Alabama’s Nick Saban has been called a dictator and a devil.
           
Both are accurate. He has total control over his program and he’s a devil of a coach - and that’s a compliment.
           
Those are two reasons his team is 10-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation.
           
LSU coach Les Miles allegedly called Saban the devil, although Miles denies saying that. Miles surely has been frustrated by so many people saying he’s won with Saban’s talent. He’ll be even more frustrated when Saban starts stealing recruits out of the Bayou State.
           
Saban is not all that popular as a coach. Maybe it’s his ability to recruit. Maybe it’s his $4 million salary. Maybe it’s his fast lane to success. He’s raising the bar for his colleagues, which can’t help his popularity.
           
When Florida coach Steve Spurrier was asked why, in four years, he hasn’t had nearly the success Saban is having in his second year at Alabama, Spurrier smirked: “Poor coaching, I guess.”
           
Saban has upped the time line for rebuilding a program. He inherited a team with mediocre talent and has them challenging for the national championship in Year Two.
           
He’s having what Georgia coach Mark Richt would call one of those “magical” second seasons.
           
Richt had one, leading Georgia to a 13-1 record and an SEC championship in his second season.
           
Meyer won the national title in his second season at Florida and went undefeated in his second year at Utah.
           
Gene Stallings went 11-1 in his second year at Alabama. Dennis Franchione won 10 games in his second year at the Capstone.
           
Ken Hatfield won 10 games in his second year at Arkansas.
           
Terry Bowden won his first 20 games at Auburn and Tommy Tuberville and Pat Dye won nine in their second season on the Plains.
           
Spurrier won 10 games and the SEC title his second year at Florida.
           
At LSU, Saban won the SEC in his second season and Les Miles won 11 games and the Sugar Bowl in his second season.
           
Lou Holtz went from 0-11 to 8-4 at South Carolina.
           
There is something special about second seasons for SEC coaches.
           
But nobody has done a more special job than Saban. Miles inherited more talent at LSU. And Meyer inherited much more talent at Florida.
           
As one Alabama fan told me: “I knew he was good, but I had no idea he was this good.”
           
Just one more reason for Saban’s coaching colleagues to dislike him.
             


LSU’s Season Not A Surprise            
           
It should come as no surprise that LSU has struggled to a 7-3 record and was unable to repeat as West Division champions.
           
That’s the norm, rather than the exception, for defending national champions.
           
Not since Nebraska in 1994-95 have we seen a team repeat as #1. And in the SEC, five of the last six national championships lost at least three games the next season.
           
Alabama won the national championship in 1992 but went 9-3-1 the next season and was forced to forfeit every win but one due to playing an ineligible player.          
           
Florida went 10-2 and finished second in the East after winning the title in 1996.
           
Tennessee went 9-3 and failed to win the East after taking the 1998 crown.
           
LSU won it all in 2003, then went 9-3 the next season.
           
Florida was the national champ in 2006, then went 9-4 with a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback.
           
It’s worth noting that Florida in 1997 and Tennessee in 1999 finished in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll. The other three were ranked in the top 20 and this year’s LSU team won’t crack the top 10.
           
Meyer has a good idea why last year’s Gators lost three SEC games and fell to Michigan in the Capital One Bowl.
           
“We had some entitlement issues with guys who had no impact on the national championship,” Meyer said. “We had a lot of confusion about work ethic and accountability.”
           
A lack of both proved harmful to Florida ’s efforts to repeat.
           
“I’m glad that issued has been cleared up,” Meyer said.
           
In essence, Florida wasn’t as hungry in 2007 as it was in 2006. That’s natural. A coach might not like it, but that’s human nature.
           
It’s hard to tell how much better LSU would be with deposed quarterback Ryan Perrilloux. He might have been the difference against a Georgia or an Alabama.
           
Then again, LSU might not have been as hungry.
           
Still, LSU could win more games this season than Saban did after his 2003 title.
           
That would at least give Les Miles one feather in his cap against Saban.
 


Georgia Defense Hard To Defend
 
A team many picked to finish #1 is #10 in the SEC in scoring defense. Georgia has allowed 23.8 points per game, with Alabama (41 points), LSU (38), Kentucky (38) and Florida (49) jacking up those numbers.
           
Georgia finished SEC play 6-2 but outscored opponents 215-214. The 214 points is the most allowed in SEC play although Kentucky, LSU and Arkansas could surpass that total. Kentucky (210) has one SEC game left, LSU (192) two and Arkansas (187) two.
           
Sometimes scoring defense can be misleading. For example, LSU quarterback Jarrett Lee has thrown seven interceptions that have been returned for touchdowns. Special teams scores can also skew actual numbers.
           
Perhaps a better barometer of defense is total yards allowed. Georgia ranks sixth in the SEC and 24th in the nation. No SEC team has allowed more touchdowns and the average yards per play against the Bulldogs is 5.0 — tied for eighth in the SEC.
           
By any standard, Georgia’s defense has been disappointing. But the Dawgs still have a chance to match last season’s 11-2 record. Last year’s team finished No. 2 in the nation. This year’s team won’t crack the top six.
           


Extra Points
           
Kentucky went from #1 in the nation in scoring defense to #36 in four weeks. The banged up Wildcats surrendered 63 to Florida, 42 to Georgia and 31 to Vanderbilt
           
South Carolina went from #1 in the SEC in total defense to #4 after giving up 520 yards to Florida.
           
LSU’s 37 points in the last 16.5 minutes against Troy was more than the Tigers had scored in six games.

While new clock rules have cut the average number of plays in an SEC game to about 135, LSU (80 snaps) and Troy (89) combined for 169 in a game that lasted 3 hours, 48 minutes and was not televised. The teams combined for 113 pass attempts and 58 incompletions.
          
Auburn (107), Tennessee (115) and Mississippi State (116) rank among the 12 lowest scoring teams in the nation. Six SEC teams rank 72 or lower. Only Florida is among the top 25.
           
South Carolina, Auburn, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt rank no higher than 96 in the nation in total offense. No SEC team ranks among the top 20.
           
Six SEC teams average more than 150 rushing yards per game and all are bowl eligible. Kentucky (eighth) and South Carolina (12th) are the two exceptions.
           
Four SEC teams rank in the top 10 in total defense and 11 rank among the top 41.
           
Only two SEC teams rank among the top 55 in pass offense. Seven SEC teams average less than 180 passing yards per game and rank no higher than 94th.
           
SEC teams have returned nine punts for touchdowns and five kickoffs for touchdowns.
            

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 9:44 am and is filed under Homepage, The Ace Reporter . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.