Georgia Bulldogs

Mark Schlabach looks at the rivalry games this weekend that have big implications on the BCS standings.

After everything that happened over the weekend, our power rankings didn't really change heading into the final week of the regular season:

1. Alabama (10-1; last week: 1): The Tide didn't have much competition lining up opposition over the weekend, but Alabama took care of business in dominating fashion. Then the team watched as Kansas State and Oregon lost, propelling the Tide back into the BCS title game hunt. Beat Auburn and Georgia, and Alabama is headed back to the national championship. Well played, Nick Saban.

2. Georgia (10-1; LW: 2): Georgia Southern and its triple-option offense really wasn't much of a threat to the Bulldogs, who are right in the thick of the national championship picture. Georgia is playing its best football of the year and it couldn't have come at a better time. A win over Georgia Tech this weekend, and the Bulldogs will be playing for a national championship berth when they face Alabama in the SEC championship game. Remember when all those Georgia "fans" were calling for Mark Richt's job? Yeah, you can sit down now.

3. Florida (10-1; LW: 3): The Gators don't win pretty, but somehow they are 10-1. Two FCS foes really challenged the Gators, but what's even crazier is that with a win over Florida State this weekend, Florida will be headed to a BCS bowl game and if Notre Dame loses, the Gators could be headed to the national championship. The Gators are where they are thanks to a fabulous defense and tremendous special teams. But if Florida wants to have a chance against the Noles, the offense has to be much, much better and it will really help if quarterback Jeff Driskel can come back healthy this week.

4. Texas A&M (9-2; LW: 4): Even without a bye week, the Aggies haven't lost any steam. The offense rolled over Sam Houston State on Saturday and now A&M takes on a banged-up Missouri team that is coming off of a very tough home loss to Syracuse. Johnny Manziel is now at the top of the Heisman charts and the Aggies really are playing for a chance to go to a BCS bowl game. This is the hottest team in the country.

5. LSU (9-2; LW: 5): If you haven't seen Les Miles' meltdown from the weekend, I highly recommend that you do. His team really doesn't look like it has any flops on it right now. The Tigers had a very close game with Ole Miss over the weekend, but that game always seems to be competitive. The offense has picked up in the past few weeks and while the defense stumbled some against the Rebels, it's still one of the best around. Like the teams in front of it in the power rankings, LSU is a win away from being in consideration for a BCS bowl game. If the Sugar Bowl is available, it'll be tough to keep the Tigers out of New Orleans.

6. South Carolina (9-2; LW: 6): Quietly, the Gamecocks have reached nine wins. South Carolina had early troubles with Wofford, which threw the ball only three times Saturday. But Steve Spurrier and his Gamecocks have struggled against Wofford in the past. South Carolina was without star Jadeveon Clowney (sprained foot), but he should be back for the Clemson game this week. Don't be surprised if the Gamecocks were looking ahead a little bit to the Tigers. South Carolina is looking for its fourth straight win against archrival Clemson.

7. Vanderbilt (7-4; LW: 7): With a 41-18 drubbing of Tennessee, the Commodores have now won five straight games and have seven wins for the first time since 2007. One more win and Vandy will have eight for the first time since 1982. James Franklin has proved to be the real deal for the Commodores. This team is getting it done in all phases of the game and completely dismantled Tennessee in the second half Saturday. Wake Forest is in need of a win to become bowl eligible, but the Commodores roll in with a load of momentum.

8. Mississippi State (8-3; LW: 8): The Bulldogs regained some of the swagger they lost with three straight blowout losses in SEC play. Now, Arkansas has fallen on some real hard times in Fayetteville, but this was a win that Mississippi State absolutely had to have and it's a performance the Bulldogs needed as well. Mississippi State played arguably its most complete game of the season and quarterback Tyler Russell was about as efficient as ever. When this offense is clicking it's very hard to stop and it heads into the Egg Bowl with its confidence back.

9. Ole Miss (5-6; LW: 9): What an effort by the Rebels down in Baton Rouge. Ole Miss took LSU right down to the wire and became the first team to put up 30-plus points on LSU's defense. Ole Miss' 463 offensive yards are the most the Tigers have given up all season. But when the Rebels needed their defense to stand tall at the end of the game, it just couldn't stop LSU from finding the end zone and putting the game away. This makes three straight very tough losses for the Rebels, who still need one more win to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2009. And they get a much more confident Mississippi State team Saturday at home.

10. Missouri (5-6; LW: 10): How the Tigers couldn't figure out a way to keep the ball away from Syracuse wide receiver Alec Lemon on the Orange's game-winning drive is beyond me. He abused Missouri's defense all night and then somehow was wide-open for Syracuse's game-winning touchdown with 20 seconds left. Mizzou blew an early 14-3 lead and might have blown its bowl chances with the Aggies next on the schedule. The Tigers had to have that win over Syracuse and will now need to contain Johnny Football in order to make it to the postseason. Quarterback James Franklin was banged up again over the weekend, so the Tigers will yet again be monitoring his health this week.

11. Arkansas (4-7; LW: 11): The Hogs' long nightmare of a season is almost over. With the loss to Mississippi State, Arkansas lost its bowl hopes and will play its final game of the 2012 season at home against LSU. We saw some fight from the Hogs down the stretch after a horrible September, but this team was playing catch-up all season. Now, the program can turn its attention to finding a new head coach and starting fresh. No one in Fayetteville is happy about how the season will end, but they have to be relieved to get to the next chapter.

12. Tennessee (4-7; LW: 12): It was only a matter of time before Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart dismissed Derek Dooley, and there was no escaping it after the Vols were embarrassed by Vanderbilt. This was Dooley's most talented team, but it was probably his most disappointing season. The Vols are 0-7 in league play and own the SEC's worst defense. The writing might have been on the wall when all of those assistants left before spring practice. Like Arkansas, Tennessee's fan base has to be ready to get to the next stage of this program's life.

13. Auburn (3-8; LW: 13): Well, the Tigers left the Plains winners. It wasn't against a very challenging opponent, but at least the seniors could smile on senior day after such an ugly season that probably won't bring the Tigers a conference win. Now, Auburn will have to deal with all of the talk surrounding Gene Chizik and his future with the program. This is the fourth time Auburn has gone 0-7 in league play and it's overshadowing Chizik's national championship season in 2010. Auburn has one last chance of getting a conference win. Unfortunately, it will have to come against Alabama.

14. Kentucky (2-9; LW: 14): Like Auburn, the Wildcats left their home stadium with a win. Joker Phillips has one last game as Kentucky's head coach, but he'll finish his time in Lexington with a win on senior day, and you know that had to mean a lot to him. Kentucky has resembled an infirmary this fall with all the injuries, but the youngsters who came on in relief duty just weren't getting better week in and week out. The Wildcats, who are at the bottom of the SEC in major offensive and defensive categories, will end the season at Tennessee.

ATHENS, Ga. -- His team has improved to third in the BCS standings Sunday and his fan base is nearly hysterical over its postseason prospects, but Georgia coach Mark Richt steadfastly refused to discuss the opportunity that awaits the Bulldogs.

“Anybody want to talk about Georgia Tech?” Richt asked reporters on his Sunday teleconference after shooting down multiple BCS-related questions.

If answering honestly, most would have answered no. But the rival Yellow Jackets (6-5) represent the final hurdle that Richt’s Bulldogs (10-1) must clear before a possible SEC championship game matchup with No. 2 Alabama (10-1) could essentially function as a national semifinal preceding the BCS championship game.

But don’t expect much from Richt this week about his team controlling its own destiny to play for the national title after No. 1 Kansas State and No. 2 Oregon lost Saturday night. He wouldn’t even acknowledge having watched the games that put his team in this position.

“You know what, I was thinking about Tech that night,” Richt said.

But the coach’s perspective -- which is understandable in that his team can’t afford to look past the Yellow Jackets and their dangerous option offense -- won’t prevent mass speculation concerning the Bulldogs’ chances this week. And if they do in fact beat Georgia Tech, and if Alabama beats hapless Auburn (3-8) to claim the SEC West title, the discussions about Georgia's BCS worthiness will become unavoidable during the run-up to their Dec. 1 meeting in Atlanta.

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ATHENS, Ga. -- Georgia piled up the yards in a much easier second half to pull away for a 45-14 victory against Georgia Southern.

It was over when: Georgia scored a touchdown on its first two possessions of the second half -- on touchdown passes from Aaron Murray to Chris Conley and Tavarres King -- to push a 17-7 halftime deficit to a comfortable 31-7 advantage.

Game ball goes to: Mike Bobo and Todd Grantham. Georgia’s coordinators helped turn Saturday’s game into a rout after an ugly first half. Bobo recognized that Georgia Southern’s defense had no chance of stopping Murray and the Bulldogs’ passing game, and he turned them loose in a 21-point third quarter. Grantham’s defense adjusted to Georgia Southern’s running game admirably, allowing just 31 rushing yards in the third quarter as the Bulldogs took control.

Stat of the game: 302. Georgia Southern’s flexbone offense gave Georgia’s defense all kinds of early problems, racking up 149 rushing yards on 29 carries in the first half. The Bulldogs tightened up afterward, although the Eagles finished with 302 total rushing yards. Of their 153 second-half rushing yards, 122 came in the fourth quarter after Georgia had already put away the win.

Turning point: Georgia led 10-7 with 1:12 left in the first half when Georgia Southern left guard Trevor McBurnett was flagged for a chop block that canceled out Dominique Swope’srun to the Georgia 5. Alex Hanks was instead forced to attempt a 39-yard field goal -- which he missed -- and Georgia drove 78 yards, scoring on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Murray to Malcolm Mitchell with 4 seconds left, to go up 17-7 at halftime.

What it means: No. 5 Georgia (10-1) bounced back from a slow start and got valuable practice for defending Georgia Tech’s highly similar flexbone rushing attack next Saturday.

NO. 6 (FCS) GEORGIA SOUTHERN AT NO. 5 (FBS) GEORGIA
Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
Sanford Stadium, Athens, Ga.
WSB-TV (Atlanta)/ESPN3

Records: Georgia 9-1 (7-1 SEC), Georgia Southern 8-2 (6-2 SoCon)

Last week: Georgia beat Auburn 38-0, Georgia Southern beat Howard 69-26

What’s the Story?: After clinching the SEC East title last week for the second straight season, Georgia has a pair of out-of-division games against untraditional offensive teams -- Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech, both of which feature run-heavy option attacks -- to complete the regular season. Containing those offenses will be a headache for the Bulldogs, who only recently started to peak on defense after struggling for most of the first half of the season.

Five headlines: Check out our recap of this week’s biggest storylines from Thursday.

Players to watch:
Georgia
1. John Jenkins: The massive defensive lineman and his cohorts up front -- throw in Kwame Geathers, Garrison Smith, Cornelius Washington and Ray Drew -- handle their business against Eagles offensive linemen who are consistently diving at their knees, that will make it much easier for the defensive playmakers to tackle Georgia Southern’s ballcarriers. This will be a game built for a quick and powerful lineman like Jenkins.

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