2012 College Football: SEC Injury Updates Week Eleven
By Ryan Wright
Oct 13, 2012; Fayetteville, AR, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Joker Phillips during the second quarter of the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-US PRESSWIRE
All the news from week ten in the SEC, luckily, was about the final scores and one head coach’s dismissal but not about the injuries on the field.
The SEC held court, barely in some cases, in all non-conference match-ups. Arkansas beat a 7-1 Tulsa team 19-15, Tennessee had trouble putting away Troy at home winning 55-48, and Auburn started slow with a true freshman under center but eventually piled it on later in the game for a 42-7 romp against New Mexico State.
Alabama won the game of the week over LSU but barely. Bama head coach Nick Saban looked shell-shocked at the end of the game. Was he surprised the Tide came back to win with 51 seconds left in the game or was he still trying to figure out how Zach Mettenberger tore up his pass defense?
The Mad Hatter, one could argue, cost the Tigers another game with his coaching antics.
Florida was good enough, despite a slew of injuries, to hold on at home against Missouri last weekend. The 14-7 final had to make Tiger fans feel good put the reality is the Gators have little gas in the tank after playing LSU, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, and Georgia over the last four games.
All Will Muschamp has to do is play out the next two games against UL-Lafayette and Jacksonville State while getting his injured players back on the field for the team’s last game of the year against Florida State. After all this is what the Gators will have to play for as they are doomed for no better than a share of the SEC East title with Georgia playing Auburn this weekend and neither team having another SEC game for the rest of the season.
Gator Nation, Muschamp, and the SEC all want Florida to take down FSU. Will Muschamp have enough healthy players on the field come Nov. 24 when they travel to Tallahassee?
A&M laid it on Mississippi State getting a big road win in style. Dan Mullen talked a lot about his Bulldog team on the way to a 7-0 start without benefit of a quality win. Now MSU has a two-game losing streak going and must travel to Death Valley to face an angry LSU team that knows they let one get away against Bama last week. Seven and three anyone?
Speaking of the Aggies… what a wonderful position the first-year SEC wonders are in this week. They have an opportunity to catch Alabama shaking off the emotional hangover of their 21-17 last minute win against LSU.
Reality is A&M can do no better than second place in the SEC West. Alabama only has one SEC game left, against Auburn, and there is no way Saban loses to the Tigers in the Iron Bowl. But a second place finish in the West for A&M’s first year in the SEC would put head coach Kevin Sumlin on the radar for a lot of top recruits across the nation. Watch out Bama, here comes Johnny Manziel, all 6’1”, 200 pounds of him.
Ole Miss has an opportunity to bury the Houston Nutt era in style by beating Vanderbilt, a team Nutt struggled to beat during his tenure in Oxford and becoming bowl eligible in the process. Beating the Commodores would put Hugh Freeze at 3-3 in conference play with a shot at finishing 4-4 in the SEC with LSU and MSU still left on the docket.
Finishing .500 in conference would be an amazing one-year turnaround for a team that finished 2011 2-10 and 0-8 in the SEC.
The Arkansas Razorbacks are now looking for creative ways to keep starters off the field. If injuries have not ravaged the starting offensive and defensive units enough throughout the year, for the second week in a row a starter will be held out due to suspension. This time senior starting linebacker Terrell Williams will miss the South Carolina game after being arrested for DUI on Sunday. Last week junior wide receiver Brandon Mitchell was held out for unknown reasons that were not injury related… academics or NCAA violation(s), who knows?
The Hogs might catch a break with an injury to Gamecock quarterback Connor Shaw that few know the severity of. Shaw is the only offensive weapon Steve Spurrier has left on the team after the injury of running back Marcus Lattimore.
USC had a bye week to game plan for Arkansas and put together an offensive package to confuse the young and inexperienced Razorback back seven. The question is will Shaw’s gimpy foot, back, and shoulder hold up long enough to win one for Marcus?
The news of the week was the dismissal of Kentucky head coach Joker Phillips on Sunday. Phillips will be allowed to coach the team’s final two games against Samford and Tennessee before his short three-year career in Lexington comes to an end.
Kentucky was Phillips’ first shot at being a head coach. He entered the year with an 11-14 record but a 1-9 overall record coupled with a 0-7 SEC record was too much for the Wildcat fans and administration to bear. A 40-0 loss to Vanderbilt, once a whipping post for Kentucky, did not help matters any either.
One can understand why Phillips was fired but if anyone has looked at the devastating injuries the football team has suffered this year there is little doubt as to why Kentucky has not been competitive on the field in 2012.
So much for giving said head coach at least four years to get “his” players on campus to see what he can do.
Week Eleven SEC Games
Arkansas at No. 8 South Carolina
LA Lafayette at No. 6 Florida
Missouri at Tennessee
No. 15 Texas A&M at No. 1 Alabama
No. 5 Georgia at Auburn
Vanderbilt at Ole Miss
No. 21 Mississippi State at No. 7 LSU
Kentucky on a bye
Week Ten SEC Scores
Tulsa 15 at Arkansas 19
Troy 48 at Tennessee 55
Missouri 7 at No. 7 Florida 14
Vanderbilt 40 at Kentucky 0
No. 16 Texas A&M 38 at No. 15 Mississippi State 13
New Mexico State 7 at Auburn 42
Mississippi 10 at No. 6 Georgia 37
No. 1 Alabama 21 at No. 5 LSU 17
SEC Injury Report for Week Eleven
Alabama
WR Chris Black, out for season, shoulder (8-10-12)
CB Travell Dixon, left team (8-11-12)
DB Jarrick Williams, out for season, knee (8-11-12)
RB/FB Jaslston Fowler, out for season, knee (9-10-12)
WR DeAndrew White, out for season, knee (10-1-12)
RB Dee Hart, out for season, knee (10-1-12)
RB Eddie Lacy, probable vs. A&M, ankle
Arkansas
TE Jeremy Sprinkle, out for season, wrist
WR Marquel Wade, out for season, disciplinary reasons
FB Kiero Small, out for season, foot (9-6-12)
RB/FB Kody Walker, out for season, leg, (9-9-12)
DE Tenarius Wright, out for season, shoulder (10-10-12)
LB Alonzo Highsmith, out for season, foot (10-8-12)
RB Knile Davis, questionable vs. USC, hamstring
TE Chris Gragg, questionable vs. USC, leg
WR Brandon Mitchell, out vs. USC, suspension
LB Terrell Williams, out vs. USC, suspension
Auburn
OL Christian Westerman, questionable vs. Georgia, leg
CB Chris Davis, questionable vs. Georgia, concusion
QB Clint Moseley, questionable vs. Georgia, ankle
LB Justin Garrett, questionable vs. Georgia, unknown
DT Ryan Smith, probable vs. Georgia, unknown
DT Jeff Whitaker, probable vs. Georgia, unknown
OL Avery Young, out for season (10-22-12)
DB Erique Florence, questionable vs. Georgia, unknown
TE Philp Lutzenkirchen, out for season, hip (10-21-12)
TE C.J. Uzoman, doubtful vs. Georgia, hand
Florida
WR Michael McNeely, out for season, foot (8-24-12)
DE Ronald Powell, out indefinitely, ACL (8-21-12)
LS Drew Ferris, out indefinitely, collarbone (9-03-12)
LB Jelani Jenkins, probable vs. UL-Lafayette, hamstring
WR Latroy Pittman, questionable vs. UL-Lafayette, ankle
DB Cody Riggs, out indefinitely, foot
OT Matt Patchan, out indefinitely, pectoral (10-9-12)
OL Xavier Nixon, probable vs. UL-Lafayette, knee
OL James Wilson, probable vs. UL-Lafayette, knee
DT Leon Orr, out vs. UL-Lafayette, illness
OL Trip Thurman, questionable vs. UL-Lafayette, legal issues
LB Lerente McCray, probable vs. UL-Lafayette, ankle
WR Solomon Patton, out for season, arm
CB Moses Jenkins, probable vs. UL-Lafayette, unknown
OL Trip Thurman, out vs. UL-Lafayette, legal issues
PK Caleb Sturgis, probable vs. UL-Lafayette. Ankle
RB Mack Brown, out vs. UL-Lafayette, ankle
DB Matt Elam, probable vs. UL-Lafayette, groin
OL Jon Halapio, questionable vs. UL-Lafayette, ankle
Georgia
OT Kolton Houston, out indefinitely, eligibility
RB Brandon Harton, out, thumb (9-28-12)
WR Michael Bennett, out for season, ACL (10-3-12)
FB Merritt Hall, probable vs. Auburn, ankle
LB Chase Vasser, doubtful vs. Auburn, shoulder
DE Sterling Bailey, out indefinitely, thumb
LB Brandon Burrows, out indefinitely, hand
OG Chris Burnette, probable vs. Auburn, thumb
DE Arby Jones, out for season, ankle (10-22-12)
WR Marlon Brown, out indefinitely, thumb (11-4-12)
Kentucky
TE Anthony Kendrick, out for season, eligibility
QB Maxwell Smith, out indefinitely, shoulder
CB Marcus Caffey, out for season, grades
RB CoShik Williams, out for season, hip
DB Dakotah Tyler, out for season, ACL (10-1-12)
RB Josh Clemons, out for season, knee
DT Donte Rumph, knee
LB Pancho Thomas, out, wrist
DB Cody Quinn, hamstring
LB Jabari Johnson, hamstring
TE Tyler Robinson, back
LSU
CB Tyrann Mathieu, out for season, dismissed (8-10-12)
OT Chris Faulk, out for season, knee (9-7-12)
TE Tyler Edwards, out for season, academics
LB Tahj Jones, out for season, academics
OT Evan Washington, out for season, academics
LB D.J. Welter, out for season, academics
DE Jordan Allen, out for season, undisclosed
WR Travin Dural, out for season, knee
RB Alfred Blue, out for season, knee (9-18-12)
OT Alex Hurst, out indefinitely, personal
LB Kwon Alexander, out for season, ankle
S Eric Reid, probable vs. MSU, sternum
RB Jeremy Hill, questionable vs. MSU, leg
Mississippi State
No injuries reported
Missouri
WR Wesley Leftwich, out indefinitely, food poisoning
RB Henry Josey, out for season, knee
OG Travis Ruth, out for the season, triceps
OL Logan Adkison, out for season, dismissal
OT Taylor Chappell, out for season, knee
OL Jack Meiners, out indefinitely, knee
OL Mitch Morse, out indefinitely, knee
DB Kip Edwards, questionable vs. Tennessee, neck
OT Justin Britt, out for season, knee (11-4-12)
Ole Miss
LB D.T. Shackelford, out for season, knee (8-4-12)
WR Tobias Singleton, out for season, left team
WR Collins Moore, out for season, shoulder (10-8-12)
CB Senquez Golson, doubtful vs. Vandy, concussion
CB Wesley Pendleton, doubtful vs. Vandy, ankle
LB Aaron Garbutt, questionable vs. Vandy, illness
QB Bo Wallace, probable vs. Vandy, shoulder
S Trae Elston, questionable vs. Vandy, toe
DE Keith Lewis, questionable vs. Vandy, shoulder
OG Aaron Morris, questionable vs. Vandy, shoulder
RB Jeff Scott, probable vs. Vandy
DE Carlos Thompson, probable vs. Vandy, shoulder
South Carolina
RB Shon Carson, out indefinitely, wrist
S Sheldon Royster, out for season, left team
RB Brandon Wilds, out indefinitely, ankle
OT Mike Matulis, out for season, shoulder (11-6-12)
RB Marcus Lattimore, out for season, knee (10-27-12)
DT Kelcy Quarles, questionable vs. Arkansas, shoulder
QB Connor Shaw, probable vs. Arkansas, foot
Tennessee
WR Da’Rick Rogers, left team, transfer
LB LaTroy Lewis, out for season, knee
PK George Bullock, out for season, broken leg
Texas A&M
RB Brandon Williams, out for season, eligibility
RB Will Randolph, left team, undisclosed
TE Hutson Prioleau, left team, personal (8-7-12)
DB Steven Campbell, out for season, concussion (10-17-12)
OL Shep Klinnke, out for season, foot (10-9-12)
WR Mike Evans, probable vs. Alabama, hamstring
Vanderbilt
LB Tristan Strong, left team, personal
DE Thad McHaney, out for season, back (9-7-12)
WR Jacquese Kirk, probable vs. Ole Miss, unknown