'Right' six wins could win East

COLUMBIA — Did you feel the earth shake late Saturday night?

It was a fairly noteworthy earthquake in the Southeastern Conference's East Division. And aftershocks will surely follow this weekend.

Left-for-dead Auburn's upset win at Florida shook up a lot of things, making the Gators look suddenly vulnerable. The secret? Not letting that freak Tim Tebow bowl all over you up the middle.

If Ole Miss had an answer for that, Florida very well might be 1-2 in the league.

But coaches in the SEC East are plenty happy with the Gators at 2-1.

When Tennessee's players convened Sunday night, coach Phillip Fulmer started a meeting by shouting, "War Damn Eagle" to his players. Seriously. That happened.

Mind you, UF already beat UT by 39.

"That's actually the first thing I said to them, to be honest with you," Fulmer said about the national champs' first loss since last year's Auburn game.

"It's a new ballgame in the SEC race right now," he said Sunday.

The feeling was the same in Athens, where Georgia is prepping for its Saturday meeting in Knoxville with the Vols.

The winner stays in the race. The loser's probably out.

"It makes everybody feel like it is more of a free-for-all than it was," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said Sunday. "Everybody should have a belief that they are in it."

South Carolina's Steve Spurrier is in that same vessel.

"Even though I'm still a Gator, I've got to root against them if we're going to win the East," Spurrier said. "We've got to root against Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and all them guys."

Saturday's LSU-Florida game presents yet another opportunity to further bury the Gators. They traditionally play well in Baton Rouge, but the Tigers have more talent across the board. Then again, they did last year when Florida beat them at home.

As strange as it sounds, No. 11 South Carolina's game with No. 8 Kentucky is just as big as LSU-UF and UT-UGA in the scheme of the East.

Spurrier said he thinks 6-2 is going to win the East this year, with the "right wins." He's probably right.

So, who's going to be the first to get to six? Your guess is as good as anyone else's through five weeks.

We'll know more by Sunday. Brace yourself for more quaking.

Dawgs' day?

Early-season losses got Georgia and Tennessee down, but they're still two good teams.

In fact, South Carolina should be glad it got Georgia when it did.

The Bulldogs are going to be vastly improved by the end of the year, especially along the lines, where the Gamecocks were dominant.

Saturday's game could easily go either way, but Matthew Stafford should be able to expose Tennessee's weak secondary in a loss that might get Fulmer closer and closer to resignation.

The Dawgs were flat-out embarrassed by UT last year. They probably haven't forgotten.

Game ball

UGA RB Thomas Brown

Brown was sensational in the Ole Miss win, rushing for 180 yards and three touchdowns, both career highs. He averaged 11.3 yards a carry. How many years has he been at Georgia now? Twelve?

Game of the week

No. 9 Florida at No. 1 LSU

This one lost a little luster after Auburn's upset. But it's still a big one. The SEC East would rejoice again if LSU could hand the Gators a second league loss. It'll probably happen. LSU played flat last week against Tulane. The Tigers won't this week.

Name of the week

Co-Eric Riley, Mississippi State freshman WR

When naming your kid Eric just isn't enough. Does he have another brother named Eric, too? Are they co-Erics?