think we would have rather gotten blown out than lose like that."

-- Georgia defensive back Maurice Smith on the Bulldogs losing to Tennessee 34-31 on the game's final play when Jauan Jennings came down with a Hail Mary pass from Joshua Dobbs for a 43-yard touchdown.

"How long do we have on this call?"

-- Florida's Jim McElwain when asked on the SEC coaches teleconference about what the Gators struggled with offensively in a 13-7 victory at Vanderbilt.

Both were assistant coaches for Nick Saban: Muschamp at LSU and Smart at Alabama.

Through the years, Muschamp and Smart have been on the opposite sides in games as assistant coaches.

Smart holds a 4-1 advantage in those matchups, including Alabama's 37-21 victory over Texas in the Rose Bowl in 2009 when Smart was the Crimson Tide's defensive coordinator and Muschamp had the same position with the Longhorns.

"I had to go against Will in a national championship game, and that's really hard, because somebody's got to lose," Smart said Wednesday on the SEC coaches teleconference. "That's tough, but it's also the business we're in.

"You grow close to guys from being on staffs with them, and then you end up having to play against them."

Muschamp's lone victory over one of Smart's teams came in 2007 as Auburn's defensive coordinator when the Tigers beat Alabama, where Smart was the defensive backs coach before being promoted to defensive coordinator.

There will be a new twist for the Muschamp-Smart matchup Saturday when Georgia plays South Carolina, the first time they meet as head coaches. Muschamp is in his first season at South Carolina, and Smart is in his first year at Georgia.

"Will and I will remain friends after the game," Smart said. "But we're going at each other during the game, and our teams are."

Muschamp said the focus should be on the game, not the coaches.

"It's South Carolina-Georgia," Muschamp said at his weekly news conference "It's a great rivalry. It's an important game all the time for both schools, and certainly having both schools coming off back-to-back losses it's a critical game for both squads."

Muschamp said he has a lot of respect for Smart.

"He's a great friend," Muschamp said. "Regardless of what happens Saturday or 10 years from now, we will always be friends."

Reggie-like

LSU Coach Ed Orgeron said All-American tailback Leonard Fournette is doubtful for Saturday's game at Florida because of a lingering ankle injury, which sidelined him against Missouri last week.

"It doesn't look like Leonard is going to play," Orgeron said Wednesday during the SEC coaches teleconference. "He hasn't practiced yet."

LSU didn't miss Fournette against Missouri with sophomore Derrius Guice running wild against the Tigers. He had 17 carries for 163 yards and 3 touchdowns in LSU's 42-7 victory.

Orgeron said when he reviewed game tape, Guice reminded him of his days as an assistant at USC, where Reggie Bush won the Heisman Trophy in 2005.

"[Guice's] ability to jump cut, run to the left, and jump cut to the right is about one of the best I've seen," Orgeron told reporters. "He has some Reggie Bush-like cuts.

"He's bigger and stronger than Reggie was in college, maybe not quite as fast, but he has cuts like Reggie had."

Guice has rushed 46 times for 402 yards -- an 8.7-yard average -- on the season.

Lots of TFLs

Texas A&M's defense has 50 tackles for losses totaling 215 yards going into Saturday's game against Tennessee, with 20 players being credited on those stops.

"They have a lot of explosive players," Vols Coach Butch Jones said on the SEC coaches teleconference.

Defensive ends Daeshon Hall and Myles Garrett are doing the most damage for the Aggies, combing for 13½ tackles for losses totaling 64 yards, but Jones said they're getting plenty of help.

"Obviously, they have two great defensive ends, but I think really the secret is their tackles on the interior," Jones said. "They do a tremendous job.

"I think it's just an aggressive style and approach and it all starts with their get-off on the football."

Del Rio update

Florida Coach Jim McElwain said sophomore quarterback Luke Del Rio may be ready to return to the starting lineup against LSU after missing the previous two games because of a knee injury he suffered against North Texas.

McElwain said Del Rio has practiced this week, and how his kneel feels today likely will determine whether he starts or senior Austin Appleby -- a graduate transfer from Purdue -- makes his third consecutive start.

"This is something I know Luke had been targeting a little bit, so his mindset is he's going to play," McElwain said. "That's good. That's what you want, but know this -- I won't put him out there" if Del Rio isn't physically fit to play.

Going for it

Ed Orgeron officially is LSU's "interim" coach, but he said in an ESPN radio interview he's confident about retaining the job.

"Listen, this thing here, I'm going to get it," Orgeron said after LSU's 42-7 victory over Missouri. "If we do what we need to do, I feel in my heart I'm going to get it.

"If I don't, it's because we didn't do well enough and I don't deserve it."

Orgeron led USC to a 6-2 record, but he wasn't retained by Athletic Director Pat Haden.

"I never felt in my heart that they wanted me at USC until the very end, and then Haden pulled the plug," Orgeron said. "I thought all the time I was fighting an uphill battle. They always saw me more as a stopgap."

GameDay jinx?

Having ESPN's College GameDay crew come to your campus is coveted by teams because of the national publicity generated, especially for recruiting.

But maybe Texas A&M shouldn't be excited to have the show originating from College Station on Saturday for the Aggies' game against Tennessee.

The Aggies are 0-4 when GameDay comes to town, losing to Oklahoma 35-31 in 2000 and 17-16 in 2006, and to Florida 20-17 in 2012 and Alabama 49-42 in 2013.

Finally on the road

After playing five consecutive home games to open the season, Auburn plays on the road for the first time Saturday night at Mississippi State.

That means cowbells will be ringing in the Tigers' ears.

"Loud is loud," Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee told reporters this week. "But the constant ringing ... it's kind of like a dripping faucet a little bit.

"I think if you let your mind go there, it can affect you. But you can't. You've just got to go play."

Auburn guard Braden Smith said the cowbells are "loud as heck," but there's a solution to the problem.

"If we're doing good, then the cowbells will stop," Smith told reporters. "That's the only way you can silence them basically."

Two-minute drill

• Georgia tailback Nick Chubb, who missed last week's game against Tennessee because of an ankle injury, has been medically cleared to return against South Carolina, and Coach Kirby Smart said he'll get plenty of carries.

• SEC West teams have started 5-0 against their East counterparts this season.

• Defensive end Jabari Zuniga is the first Florida freshman to have five sacks in a season since Huey Richardson in 1987.

• Tennessee Coach Butch Jones said running back Jalen Hurd is "day to day" because of an undisclosed injury.

Sports on 10/06/2016

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