Biggest Heartbreaks For Each SEC Team Since 1992
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
College football is over for the year and I am already in withdrawal mode. My apologies. Anyway, I like to do some random posts and blogs about stuff, whether it is past stuff or future stuff. I really don't want to talk about the Ole Miss stuff as really there isn't much to say. Ole Miss imposed a 1-year postseason ban, which really doesn't amount to much (at least in the NCAA's eyes in my opinion) and a hammer may come down on that, but that is really all I have to say on that. So let's talk about something that every sports fan for every team experiences: Heartbreak. As a fan of Alabama and the Falcons, I have already endured enough of it for the past 2 months. So, let's begin with the SEC for heart-breakers in the past 25 years.
The Kick Six is still a painful scar for Alabama fans.
ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE: KICK SIX, 2013: Some Alabama fans believe the loss to Clemson this year in the National Championship was a stinger. But really, Clemson was just as talented as Alabama. It was the Kick Six loss to Auburn that really leaves a major scar to Tide fans. Alabama had a strong chance of a 3-peat, something unheard of this day in age for college football (and 4 out of 5 national titles had the Tide possibly won that game) while Auburn who was slated to finish near the bottom of the SEC West in 2013, won a few games that many fans consider "luck" they won, won on the epic finish of the Kick Six. It ended Alabama's chance at a 3-peat and ultimately sent Auburn to the National Championship game against Florida State. Many felt Alabama was the better team and the better team didn't win that day. But for any consolation, Alabama fans saw Auburn blow a huge lead to the Seminoles in that game. And........Alabama has won the last 3 games against their rivals on the Plains.
Any worse it would have looked like a fix.
ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS: MIRACLE FUMBLE VS. TENNESSEE, 1998: We take a trip to the past where Arkansas and Tennessee fought in a late fall tilt where both teams were undefeated. The Volunteers, ranked #1 at the time (the year after Manning left), played the #9 Razorbacks (also undefeated). Arkansas really outplayed the Vols in that game and had a late lead until Clint Stoerner stumbled and practically set the ball on the ground for the Volunteers to recover. Tennessee went down the field and punched it in to win the game en route to a national championship. This would ultimately be Arkansas's best chance to win a national championship.
Aggies celebrate a fumble recovery late against Auburn.
AUBURN TIGERS: TEXAS A&M GAME, 2014: You can make an argument 2004 was a heartbreaker in the sense of Auburn running the table and NOT even going to the National Championship game (USC and Oklahoma were ahead in the BCS). And you can make an argument that the Florida State game in 2013 was a heartbreaker as well, but I think most Auburn fans were quite pleased with that season despite not holding the crystal ball. It was the year after the Tigers went the the title game that may have been the heartbreaker. Auburn went against a Texas A&M squad, who 3 weeks before got thumped by Alabama 59-0 and nearly lost to Louisiana Monroe the week before. And to add on, Auburn was in the midst of the first college football playoff rankings as well as a huge win at Ole Miss a week before (with some luck there as well). However, the Aggies jumped off to a huge lead in the first half and ended the half with a blocked FG kick to run it in for a TD (as Alabama fans probably went "karma!"). While the Tigers came back in the 2nd half, they fumbled twice near the end zone, to which many believed all the massive breaks they had in 2013 and the start of 2014 were over. The Aggies won 41-38 and Auburn would get thumped by Georgia and could not stick with Alabama later on. Since then, Auburn really hasn't been that juggernaut like they were in 2013.
From my own personal picture collection (I was at this game). I don't think it was "GREAT TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR" that day.
FLORIDA GATORS: LOSING TO GEORGIA SOUTHERN 26-20, 2013: Granted, this may be another biased one in the sense of being a Georgia Southern student at one time, and that Florida was a giant mess in 2013. However, Georgia Southern was in transition from the FCS to the FBS, and weren't really good that year. And I keep hearing the argument that Florida's offense was in shambles by that point, though the defense was top notch. Instead, what you saw was Georgia Southern run for over 350 yards (with no passing yards) and Florida losing near the goal line at the end of the game. It was the first FCS loss the Gators had and sealed their first losing season in 35 years. But it was a moment in time that showed the world that Florida was no longer a power in college football. And despite making 2 SEC championships in 2015 and 2016, it doesn't have the same vibe as the Spurrier/Meyer years.
Conley added to the heartbreak lore of Georgia football since 1980.
GEORGIA BULLDOGS: SEC CHAMPIONSHIP VS. ALABAMA, 2012: Well, two things about Georgia here: 1. The GEORGIA Dome was not necessarily a homefield to the Dawgs over its time (4-5 all-time there) while Alabama pretty much ran things at the Dome (9-3). And 2. Georgia's heartbreaks consisted of games against Florida and Alabama. And 2012 was the ultimate heartbreak from Georgia. In a game where many considered the REAL National Championship game, Georgia had a 10 point lead in the 2nd half against the Tide before Alabama stormed back to take a 4-point lead late. After a replay showed Alabama failed to get an interception that would net the Tide the W, the Bulldogs drove late down to the 5. With time running out and no timeouts left, Georgia, instead of stopping the clock to set up for a play, tried to go for a play to win the game with little time left. The ball got batted at the line and instead of letting it drop, Georgia WR Chris Conley caught it, slipped on the turf and fell at Alabama's 5 yard line, letting time to run out. It continued Georgia's snakebit woes under Richt and unable to be a part of the SEC dynasty from 2006-2012 of national championships. Since then the Bulldogs have not gotten back to that level of football. And Richt is gone. Had the Dawgs won that game, Richt is probably there and things would have been different......oh well.
Wildcat fans are more accustomed to success in basketball than in football. The Bluegrass Miracle showed that.
KENTUCKY WILDCATS: BLUEGRASS MIRACLE, 2002: Trying to find a Kentucky heartbreak in football would seem to be hard, but then you remembered the Wildcats, after years of great futility, had a quality team in 2002 and looked to be an actual threat in the SEC East. Being up 27-23 late in the game and burying LSU deep in their own territory, many penned the Wildcats as victors, including quarterback Jared Lorenzen, who gave Guy Morriss a Gatorade bath. After a 17-yard gain with 2 seconds left to move it to the 26, LSU called time out. Students of Kentucky slowly started to sneak from their seats to climb the goal posts for an impending win. However, Marcus Randall, whom many believed had no arm, flung one up deep as possible. The ball hits DeVery Henderson in the hands to Michael Clayton. Clayton had gotten past the Kentucky defenders and caught it, ran the rest of the way for a TD as fans had already started climbing goal posts and fireworks started going off. Oops. The Wildcats pretty much crashed and burned after that.
Alabama breaking LSU's hearts in Baton Rouge seems to be a tradition lately,
LSU TIGERS: GAME OF THE CENTURY, PT. 2, 2012: Notice I didn't say National Championship Game vs. Alabama that was played 11 months prior where the Tide pretty much stomped LSU in the Superdome in a rematch of the first Game of the Century. This one was played in Baton Rouge and LSU fans & their coach Les Miles wanted revenge on the Tide for stealing their national championship. The Tide, who were seemingly unstoppable to that point, were favored, but LSU had momentum riding with a big win against then-undefeated South Carolina, to which Miles said Tiger Stadium was a place where dreams go to die. In all honesty, LSU outplayed Alabama in that game, as the Tigers "anemic" offense was moving the ball pretty well on the vaunted Tide defense, but Miles's coaching decisions really doomed the Tigers, as Alabama, whose offense was anemic in that game, moved the ball 72 yards with a screen play from AJ McCarron to TJ Yeldon to ultimately win the game for the Tide. Miles took heat for the decisions he made as LSU should have probably won that game. But it really set the pace for the rest of the Alabama/LSU games since that point as Miles could not beat Saban after that and was grilled over & over for his inability to put out quality teams despite the great recruits he got coming to Baton Rouge.
From being #1 2 years ago to losing to South Alabama opening week.
Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS: SOUTH ALABAMA, 2016: Vanderbilt aside, no team has had gotten less success than the Bulldogs in the past 25 years. Yes, they have sneaked in to a SEC Championship game, but that was when the SEC West was BAD (LSU, Alabama, and Auburn weren't even close to being a legit threat then). And while Dan Mullen is considered by many as a good coach, until he recruited a kid named Dak Prescott, his tenure in Starkville had been a rollercoaster. But when Dak arrived, the Bulldogs garnered a lot of success, even holding the top ranking in 2014 for a while. In 2015, the Bulldogs didn't necessarily repeat their 2014 season, but were still a threat in the SEC West. After Dak left, many thought the experience of those teams would propel the Bulldogs to an improved program. And then Week 1 in 2016 came. And they blew a lead to South Alabama...........at home. And they did it in epic fashion, hitting the post off the game-winning field goal. The Bulldogs ended up 5-7 despite making and winning a bowl game. But the losses they had within the conference were some embarrassing ones (38-14 loss to Auburn at home, 51-3 to Alabama in Tuscaloosa). But hey, they beat Ole Miss and they aren't in trouble with the NCAA so that has to account for something.
Probably shouldn't have been allowed.
MISSOURI TIGERS: FLEA KICKER, 1997: Missouri really hasn't too many chances in their new conference to experience heartbreak. I guess you can make an argument the 2013 SEC Championship where they had a strong chance of getting to the National Championship game against Auburn would be one, but they somewhat got blown out in that and looked overmatched. Maybe Indiana the next season at Faurot Field, but the Tigers still went back to the SEC Championship (only to get throttled by Alabama). So we have to go back to their old days in the Big 12 (as it first started) with one of Mizzou's chief rival, Nebraska, enjoying the end of their dominance in a national perspective, being 8-0. The Tigers (6-3 at the time) outplayed Nebraska and held a late lead with the Huskers trying to get the W. Scott Frost threw the pass near the end of the game and it hit Shevin Wiggins. He dropped it and had kicked the football up as he was tackled to the ground. WR Matt Davison caught the ball in the end zone for the game-tying TD. Of course, similar to 5 years later in Kentucky with the Bluegrass Miracle, Missouri fans stormed the field thinking the game was over. Nope. The game went to OT and the Huskers won the game en route to a share of the National Championship. The issue is that the kick many believed should have been a 15-yard penalty, thus negating the TD AND a Missouri win. Instead, the refs said no penalty as it was an incidental kick............though Wiggins had admitted he tried to kick the ball. So what you got was an asterisk in Missouri and Michigan as the Wolverines believed they should have gotten the national title outright. But what it did was start the BCS game................insert your opinion here.
Henry may have broken the hearts of Ole Miss fans, but may have saved the SEC from being on the outside of the College Football Playoff
OLE MISS REBELS: LATERAL LOSS VS. ARKANSAS, 2015: While the recent probation that Ole Miss has received (or may get more of a probation by the NCAA) could be the next big heartbreak as it could cost Hugh Freeze his job and return the Rebels into futility of the SEC West again, the lateral loss the Rebels had against Arkansas may have actually SAVED the SEC from being eliminated from the College Football Playoff in 2015, depending on how you look at it. The Rebels, having 2 losses already to Florida and Memphis in 2015, were considered "eliminated" by many, but had stolen a "W" in Alabama (2nd straight year they had beaten the Tide), thus putting them ahead in the tiebreak for the SEC West Division. And Arkansas went to Oxford and was trailing in overtime. On a 4th and 25, the Razorbacks TE Hunter Henry threw a lateral after catching the ball all the way back to Alex Collins who ran for a 31-yard gain. Arkansas scored. Instead of playing for a 2nd OT, Bret Bielema went for two and converted it to win the game. It gave Alabama the sole possession of the lead of the SEC West, and ultimately a spot in the Playoff and ultimately National Title #16 in Tuscaloosa. Many think that either the Rebels or Stanford would have taken the last spot as we all thought at that time conference championships were the tie-break for most teams. Alabama would not have been there had it been the case, but as we saw with Ohio State, it wasn't the case after all.
I REFUSE to show Lattimore's injury, via photo or video.
SOUTH CAROLINA: MARCUS LATTIMORE LEG INJURY, 2012: I mentioned Georgia has been snakebit over the years. South Carolina is Georgia Lite in that sense. The Gamecocks really from 2010-2013 were at the front or forefront of the SEC East with a punishing run game led by Marcus Lattimore and a physical defense led by Jadeveon Clowney. Many thought in 2012 the Gamecocks would have been the representative for the East in the SEC Championship game as they smashed Georgia, but then lost in back to back weeks to LSU and Florida. But what stung the program was the week after, in a win against Tennessee was Lattimore's disturbing knee injury that ultimately ruined his future professional career. But what it also did was give Clowney hesitance of going all out in college games as the next season he didn't practice much with the team and took plays off as well as looking out of breath. The Gamecocks, favored to win the East in 2013, fell backwards and questions about Spurrier's handling of Clowney and the players after that may have taken a hand into the Gamecocks downfall in 2014-2015.
Florida gave Manning fits in college.
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS: PEYTON MANNING'S INABILITY TO BEAT FLORIDA IN THE MID-90'S: Some can say the "Rocky Block" in 2009 may have set the Vols back and sent Lane Kiffin packing to USC (though Vols fans hated Kiffin when he was there at Tennessee), but I have to think those years when Tennessee had Peyton Manning, one of the best quarterbacks in college history, all his issues and the Vols issues beating Steve Spurrier and the Gators really gave Volunteer fans nightmares. Tennessee had some powerhouse squads in the mid-90's only to be upended by the Gators and Manning would have his WORST games of his college career against the Gators. It also gave Manning the moniker of being unable to win the big game, something he hadn't shaken off until almost 10 years in to his NFL career. But the consolation was the Vols did beat Florida the year after Manning left and won a national title. Football's a funny game sometimes.
Manziel had issues against Auburn in 2013.
TEXAS A&M AGGIES: JOHNNY FOOTBALL FALLS AT HOME TO AUBURN, 2013: Oddly and forgive me Aggie fans for any games I missed in the Big 12 days of Texas A&M, but really the Aggies haven't experienced a lot of heartbreak as they have been good, but not great in this run. I can think maybe of Ricky Williams in his final game against the Aggies being a heartbreaker, but it clouds my memory. I think that Johnny Manziel, in his short tenure at College Station, had a very strong chance of not only holding up a Heisman Trophy, but a national championship (at least a threat for the title) in 2013. Yeah, he lost to Alabama earlier, but he still shredded the Tide like he did in 2012. But he went against Auburn, who many didn't know what to think of the Tigers at that point. He played well, but he made some careless, lazy mistakes that ultimately costed the Aggies the game as well as made a head-scratching play to end the game. The Aggies and Manziel weren't really the same after as they would get "figured out" by LSU and Missouri with two more losses. And it really has been a thing where Texas A&M cannot beat the better teams, even at home since joining the SEC.
Franklin is all smiles after he leaves Vandy for Penn State
VANDERBILT COMMODORES: JAMES FRANKLIN LEAVING FOR PENN STATE: Trying to find "heartbreak" here in Vanderbilt is a bit tough. The only thing I can think of is the Commodores near misses against Florida in recent years, but really this team was stung by Franklin leaving Vanderbilt for Penn State. The team was also pretty much gone after their talented players graduated and Vanderbilt went back to being Vanderbilt until just recently.
So, that is it for the SEC heartbreaks. I know there may be some that people will disagree with, but hey, this is what I think fans for these programs tossed and turned when these heartbreakers happened.
-Fan in the Obstructed Seat
