The Southeastern Conference held its ground even after a crazy college football week last weekend. But the SEC went 11-1 this weekend with only No. 21 Georgia losing to No. 5 Oklahoma State, 24-10, on the road. Then-No. 3 Oklahoma stumbled to then-No. 21 BYU, two Atlantic Coast Conference schools fell to non-BCS schools and a show of unsportsmanship was displayed during a weekend when sportsmanship was supposed to be encouraged.The Bulldogs will have a chance at redemption at home this weekend against SEC East foe South Carolina.”Our guys are anxious to get back onto the field after a week one loss,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said in a teleconference. “Knowing that conference play is here has certainly got our team’s attention.”The Gamecocks are coming off a 7-3 defensive slugfest victory against rival N.C. State.South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said his team is ready for another defensive battle this week against the Bulldogs. Neither team scored more than 18 points in their last four head-to-head meetings.”There is usually pretty good defense in these games,” Spurrier said. “For whatever reason, our defense plays Georgia tough … And there aren’t any turnovers in these games, so the teams have to drive all the way down the field.”AUBURN VS. MISSISSIPPIAuburn travels to Mississippi State this weekend for the teams’ first SEC matchups of the season.But for Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen and Auburn coach Gene Chizik, it’s their first SEC game as head coaches of their respective teams.”This is what you work for — the excitement of playing an SEC game,” Mullen said. “Auburn is certainly a much, much improved team, as they showed last week.”Mississippi State is coming into the matchup off a 45-7 victory against Jackson State, while Auburn heads into the matchup coming off a 37-17 victory against Louisiana Tech.VOLS GET BRUINSTennessee’s offense exploded Saturday afternoon against Western Kentucky to the tune of nearly 700 yards, while the Vols’ defense played the role of roadblock, holding its opponent to less than 100 yards.That performance had coach Lane Kiffin beaming about his team’s possibilities this week as they prepare to face UCLA in a Pac-10 versus SEC showdown in Volunteer country.Specifically, Kiffin was happy with the play of senior quarterback Jonathan Crompton, who completed 21-of-28 for 233 yards with five touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.”He got off to a shaky start with that interception,” Kiffin said. “But then he followed that up with a great [end of the game].”
But Kiffin knows Crompton and his offense will face a challenge in the Bruins.”This is a very physical team, and they are much improved from last season,” Kiffin said.SABAN WANTS MOREEven after a 34-24 victory against then-No.7 Virginia Tech last weekend, Alabama coach Nick Saban said he wants to see improvement from his team this week.”It’s always been said you make the most improvement from the first to the second week,” Saban said. “We have a few guys fighting the flu, which makes it hard to get some continuity.”Alabama may not have to worry too much about a challenge this week, as they will face Florida International in Tuscaloosa, Ala.But Saban said his team will not overlook its opponent.”They have some fire power in their offense, and they have been improving every season,” Saban said.FLORIDA GETS CAKEWALKAfter a 62-3 victory against Charleston Southern, Florida will get a bit of a tougher challenge this week against the men of Troy.But these men of Troy aren’t from the University of Southern California. They are from Troy University.The Gators’ matchup against the Trojans allows Florida to have another tune-up match before their highly anticipated game against Tennessee next Saturday.”I was pleased with our performance last week,” said Florida coach Urban Meyer. “I look forward to seeing a very talented Troy team coming into our stadium.” 
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