Thoughts of the day: October 12, 2021

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning: MULLEN ON THE FRAGILITY OF COACHING IN THE SEC Saturday, Florida (4-2, 2-2 SEC) will take on LSU (3-3, 1-2 SEC) in Baton Rouge, a game the Gators are favored to win by 10 points. That’s one of the largest point spreads for a Florida-LSU game in quite some time, brought on in part by speculation that Ed Orgeron’s time as the LSU head coach could be drawing to a rapid close.

Orgeron is 48-17 as LSU’s head coach and just two years removed from an unbeaten national championship season but after a 5-5 2020, this year’s 3-3 start and a Title IX lawsuit that names Orgeron as a defendant, that 15-0 record in 2019 seems to be a distant dot in the rearview mirror. LSU fans and media alike seem resigned to the fact that it is simply a matter of when athletic director Scott Woodward pulls the plug.

Asked Monday about Orgeron, Florida coach Dan Mullen replied, “It’s a weekly deal right now as coaches, right? I think we get to learn that. I’ve known Ed a long time. I like Ed. Great coach, won a national championship just a couple of years ago there, and you haven’t forgotten how to coach in that time frame.”

Mullen does understand just how fragile head coaching jobs are in the SEC. Nowhere are the coaches better compensated and nowhere are the fan bases more rabid and expecting results right now. Former Gator walk-on Gene Chizik won a national championship at Auburn with an unbeaten team in 2010. A year later, having lost his Heisman Trophy quarterback Cam Newton to the NFL, Auburn went 8-5. In 2012, Auburn went 3-9 and Chizik was gone, never to be hired as a head coach again.

Mullen hasn’t come close to being fired whether at Mississippi State or at Florida, where he’s 33-11 since arriving after a 9-year run at MSU, but he does know the fans in the SEC are, for the most part, what have you done for me lately types.

“I just think in today’s world, with coaching a lot of times it’s a week-to-week, your rating as a coach is week-to-week,” Mullen said. “If not play-by-play on Saturdays, and then after Saturday, it’s week-by-week. That’s not him [Orgeron]. That’s all of us, you know what I mean? You go to anybody in the SEC and they’ll tell you it’s pretty much you’re either really smart or really dumb and there’s nowhere in between and it’s a week-to-week deal.”

BIANCHI ON DAN MULLEN …

Mike Bianchi weighed in on the Florida fan base over the weekend in this Orlando Sentinel column:

“Now, with the playoff-ification of college football, Gator Nation can’t even get juiced up about going to major bowl games such as the Peach, Orange or Cotton. Those are the three New Year’s Six bowl games Mullen has taken the Gators to in his first three years on the job. Pretty freaking good if you ask me.

“It’s true, Florida is not Alabama, but guess what? Nobody else is either. It’s also true Florida has been a notch below Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma in recent years, but other than Bama, Georgia, Clemson, Oklahoma and Ohio State, has anybody else really been better than the Gators since Mullen took over?

“Florida will probably finish 9-3 this season and go to another New Year’s Six bowl game, which, of course, will not satisfy many Gator fans.”

BLADES HAS BEEN DISMISSED

When Elijah Blades announced he was transferring to Florida from Texas A&M during the summer, it seemed like a missing piece was added to an inexperienced secondary. When Jaydon Hill was lost for the season due to a knee injury, it was again assumed that Blades could be an impact player in the corner opposite Kaiir Elam. It hasn’t worked out that way at all.

Blades didn’t play at all Saturday against Vanderbilt and in the three games he did see the field he registered only three tackles and one pass breakup. Against Kentucky, he was flagged for a personal foul.

Reports surfaced Sunday that Blades was no longer with the team, confirmed by Mullen at his Monday press conference: “We dismissed him from our program. He’s no longer with the team. I met with him and dismissed him from the program yesterday.”

INJURIES: Mullen expects cornerback Kaiir Elam, left tackle Richard Gouraige and running back Malik Davis to be back in uniform and ready to play Saturday in Baton Rouge. Elam has missed the last three games although he could have played against Vanderbilt Saturday. Gouraige and Davis missed the Vandy game.

PAUL FINEBAUM SAYS … “Three weeks ago if we were talking about Alabama losing to Florida, I don’t think we could have honestly said that we were shocked. It would’ve been surprising, but losing at The Swamp to a team that we all thought was pretty good … but this is a different story and I give A&M the credit for but Alabama it’s now a matter of finding a way. Immediately the conversation will turn to Georgia, but I think that’s the wrong conversation. This Alabama team … they can’t play like that again.”

Could it happen again?

“It’s hard to find that club that’s capable of beating them, but I can assure you, there are teams that are playing better on a week-to-week basis on Alabama’s schedule than the way Texas A&M was playing after the Mississippi State game heading into the Alabama game.”

OVER, UNDER, AROUND AND THROUGH THE SEC Alabama (5-1, 2-1 SEC): Asked why Alabama was throwing so much in the red zone instead of pounding Texas A&M with the run, Nick Saban replied, “I don’t know if we challenged them running it as much as maybe we could and you know that’s one of the things that I think we need to improve on.”

Arkansas (4-2, 1-2 SEC): HBC Sam Pittman thought some of the injuries Ole Miss players went down with Saturday were suspicious and that rules for injury stoppage need to change. “I’m not saying that the guys weren’t hurt … that’s the first time that many injuries had happened in a game this year. Last year it happened to us a few times and we’ll address that. Again, I’m not saying they were hurt or weren’t hurt or whatever. It’s just [that] there were a whole bunch of them” … Starting right tackle Dalton Wagner (6-9, 336) will be out indefinitely after surgery on his hand.

Auburn (4-2, 1-1 SEC): Auburn ranks dead last in the SEC and 123rd nationally in red zone defense, having allowed opponents to score 94.79% of the time (18-19).

Georgia (6-0, 4-0 SEC): Kirby Smart offered an update on injured QB JT Daniels, who has been sidelined the last three games. “He is much improved,” Smart said Monday. In Daniels’ absence, Stetson Bennett IV has thrown for 746 yards and eight touchdowns.

Kentucky (6-0, 4-0 SEC): Defensive tackle Octavious Oxendine (6-1, 318) is done for the year with a lower leg injury. Wide receiver Josh Ali (17-248, 1 TD) is doubtful for Saturday’s game with Georgia in Athens.

LSU (3-3, 1-2 SEC): Kayshon Boutte (38-509 receiving for 9 TDs) is out for the rest of the season. Coach Oeaux said Monday that defensive end Ali Gaye (19 tackles, 2.5 sacks), defensive tackle Joseph Evans (8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss) and defensive back Major Burns (25 tackles, 1 interception) will all miss Saturday’s game with Florida.

Mississippi State (3-2, 1-1 SEC): Asked if Mississippi State is going to relax a little bit when playing Alabama this week since Bama lost to the same Texas A&M team Mississippi State beat, Mike Leach responded, “If we relax against the University of Alabama then we are the stupidest team in college football. We may have some very good qualities and we may have some very positive things and stuff like that, but you have to really be a dumb team to relax if you’re playing Alabama or anybody.”

Missouri (3-3, 0-2 SEC): Linebacker Chuck Hicks, who transferred to Mizzou from Wyoming back on August 23, has been declared immediately eligible by the NCAA.

Ole Miss (4-1, 1-1 SEC): Lane Kiffin is hoping running back Jerrion Ealy is available for Saturday’s game with Tennessee in Knoxville. Ealy (40-201 rushing, 1 TD; 8-79 receiving) has been undergoing concussion protocol since early in the Rebels’ loss to Alabama.

South Carolina (3-3, 0-3 SEC): The Gamecocks are 13th in the SEC and 109th nationally in total offense at 335.5 yards per game. Of their 15 touchdowns in six games, only nine have come against Division I teams.

Tennessee (4-2, 2-1 SEC): Linebacker Juwan Mitchell, who transferred to Tennessee from Texas, will miss the rest of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery.

Texas A&M (4-2, 1-2 SEC): Jimbo Fisher was named the Bobby Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week after the Aggies beat Alabama.

COUNTDOWN TO FIRING DAY: WEEK FIVE Extinct Species List

Les Miles, Kansas Randy Edsall, UConn Clay Helton, Southern Cal Chad Lunsford, Georgia Southern

On Life Support Walt Bell, UMass: He did the unthinkable and won a game. Mind you, it was UConn, but a win is a win as they say.

Tom Arth, Akron: He also did the unthinkable. He beat Bowling Green to avoid the dreaded oh-fer 2021.

Ed Orgeron, LSU: Buzzards are circling in Baton Rouge. It seems a matter of when not if Coach Oeaux is invited to have his contract bought out.

Butch Davis, Florida International: His only win in the last 11 games was this year against Long Island University. He’s 1-5 this year with the five losses by a combined 90 points. Folks are wondering why they’re paying him $1.5 million a year.

Marcus Arroyo, UNLV: He went 0-6 last season and is 0-5 so far in 2021.

Endangered Species List Scott Frost, Nebraska: The Fighting Frosts are 3-4 and could easily be 6-1 at this point but they seem snakebit when it comes to close games. The alums are starting to see the progress. Frost is no longer on life support but he needs to get the Huskers to a bowl game to ease the tensions.

Scot Loeffler, Bowling Green: Yes, he’s beaten Minnesota this year but he lost to Akron. Akron! Nobody loses to Akron and remains confident that he will have a job next year.

Dino Babers, Syracuse: He’s 3-3 and 16 points away from 6-0. He’s safe if he can just get to six wins.

Chip Kelly, UCLA: UCLA is 4-2 and looking like an 8-4 or 9-3 team, which will probably enable Kelly to stay gainfully employed another year.

Seth Littrell, North Texas: He’s lost four in a row and is heading for a third straight losing record. They’re wondering why they’re paying him $1.8 million.

Phil Montgomery, Tulsa: The Phighting Phils are 2-4 this year. There are four winnable games remaining on the schedule. They need to win all four or else his seat will be toasty.

Steve Addazio, Colorado State: The Lambs scared the bejabbers out of Iowa and then had the audacity to win a Mountain West game over last year’s league champ San Jose State. The schedule is conducive to six wins and a bowl.

Justin Wilcox, California: The Bears are 1-4 with three of the losses by a combined 14 points. He needs to start winning some of the close ones because he’s heading for a second straight losing season.

Manny Diaz, Miami: This was supposed to be Miami’s year. Now the Hurricanes are in trouble and D’Eriq King is done for the year. Manny needs to win five of the last seven to breathe easily.

Jeff Scott, South Florida: Tulsa comes to Tampa this weekend. It might be the only chance the Bulls have to win a game the rest of the season.

Checking for a pulse Ken Niumatolo, Navy: In the last two weeks he’s beaten UCF and nearly handed SMU its first loss. He’s two years removed from an 11-win season, so put him on the safe for now list but that could change.

Thomas Hammock, Northern Illinois: Since losing by 53 to Michigan the Huskies have won three in a row. Win their next two (Bowling Green, Central Michigan) and they’re bowl eligible, which will make folks forget last year’s oh-fer.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Greg Sankey probably giggles in his sleep. Here we are halfway through the 2021 college football season and the Pac-12 and ACC have practically been eliminated from playoff contention, the Big 12 has train wreck written all over it and does anyone really think Cincinnati can go 13-0? Okay, maybe they will, but if they don’t and the Big 12 implodes, we could wind up with two teams from the SEC and two from the Big Ten. If that happens, watch how quickly “The Alliance” dissolves and you have the Pac-12, ACC and Big 12 begging for the playoff to expand to 12 teams.