Notebooking the SEC

ARKANSAS: Kyle Roper returned to practice this week for the Razorbacks (4-6, 2-5), but not at the same position.

He's now a guard instead of a center.

Roper injured a knee early in the game with Mississippi on Nov. 12 and missed last Saturday's contest with Mississippi State. Jonathan Luigs started at center against the Bulldogs and will stay at that position for Arkansas' final game of the season at No. 3 LSU on Friday.

The move to left guard will make better use of Roper's still limited mobility, coach Houston Nutt said.

"He is not quite full speed, but he was much better than he has been, and it was good to see him out there," Nutt said. "Any time you have Roper out there, it helps. He is an older guy (who) understands... leadership."

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FLORIDA: This year's senior class probably will be remembered for what it didn't accomplish. The group is the program's first since 1990 to leave school without a Southeastern Conference championship.

No ring. No trophy. Not even an Eastern Division title.

"It is disappointing. I can easily say that," said center Mike Degory, one of 19 seniors. "You come to this place to win SEC championships and I never really reached my goal. I lost some hair over it and lost some sleep over it, but there is not much I can do."

No. 19 Florida (7-3), which ends the season Saturday against No. 23 Florida State (7-3), had a chance to clinch the East on Nov. 12 and advance to the title game in Atlanta.

But the Gators lost to South Carolina and former coach Steve Spurrier, and were left playing for another second-tier bowl game.

The seniors, though, insist they still have goals to reach.

Many of them haven't won a bowl game, with the Gators having lost three in a row. They also could finish unbeaten at home this season with a victory against the Seminoles. The last Florida team to do that was in 2000 - Spurrier's last year.

"Our seniors have been through a lot, and we want to get them out of here on a high note," sophomore defensive end Jarvis Moss said.

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GEORGIA: Bryan McClendon had seen enough.

After another batch of dropped passes by Georgia's receivers, McClendon decided to speak out during halftime of last Saturday's win over Kentucky.

"That isn't what you do at this level," McClendon, a senior receiver, told his teammates in the locker room. "We want to play for the SEC championship. Well, championship teams don't drop passes."

The receivers did a much better job in the second half, with McClendon catching two touchdown passes himself in a 45-13 victory that clinched the SEC East for the Bulldogs.

"I guess it worked," McClendon said. "We caught everything thrown to us in the second half."

No. 13 Georgia (8-2, 6-2) travels to Atlanta this Saturday to meet 20th-ranked Georgia Tech, then returns the following week to play either LSU or Auburn in the SEC championship game at the Georgia Dome.

McClendon is the Bulldogs' top receiver with 29 catches for 427 yards and four touchdowns. He's also been become one of the most vocal leaders.

"I've been in the offense longer than anybody, so I try to help out the younger guys," he said. "Not just the receivers, either. If anybody has a problem they need to bring to somebody, I'm that somebody."

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KENTUCKY: Some Kentucky players hadn't yet been born the last time the Wildcats (3-7, 2-5) beat Tennessee. But the Wildcats' offensive coordinator, Joker Phillips, vividly recalls that 17-12 win over the Volunteers - he was a senior receiver on the 1984 Kentucky team, which finished 9-3 and won the Hall of Fame Bowl.

Kentucky's star during the win at Knoxville, Tenn., was senior tailback George Adams, who rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns.

"Our playmaker was George Adams, and he made some big, key runs in the fourth quarter," Phillips said. "You've got to be able to run the ball in the fourth quarter."

Phillips said he talked to players this week about what it would mean for the Wildcats to beat Tennessee on Saturday and snap a 20-game losing streak - the second-longest between major teams in Division I-A. Notre Dame's 42-game winning streak over Navy is the longest.

"The first thing you've got to do is protect the football offensively," he said. "We can't put our defense out on a short field. (The Volunteers are) struggling offensively, so one thing we've got to do is make them drive the length of the field. That happens when you don't turn the ball over."

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LSU: It's one of the biggest, heaviest, and some might say most garish trophies played for in college football.

The Boot is a 24-karat gold-plated monstrosity cast in the combined shape of Arkansas and Louisiana that the Tigers and Razorbacks have played for since 1996.

The Boot has resided at LSU the last two years, in the football office reception area on the second floor of the athletic administration building.

Now LSU has moved its offices, and no one is sure just where the trophy is.

"I don't know exactly," coach Les Miles said. "I guess it's still down on the second floor. We'll have to get it."

Miles was not really able to describe the coveted trophy, but he knew one thing - he didn't want to lose it.

"The key thing is if at the end of the game the trophy goes away from you, it means a lot more," Miles said.

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MISSISSIPPI: Coach Ed Orgeron hopes Mississippi's offensive players this week can stay out of each other's way.

The Rebels' coach says his offensive line simply was overpowered last week by LSU.

The linemen were backpedaling all night, kept tripping quarterback Ethan Flatt and put Ole Miss (3-7, 1-6) in an early hole from which it couldn't emerge in a 40-7 loss to the third-ranked Tigers.

"They were coming off the football, and our offensive linemen were getting knocked back," Orgeron said. "They stepped under (Flatt's) foot and tripped him. That's exactly what happened, and it happened three or four times. Those (Tigers) are very powerful football players."

One of those mishaps cost the Rebels two early points. Flatt stumbled as he took a snap, fumbled in the end zone and fell on the ball for a safety to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

The offensive line has been a trouble spot for an Ole Miss offense that is the SEC's worst on the ground and ranks 11th - ahead of only this week's opponent, rival Mississippi State - in total and scoring offense.

The Rebels were held to a season-worst 7 yards rushing by LSU.

"We have to get some mature young men to come in here and play in the SEC against the type of lines we're going to see in the SEC," Orgeron said.

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MISSISSIPPI STATE: Coach Sylvester Croom wants his Bulldogs to stay focused during the crucial days before their Egg Bowl game against rival Mississippi.

That didn't happen last year, which is how Croom explained the Rebels' 20-3 victory in his introduction to the Battle for the Golden Egg.

"I thought we lost our focus. We didn't finish the week out," Croom said. "We had good preparation early in the week, but we didn't close it out with concentration. Those last 24 hours before the game were critical as far as maintaining your focus."

The Bulldogs (2-8, 0-7) are looking to snap a three-game losing streak to Ole Miss, which has won four of five in the series. Mississippi State's only win in that span came in 2001, when many of the current seniors sat out as redshirts.

Croom is looking to end a largely disappointing second season in Starkville on a positive note. The Bulldogs have lost seven straight since a 2-1 start.

"Whether we were 2-8 or undefeated, this game makes the offseason," he said. "That's the way it is every year. It's the last game of the year - unless you get to a bowl game, which we are not. This allows things to be peaceful during the offseason."

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SOUTH CAROLINA: The Gamecocks held on to victories despite getting outplayed at times during their five-game win streak. Against Clemson, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said the situation was reversed.

"We probably outplayed them a little bit other than third downs and red zones. But it all counts," Spurrier said. "The other teams did that to us in prior games that we won, so maybe we were due to get one like this."

The 25th-ranked Tigers won 13-9 Saturday in Spurrier's first round of the Palmetto State rivalry.

The Gamecocks (7-4, 5-3) had the better stats early on, outgaining Clemson 251 to 84 and intercepting quarterback Charlie Whitehurst twice in the first half.

But after the break, Clemson and Whitehurst found their form and rallied for the victory.

Clemson made 9-of-14 third-down conversions and limited South Carolina's production near the end zone. A week earlier, the Gamecocks got four touchdowns and a field goal in five trips into Florida territory, Spurrier said. This time, the team managed three field goals.

"Some of our guys have been playing all year and still don't play their assignments near as well if we're going to be a really good team around here," Spurrier said.

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TENNESSEE: The Volunteers' season has included several broken streaks and firsts. Tailback Arian Foster is now part of one.

Tennessee was 17-0 in games when one of its tailbacks rushed for at least 200 yards. Foster had 223 yards against Vanderbilt, but the Vols lost 28-24.

Foster ran 40 times, the most since Travis Stephens had 41 carries against Arkansas in 2001. Foster's yards were most since Stephens had 226 in a win at Florida in 2001.

"No one plays for individual accolades," Foster said after the game. "If you do, you're playing for the wrong reason."

Tennessee (4-6, 2-5) travels to Kentucky on Saturday for the final game of the season. The Vols have beaten the Wildcats 20 straight times. They had beaten Vanderbilt 22 times in a row, and their bowl streak was up to 16 years.

Foster also had a career-long run in the game. His 66-yarder in the first quarter was the longest offensive play of the season.

"It was the biggest hole I've ever seen," Foster said. "I just ran through it. I shouldn't have been caught."

Foster has rushed for more than 100 yards in each of his first four starts since replacing senior Gerald Riggs, who was injured and lost for the season in the Alabama game Oct. 22.

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VANDERBILT: The Commodores (5-6, 3-5) are enjoying their best SEC performance since 1991, the last time they won three league games in a single season, and making it even sweeter is their 28-24 victory over in-state rival Tennessee.

But the Commodores have losses to overcome, beginning with nine seniors who started, including quarterback Jay Cutler and linebacker Moses Osemwegie.

They also have need key injuries to heal, most notably starting running back Jeff Jennings, who tore his right ACL and MCL in the loss to Kentucky. He expects to have surgery Dec. 14. Freshman kicker and punter Bryan Hahnfeldt tore his left ACL trying to make a tackle after a punt in the third quarter against Tennessee.

Losing Cutler will hurt the most. He ended his career seventh in SEC history in total offensive yards (9,953), 11th in yards passing (8,697), 14th in TD passes (59), 10th in completions (710) and seventh in attempts (1,242).

He is expected to be a top NFL draft pick in April.

"I'm still a college kid for a few more weeks, but it's going to be tough leaving these guys," Cutler said. "Watching them in the locker room, they've meant a lot to me."