The SEC started the week early with a Thursday night shocker in South Carolina. Steve Spurrier and the South Carolina Gamecocks dominated the Kentucky Wildcats on both the offensive and defensive sides of the field. While it was nothing special to watch a Spurrier led offense put up 38 points, it was amazing to see the Wildcats limited to only 23. It was the first time all year that the Wildcats were unable to score over 40 points. Heisman hopeful, Andrew Woodson, appeared so confused and out of rhythm that he gave up his first interception in over 300 attempts and amounted for negative 49 yards rushing with one fumble. Both errors led to South Carolina Gamecock touchdowns by defensive end Eric Norwood.

With this in mind, I found myself pondering Friday evening who the defensive coordinator for the Gamecocks was. After some research, also known as a google search, I came up with the name Tyrone Nix. I then proceeded to circle, highlight, and make 100 copies of everything I could find on Nix in hopes that I had just discovered the next under the radar replacement for whichever head coaching position decides to open up in the next few years. A seemingly touching moment occurred at the end of the game when Spurrier walked over to Nix and congratulated him on a good game. The offensive mastermind actually went over to his defensive coordinator and recognized him as a contributing factor to his success?! It's true however, that it has been easy for Spurrier to look like an offensive genius when his opponents aren't putting any numbers up on the board. Knowing your defense is capable of stopping your opponent makes it easy for you to call trick plays despite having benched your senior quarterback starter for a freshman backup.

Another SEC East showdown pitted the Tennessee Volunteers against the Georgia Bulldogs. Despite being ranked in the top 25, Georgia was actually three point underdogs in this heated rivalry. The odds makers proved once again that they get paid well for a reason, as Tennessee routed Georgia, 35 - 14. What was even more impressive was the way the Volunteers dominated the Bulldogs on the ground, handing it off to three different players at least five times while amounting for 190 yards. Fulmer must have finally realized that he is going to have to stop relying on Ainge throwing the ball over 40 times for 300 yards a game to win, limiting him to a season low 22 passing attempts. After watching the Bulldogs amazing comeback against the Crimson Tide and the Volunteers stumble ]against their previously ranked opponents, I actually found this game to be the true SEC shocker of the week. Of course no one remembered watching this blowout because they were busy discussing the back and forth nail bitter that took place later that evening.

While my SEC shocker of the week might have been the Volunteers bashing over the Bulldogs, it was the LSU / Florida game that really had fans shaking in their seats. The outcome wasn't a surprise, as most people predicted that the experienced LSU Tigers would be victorious over the young Florida Gators, however, you really had to watch this game live to understand the entire story. The Tigers went into the half down by ten and it took a risky run on fourth and one by the situational quarterback, Ryan Perriloux, for them to score their lone touchdown of the half. Les Miles went into the locker room searching for a way to not only stop the Gators Tim Tebow but to get his team into the end zone. It was right then and there that Les Miles must have decided that if the Tigers were going to beat the Gators and be the number one team in the nation, then he had to pull every trick out of his hat.

The comeback started on the Tigers first possession of the second half. Miles opted to go for it on fourth and five on the Gators 25 yard line instead of kicking a field goal that would have put the Tigers within seven. The risk paid off and the Tigers went on to score a touchdown. Tebow and the Gators responded with a touchdown on the following possession, however, there was just so much they could do against the Tigers that continued to go for it on fourth down three more times, regardless of the score or the situation they were in. The last Tiger drive of the game lasted a whopping eight minutes. Those eight minutes must have seemed like a decade for the young Florida defense that was fighting for to keep the upset alive.

On that drive the Tigers converted two fourth down conversions in Gator territory. A field goal could have tied the game at 24 a piece; however Miles refused to go for anything less then six points. The two conversions paid off as the Tigers went on to score and put their team four points ahead of the Gators with less then two minutes left in the game. The momentum had completely left the Gators and Tebow had run out of magic. This game will most likely be remembered as the game of the year. Both these teams put everything out on the field and on another day it could have gone the other way. It will be interesting to see if the Gators are able to pull things together the rest of the year and make it to the SEC championship game in what hopes to be an amazing rematch of this SEC classic. If your like me and can't seem to get enough coverage of the SEC, check out these articles written by Ron Higgins.

SEC midseason report

SEC team-by-team midseason report

Photos courtesy Chris Granger / Times-Picayune and www.nola.com/lsu, collegefootball.rivals.com, www.abc.com and Chuck Cook / Times-Picayune and ww.nola.com/lsu