As good as Alabama has become under Coach Nick Saban, it's still hard to believe the Crimson Tide are favored by almost four touchdowns against a Texas A&M team that earlier this season lost 28-26 to Clemson. Granted, the Aggies have to play at Alabama after taking Clemson to the wire at home, but to be 25½-point underdogs?
Maybe the Aggies will catch the Tide feeling cocky after Alabama's 62-7 victory at Ole Miss to open SEC play. But don't bet on it.
Going into this season, Brian Kelly arguably was the most notable former football player for Assumption College, a private Catholic college in Worcester, Mass., that competes on the NCAA Division II level.
Kelly played linebacker at Assumption from 1979-83, and since 2010 he has become nationally known as the Notre Dame head coach.
Last season, Kelly's Fighting Irish beat LSU 21-17 in the Citrus Bowl, but now he may have to take a back seat to the Tigers' new kicker when it comes to being the top player ever at Assumption.
Cole Tracy, who hit 68 of 84 field-goal attempts in three years at Assumption, is performing so well for the Tigers as a graduate transfer that LSU fans have been sending donations to his former school.
The donations started after Tracy hit three field goals in LSU's 33-17 victory over Miami -- including a 54-yarder to tie the school record -- and increased after he hit a 42-yarder on the game's final play to lift the Tigers to a 22-21 victory at Auburn last week.
Donations from the LSU fans have been accompanied by a note thanking the school for sending Tracy to Baton Rouge.
"They're pretty rabid fans," Tim Stanton, Assumption's vice president for institutional advancement, told USA Today. "And generous, too."
By Tuesday night, more than 100 LSU fans had donated about $6,000 to Assumption, according to USA Today. Some of the donations have been for $42 in honor of the distance of Tracy's game-winner at Auburn.
"We don't know where this is going to end," Stanton said. "If this continues and gets to a higher amount, there will probably be some kind of naming opportunity.
"If it really reached some significant levels -- this might sound ludicrous, but like $1 million -- we'd name the field after him."
Tracy has hit 8 of 9 field goals this season.
LSU's two kickers last season -- Connor Culp and Jack Gonsoulin -- combined to hit 16 of 27 field-goal attempts. Their misses included from 22, 25, 32, 34, 35, 37 and 40 yards.
Against Notre Dame, Culp missed a 22-yarder and Gonsoulin a 37-yarder.
Tracy hit 27 of 29 field goals last season. If he had been kicking for LSU in the Citrus Bowl, the Tigers probably would have beaten Kelly and the Fighting Irish.
Ready for a fight
Vanderbilt Coach Derek Mason is 0-3 against South Carolina, and the Commodores have lost nine in a row to the Gamecocks.
Mason is ready for the losing streak to end when South Carolina plays at Vanderbilt on Saturday night.
"This isn't one of those sanctioned fights that's out there. This is going to be a street fight," Mason said at his weekly news conference. "This is a backyard, no gloves, you throw a punch, I throw a punch, you hit me, I hit you, for four quarters, 60 minutes, every play.
"They're going to be a tough football team when they come in here, and we have to be just as tough, just as physical in this ballgame."
Georgia last in sacks
Georgia leads the SEC in scoring defense and total defense, which ranks second and seventh nationally in those categories, holding opponents to an average of 8.0 points and 258.7 yards.
With stats like the, you'd figure the Bulldogs would be piling up the sacks, too.
But Georgia has just one sack in its three games -- by senior linebacker D'Andre Walker for a 3-yard loss at South Carolina -- and its average of 0.33 ranks last in the nation.
Georgia Coach Kirby Smart doesn't sound worried about his team's lack of sacks. He literally laughed out loud, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, when asked after the Bulldogs' 49-7 victory over Middle Tennessee State if not having more sacks concerned him.
MTSU quarterback Brent Stockstill managed to complete 19 of 29 passes, but for just 138 yards.
"I don't think we ever got a chance to rush the passer," Smart said of Stockstill's quick release. "I look more at total yards per completion, and how many points they had on the scoreboard."
Georgia held MTSU to 7.3 yards per completion, and on the season the Bulldogs rank No. 1 nationally in fewest yards allowed per completion at 7.4.
"Everybody wants sacks, everybody wants pass rush," Smart said. "But if you put a stopwatch on [Stockstill] and you take the whole offensive line off the field and don't block anybody, I don't know that we could have gotten to him, so we better defend the pass."
Georgia's pass defense will be tested Saturday against Missouri senior quarterback Drew Lock, who is averaging 13.6 yards on his 78 completions this season.
Getting to Lock may be tough as well. The Tigers have allowed just one sack.
Name that tune
Dan Mullen was Mississippi State's coach the previous nine seasons, but in all that time he faced Tennessee just once, and not in Knoxville, Tenn.
Mullen's Bulldogs beat the Volunteers 41-31 in Starkville, Miss., in 2012 in his only game against Tennessee as a head coach.
On Saturday night, Mullen will experience facing Tennessee for a second time as a head coach when he leads Florida against the Vols, and this game will be at Neyland Stadium.
Mullen twice was Florida's offensive coordinator when the Gators won at Tennessee -- 21-20 in 2006 and 30-6 in 2008 -- but his most recent game experience at Neyland Stadium was 10 years ago.
So Mullen has been playing "Rocky Top" -- a lot -- at Florida practices this week.
"I'll be whistling 'Rocky Top' by the end of the week," Mullen said Monday. "You hear it over and over. Every third song it will roll through within the crowd noise.
"You get used to it. It's a catchy tune. I hope I hear it a lot more in practice than I do on game day."
Looking out for No. 1
Alabama's game against Texas A&M on Saturday will mark the 66th time Crimson Tide Coach Nick Saban has coached the No. 1 team.
Saban is 58-7 coaching the No. 1 team. One of those losses was to Texas A&M 29-24 in 2012.
The Aggies are 2-10 all-time against No. 1 teams. They beat Oklahoma 30-26 in 2002 when the Sooners were No. 1.
Saban has the most victories as the coach of a No. 1 team. Ohio State's Woody Hayes and Florida' State's Bobby Bowden are tied for the second-most victories as coaches of No. 1 teams with 40 each. Bowden was 40-5 and Hayes 40-6.
Ole Miss down 2 DBs
Ole Miss lost a second defensive back to a season-ending knee injury when Coach Matt Luke confirmed junior nickel back Montreal Custis suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament against Alabama last week.
Junior Jaylon Jones, the Rebels' best cover cornerback, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the season opener against Texas Tech.
Ready to run
Mississippi State ranks 13th nationally in run defense, holding opponents to an average of 85.0 rushing yards per game.
But Kentucky junior tailback Benny Snell isn't worried about trying to run on the Bulldogs when the Wildcats play Mississippi State on Saturday.
Kentucky rushed for 303 yards in its 27-16 victory at Florida this season, and for the season the Wildcats are averaging 282.3 yards to rank 12th nationally.
"I'm going to run on any team," Snell said this week. "You could be an NFL team, it don't matter. This offense don't fear nobody. I know they're good, but this offense is good, too."
Snell has 62 carries for 375 yards this season -- 6.1 yards per attempt. He has 2,799 career yards, but last season Mississippi State held him to 18 yards on 7 carries.
SEC TOP TO BOTTOM
Rank;prev;record;comment
1;(1)Alabama;3-0;Saban looking to improve to 13-0 vs. former assistant coaches
2;(4)LSU;3-0;Two victories over top 10 teams for Coach O
3;(3)Georgia;3-0;Columbia (S.C.) down, Columbia (Mo.) to go
4;(2)Auburn;2-1;Ready to take out some frustration on Hogs
5;(5)Mississippi State;3-0;Offense running smoothly under Moorhead
6;(6)Kentucky;3-0;Should get ranked if it beats Mississippi State
7;(7);Texas A&M;2-1;First Clemson, now Alabama
8;(8);Missouri;3-0;Lock takes aim at Georgia defense
9;(9);South Carolina;1-1;Marshall game canceled by Florence
10;(11)Vanderbilt;2-1;Gave Notre Dame a tough game
11;(12);Florida;2-1;Road trip for Mullen to Rocky Top
12;(10)Ole Miss;2-1;First 11 seconds vs. Bama went well
13(13);Tennessee;2-1;Pruitt could get first notable W over Gators
14;[14);Arkansas;1-2;Big underdog on road against Auburn
PLAYER TO WATCH
Missouri needs a big game from senior quarterback Drew Lock to have a shot to upset No. 2 Georgia on Saturday at Faurot Field.
Lock has shown he can put up big passing numbers while taking care of the ball.
Through three games, Lock has completed 78 of 113 passes (69.0 percent) for 1,062 yards and 11 touchdowns with 1 interception. His career totals are up to 9,757 passing yards and 82 touchdowns.
In the Tigers' 40-37 victory at Purdue last week, Lock led a game-winning drive that resulted in a field goal, and he accounted for four touchdowns. He completed 26 of 43 passes for 375 yards and 3 touchdowns and also rushed for a touchdown.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Texas A&M at Alabama
WHEN 2:30 p.m. Saturday (CBS)
WHERE Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
RECORDS Alabama 3-0, 1-0 SEC;Texas A&M 2-1, 0-0
RANKINGS Alabama is No. 1 in The AP poll;Texas A&M is No. 22
LINE Alabama by 25½ points
BY THE NUMBERS
56.7 -- Points per game Alabama is averaging to lead the nation. The Tide have outscored their opponents 170-28.
+7 -- LSU on turnovers. The Tigers have 7 takeaways and haven't suffered a turnover.
61.1 -- Percent of third-down conversions for Mississippi State. The Bulldogs have gotten first downs on 22 of 36 third-down plays.
OVERHEARD
"We play the game to win. This isn't Little League baseball where everybody gets a trophy."
-- Vanderbilt Coach Derek Mason, downplaying the idea the Commodores' 22-17 loss at Notre Dame is a moral victory.
"They swallowed us up."
-- Middle Tennessee State Coach Rick Stockstill on Georgia after the Bulldogs beat the Blue Raiders 49-7.
"Jimbo obviously has done a really good job of that. They're a completely different kind of team than they've been in the past."
-- Alabama Coach Nick Saban on how quickly Texas A&M Coach Jimbo Fisher has implemented his system with the Aggies.
Sports on 09/20/2018