Roy Exum: Underdogs Run Amok

  • Monday, November 28, 2016
  • Roy Exum
Roy Exum
Roy Exum

As I lamented the end of college football’s regular season on Saturday, it slowly began to dawn on me that never in my memory – and I’m now talking about over 50 years of Southern Conference football – can I ever remember when on “Rival Saturday” so many of the SEC’s “little guys” beat the same-state “big bullies.”

My goodness, this was the best exhibition of what makes the college game great I could imagine and an equal thrill was watching Alabama “run the table” for the first time since the 2009 team went undefeated. With Alabama’s monster of a defense not allowing an opponent a touchdown since October, the Tide will be a huge favorite over a badly decimated Florida in this Saturday’s SEC Championship and again the favorite presumably against No. 2 Ohio State (11-1) in Tampa Jan. 9.

Let’s take a look at the four underdogs on a never-to-be forgotten “Rival Saturday:”

VANDERBILT has lost 75 times in the 111 years they have played the Vols and there were probably more UT fans in Nashville than home team backers. Tennessee, ranked 24th in the country, was favored by 10 points and came out hot, leading 21-7 early in the second quarter. But “want to,” that tangible every football coach loves the most, was clearly in Vandy’s favor while UT, shockingly, seemed not to have cared with the team’s sloppy response. The 45-34 victory sends VU to a bowl game for just the eighth time in the school’s history. How good is that!

GEORGIA TECH (8-4) was a four-point underdog to Georgia (7-5) in Athens Saturday and, in a series that began in 1896, Tech has won only 41 times. Going into the fourth quarter, Bulldog fans felt secure with a 27-14 lead and were well on the way to the seventh victory in the last eight years. But – no – an interception after a steady TD drive gave the Yellow Jackets possession and Tech’s Qua Searcy scored with 30 seconds left to play. The PAT was good and who cares that Georgia’s defense in the fourth quarter was “the rambling wreck.”

KENTUCKY (7-5) got a 47-yard field goal out of Austin MacGinnis with 12 seconds left for the biggest upset of the day. The Wildcats' 41-38 win gave Kentucky its seventh victory in the regular season for the first time since 2009. Kentucky was a 26-point underdog to No. 5 Louisville, which has owned UK for the last five years. Heisman favorite Lamar Jackson had a school-record eighth 100-yard rushing game and set a Cardinal season record for rushing yards, breaking Howard Stevens' 1,429 yards rushing mark in 1971. His four touchdowns also broke the Atlantic Coast Conference single-season record (he has 51). That said, UK outgained Louisville, 581-561, in arguably the Wildcats' biggest win ever.

MISSISSIPPI STATE (5-7) has lost to Ole Miss (5-7) 63 times in 113 years but, under Dan Mullen, Saturday’s 55-20 win over the Rebs gives the Bullies their fifth Egg Bowl in the last eight tries. What made MSU’s 55-20 victory so sweet is that neither team is bowl eligible so this is the one the state will remember until next fall. MSU’s dazzling quarterback, Nick Fitzgerald, raced for a career high 258 yards for two touchdowns and threw for three more in Oxford. State was an eight-point underdog.

Then there is one more: No. 14 FLORIDA STATE (9-3) is a member of the ACC but the Seminoles’ rivalry with No. 15 Florida (8-3) is still a grand one and Saturday night’s 31-13 whipping in Tallahassee set up an even worse prognosis for this week’s matchup between terrifying Alabama and the badly beaten-up Gators. Florida was a 5-point underdog to FSU, where the senior class has just put an 8-0 halo over the Gators and Miami in the last four seasons. ‘Nole Dalvin Cook rushed for 153 yards to become the all-time leader in rushing touchdowns (career) in a game where the Gator offense never scored an offensive touchdown.

As a matter of fact, Florida faced FSU with an offense that ranked No. 120 on the nation’s list of 128 teams in total offense. But after the game, it was the highly-touted Gators defense that had been victimized. It is now believed Florida will be without eight starters on defense including its three leading tacklers this Saturday when UF faces Alabama in the conference championship. The injury list includes three defensive linemen, both starting linebackers and three starters in the secondary.

* * *

ANOTHER SHOCK – Do you realize that if, indeed, Alabama beats Florida this Saturday, every team in the Southeastern Conference except Alabama will have at least four regular-season losses? Pass the leftovers.

royexum@aol.com

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