Alabama Football: Coach O exit and classless Vols highlight wild SEC weekend

For Alabama Football, Saturday’s week seven was a return to normal, as the Crimson Tide owned the Bulldogs in Starkville. The collective loathing of the Crimson Tide, held by many across the world of college football, was again wrong. The Alabama Crimson Tide is still elite and it is not ‘back’ because it never ‘left’ the championship chase.

Two SEC football programs showed just how ‘not elite’ they are during the weekend. They are the LSU Bengal Tigers and the Tennessee Volunteers. In a game marked by ‘how can that happen’ circumstances, involving both teams, LSU managed to salvage a Tiger Stadium win over the limping Florida Gators.

LSU’s secondary got lost on the way to the locker room on a late, first-half, Hail Mary touchdown by the Gators. LSU’s failure, after lining up three defensive backs on the goal line, was telling of a not well-coached team. Florida lost the game because it failed another fundamental test. The LSU offense laid down repetitive physical challenges to the Florida defense and the toothless Gators were not man enough to stop them.

Going into the game, the LSU rushing attack was No. 104 in the FBS, rushing for 117.1 yards per game. LSU running back Tyrion Davis-Price rushed for 287 yards against the Gators. LSU also intercepted four Florida passes – and won by just a touchdown.

Alabama Football will see Coach O again

The game was almost like it was ‘do-or-die’ for LSU coach, Ed Orgeron. But it wasn’t. A few days ago, we stated what we thought was obvious, that Coach O would not coach in Bryant-Denny again. On Sunday morning it was learned that was wrong. Orgeron will be at Bryant-Denny on Nov. 6, as a lame-duck head coach of his beloved Bengal Tigers.

Ross Dellenger who knows LSU football as well as anyone tweeted.

We could say Coach O might have to admit getting out of bad believing he can kick someone’s ass is not enough to be an elite college football coach. But that is another story and it is time to move on.

Even more bizarre than the LSU-Florida game and the Orgeron exit, was what happened late Saturday night in Knoxville. Tennessee fans, irate over a decision by the officials pelted the Ole Miss sideline with items seen below.

At least one golf ball was thrown at Lane Kiffin. According to Kiffin, it missed.

Yahoo’s Pete Thamel described it best,

"As the dozens and dozens of items flew down onto the field — everything from water bottles to a mustard bottle to a yellow golf ball — Tennessee’s reputation as having the worst fan base in college football grew incrementally. As each item crashed to the turf, another piece of empirical evidence was added to a rich history of collective classlessness."

The SEC should take severe punitive action. It probably will not. The University of Tennessee should be deeply embarrassed and surely many there are – but the Vols football program will no doubt do some kind of lame whitewash.

And some of that Vols’ rabble will descend on Tuscaloosa on Saturday.

As the saying goes – the SEC just means more. This week, some of that more offered embarrassment rather than pride. Alabama Football was, of course, an exception.