Front Porch FootballTop 10 Best SEC Moments from 2018 to keep in mind for 2019.
by the Paschal Brothers
This is something we should’ve written back in like February, but better late than never. 2018 was a great year for SEC football. History was made this year. Also, for the first time in years fans started to believe they could truly dethrone the king. Of course King Saban had something else to say about that.
What did we leave out? What is too high or too low? Let us know!
Note that all of the videos are marked for each specific moment.
10. Metcalf’s Opening Play Touchdown Against Bama
This was unreal. For the slightest, quickest of seconds, you thought, “holy cow, is this going to be a game.” And then you came to, chuckled, and watched the beatdown of the weekend.
9. Baker’s Pick Six Against South Carolina
This one hurt me, but this was a significant moment in the SEC East. Everyone and their mother was hyping this Gamecock team up to be a true challanger to the Dawgs in the East. And then Deandre Baker intercepted a deflected pass back for a touchdown just a few plays into the game and all of us realized that Georgia was not going to take a backseat to anyone in the East this season.
8. CJ Conrad’s Game-Winning Catch at Mizzou
Wait, you’re telling me Kentucky was actually going to make clutch plays in football? You’re telling me the Cats were going to be a legit team in the SEC? Those were the thoughts I had when I watched Conrad get away with the push-off the century and catch the game-winning touchdown near the pylon.
7. Joe Burrow Ices Georgia
Watching Joe Burrow hustle his way down the field in Tiger Stadium, effectively ensuring the upset over Georgia, made me appreciate just how needed Burrow was in Baton Rouge and how freaking competitive the SEC can be.
6. Florida’s Goal-Line Stand Against Georgia
It’s funny, this was really the last thing Florida fans would be able to cheer for for the rest of the game, but I remember almost causing a scene at a tailgate outside of Williams-Brice Stadium watching this unbelievable defensive stand on the TV. This series of plays is what you would see if you looked up the definition of the Florida-Georgia rivalry.
5. The End of the 31 Year Curse
Kentucky had not beaten Florida in over 30 years. It was early in September where the Wildcats were still underappreciated. They knew Benny Snell was a quality back, but that JUCO transfer, Terry Wilson, still had much to prove. The biggest surprise had to be Kentucky’s defense which held Florida to a mere 16 points. In the second game of the year, nobody expected Kentucky to show up this confident and composed.
4. Michael Scarnecchia Beats Mizzou
This game was extremely significant for South Carolina fans. They were 2-2 and just coming off their fifth straight loss to Kentucky. Jake Bentley was injured, and the Cocks had to rely on the fifth year senior, Michael Scarnecchia. And boy, did the savy vet show up.
This game was huge for South Carolina fans overall. 3-2 is a heck of a lot better than 2-3. These young men came to play, and proved to their fans that they weren’t going to lay down for the rest of the season.
3. Mason vs Mullen
Brendan has never identified with a team more than in this game. Chris and I used to play basketball in our driveway every day after school. He would constantly beat me, but every once in a while I’d find ways to score. Yet, whenever I started to get too far ahead Chris would start taking cheap shots here and there to prove he was physically superior. Tempers would flare, and after a little trash talk, the game almost always ended with me chucking the basketball at his head.
Keep that in mind when you watch this. Dan Mullen/Florida = Big Brother Derek Mason/Vanderbilt = Little Brother.
2.Working Overtime: Texas A&M vs LSU
This entire game was insane. No words can do it justice.
1. Redemption
For nearly a year Jalen Hurts played the role of Cowboy Woody while all the Bama fans were enjoying their new Buzz Lightyear, Tua Tagovailoa. After being benched in the 2017 National Championship Hurts was put on the shelf. Yet, Hurts showed how special a human being he was all year. Not once did he quit on his team. Not once did he bad mouth his coaches or teammates. We saw the same situation take place in Clemson. Kelly Bryant was out of town before the first month of football had concluded. On the contrary, Hurts was extremely gracious throughout the entire season. Hurts always celebrated Tagovailoa in his success and supported in him when he fell short.
Fast forward to the 2018 SEC Championship. Georgia came out hard and fast. Although they struggled to find an answer for Tagovailoa last season they came ready to play. Tagovailoa could not find any rhythm and was getting pulverized all game. Hit after hit after hit. After throwing two interceptions, and constantly being pressured or sacked, Tagovailoa took one hit he couldn’t bounce back from.
With eleven minutes remaining in the game, down a touchdown, and all the momentum going Georgia way, Hurts entered the game. Disney couldn’t have written a better script – side note if they did make a movie out of this I would still go and watch it. The dude played out of his mind, but was always calm, cool, and collected.
His post game interview brought tears to my eyes. Here is a man who never quit, always had a smile on his face, and never pointed fingers. There was a sense of poetic justice to this moment.
