Considering Muschamp's future; Barrett right in Heisman mix

Ken Bradley

Considering Muschamp's future; Barrett right in Heisman mix image

Just like that, Florida coach Will Muschamp is back on the hot seat.

The Gators fell to 5-4 after a blocked field goal and blocked punt led to a 23-20 loss to South Carolina. Did former Florida coach Steve Spurrier put the final nail in Muschamp’s tenure in Gainesville?

Florida fell to 1-3 against South Carolina under Muschamp, and fired back up the hot seat.

Should the Gators keep Muschamp? Let’s look at the pros and cons:

PRO: Muschamp has settled on Treon Harris at quarterback.

CON: The Gators didn’t complete their first pass against South Carolina until the four-minute mark of the first half. Harris finished 5-of-11 for 60 yards and a TD. Florida still doesn’t have a passing attack that threatens anybody.

PRO: Muschamp is 4-0 against Tennessee.

CON: Tennessee hasn’t won the SEC East since 2007. This is a bigger deal in Knoxville right now.

HAYES: Would Spurrier return to Gainesville?

PRO: The Gators are bowl eligible with a win against Eastern Kentucky next week.

CON: It won’t be anything close to the Gator Bowl or Sugar Bowl, which Florida played in his first two seasons. A bigger bowl is necessary next year.

PRO: Muschamp beat Georgia for the first time this season.

CON: Missouri should be more of a focus. The Gators have lost to the Tigers by an average of 24 points the last two years. Missouri has outscored Florida 85-44 since joining the SEC.

PRO: Florida is the last team to beat Florida State.

CON: If the Gators don’t beat the Seminoles, then Muchamp will fall to 1-3 in that rivalry, too.

PRO: Muschamp finished 4-4 in SEC play despite crossover games against Alabama and LSU.

CON: The Gators are 17-15 in SEC play under Muschamp that last four years. That’s mediocre at best.

VERDICT: Muschamp might be given the benefit with bowl eligibility and the sweep of Georgia and Tennessee, but a win against Florida State would do wonders. Still, Muschamp is 4-10 against Georgia, South Carolina, Missouri and Florida State. He’s beaten all of them once in four years. That’s nowhere near the standard, and that’s the evidence Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley has to work with. The only question now is whether judgment is rendered in two weeks. If not now, all those numbers will come back up in 2015.

HEISMAN TALK

It doesn’t seem possible.

The Heisman Trophy conversation seems to be a two-horse race between Oregon’s Marcus Mariota and Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott. But you can put Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett right beside those two after his latest monster performance in No. 8 Ohio State’s 31-24 win against No. 25 Minnesota. 

Forget the human element. Barrett can’t be stopped by anybody right now, not even Mother Nature. He made that clear with an 86-yard touchdown run in the first quarter in which he outran two Minnesota safeties to the end zone.

Barrett is on arguably the most-impressive two-game run of the season. A week after hitting up Michigan State for 386 total yards (300 pass, 86 rush) and five TDs, he racked up 387 total yards (198 pass, 189 rush) and four total TDs against the Gophers. That’s 773 yards and nine TDs.

That’s opened up everything for Ohio State’s offense, and it’s clear the rest of the Big Ten can’t keep up. The difference in speed is almost unfair and more-importantly weather-proof. Consider that the Buckeyes now have six TDs of 30 yards or more in their last three games. Barrett found Jalin Marshall for a 57-yard touchdown in the first quarter and Michael Thomas for a 30-yard TD in the third. Urban Meyer’s offense hasn’t looked this good at Ohio State in three years.

Forget comparing Barrett to Braxton Miller. Barrett is on par with Troy Smith, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2006. Barrett already has more total yards and touchdowns than Smith did.

That might not be enough to unseat Mariota, though the two have comparable passer ratings. But Barrett is doing all this on such an accelerated curve that’s it almost impossible not to shake your head in disbelief.

The rest of the Big Ten is feeling that. Neither the Spartans nor the Gophers — solid traditional-style programs — could keep up with Barrett, who looks like Denard Robinson with an arm. Michigan is going to feel that in two weeks. By then, who knows?

The quarterback who didn’t have a clue against Virginia Tech back in September might just have a chance to hold up college football’s most-prestigious trophy.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN

The Bulldogs were all smiles Saturday night after running every which way they wanted against Auburn.

But Mark Richt shouldn’t sleep well. How could he?

Images of Georgia’s 38-35 loss to South Carolina in Week 2 and its unexplainable 38-20 lopsided loss to Florida two weeks ago have to keep him up wondering what could have been. Right?

His 14-year tenure in Athens has been full of near-misses. In 2012, the Bulldogs came within yards of beating Alabama in the SEC title game and playing for the BCS title. In 2002, the Bulldogs finished 13-1 but a loss to rival Florida kept it outside the championship game.

On a night when his defense held Auburn to 150 rushing yards — 136 below the Tigers’ average — he had to wonder how the Gators piled up 418 against the Bulldogs (212 more than their average).

Win one of those games and the Bulldogs are in the middle of the playoff hunt, in the driver’s seat to represent the SEC East in the conference title game against the SEC West champion everyone expects to land one of the four playoff spots.

Instead, Georgia showed firsthand what it can be — a devastating ground game attack that controls the clock and wears down defenses. Todd Gurley left, Nick Chubb right. Gurley left, Chubb right. Repeat and repeat again. Auburn didn’t know what hit it Saturday night Between the Hedges because the two burly backs were too busy delivering hits and leaving the Tigers seeing stars instead of which back to tackle.

Chubb ran 19 times for 144 yards and two scores and Gurley, in his first game since being suspended, carried 29 times for 138 yards and a TD.

Can the Bulldogs climb into the playoff hunt? Probably not. But the Bulldogs can be the league’s worst nightmare. Beat a one-loss Alabama (or one-loss Mississippi State) team in Atlanta and all of a sudden, the SEC might find itself in a spot to lobby to get a two-loss team into the playoff or a one-loss Mississippi State team that didn't play in the conference titel game.

 

SPURRIER POKES RIVAL

Just when you start to feel that the Ol' Ball Coach is closer to calling it quits, you realize this: he's not.

Just when you think two back-breaking losses the past two weeks to Auburn and Tennessee are enough to drive the fun from the game for Steve Spurrier, you realize it's not. 

How do we know this?

Because of a comment he made shortly after South Carolina beat his alma mater, Florida, in overtime, 23-20. No, it wasn't a jab at the Gators.

"I guess the Upstate team lost again today? Anyone have the score? Well, looks like we're in better shape than we were," Spurrier told reporters.

That's Clemson, of course. The Tigers lost to Georgia Tech, 28-6. The Gamecocks have won five in a row in the series. The two teams — Clemson is 7-3 and South Carolina 5-5 — play Nov. 29.

Ken Bradley