The Southeastern Conference, which has won the past six NCAA national championships, has now expanded to 14 teams with the addition of the University of Missouri Tigers and the Texas A&M Aggies. Missouri hosted the University of Georgia Bulldogs at their home field in Columbia, Missouri on Saturday September 8 and made a game of it for the first three quarters until the #7 ranked Bulldogs came on strong in the fourth. The ‘ Dawgs (2-0, 1-0) trailed 17-9 early in the third quarter before turning Missouri’s SEC debut into a demonstration of the type of traditional SEC power that has dominated college football for the past several years.
The final score was 41-20 as Georgia scored 17 points in the fourth quarter. Mizzou Quarterback James Franklin passed for a very respectable 269 yards as the Tigers go to 1-1 with Arizona State next week before returning to the SEC to battle Marcus Lattimore and South Carolina on September 15.
The Aggies of Texas A&M almost beat 2 time the national champion Florida Gators at home in College Station, Texas. Almost, but, initiation into the SEC does not come easy.
A&M Quarterback Johnny Manziel was quite impressive in his SEC opener but a fourth quarter 12 yard touchdown by Florida star running back Mike Gillislee finally put the Gators ahead for their first SEC win of 2012. The Aggies still must face a tough SEC schedule including top ranked LSU and Alabama.
SEC commissioner Mike Slive attended both contests to welcome the new comers to the venerable Southeastern Conference. Although both the new teams lost their opening games in the SEC, they were up against the #7 & the #24 teams in the national rankings. Clearly both the Aggies and Mizzou gave very respectable showings for their first game in a very tough conference.
We are looking forward to more exiting SEC action from both as this season progresses.
