Red zone dead zone for Auburn

Auburn ranks last among Football Bowl Subdivision teams in red-zone offense, having scored on 57 percent of its possessions (20 of 35 ) when it drives inside an opponent’s 20-yard line.

The Tigers have 13 touchdowns and seven field goals in the red zone.

Those struggles go a long way toward explaining Auburn’s 5-6 record going into Saturday’s game with No. 1 Alabama.

“I think the key is having that killer mentality,” Tigers wide receiver Rod Smith said. “If you go on a long drive, you just have to finish it.

“ You can’t settle for field goals.”

Field goals have been a problem, too. Sophomore placekicker Wes Byrum has been bothered by a knee injury and has made 11 of 18 attempts.

But the Tigers also have missed a lot opportunities for touchdowns.

“We’re just shooting ourselves in the foot,” said Kodi Burns, Auburn’s sophomore quarterback from Fort Smith Northside. “The red zone is there. We just have to convert and make it count.”

Smith said the Tigers have to stay positive.

“If we get it in our heads that we’re going to go down there and nobody’s going to stop us — we’re going to get in the end zone no matter what — we’ll be an excellent offense,” he said. “You’ve just got to get into guys’ heads and get them to believe that.” Playing with pain

Crimson Tide Coach Nick Saban revealed that sophomore linebacker Rolando McClain played the second half of Alabama’s 32-7 victory over Mississippi State on Nov. 15 after receiving stitches for a right thumb laceration.

“Ro has a lot of mental toughness, physical toughness, and he plays that way,” Saban said. “He has shown an ability, as a competitor, to play through injuries. “ Some players can do that and some players can’t. And it’s a matter of being able to focus and not being distracted by the pain.” McClain injured his thumb when he broke up a pass and a Mississippi State lineman smashed into his hand. On the next play, McClain sacked quarterback Tyson Lee.

Just win, baby Alabama knows what it has to do to get to the BCS title game. If Alabama, the only remaining unbeaten team from the six BCS conferences, beats Auburn on Saturday and beats Florida the following week in the SEC Championship Game, the Crimson Tide are assured of playing for the BCS title.

“As long as we win, we can do what we want,” Alabama senior quarterback John Parker Wilson said.

Sounds simple, but staying perfect doesn’t figure to be easy.

Auburn has beaten Alabama six consecutive times and Florida has outscored its past seven opponents 369-82 since losing to Ole Miss 31-30. Decisions, decisions

The college careers of Georgia junior quarterback Matthew Stafford and redshirt sophomore tailback Knowshon Moreno might be winding down.

Both are eligible to enter the NFL Draft after this season.

“Stafford, in my opinion, is the best quarterback in the draft without question,” said an NFL scout, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Will he go first pick in the draft ? I would think so.

“ Stafford has got a great arm. He’s a gunslinger, which means he’ll make some mistakes, but he can make every throw you want.

“ He’s just scratching the surface of his ability, and he’s a smart enough quarterback who has started to refine his body a little bit, which is making him a better athlete as far as moving in the pocket and that type of thing. “ I think he’s the first pick in the draft and definitely the first quarterback taken.” The same scout questioned whether Moreno will be a top-10 pick, but said he’s a firstrounder.

Going for eight Georgia Coach Mark Richt is 7-0 against Georgia Tech. If the Bulldogs beat the Yellow Jackets again on Saturday, the eight-game winning streak will mark the longest for Georgia in series history.

Georgia Tech had an eight-game winning streak over Georgia from 1949-1956, part of a span in which Frank Broyles was an assistant to Yellow Jackets Coach Bobby Dodd.

Broyles, the former Arkansas coach and athletic director who played for Dodd, was a Georgia Tech assistant from 1951-1956. One left for Fulmer

Phillip Fulmer will end his 17-year run as Tennessee’s coach Saturday when the Vols go for their 24 th consecutive victory over Kentucky.

Fulmer said the outpouring of affection from friends and strangers has been overwhelming since he resigned on Nov. 3.

“It makes you feel warm, but it doesn’t make you feel any better,” Fulmer said. “It has been like a three-week-long funeral.

“ I don’t think I would encourage any athletic director to do it that way. It has made it tough on everybody.” But Fulmer said he’s not bitter about Tennessee Athletic Director Mike Hamilton’s decision. “A good friend of mine told me — and it’s true — bitterness or resentment is like taking poison and expecting somebody else to die,” Fulmer said. “I’m not going to live that way. I just choose not to. “ Certainly I do think if we’d been given the opportunity then we would have turned it around and gotten to where we want to be. I believe that with all my heart.”

Berry good Sophomore defensive back Eric Berry has been a bright spot in Tennessee’s dim season. He had a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown against Vanderbilt, giving him an SEC record 265 return yards and two scores on seven interceptions this season.

Berry broke the SEC record for interception returns yards set in 1956 by Florida’s Joe Brodsky, who had 244 yards. Awesome feeling

Florida senior defensive tackle Javier Estopinan scored on a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter of the Gators’ 70-19 victory over The Citadel.

“It was awesome,” Estopinan said. “There’s no other feeling.”

Florida Coach Urban Meyer came up with the idea of having Estopinan live a lineman’s dream of scoring a touchdown as a way of rewarding a player who has come back from three torn anterior cruciate knee ligaments.

At first Estopinan didn’t believe Meyer when the coach mentioned to him last week that he wanted to give him the ball.

“He’s stingy with his touchdowns,” Estopinan said. “There’s so many playmakers on offense you would never think you’re going to get a touchdown.”

Estopinan took a handoff from quarterback Tim Tebow, hesitated briefly, then ran through a huge hole to score his first touchdown since he was a sophomore tight end at South Miami High School. The score gave the Gators a 56-6 lead with 10: 34 remaining in the third quarter. “I did think about celebrating,” Estopinan said. “But I was so dazed and confused I didn’t know what to do.”

Who was that ? Ole Miss had a scary moment late in the first half of what became a 31-13 victory over LSU. Quarterback Jevan Snead was blindsided by Tigers defensive end Rahim Alem and slammed to the field on his right throwing shoulder.

Snead got up slowly in obvious pain, but stayed in the game. “I took a good lick,” Snead said. “I don’t know exactly who it was that hit me, but they did a good job.” Rebels receiver Mike Wallace wasn’t surprised Snead shook off the big hit. “Jevan’s a tough dude,” said receiver Mike Wallace said. “He finds a way to get up.”

One QB South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier rotated quarterbacks Stephen Garcia and Chris Smelley the past two games — a 34-14 victory over Arkansas and 56-6 loss at Florida — but he’s going with Smelley as the starter against Clemson and doesn’t plan a shuffle with Garcia. Spurrier said it has become apparent that Smelley is the more effective quarterback because of Garcia’s tendency to run out of the pocket.

Spurrier said Garcia needs to show more awareness on the field.

“I mean, every play can’t be just a take-off-running, throwit-somewhere play,” Spurrier said. “We’ve got to have some type of a plan. And right now he’s just not as prepared as hopefully he will be next year.”

Going for 200 South Carolina senior Kenny McKinley, the SEC’s receptions leader among active players with 194, is on the verge of being the fifth player in conference history to have 200 catches. The four who have done it are Vanderbilt’s Earl Bennett (236 ), Kentucky’s Craig Yeast (208 ), Georgia’s Terrence Edwards (204 ) and Kentucky’s Keith Edwards (200 ).

Two-minute drill No. 25 Ole Miss is ranked in The Associated Press poll for the first time since the end of the 2003 season, when the Rebels were No. 13 after beating Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl to finish 10-3. Florida’s 705 yards in total offense against The Citadel were the third-most in school history. The Gators had 774 yards in a 77-14 victory over West Texas State in 1982 and 708 in an 82-6 victory over Central Michigan in 1987. Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Ole Miss are the only SEC teams to start the same quarterback in every game this season. Information for this report was contributed by SEC beat writers GAME OF THE WEEK AUBURN AT NO. 1 ALABAMA

2: 30 P. M. SATURDAY, CBS All of the success the Crimson Tide have enjoyed this season won’t mean much if Alabama loses to Auburn for the seventh consecutive year. It’s been a tough year for Tommy Tuberville’s Tigers, who were preseason favorites to win the West, but they can salvage their season by upsetting the Tide. Each team had an open date last week, allowing for a Super Bowl buildup by the media. Playing at Bryant-Denny Stadium shouldn’t faze the Tigers, who are 6-0 in Tuscaloosa. OVERHEARD “This feels normal.” Tennessee center Josh McNeil after the Vols beat Vanderbilt 20-10 “We don’t want to be the class to end the streak against Alabama. We want to go out the right

way.” Auburn senior receiver Rod Smith, on the Tigers’ 6-game winning streak over the Crimson Tide

BY THE NUMBERS 7-0 Georgia Coach Mark Richt’s record vs. Georgia Tech 1984 Last time Kentucky beat Tennessee, 17-12, at Knoxville 502 Yards gained by Florida in the first half against The Citadel