Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

11/9/2011 at 1:30pm

Tennessee will put its quarterbacking in the hands of true freshman Justin Worley for the third week in a row when the Volunteers play at Arkansas at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Vols Coach Derek Dooley said his team continues to practice as if they won't have Tyler Bray, the prolific passing sophomore who broke his thumb more than a month ago. Though Bray is near the end of a 4-6-week timetable for being out, Dooley said he had no idea if Bray could even begin practicing next week.

The focus for Dooley and the Vols has been to bring Worley along after his redshirt was burned late in the 37-6 loss at Alabama. After a shaky outing in a 14-3 loss to South Carolina, Worley was steadier in the Vols' 24-0 win over Middle Tennessee last week.

"His first game he really struggled, and its fair to say the jitters, the nerves, the anxieties of a you first game in college, it kind of overwhelmed him a little bit," Dooley said. "But we were pleased to see him show a lot more confidence, a lot more command last Saturday. He really managed the offense as well as we could've asked him to do it.

"Now is the challenge to do it on the road against a Top 10 football team. That's a big jump but we hope he can continue to build on it."

The Arkansas-Tennessee game will be broadcast by ESPN2.

Dooley and the Vols, they are still looking for their first SEC win. He said the nonconference victory at home last week at least reminded the players of what winning is like and changed the mood around the program.

"When you’re losing it’s hard on everybody," Dooley said during Wednesday's SEC coaches teleconference. "That’s the way it is, the way it’s always been. You start questioning, you start doubting, and nothing heals your sprit like a good win. It’s gotten in us a lot better place emotional. We’ll see if we can build on it."

Dooley called Arkansas a great team. The Razorbacks, who had become atrocious of late against opponents' running games, held South Carolina to 79 yards, and much of that was gained by Gamecocks quarterback Connor Show.

Tennessee has talented Tauren Poole at running back, but Dooley said, "We haven’t really run it well on anybody this year. We’re going to keep working on it and try to generate some run yards."

ArkansasSports360.com Power Poll Week 11

1. LSU (9-0). Better than Alabama at field goals.
2. Alabama (8-1). Not only did the kicking game fail the Tide, the OL was more banged up than anyone knew.
3. Arkansas (8-1). Hogs put it together for four quarters, finally.
4. Georgia (7-2). Bulldogs don't need tailbacks in last week's breather; now comes Auburn.
5. Auburn (6-3). Tigers can break Georgia's heart.
6. South Carolina (7-2). Gamecocks couldn't run or attack vertically with the pass vs. Arkansas, now must beat Gators.
7. Florida (5-4). Gators were able to use their speed to an advantage against Vandy.
8. Tennessee (4-5). Vols go Greek with their kicking game, calling on frat boy walk-on.
9. Vanderbilt (4-5). Fighting, but still not able to take the biggest step and win a big game.
10. Mississippi State (5-4). Bulldogs worked out some offensive kinks against lowly UT-Martin.
11. Kentucky (4-5). Better than Ole Miss.
12. Ole Miss (2-7). Rebels are a 30-minute team and will start looking for a new head coach.

BIG ONE IN ATHENS
In one of college football's leading all-time rivalries, Auburn holds a 54-52-8 mark over Georgia. Last year, Cam Newton led the eventual national champion Tigers to a 49-31 win.

But in the second year under defensive coordinator Todd Gratham, who previously had worked for the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL, the Bulldogs have turned stingier on defense, especially against the run. Auburn head coach Gene Chizik, who trained as a defensive assistant coach, has certainly noticed.

"It is night and day," Chizik said of the Bulldogs' play under Gratham. "No question, they've become very physical in the run game, their run fits are better. That usually happens under a new coordinator ... in the second year, there is a better comfort level. Their third downs too, them getting off the field, the pressure packages they bring, it’s very impressive."

Georgia's Mark Richt said his Bulldogs are "as healthy as we've been in a while." The 'Dawgs will have freshman running back Isaiah Crowell back after a week's suspension. In fact, Georgia had to use several defensive backs as rushers last week, though they were hardly needed in a 63-13 romp over New Mexico State. Crowell and two other tailback were suspended for failing a drug test, and Richard Samuel, who had give the Bulldogs some punch at running back, was injured late in the Florida game the week before.

Georgia is on a seven-game win streak, and the maturity of sophomore quarterback Aaron Murray over last season has been a big key, the coach said.

"Last year he was more likely to pull the ball down and run," Richt said. "Now he is standing in the pocket longer, making more throws from the pocket. And when the pocket gets squeezed a little bit he stands in there and makes throws where a year ago he would have taken the ball and spin out of it and make it happen with his wheels.

"Now, he made a lot of plays last year, but there were times I thought he could stand in there longer. He’s knows now when he feels things are about to come open he is willing to stand in there."

SIDELINE HEAT
Florida head coach Will Muschamp has developed a bit of a reputation for his volatile sideline demeanor in his first season as Gators coach. One media member asked South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier, who guided the Gators for 12 years and through a dominant SEC run in the 1990s, if Muschamp's temper reminded the Head Ball Coach of his own early days in Gainesville.

"It might have reminded me of me this year sometimes," Spurrier joked, then recalling he "might have lost it a couple of times back then where I've tried not to do that since."

Florida and South Carolina get the CBS opener on Saturday, followed by Georgia and Auburn, so the Gamecocks will know where they stand in the SEC race before the Bulldogs and Tigers kick off.

"I would rather have the first one [of the TV games]," Spurrier said, "but we can’t worry about their game. We’ve got to worry about our game."

Muschamp said of his contemporary on the USC sideline: "I've got great respect for Coach Spurrier, both as a player when I was at Georgia and as coach. He turned our expectations around here at Florida ... I think he changed the league in throwing the football and spreading the field. Back then were a two-back, downhill running league and I'm not sure it was legal to pass except on third down."

QB Connor Show suffered a slight concussion against Arkansas late in the game on a hit by the Hogs' Jake Bequette, but after doing little in Tuesday's practice, Show was expected to be full-speed for all drills Wednesday and ready to go Saturday.

QUICK HITTERS
Alabama Coach Nick Saban and Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel were teammates at Kent State. Saban, asked Wednesday about Missouri's entry into the SEC, said of Pinkel, "He's done a great job wherever he's been. He was a helluva lot better player than I was. We had a lot of fun playing college football together. We won same games. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him." ... Not only was the weekend at Lexington, Ky., so bad for Ole Miss that the Rebels' head coach found out his job was ending, two players (tight end Jamal Mosley was the only one Houston Nutt named) came back to Oxford to find their apartment had been vandalized. "Everything was gone. Just an unfortunate deal," Nutt said ... The league honored the following athletes as Players of the Week following Nov. 5 performances: Florida RB Jeff Demps (offense), LSU safety Eric Reid (defense), Arkansas RB/RS Dennis Johnson (special teams), Georgia C Ben Jones (offensive lineman), Arkansas DE Jake Bequette and LSU DE Sam Montgomery (co-defensive linemen) and Kentucky QB Maxwell Smith (freshman). Eric Reid was the Jim Thorpe Award National Defensive Back of the Week ... Georgia has posted the biggest turnaround from this time last season. The Bulldogs’ 7-2 mark this year is three games ahead of last year’s 4-5 mark at this time. Vanderbilt has the league’ second biggest turnaround at two games, advancing from 2-7 at this time last year to 4-5 this year ... The SEC has six of the top 20 pass defenses in the nation, according to the latest NCAA statistics. The SEC also has three of the top eight rushing defenses in the nation and five of the top 14 total defenses in the nation.

THE MATCHUPS
Saturday, Nov. 12 (all times Central)
Florida (5-4, 3-4 SEC) at South Carolina (7-2, 5-2 SEC).  11 a.m., CBS Sports. Florida leads the series all time, 23-5-3, and that's including Gamecocks' 36-14 romp last year.

Kentucky (4-5, 1-4 SEC) at Vanderbilt (4-5, 1-5 SEC). 11:21 a.m., SEC Network/ESPN3.com. Wildcats have suddenly found some offense, but Vandy should control this one at home.

Auburn (6-3, 4-2 SEC) at Georgia (7-2, 5-1 SEC). 2:30 p.m., CBS Sports. Bulldogs don't like the way last year's game ended and have a long memory.

Tennessee (4-5, 0-5 SEC) at Arkansas (8-1, 4-1 SEC). 5 p.m., ESPN2. In an unusual flip of long-time tradition, thanks to TV, LSU won't play an SEC home game at night, while every Arkansas game in Fayetteville will be played under lights.

Western Kentucky (5-4) at LSU (9-0, 6-0 SEC). 6 p.m., ESPNU. Tigers finally get a game at night in Tiger Stadium and breathes easy after last week's Game of the Century.

Louisiana Tech (5-4) at Ole Miss (2-7, 0-6 SEC). 6:30 p.m., CSS/ESPN3.com. Now that the Nutt era is ending, maybe Nutt and his Rebels can relax and play a full game.

Alabama (8-1, 5-1 SEC) at Mississippi State (5-4, 1-4 SEC). 6:45 p.m., ESPN. Tide leads the series by a whopping 73-18-3.

Jim Harris' SEC Notebook and weekly Power Poll appear every Wednesday. Email: jharris@abpg.com or follow Jim on Twitter @jimharris360.

Tagged: Houston Nutt, Aaron Murray, Mark Richt, Will Muschamp, Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban, Justin Worley, Derek Dooley, South Carolina Gamecocks, Vanderbilt Commodores, LSU Tigers, Tennessee Volunteers, Mississippi State Bulldogs, Southeastern Conference, Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers, Florida Gators, Georgia Bulldogs, Kentucky Wildcats, Ole Miss Rebels