THE SEC REPORT
The SEC Report: A&M gets destroyed as LSU asserts dominance over the SEC and Auburn wins a heavyweight battle of an Iron Bowl
Dec 3, 2019, 8:52 am
THE SEC REPORT
Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio and Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!
LSU obliterated A&M as Joe Burrow and the Tigers came out to make a statement about their place nationally this season. An inappropriate gesture helped cost Ole Miss the Egg Bowl and Alabama just lost the most important Iron Bowl in a long, long time. Alabama hasn't come into an Iron Bowl lately with their season in more trouble than they did this year, with a back up quarterback, a better team in their own division and already out of the SEC title game a wounded Crimson Tide lost a huge Iron Bowl to Auburn.
Jake Fromm, Quarterback of Georgia: This season has been the Swift show but this week we actually had a Fromm sighting and it was prolific. Four touchdowns on just fourteen completions, Fromm picked a great week to come alive as their next game is against LSU for the SEC title and having to worry about both the run and the pass means play calling just got a little easier for The Bulldogs.
Auburn as a team: The young quarterback Bo Nix played well enough in a huge back and forth game. The defense contributed with two pick sixes that kept the pressure on Alabama and back up quarterback Mac Jones. Auburn came in and did exactly what it needed to do to win a close and hard fought game.
Kyle Trask, Quarterback of Florida: Threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns on 30 completions. Florida finished their season in a great place in comparison to how they started it and the leadership and performance of Trask has a lot to do with it and this week is no exception to that.
This weekend is the big one, everything has been building for this. This week Georgia plays LSU in what has worked out to be a road game for the higher ranked Tigers. Georgia is playing in their third SEC championship game in a row and they have to think the world is playing a cruel joke on them as they've traded one buzz saw for another. While they aren't playing the most successful college program in recent history they are still playing a program on fire with a Heisman hopeful at quarterback. 3pm this Saturday on CBS, we'll see who wins the SEC The Bulldogs or The Tigers.
Jake Fromm, Quarterback of Georgia: For the Bulldogs to have a chance to win Fromm needs to have a great game, complete over half of his passes, be efficient and play mistake free football. There's always a chance a team can win but usually it means their quarterback plays good football.
Joe Burrow, Quarterback of LSU: This guy has been crushing the game all season and needs just one more game to make his case for a Heisman, to win an SEC championship and to secure a shot at the National Championship. After all of the football these next few weeks are so important for Burrow and company to get as much as they can from all of this success this season.
D'Andre Swift, Runningback of Georgia: He didn't finish the Tech game due to a shoulder injury and The Bulldogs will need all hands on deck. One of the best rushers in the SEC this season is a heck of a guy to be missing or to have but not at full strength. Hopefully Georgia can keep everything going just one more game but they'll need Swift to make that happen.Feel free to check out my brand-new comic book Another Day at the Office or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help people struggling with cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.
The phrase most associated with the late former Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders’ owner Al Davis was “Just win baby.” One has to think Al would strongly approve of the Houston Astros. Going to the fifth inning Sunday against the Mariners the Astros were facing a 3-0 deficit and staring at the prospect of being swept out of Seattle and having their American League West division lead slashed to just two games. Now after roaring from behind with 11 unanswered runs to take the series finale in the Emerald City, and then sweeping three games from the Diamondbacks in Phoenix, the Astros stand six games up with 60 games to go. So, if the Astros play just .500 ball the rest of the way (which would have them finish with 90 victories), the Mariners have to play .600 ball to catch them. If somehow the Astros are to maintain their season long win pace to the finish line they’d close with 95 wins, and the race is already over unless someone thinks the M’s are poised to uncork a finishing kick of 41-19 or better. It’s quite a pleasing perch from which the Astros survey the standings. Coupled with the freefalling Detroit Tigers having dropped nine of their last ten games, the Astros amazingly start this homestand sporting the best record in the entire American League. On the homestand they follow four games against the team with the second-worst record in the American League (Athletics) with three versus the team with the second-worst record in the National League (Nationals). I know, I know. There is fear of the Astros playing down to the competition, but that is not the way to look at it. A bad Major League team can beat a good team in a series at any time. If it happens it happens, but it wouldn’t mean it happened only because the Astros didn’t take their opponent seriously. This isn’t the NBA.
Trade deadline looming
Of course, It hasn’t been all good news with Isaac Paredes badly injuring a hamstring Sunday. Paredes could be back in three weeks (doubtful), he could miss the rest of the season. GET WELL SOON JEREMY PENA! Lance McCullers’s latest Injured List stint could be considered addition by subtraction for the Astros’ starting rotation. Whether impacted by his blister issue, Lance was lousy in four of his last five starts. So, one week from the trade deadline, if general manager Dana Brown has the ammo to get one deal done, where does he make the upgrade? The left-handed hitter everyone knows the Astros can use regardless of Yordan Alvarez’s status is a natural priority. With the Astros’ weak farm system it would seem difficult for Brown to put forth the winning offer for the top bats that could be in play. That probably rings even truer now, since if he wasn’t already untouchable, Brice Matthews may have cemented untouchable status by darn near winning the first two games of the Diamondbacks series by himself. Matthews is going to struggle mightily to hit for a good average if he can’t make notable improvement in the contact department, but the power is obvious, as is the athleticism in the field. The 23-year-old Matthews and 22-year-old Cam Smith (though presently mired in a three for 36 slump) are the clear (and right now only) two young shining beacons for the lineup’s future.
You can't have enough pitching
While Brandon Walter has been a revelation, a starting pitcher would make sense unless the decision is to hope Spencer Arrighetti and/or Cristian Javier can contribute meaningfully upon return to the big leagues, likely sometime next month. Going after a reliever or two may make more sense in terms of availability and transaction cost. Overall the Astros’ bullpen has been excellent, but Bryan Abreu is the only trustworthy right-handed option for Joe Espada. Back to Walter. Barely two months ago no way Walter himself would have believed he’d be where he is now. Nine starts since being summoned basically out of desperation, Walter has a 3.35 earned run average, and a stunning 13 to one strikeout-to-walk ratio with his 52 strikeouts against a measly four walks allowed in 53 2/3 innings. Walter has pitched fabulously in seven of his nine starts. He only has two wins, but that’s because in five of the six Walter starts the Astros didn’t win the game they failed to score more than two runs. Walter turns 29 years old in September. His only prior big league experience was 23 innings in relief with a 6.26 ERA for the Red Sox two years ago. The Bosox released him last August, the Astros signed him basically as minor league depth. Look at him (and the Astros) now.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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