From SEC to Senate for Tuberville

Camden native Tommy Tuberville will be playing political football in Washington, D.C.

Tuberville, the former coach at Ole Miss and Auburn, ran as a Republican and was elected to the U.S. Senate by Alabama voters in a landslide Tuesday night.

Tuberville, 66, essentially treated Democrat Sen. Doug Jones like an FCS team, winning with 60% of the vote.

“Tommy’s always been someone who I have a tremendous amount of respect for,” Alabama Coach Nick Saban said. “We competed against each other, but we’ve been really good friends for a long, long time.

“We’ve always tried to stay out of the political arena here just as a way of the world in the coaching profession, but I’m happy to see that he’s going to have an opportunity [in the Senate], and I think he’ll do a really good job.”

Tuberville played safety at Southern Arkansas University and was the head coach at Hermitage High School and an assistant at Arkansas State University before going to the University of Miami as a graduate assistant in 1986. He rose up the staff at Miami and was defensive coordinator in 1993.

“Me and Tommy Tuberville were roommates at Miami,” said LSU Coach Ed Orgeron, who went to Miami after being a weight room graduate assistant at the University of Arkansas. “We were graduate assistants together, so me and him are very close. I am so happy for him.

“I think that he’s going to do a great job. Tommy was a great coach. In fact, he’s the one that got me from Arkansas to the University of Miami.

“We always knew he’d be a politician. He just has that in him. I think he’s going to do a fantastic job.”

Fob James, an All-American running back at Auburn, served two terms as Alabama’s governor from 1979-83 and 1995-99, and Tennessee quarterback Heath Shuler was a three-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives for North Carolina from 2007-13, but Tuberville will be the first former SEC football coach to serve as a senator.

Tuberville had a 159-99 career record, which included stops at Texas Tech and Cincinnati after his time in the SEC.

“When you’re a head coach, you deal with a lot of stuff,” Texas A&M Coach Jimbo Fisher said. “You’re almost like [a politician] anyway.

“As a football coach, you’ve been in a lot of leadership roles. People don’t realize you wear a lot of hats as a head football coach. The different things you have to do and different people you have to interact with.

“Still, I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be a little different up there for Tommy and getting through things. I don’t know Tommy personally real well, but I know guys that played for him that love him. I’m very happy for him, very proud for him and hope he does a great job.”

Jimmy Johnson, the former Arkansas player and defensive coordinator, was Miami’s head coach when Tuberville first joined the Hurricanes’ staff.

“Congratulations Tommy,” Johnson posted on his Twitter account. “You’ve come a long way since were an assistant on my Miami staff!!”

Saban, who has won five national championships at Alabama, probably could be elected to any office in the state. But he’s not interested in running.

“I can answer that real quick,” Saban said laughing. “No.”

Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn offered congratulations to Tuberville on his election, but said he’s not interested in a political career.

“That ain’t for me,” Malzahn said. “Don’t ever have to worry about me being in politics.”

LSU challenges

Despite LSU losing 14 players to the NFL Draft from last season’s 15-0 national championship team as well as defensive coordinator Dave Aranda (now Baylor’s head coach) and passing game coordinator Joe Brady (now an NFL assistant with Carolina), expectations were high for the Tigers.

LSU was ranked No. 6 in The Associated Press preseason poll, but now is tied for fourth in the SEC West with Arkansas at 2-3.

After LSU suffered losses in offensive shootouts to Mississippi State 44-34 and Missouri 45-41, the Tigers were trounced at Auburn 48-11.

It was the largest margin of victory ever for Auburn against LSU, and the Tigers’ most-lopsided SEC loss since 1996 (56-13 to No. 1 Florida) and most lopsided loss to an unranked team since 1981 (48-7 to Tulane).

“We just got punched in the face. We got absolutely killed,” LSU center Liam Shanahan said. “It stings a lot. We just got embarrassed on a national stage.”

Now LSU has an open date before playing No. 2 Alabama.

“It’s very challenging right now, but we’ve got to fix ourselves,” Tigers Coach Ed Orgeron said. “We’re making a lot of mistakes, so we’ve got to coach better number one, and play better.

“We’ve got a lot of new players and they’ve got to learn that in the SEC you’ve got to come ready to play every game.”

Orgeron said while the Tigers are struggling, he’s confidence they’ll bounce back.

“Myself, I just know we’re building another championship football team,” he said. “But you’ve got to go through adversity and some hard knocks to build that character and grit that you’re going to need down the road several seasons from now when these young players have learned how to win.”

LeCounte recovering

Georgia senior safety Richard LeCounte has been released from the hospital, Bulldogs Coach Kirby Smart said Wednesday, after being injured in a motorcycle accident Saturday night.

LeCounte was riding a motorcycle when he was involved in a multi-car accident after the team returned home from a 14-3 victory at Kentucky.

“When you get news like that, it’s crushing, it’s disheartening,” Georgia Coach Kirby Smart said. “It just makes everything flash before you, all of the experiences I’ve had with him.

“It was a scary moment. It was a very serious crash. He’s very fortunate to have his helmet on.”

Smart said LeCounte was in Georgia’s training room Tuesday getting treatment.

Game ball for Gus

Auburn’s players presented Coach Gus Malzahn with a game ball after the Tigers’ 48-11 victory over LSU.

“It caught me off guard,” said Malzahn, who is in his eighth season at Auburn. “I know that’s the first time since I’ve been here that I got a game ball.

“It was a really special, special feeling to be presented a game ball by your team leaders. It was a real cool experience for me.”

Malzahn said he couldn’t recall the last time he got a game ball.

“I may have gotten one in the past, but it’s been a long time ago,” he said. “Long enough where I don’t remember. I’d have to think about that.”

Halftime for Drinkwitz

Eliah Drinkwitz has Missouri 2-3 halfway through his first season as an SEC head coach.

“Well, I think it’s been different than what’s expected,” said Drinkwitz, referring to playing college football during the coronavirus pandemic. “I think that’s consistent with everybody in 2020.

“I think the physicality of having five SEC games in a row has been extremely challenging combined with covid.”

Four of the Tigers’ games have been against teams that were ranked at the time of the game. They have lost to No. 2 Alabama, No. 21 Tennessee and No. 10 Florida and beaten No. 17 LSU and Kentucky.

“I knew I was joining the best conference in college football,” said Drinkwitz, an Alma native who led Appalachian State to a 13-1 record last season. “I knew we were going to be playing against the best players in the country.

“I didn’t realize we were going to be playing four of the top 25 teams in the country in our first six opponents. But that’s life. I feel like our guys have competed. But we’ve got to do a better job of not giving games away with turnovers, missed assignments. Things that we can control.”

Relief for Kiffin

Ole Miss freshman tight end Damarcus Thomas has been released from the hospital, Rebels Coach Lane Kiffin said Wednesday, after he was airlifted to Memphis when he initially couldn’t move after suffering an injury in Monday’s practice.

Thomas began moving later Monday.

“It really was cool the relief you felt when they said he was moving,” Kiffin said. “Then when they released him … I mean, it felt like a miracle.”

Kiffin said Thomas has rejoined the team, but it isn’t known when he might be cleared to resume practicing.

On the run

The team that finished with the most rushing yards has won the Georgia-Florida game the past 14 years. The Bulldogs and Gators are 7-7 against each other in that span, with Georgia winning the last three games.

Dan Mullen is 2-3 in those matchups — 2-1 as the Gators’ offensive coordinator when they won in 2006 and 2008 and lost in 2007, and 0-2 as their head coach the past two seasons.

“I think coming into the game you’re going to look and say, ‘Hey, Georgia’s going to want to run the football and control the clock and have a grind-it-out game, and we’re going to want a more high-scoring passing game,’ ” Mullen said of Saturday’s matchup. “But they could come out throwing the ball, and we could come out running the ball.

“At the end of the game, you could see it flip. I’ve had those before. A lot of times when you look at [rushing yards], the team that had a lead ran the ball to hold onto it. I don’t know that the pure rushing yards is a key stat. I think it can be skewed in terms of how the game plays out.”

Better than OK Corral

Ole Miss sophomore quarterback Matt Corral completed his first 19 passes for 277 yards and 3 touchdowns in the Rebels’ 54-21 victory at Vanderbilt last week.

Corral finally threw an incompletion in the second quarter on a second-and-1 play from the Vanderbilt 33. He finished 31 of 34 for 412 yards and 6 touchdown passes without an interception.

The six touchdown passes tied Corral with Eli Manning for the most by an Ole Miss quarterback, though Manning’s record-setting game included five touchdown passes after regulation in Arkansas’ 58-56 victory over the Rebels that took an NCAA-record seven overtimes.

Alabama quarterback Mac Jones also had 19 consecutive completions this season in the Crimson Tide’s 48-17 victory at Tennessee.

Tee Martin, now a Tennessee assistant coach, holds the SEC record of 24 consecutive completions in 1998 when the Vols won the national championship.

Corral’s 19 consecutive completions weren’t an Ole Miss record. Kent Austin completed 20 passes in a row for the Rebels in 1982 with his last five against Tulane and first 15 against Tennessee.

Player to watch: Georgia sophomore LB Azeez Ojulari

Florida will need to come up with a good plan to block Ojulari if the Gators want to keep quarterback Kyle Trask upright when they play Georgia on Saturday.

Ojulari has been a force off the edge this season. He leads the SEC in tackles for loss (7 1/2 for 55 yards), sacks (4 1/2 for 34 yards) and forced fumbles (3). He also has 18 quarterback pressures.

Game of the week: Florida vs. Georgia | 2:30 p.m. Saturday, CBS

For the third consecutive season No. 5 Georgia and No. 8 Florida will meet in a top-10 matchup in Jacksonville, Fla.

Last season No. 8 Georgia beat No. 6 Florida 24-17, and in 2018 the No. 7 Bulldogs beat the No. 9 Gators 36-17.

The Bulldogs also beat the Gators in 2017. Not coincidentally, Georgia also has won three consecutive SEC East titles.

Dan Mullen is 24-6 as Florida’s coach, but he likely needs to win Saturday to lead the Gators to the SEC Championship Game.

By the numbers

• 10 of 15 – Fourth-down conversions by Tennessee this season

• 238 – Ole Miss record for receiving yards by Elijah Moore vs. Vanderbilt. Moore, who had 14 catches, broke the record of 233 yards by A.J. Brown vs. South Alabama in 2017.

• 24 — Career shutouts for Alabama Coach Nick Saban after the Crimson Tide beat Mississippi State 41-0.

• 52-43-2 – Georgia’s record vs. Florida.

Quotes of the week

“It’s an ugly scene for college football. I’m not proud of it. It’s disappointing.”

– Missouri Coach Eliah Drinkwitz on the fight that broke out between his players and Florida players at the end of the first half of the Gators’ 41-17 victory over the Tigers.

“It felt really good to beat them real bad.”

– Auburn defensive back Christian Tutt on the Tigers’ 48-11 victory over LSU.

“Smitty, man, he’s always open. Even when he’s not, he’s telling me to throw it up to him.”

– Alabama quarterback Mac Jones on DeVonta Smith, who had 11 catches for 203 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 41-0 victory over Mississippi State.

“It doesn’t clinch it or seal anything, but whoever wins this game certainly is putting themselves in the driver’s seat to get to Atlanta.”

— Florida Coach Dan Mullen on playing Georgia.