Who Are The Top Teams in SCRC? This Might Surprise You
Who Are The Top Teams in SCRC? This Might Surprise You
In what might be a bit of a surprise result, Clemson edged Tennessee 27-26 over the weekend in SCRC action.
Clemson was coming off a recent loss to Kentucky and a 51-12 loss to Penn State, meaning there was some question as to where they might fit in a very competitive SCRC.
Edging the Vols was a big win for the Tigers. Clemson has not been able to get any good possession against Kentucky and were under the cosh in the field position game. So Clemson Head Coach Troy Hall felt his side had done well despite those problems. Making some positional changes for this week the Tigers find the new combinations opened it up for their attack, and a last-minute score put them over the top.
Kentucky, meanwhile, defeated a tough Alabama side 25-10.
Both sets of forwards were hitting hard but Kentucky was able to string long strings of phases together.
Not all of those paid off, but they did serve to keep Alabama in check. The Tide did well to get good field position, especially thanks to Alabama scrumhalf Tom Kendall's box kicks. A few not-straight lineouts from Kentucky didn't help the Wildcats and eventually 'Bama's fullback Nate Williams slotted a penalty goal.
UK responded after that with a good counter-attack on a kick from Matt Verdes and Luke Keough. Playing wide and fast, and getting quick ball out of the rucks, Kentucky ran the phases again and this time they scored, putting Will Meckauskas over.
From the restarts Holden Hahn galloped through, opening up one-on-one matchups for the big men in the middle. Kentucky ended up being held up in-goal, but the ensuing goalline dropout didn't go the requisit five meters. As a result Kentucky had an attacking scrum five meters out. Somehow Alabama held on and got out of it to keep it at 5-3 at halftime.
Kentucky did get an early penalty in the second half from Jack Phillips, but had trouble shaking Alabama. Strong defense from Alabama and passive running from Kentucky earned Alabama position and possession, leading to flyhalf Paul Malito reading a grubber kick from Kentucky well and picking it up in stride. Malito is a powerful runner and he dismissed several tacklers as he raced 50 meters for a game-tying try. Williams slotted the conversion to nudge Alabama ahead 10-8.
From the restart, Kentucky earned a penalty that Phillips put over to regain the lead for the Wildcats at 11-10.
The game was very physical and looked to center on some key decisions. One was when, at 55 minutes Alabama had a kickable penalty and opted for the lineout instead. But the throw into the lineout was called not straight, and Kentucky got out of trouble
From the following scrum Luke Keough powered through some tackles and Kentucky recycled and moved the ball before a series of penalties eventually resulted in Alabama's Williams getting a yellow card.
Now it was Kentucky's turn to opt for a lineout. It was stopped bu after a knock-on the Wildcats had another shot. This time Phillips was through and diving to score he was hit and everyone is shoved into touch-in-goal. The score remained 11-10.
Kentucky was still in Alabama territory, however, and finally the forwards worked it through before opening enough space for Phillips to sell a dummy and score. The flyhalf's conversion made it a two-score game at 18-10.
The Wildcats added to that with a nice move between Phillips and Keough, with Keough capping off a strong game with the game-sealing try.
"We got the win at home and but were not nearly clinical enough in the first half," said Kentucky Head Coach Sam Enari. "Hats off the Coach Williams and the Alabama team. They are strong physically, and big, and believe in their team and system. They pushed us. At moments my boys were very aware of the big shoulders coming for them forcing some mistakes. Alabama's offense asked questions all night and at the end our defense had enough of the answers to see us through. If people are sleeping on Alabama they better wake up."
The Rest of SCRC
While the Clemson vs Tennessee game was not a standings game, it was indicative of where those teams are in relation to each other. South Carolina rebounded from their close loss to Georgia with a 45-0 shutout of Georgia. Another team that opened with a loss, LSU, defeating Kennesaw State 29-10.
So now only Kentucky is 2-0, but Tennessee still sits 1-0 in standings play.