Three & Out appears every Sunday and Wednesday in 2010 to give you three SEC thoughts, news and notes. In today's edition, we take a look at Arkansas wide receiver Greg Childs, Auburn’s comeback win over Clemson and the tumultuous season currently taking place in Oxford, Miss. CHILDS PLEASE! Arkansas fans were justifiably upset when Razorback wide receiver Greg Childs was left off of the preseason first-team All-SEC team in favor of Alabama’s Julio Jones – who managed only 596 receiving yards last season. The reason Childs hasn’t received the recognition that he rightfully deserves? Arkansas was average-at-best last season and Childs lacked a signature moment. One 40-yard touchdown reception with 15 seconds left in regulation Saturday to beat Georgia took care of both of those problems. Quarterback Ryan Mallett will receive a lot of praise for his performance Saturday, and rightfully so, but it was Childs’ catch and run that brought the Razorbacks back from a near-collapse, sticking a dagger into the hearts of Georgia fans. Arkansas wasn’t playing for the touchdown, but one cut by Childs turned it in to one, closing the book on a classic SEC game and giving the Razorbacks all kinds of momentum into their showdown next week with No. 1 Alabama. Childs will get to show his worth to a national TV audience yet again this week, but this time it will be against the Crimson Tide in one of the most heavily-anticipated SEC games of the season. Another signature moment from him this week could transform Arkansas from dark horse SEC West contender, into SEC West frontrunner. TAKE ANOTHER ROAD Win a shootout? Check. Win with defense? Check. Win a comeback? Check. Auburn’s 27-24 win over Clemson on Saturday night was certainly sloppy at times – especially in the first half – but that may be a good thing for Gene Chizik’s team. Auburn has now found ways to win its first three games in three totally different ways, something that this team simply couldn’t do a year ago. Was the offense stuck in neutral for the first 30 minutes vs. Clemson? Absolutely. But the Tigers’ resurgent defense kept the game within reach, allowing the offense enough time to get things cranking to the tune of 21 third quarter points, and then held on in the fourth quarter and overtime to seal the win for Auburn. “Bend but don’t break” was the mantra of the defense during the Tommy Tuberville era. Auburn did a lot of bending and breaking last year, but the 2010 version of the Tigers’ defense has tightened up, and been a major factor in Auburn winning two games. Not many people expected that to be the case this time last month. Championship teams find ways to win football games. So far, Auburn’s done it three times in three different ways. Does that make them a championship caliber team? Not necessarily, but it certainly makes them dangerous. CAUSE FOR CONCERN Remember this offseason when you looked at the Ole Miss schedule in 2010 and said, “hey, even if they’re an average team, they should be no worse than 5-1 mid-way through the season?” Yeah, about that… Losing to Jacksonville State at home is one thing. Losing at home two weeks later to Vanderbilt is…well…pretty much the same thing. Needless to say, the angst in Oxford following the Rebels’ 28-14 home loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday is almost palpable. Jeremiah Masoli was supposed to swoop into town on his magic carpet and take the Rebels from SEC anonymity into division title contender. Instead, he’s contributed to the downward spiral that has seen the Rebels become more of a punch line than a powerhouse. There’s been some question regarding what backup quarterback Nathan Stanley’s role is going to be from this point moving forward, but so far head coach Houston Nutt hasn’t commented on it yet. One thing is for certain though, Nutt should be concerned about his own job. Ole Miss athletics director Pete Boone is the same AD that fired David Cutcliffe one year after posting the school’s first 10-win season in 32 years. Yes, Nutt has won nine games and Cotton Bowls in back-to-back seasons, but that’s not as impressive as it was, say, 20 years ago. I’m not saying that Nutt is on the “hot seat” just yet, but if this downward spiral isn’t corrected, he could join LSU coach Les Miles and Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo in that group very quickly. Barrett Sallee covers the SEC for www.CollegeFootballNews.com. He can be reached at barrettsallee@gmail.com, or on Twitter at @BarrettSallee
Don't forget to check out “Y'all Play Nice” from CFN's Russ Mitchell and Brian Harbach every Thursday during the season. 2010 Three & Out Archive Three & Out – September 19, 2010 Three & Out – September 15, 2010 Three & Out – September 12, 2010 Three & Out – September 8, 2010 Three & Out – September 5, 2010 Three & Out – September 1, 2010 Three & Out – August 25, 2010 Three & Out – August 18, 2010 Three & Out – August 11, 2010 Three & Out – August 4, 2010 Three & Out – July 28, 2010 Three & Out – July 21, 2010 Three & Out – July 14, 2010 Three & Out – July 7, 2010 Three & Out – June 30, 2010 Three & Out – April 21, 2010 Three & Out – April 14, 2010 Three & Out – April 11, 2010 Three & Out – April 8, 2010 Three & Out – April 5, 2010 Three & Out – March 31, 2010 Three & Out – March 28, 2010 Three & Out – March 24, 2010 Three & Out – March 21, 2010 Three & Out – March 18, 2010 Three & Out – March 15, 2010 Three & Out – March 11, 2010 Three & Out – March 5, 2010 Three & Out – March 2, 2010 Click Here for the 2010 blog archive Click here for the 2009 regular season Three & Out archive
