ShareThisFinally, the stage is set for the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 regular season meeting ever between SEC teams, on Nov. 5 when top-ranked LSU plays at Alabama. The only time SEC teams ranked No. 1 and 2 have met was in the 2009 SEC championship game, when No. 2 Alabama beat No 1. Florida, 32-13.
In the history of The Associated Press poll, No. 1 has faced No. 2 20 times in regular season games, with No. 1 going 16-2-2. The only victories by No. 2 over No. 1 were Texas scoring a 28-7 win over Oklahoma in October 1963 and Florida State beating Florida 24-16 in November 1996.
In the latter case, Florida beat Alabama, 45-30, in the SEC championship game the week after the loss against FSU. There was no BCS system at the time, so the Sugar Bowl rematched FSU and Florida, and the Gators blasted the Seminoles, 52-20, to give then-Florida coach Steve Spurrier his first and only national championship.
The last No. 1 vs. No. 2 regular season game was in 2006 when No. 1 Ohio State beat No. 2 Michigan, 42-39.
LSU has won the last four of five games at Alabama (losing on its last trip in 2009), and there apparently is no home-field advantage between No. 1s and No. 2s. In the 15 No. 1 vs. No. 2 games played on a college campus, the home teams and road teams have each won seven times, along with one tie.
LSU coach Les Miles said he's looking forward to the next two weeks.
"The way this team works -- it comes to practice with smiles and it gets after it in practice -- I look forward to the next two weeks," Miles said.
Alabama coach Nick Saban said his team won't start preparing for LSU too soon, "because that's when players get bored." But Tide offensive tackle Barrett Jones of ECS suspects Saban won't wait too long.
"Sometimes on a bye week, you wait to the second week to look at a team, but I think we'll start on LSU a little earlier," Jones said. "We're excited. Big games like this are what college football is all about."
No. 22 on deck:
To breathe life into his lifeless offense, Tennessee coach Derek Dooley will start true freshman Justin Worley at quarterback on Saturday against South Carolina.
Worley, 6-4, 210, threw for 13,385 passing yards and 157 touchdowns, including a state-record 64 TDs as a senior last season for Rock Hill (S.C.) Northwestern. He was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year.
This season, he hadn't played a down into Saturday's 37-6 loss at No. 2 Alabama. He relieved struggling Matt Simms and took five snaps in two series, not throwing a pass.
"I just feel like for us to go out and try to win games, we are not throwing and catching the way we need to and we're not calling the game the way we want to," said Dooley while explaining why he will start Worley, who becomes the 22nd different starting QB in the SEC this season. "We just need to make this move. It's not something that is done on a whim. We have a lot of data to make a switch. We don't have a lot of data on Justin."
Marvelous Martavius:
Kentucky was trudging through its first quarter Saturday against FCS opponent Jacksonville State when Wildcats junior safety Martavius Neloms jump-started his team.
Neloms roared in off a blitz and sacked Jacksonville State quarterback Coty Blanchard, knocking the ball loose. Neloms scooped the fumble and ran 40 yards for a touchdown with 3:33 left in the first quarter of an eventual 38-14 UK win.
"I think it changed our attitude," said Neloms, who also had eight tackles and a pass deflection. "It was a big play for my career. Coach called a great play and my defensive backs covered for long enough to make the quarterback hold the ball so that I was able to get in there and make a play. The ball just bounced my way. Once I scored we were able to really just get rolling. There was no looking back from there."
For the season, Neloms has 49 tackles, four pass breakups, five deflections and an interception. Saturday's TD was the first of his college career.
Briefly:
Florida coach Will Muschamp expects quarterback John Brantley's return to provide a "huge psychological shock." The fifth-year senior returned to practice in a limited role Monday and is expected to play against No. 22 Georgia in Jacksonville on Saturday. ... Arkansas' Tyler Wilson has been named one of 16 semifinalists for the Davey O'Brien Award, which recognizes the top quarterback in the country. He leads the SEC with an average of 287.9 yards of total offense per game and has completed 62.7 percent of his passes.
(Ron Higgins writes for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.)
