Battle Of The South

Although SEC fans tend to puff their chests out about the league's long tradition of stout defenses, the flip side is that the conference hasn't produced many offenses potent enough to test them since Spurrier left Florida for the Washington Redskins five years ago. But that's no longer the case. The league has Irons, the Heisman-caliber back; Florida quarterback Chris Leak has gotten the hang of running coach Urban Meyer's spread option; and freshman QB Tim Tebow has added another dimension to the Gators' attack with his running ability. New coordinator David Cutcliffe has worked wonders with quarterback Erik Ainge and the Tennessee offense, and Spurrier has reenergized South Carolina's offense with the considerable help of standout wide receiver Sidney Rice.

Yet the league's blazing-fast defenses seem to stay one step ahead. The same Tennessee offense that strafed Cal for 514 total yards could gain only 220 against the Gators, who held the Vols to minus-11 yards rushing in Florida's 21--20 victory on Sept. 16. Auburn and LSU had scored more than 30 points in a game four times between them when they met, but the two sets of Tigers shut each other down in Auburn's 7--3 win.

That meeting stands as the SEC's signature game--an epic defensive struggle with frightening physics. The hits were made even more brutal by the speed of the players involved. "The impact of the collisions was pretty scary at times," says Auburn offensive coordinator Al Borges. "The physicality of the game was off the charts."

Defense reigns in the SEC, a truth that, like most of the league's defensive units, is virtually inescapable. "We're not a bunch of big, slow guys who need you to stand still for us to get you," says Florida defensive end Jarvis Moss. "I like to run almost as much as I like to hit. I love that look you get from a quarterback when you catch him from behind, like, Where did you come from?"

SEC recruiters aren't the only ones who search diligently for speed, of course. They're just more successful at finding it than most other programs. That's partly just geographical good fortune: The Southeast is fertile ground for the fleet of foot. In most areas of the country the rule of thumb is that the fastest players are usually from urban areas. Not so in the South. "In the SEC speed can be anywhere," says Borges. "You can find a kid in a very small town who's very, very fast. That's rare on the West Coast, for instance. That's the huge difference. Everywhere you look in the South, you can find speed."

After finding speedy athletes, the next step is often to lure them away from the basketball court, a task at which recruiters are becoming more successful. Encouraged by the success of former college hoops stars such as Chargers tight end Antonio Gates, some "in-between" athletes are choosing football over basketball. " Kentucky is a big basketball state, but kids are realizing that at 6'5" and 230, they're not going to be the next Michael Jordan and have a much better chance of playing in the NFL than the NBA," says Kentucky defensive coordinator Mike Archer. "In our last recruiting class we signed four tight ends who played basketball. They were 230 pounds in high school, and they'll grow to 265 pounds in two years here."

It won't be a surprise if at least some of those players find themselves on the other side of the ball, because SEC programs make sure their defenses are well-stocked with swift athletes. "Either you have speed," says Alabama defensive coordinator Joe Kines, "or you're chasing it."

It seems as if SEC teams are constantly in pursuit anyway, chasing one another up and down the conference standings and the national rankings. The chase is so intense that none of them may have enough left to claim the national championship. But it's still a pleasure to watch them make a mad dash for it.

The Case for the SEC

MAKING A STATEMENT

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The SEC has the highest winning percentage of any league in games played outside the conference.