NCAA Football kentucky Wildcats

Auburn's offensive struggles in October have been discussed and dissected.

The Tigers have dropped three of their last four games this month, including last Saturday's 31-10 stinker against LSU. Auburn gained a season-low 193 yards on a season-low 61 plays in that game, igniting a wave of criticism from fans who are still smarting from last season's collapse that saw the Tigers open 4-1 before losing six of their last seven.

Auburn (5-3 overall, 2-3 SEC) is determined to snap out of its funk Saturday against visiting Mississippi (5-2, 2-2), which marches into Jordan-Hare Stadium on a two-game win streak and winners of three of its last four.

When it comes to debating rankings, Alabama head coach Nick Saban is a fuddy-duddy.

So there's no need to waste your time, even if the Crimson Tide leapfrogged SEC rival Florida into the top spot of this week's Associated Press poll. Of course, Alabama is also ranked second behind the Gators in the initial installment of the weekly BCS poll that will determine national title invites by early December.

Saban doesn't mean to be a killjoy -- or does he? -- but his game-at-a-time mantra is focused on Saturday's showdown against visiting Tennessee.

Kentucky has been besieged by bad breaks and injuries this season.

Of course, just when you thought it was time to toss dirt and plant daisies on the Wildcats, they responded with their biggest victory of the year. Their first win over Auburn in more than four decades last Saturday helps validate what head coach Rich Brooks has preached about his team since preseason drills.

"I have said all along that I thought that we were a good football team and we still were a good football team even though we weren't healthy and didn't have all of our parts -- and we still don't," Brooks said.

On Saturday, I didn't see a single snap of a single college football game. Not one. This has never happened before in my life. Instead I was an usher at my friend's wedding in Atlanta. This means that this week's ClayNation Starting 11 is going to be a primer on my day in a fall wedding.

The wedding featured a bride who had graduated from Auburn and a groom who had graduated from Kentucky. Are the alarm bells going off yet? The two teams played Saturday night. Seven of the 11 groomsmen and ushers graduated from Kentucky, all of the bridesmaids went to Auburn. The result was a near riot. But that comes in the future. First, the beginning.

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We all know Tim Tebow is a demi-god on the football field. His statistics are exceptional and his performance against some of the most fearsome and athletic defenses in college football has been nothing short of otherworldly. But a chink appeared in Tebow's armor Saturday night when Kentucky defensive end Taylor Wyndham came unblocked on a third down play late in the third quarter, sacked the former Heisman winner and drove his head into teammate Marcus Gilbert's knee.

At the time, Florida led comfortably 31-7. Tebow, playing sick, had already carried the ball 16 times for 123 yards.

Superman got whiplashed. And then he got sick on the sideline. Florida pronounced him "fine," but Tebow was taken to the hospital before the game ended and will stay there overnight reportedly with a "bad concussion." Whether or not it was the illness combined with the hit, or just the hit, the question has to be asked: Should Tim Tebow still have been in the game?

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Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was injured after being on the receiving end of a brutal -- but legal -- hit from Kentucky defensive end Taylor Wyndham Saturday, staying down on the field for several anxious moments before eventually walking off the field under his own power.

Wyndham rushed in virtually untouched from his right defensive end position and drilled Tebow when he was looking in the opposite direction -- and as Tebow went down, his head was hit by the leg of a Florida offensive lineman. Tebow at first appeared to have suffered a head or neck injury in the collision, and the entire Florida team walked toward the field to show support for their leader. Video of the hit after the jump.

Many are skeptical of Mississippi's No. 4 ranking in the AP Top-25 poll because its wins so far have been against Memphis and Southeastern Louisiana. For trivia buffs, however, the Rebels last reached No. 4 in the rankings on Oct. 12, 1970.

Of course, the country will get a better idea about Ole Miss on Thursday night when it visits the Ol' Ball Coach and South Carolina in its SEC opener on national television.

Week 1 was the flu. Week 2 was shoulder soreness. OK, what's going on in Week 3?

The health of Georgia quarterback Joe Cox has been discussed, dissected and debated so much this young season that he could be a regular on General Hospital. Despite a jammed finger on his left non-throwing hand this week, Cox is in one piece -- and in good spirits. The rumors were so rampant last week that some believed Cox wouldn't start against South Carolina.

"It's definitely been interesting to see how crazy it can get just based off of what somebody says, but it hasn't been something that has been a distraction," said Cox, who injured his finger on an attempted tackle following an interception in the Bulldogs' win over South Carolina last Saturday.

"It's honestly something that we've all kind of laughed about."

We don't need to tell you what's coming, you saw it plenty with USC in 2005. Worse, we're not here to necessarily tell you to complain about it. Florida's awesome, deal with it. Enjoy it, even, at least as a college football fan. Everyone seemingly gets revved up for the David's of the sporting world but few things should leave us in more awe than a Goliath at peak brilliance.

Whether Florida can repeat the roll it went on to end last season is debatable, but our early guess is their performance in 2009 will be nearly insurmountable. As for the rest of the SEC, they're not too shabby, either, although we've got some brontosaurus femur sized bones to pick with some elements of the early consensus around programs like Ole Miss.

Our standings preview and records predictions after the jump.

Rich Brooks doesn't take it personally. Even the veteran coach admits there was a time not so long ago when opponents thought they could chalk an automatic "W' in that column when facing the Kentucky Wildcats.

"It's not that way any more," Brooks said.

He's right, too. Kentucky's preseason practice moves into full pads Tuesday, and Brooks hasn't masked his belief that his team is better than a year ago. While expectations vary greatly around the SEC, Kentucky has never been confused for a football power, or semi-power. It's true the Wildcats have come a long way since Brooks took over and still have a long way to go.

But the Wildcats' confidence suggests they will make it, and the college football world always seems to pull for likeable underdogs.