There have been a whole lot of meetings at LSU this week in the wake of Troy's 24-21 upset victory Saturday.
In addition to the usual staff, team and position group meetings, the Tigers held a players only meeting Sunday.
That was followed by a Monday meeting among Coach Ed Orgeron, Athletic Director Joe Alleva, and coordinators Dave Aranda and Matt Canada.
A meeting involving the athletic director, head coach and coordinators is highly unusual during an SEC game week.
Then again, LSU had won 49 consecutive home nonconference games before losing to Troy -- a 21-point underdog -- to fall to 3-2.
The Baton Rouge Advocate, citing an unnamed source, said the meeting among Alleva, Orgeron, Aranda and Canada in Orgeron's office focused on accountability, and that the four agreed on the direction of the program.
Orgeron said on Wednesday's SEC coaches teleconference he and Alleva called the meeting.
"I think the reason why Joe wanted to do it and I wanted to do it is because we're not playing very well," Orgeron said. "We all know that.
"We wanted to see what we could correct, and we threw everything out on the table. I thought it was very positive."
The meeting was held after Orgeron's weekly news conference.
"Joe and I meet all of the time," Orgeron said. "We said, 'Let's bring in the coordinators. Let's talk to them, see what's going on.' "
Aranda has a $1.8 million salary and Canada is at $1.3 million, making them the highest-paid coordinator duo in the nation.
"We feel like we have two very good coordinators," Orgeron said. "[Alleva] wanted to know what was going on, what we could do better. We all got on the same page. Very positive."
Hand's eye coordination
Auburn offensive line coach Herb Hand didn't let having a torn retina in his right eye slow him down much.
Hand didn't miss a 51-14 victory at Missouri the day before he underwent surgery or the Tigers' 49-10 victory over Mississippi State the next week.
The week of the Missouri game, Hand noticed a blind spot in his vision when using his right eye, AL.com reported, and he went to see an optometrist who referred him to an eye specialist in Montgomery, Ala., the day before Auburn traveled to Missouri.
The specialist recommended Hand undergo surgery on his right eye as soon as possible.
Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn told Hand it was fine for him to stay home, have the surgery and miss the Missouri game.
But Hand wouldn't go for that. He insisted on making the trip to Missouri.
"Herb's an extremely tough guy, there's no doubt," Malzahn said. "The doctor wanted to operate that Friday, and I told Herb, 'Hey, go ahead and get it done and we'll be fine,' because the prep was already in.
"But he felt really strongly he wanted to go to the game. It says a lot about Herb that he wanted to be there, and he did a good job that night, too."
Hand had surgery at 8 a.m. Sunday and was at practice the Tuesday of the Mississippi State game week.
"He's doing better now," Malzahn said. "He's wearing a patch over [the eye] until it heals properly.
"But if you saw him this week in practice, you wouldn't know any different other than the patch."
Malzahn said Hand did a good job preparing last week, but he is more like his old self now.
"This week you can tell he has his energy back and all that," Malzahn said.
Patterson keeps playing
Ole Miss quarterback Shea Patterson, who played in the final three games last season as a true freshman after senior Chad Kelly went down with a knee injury, took every snap in the Rebels' 66-3 loss at Alabama.
Why subject Patterson to that pounding for its entirety?
"Shea is a sophomore," Ole Miss interim Coach Matt Luke said. "We're trying to get him as much experience as possible."
Patterson completed 14 of 29 passes for 165 yards with 2 interceptions against the Crimson Tide. He was sacked five times.
"He was coming up to me wanting to stay in the game, wanting to compete," Luke said. "I think him getting as much experience as possible is important."
Quarterback question
Georgia sophomore quarterback Jacob Eason started the season opener in the Bulldogs' 31-10 victory over Appalachian State, but he was sidelined by a left knee injury in the first half.
True freshman quarterback Jake Fromm finished the Appalachian State game and has made four consecutive starts for the 5-0 Bulldogs, including victories at Notre Dame and Tennessee.
Eason, last season's starter, played off the bench in Georgia's 41-0 pounding of the Vols, prompting the question of whether he or Fromm will start Saturday at Vanderbilt.
Bulldogs Coach Kirby Smart is keeping that decision in-house.
"It's not something we have to announce," Smart told reporters.
Vanderbilt Coach Derek Mason said he expects Fromm to start.
"Listen, we can quit with the coaching dramatics," Mason said with a smile when asked about Georgia's quarterback situation. "Right now, I believe Fromm is the guy.
"I believe Eason is an extremely talented quarterback. But that's up to Kirby who he decides to go with. I mean he's not fooling me, if that's what we think we're doing here. That young man Fromm's won ballgames."
Smart was asked about Mason's comments, and whether he was right about Fromm starting?
"Derek Mason's entitled to his opinion," Smart said. "Derek Mason's not at our practices. He doesn't watch our practice tape, that I know of. So I'm not really concerned with those comments."
Smart said the coaches have discussed the situation with Eason and Fromm.
"They both completely understand," Smart said. "They see it from our perspective, and the team's perspective, and the team goals and team focus. As long as that's put first, then all the right decisions are made based off that."
Franks back as starter
Florida redshirt freshman quarterback Feleipe Franks will return to the starting lineup against LSU -- a team he was verbally committed to as a recruit for more than a year before flipping to the Gators.
Franks, who is from Crawfordville, Fla., decided to stay home rather than sign with LSU. He was part of Florida Coach Jim McElwain's second recruiting class.
"He was obviously a target when we got here," McElwain said. "He was one of the best players in the state of Florida.
"At the time, I think more than anything for him probably, opportunity-wise we didn't have a lot on the roster, so it probably was a pretty good fit for him."
Franks is starting again after junior Luke Del Rio -- who replaced him at Kentucky and rallied the Gators to a victory -- suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against Vanderbilt last week.
After Del Rio went down in the second quarter, Franks came off the bench to compete 10 of 14 passes for 185 yards to help the Gators beat the Commodores 38-24.
Two-minute drill
• Auburn senior Daniel Carlson has hit an SEC-record 162 consecutive extra points. He kicked seven extra points last week against Mississippi State in the Tigers' 49-10 victory to break the SEC record of 161 in a row by Tennessee's John Becksvoort from 1991-1994.
• Alabama's 59-0 victory at Vanderbilt and 66-3 victory over Ole Miss represented the Crimson Tide's most points in back-to-back SEC games since 1945, when they beat Kentucky 60-19 and Vanderbilt 71-0.
• Georgia's 41-0 victory at Tennessee ended the Vols' scoring streak at 289 games. The Vols hadn't been shutout since a 31-0 loss to Florida on Sept. 17, 1994.
• Mississippi State had seven false-start penalties at Auburn.
• Ole Miss was 0 of 13 on third-down conversions at Alabama.
• Unless LSU shuts out Florida, the Gators will have the NCAA record for consecutive games scoring to themselves. Florida is tied with Michigan at 365 games in a row. The Wolverines set the record from 1984-2014. Florida was last shut out by Auburn 16-0 Oct. 29, 1988.
SEC TOP TO BOTTOM
Rank(prev);record;comment
1(1);Alabama;5-0;Has won first two SEC games by 125-3 margin
2(2);Georgia;5-0;Out to avenge loss to Vanderbilt last season
3(3);Auburn;4-1;Offense starting to get untracked with Ole Miss visiting
4(4);Florida;3-1;Franks back in as starting quarterback
5(11);Texas A&M;4-1;Hopes to be first SEC team to challenge Alabama
6(8);Kentucky;4-1;Ready to welcome Mizzou to the Commonwealth
7(5);Mississippi State;3-2;Has struggled since beating LSU
8(12);Arkansas;2-2;Looking for first SEC victory at Carolina
9(10);South Carolina;3-2;Hopes offensive line gets healthy
10(9);Vanderbilt;3-2;Tough stretch continues at Georgia
11(6);Tennessee;3-2;Butch Jones' seat is scalding
12(7);LSU;3-2;Not the start Coach O envisioned
13(13);Ole Miss;2-2;Gets Auburn after Alabama beatdown
14(14);Missouri;1-3;Didn't lose last week during open date
PLAYER TO WATCH
Alabama sophomore quarterback Jalen Hurts is playing at a high level going into Saturday's game at Texas A&M.
Hurts is the SEC's third-leading rusher with 55 carries for 461 yards -- an 8.4 yards per carry average -- and 4 touchdowns and has improved on the passing game under first-year offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
Hurts, who has an 18-1 record as a starter, has completed 64 percent of his passes (57 of 89) for 747 yards and 6 touchdowns without an interception.
GAME OF THE WEEK
LSU at Florida
WHEN 2:30 p.m. Saturday (CBS)
WHERE Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Fla.
RECORDS LSU 3-2, 0-1 SEC. Florida 3-1, 3-0
RANKINGS Florida is ranked No. 21 in the AP poll and No. 20 in the USA Today coaches' poll. LSU fell out of the AP poll after losing to Troy.
LINE Florida by 3½ points
After Troy ruined LSU's homecoming game with a 24-21 upset in Tiger Stadium, LSU will try to ruin Florida's homecoming game at The Swamp.
This game was supposed to be in Baton Rouge, but it moved to Gainesville -- where next season's game also will be played -- after last year's game was switched to Baton Rouge after a postponement due to Hurricane Matthew.
The negotiations to reschedule last year's game got chippy, with Florida finally agreeing to play at Baton Rouge when LSU refused to cancel a nonconference home game on a date that would have accommodated both schools.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey had high praise for Florida and made no mention of LSU when last year's rescheduled game was announced.
Florida had the last laugh by winning 16-10 at LSU and now has two consecutive home games against the Tigers.
BY THE NUMBERS
1905 -- When Vanderbilt won 45-0 at Tennessee, which was the last time a visiting team beat the Vols by 40-plus points at home prior to Georgia's 41-0 victory.
0 -- Turnovers by Alabama this season.
$985,000 -- Guarantee Troy received from LSU, which lost to the Trojans 24-21.
OVERHEARD
"We were just terrible, just terrible."
-- Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald after the Bulldogs' 49-10 loss at Auburn
"You put our backs to the wall, we're going to battle. That's all we know how to do."
-- LSU Coach Ed Orgeron after the loss to Troy
"It may be good for us, because we haven't played well on either side of the ball at home."
-- Missouri Coach Barry Odom on his team playing its first road game at Kentucky
Sports on 10/05/2017