Kicker comes to Gators’ aid
Hardin’s field goal with 2:22 left gives Florida 9-7 win over Vanderbilt.
A spot in the Southeastern Conference championship game came down to making a decision between Florida kickers Austin Hardin and Neil MacInnes.
Which one would first-year Gators Coach Jim McElwain choose?
Hardin, who was kicking in place of injured starter Jorge Powell, has been battling a leg injury and had made only three of seven attempts this season.
MacInnes is a senior dental student who recently won an open-call tryout of 216 students.
And while Florida was staring down a home loss against Vanderbilt that would have felt like a root canal, McElwain turned to Hardin.
It was the right decision. Hardin’s 43-yard field goal with 2:22 left lifted Florida to a 9-7 victory at Gainesville.
McElwain explained his move to let Hardin have the last try.
“He’s our long field goal guy,” McElwain said in his television exit interview. “So anything inside of 20 was going to be the dentist and anything outside was going to be him.”
Victory clinched the SEC East and spared Florida an ignominious defeat against a Vanderbilt team coming off a shutout loss to Houston.
“Too many jabs, no knockout punch,” said Vanderbilt Coach Derek Mason, whose team fell to 3-6.
Florida committed four turnovers and isn’t the prettiest team to watch, yet that doesn’t diminish what the Gators have accomplished after being picked to finish fifth in their division.
Florida reached its first SEC title game since 2009.
Victory might cost the Gators a position or two in this week’s College Football Playoff ranking. They debuted at No.10 last week, one spot ahead of Stanford, which scored an impressive win at Colorado.
Florida, though, survived to win its division while keeping its chances alive in the playoff race.
Homecoming Cardinal
He can pass too? Sophomore tailback Christian McCaffrey made a triumphant return to his home state when Stanford played at Colorado.
McCaffrey continued making his case as the nation’s top all-around player when he contributed a 28-yard scoring pass to Stanford’s 42-10 victory in Boulder.
McCaffrey also averaged 6.4 yards a carry in rushing for 147 yards to keep the Cardinal a perfect 7-0 in Pac-12 play.
McCaffrey attended Valor Christian High in Castle Rock and left as the state’s all-time prep leader in points, touchdowns and all-purpose yards.
Most people know McCaffrey is the son of Ed McCaffrey, the former Stanford and Denver Broncos’ star.
Christian’s speed, though, comes from his maternal grandfather, David Sime, a former star sprinter at Duke. Sime, in the 1950s, was dubbed “Superman in Spikes” by Sports Illustrated. A groin injury kept him out of the 1956 Olympics, but he returned to earn silver at the 1960 Rome Games. Sime and Germany’s Armin Hary actually ended up in a photo finish at 10.2 seconds, and it took a 15-minute review to declare the gold-medal winner.
Stanford, the Pac-12’s best hope for making the four-team playoff, closes the season with home games against Oregon, California and Notre Dame.
Irish depth
No wonder the committee loves Notre Dame. The Irish keep winning despite losing front-line players. Notre Dame overcame another key injury, this one to running back C.J. Prosise, to defeat Pittsburgh, 42-30. The Irish, No. 5 in the first CFP ranking, improved to 8-1 and could move into the top four this week.
Prosise was playing in place of injured starter Tarean Folston. Freshman Josh Adams rushed for 147 yards in place of Prosise, who left the game in the second quarter with a neck and shoulder injury.
Notre Dame has also lost quarterback Malik Zaire, defensive lineman Jarron Jones and several other key contributors, yet remains well-positioned for a playoff spot.
The Irish bullied their way for 445 total yards against Pitt, which dropped to 6-3.
“I think that was the best performance of our offensive line to date this year,” Notre Dame Coach Brian Kelly said.
Hog wild
It took only a week to find a play as crazy as Miami’s eight-lateral kickoff return against Duke last Saturday. Except, this play was legal. Arkansas somehow defeated Mississippi, 53-52, in overtime at Oxford. Yeah, it was another SEC defensive struggle. The play of the day/week/year/century was Arkansas converting on fourth-and-25 while trailing by seven points in the first overtime.
Some are calling it a “Backward Hail Mary.” Stopped short of the first down on what would have ended the game, tight end Hunter Henry hurled the ball behind him to keep the play alive. It was snatched by Alex Collins, who somehow picked up the first down.
The Razorbacks scored and then decided to end the game, one way or another, with a two-point conversion. Ole Miss held on the first try, but a facemask penalty set up Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen’s game-winning two-point run.
Just when you thought you’ve seen everything . . .