THE BIG STORY

Alabama coach Nick Saban confirmed one of his assistant coaches had an unfriendly encounter with an irate Ole Miss fan after Saturday’s controversial 27-24 Tide win in Oxford. Ole Miss fans were angry that instant replay official Doyle Jackson overturned an Ole Miss completion that would have put the Rebels in position to tie or win the game with seconds remaining.

The incident with the Ole Miss fan came as the coaches exited the elevator after the game, minutes after the ruling overturned a Rebel first down at the Tide 4 with seven seconds left. Saban (right) did not identify the coach. But coaches in the press box each week are offensive coordinator Major Applewhite, defensive coordinator Kevin Steele and running backs coach Burton Burns.

“Based on what the coaches said to me, the people at Ole Miss did a fantastic job of handling and managing the situation,” Saban said. “It’s one of those games where fans get a little bit excited and upset about circumstances in the game, show their emotions a little bit, which I guess fans can do.”

One Tide player, linebacker Darren Mustin, said he was hit by a bottle.

“If they want to be classless, that’s their business,” Saban said. “Their fans shouldn’t be throwing stuff. Our fans shouldn’t be throwing stuff.”

Ole Miss athletic director Boone took issue with Saban’s comments after the game - which came in response to Ole Miss fans throwing debris on the field after the instant replay official reversed the call on the field. Boone didn’t like the comments and addressed the media without taking questions following Orgeron’s weekly press conference.

“To a certain extent, maybe Nick is like a parent,” Boone said. “It’s easy to see faults in children who live next door but maybe not in your own. We heard similar comments from him (following the 2003 game) when he was here with LSU.

“We had several arrests that were made (after the Alabama game). That’s exactly what will happen if it happens again. We’ll take care of that. But I’m not sure some other coach needs to be talking about our fans. I resented that a little bit.”

Boone said he spoke with Tide AD Mal Moore on Monday morning on another issue. But Moore, according to Boone, said Tide fans had been guilty of similar conduct.

Alabama disciplined two fraternities last month for throwing debris on the field following the overtime loss to Georgia and instituted a policy to punish students for such behavior in the future.

A look at the league:

ALABAMA

Under Nick Saban, the Tide has already managed to already surpass its two-game conference win total from 2006, with the only loss so far in overtime to Georgia. Formerly top-ranked LSU (6-1, 3-1) lost at Kentucky to fall into a three-way tie for the Western Division lead with Alabama and Auburn (5-2, 3-1). “I feel like the SEC is wide open for whoever,” Alabama center Antoine Caldwell said. “The thing that’s changed is that we realize we can win ballgames in the fourth quarter. That’s been a big part of the reason why we haven’t had that much success in the past. Coach Saban and his staff have changed that whole attitude. Now it’s been the reverse, trying to hold on to the lead instead of saying we can’t win one.” Said Saban, “Consistency is something that we continue to try to work toward. We make games a little bit harder than they need to be sometimes relative to what we create on the field ourselves.”

ARKANSAS

Arkansas running back Darren McFadden has rushed for at least 100 yards in 17 games during his career, but Ole Miss, the Hogs’ opponent on Saturday in Oxford, always has had his number. The Rebels have held the tailback to 22 yards and 65 yards, respectively, in his only two games against them in 2005 and last season. Ole Miss is one of only three Southeastern Conference teams that McFadden has never recorded a 100-yard rushing game against. He failed to eclipse the century mark in two games against Vanderbilt and one against Florida.

AUBURN

Auburn backup quarterback Kodi Burns didn’t play much in the Tigers’ 9-7 win at Arkansas. “We had a bigger role for him (at Arkansas), but we couldn’t get ourselves out of a hole,” Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said. “We stayed in bad field position the entire second quarter. We were hoping to get him in more then.” Auburn’s field position was better in the second half, but the game was so close and the game plan so conservative that Burns didn’t see much action. “We want to play him more. We definitely want to do that,” Tuberville said. . . .Auburn has won 15 consecutive games in its all-white uniforms, but LSU will be wearing white this weekend.

FLORIDA

Florida, much like Kentucky, is also coming off a gut-wrenching game with LSU. But while the Gators came up short by two points, they’ve had a week off to rest and get ready for a game that is a must-win if Urban Meyer’s squad wants to repeat as SEC champion and get back in the national title picture. Meyer thinks the open date gave his team a chance for much-needed reflection. “After the LSU game, I think it was good for our players to watch college football on Saturday,” he said. “They could realize the parity that there is right now. I have never really experienced anything like this before and for the first time we could see who they have as the top five teams in the country. I think it’s great for college football but it’s also important that you have to show up and you better come to play each week.”

GEORGIA

One of the best nights in Brandon Coutu’s life quickly turned into one of the worst on Saturday. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the Georgia kicker walked into his Athens home after kicking a game-winning field goal at Vanderbilt and found that burglars had ransacked the place and stolen almost everything of value and some of sentimental value, such as SEC championship and bowl gifts. “They took a lot of stuff, a lot of things that were important to him,” said Ron Coutu, Brandon’s father. “They took a TV with an SEC logo on it, an Xbox, iPods, computer, a bunch of electronic-type stuff.” Coutu learned of the break-in on his way back from the Vanderbilt game. A friend had gone to the house and was to meet Coutu there for a celebration. After finding the back door kicked in, he went in, discovered the burglary and called Coutu. “It was not fun having to tell him,” Ron Coutu said. “Obviously it was a big night for him and he walked in there frustrated. But the main thing is nobody got hurt and almost everything can be replaced.” One of the main things taken was Coutu’s computer, which had some of his homework stored on the hard drive. Coutu, a senior, is a sociology major. “He is going to have to work hard and do some of that again,” Ron Coutu said.

KENTUCKY

The injury bug has caught up with the Wildcats, who will be without two starters for an indefinite period. Kentucky coach Rich Brooks announced Monday that senior running back Rafael Little is out because of complications stemming from a thigh bruise, and cornerback Paul Warford will miss at least two games with a fractured clavicle. Brooks and the UK players said that the week off serves as an advantage for the Gators. “From a health standpoint they’ve got a tremendous edge,” Brooks said. “Most of their players will be free of the soreness and stiffness you usually carry from week to week, and they’ve had more time to heal significant injuries.” “They’re going to have a little bit of an advantage, but we can’t let that be the difference,” tight end Jacob Tamme said. “We just have to do our best to heal up in the next few games, and that’s going to be a tough chore because that was the most physical game that any of us have ever played in.”

LSU

LSU coach Les Miles apparently agrees with many fans and media - backup quarterback Ryan Perrilloux should be playing more and throwing the ball more. Miles was asked Monday at his weekly press luncheon why Perrilloux did not play late in the Tigers’ 43-37 loss to Kentucky. Miles said the running plays in the game plan for Perrilloux were not working earlier in the game so they decided to go to something else. “We have the ability to use him as we would see fit,” Miles said. “I think we ran him a couple of times. And his plays, the things that we wanted to use him with, were not necessarily cleanly blocked. So not feeling like we wanted to challenge a numbers game, where the defense had us outmanned, that we would go away and run other things. That was kind of our thought process there. We also want to make sure that we’re throwing the football a little more with him. And certainly that’s one of the pushes this week. And something that we would have liked to have done more in that game had the game allowed us to.” LSU starting quarterback Matt Flynn is 10th in the SEC and 93rd nationally in passing efficiency with a 110.3 rating. He has completed 84 of 156 passes (53.8 percent) 947 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions. Perrilloux rushed five times for 15 yards against the Wildcats and has 181 yards and two touchdowns on the season on 36 carries. He has completed 29 of 40 passes on the season for 414 yards and six touchdowns with one interception for an efficiency rating of 203.94.

OLE MISS

The burden of proof for a reversal is out of sight for replay officials. NCAA football rules state that “In order to reverse an on-field ruling, the replay official must see indisputable video evidence through one or more video replays provided to the monitor.” Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron said he can’t figure out how Doyle Jackson had indisputable evidence to overturn a completion that would have given Ole Miss a chance to tie or win Saturday’s game against Alabama. Perched in the review booth within the Vaught-Hemingway Stadium press box, Jackson made his call, aided by digital replay equipment and two other people, a technician and a communicator who talks to the field judge. What did Jackson see that wasn’t available on TV replays? Not much, Ben Godwin, the SEC’s video director, told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. “The review official gets every angle that the Lincoln Financial network has available - nothing else,” Godwin said. “He’s not getting anything that the normal viewer isn’t watching at home.” DVSport Software is the company that supplies the replay equipment to the SEC. CEO Brian Lowe said Jackson could fast-forward, rewind, play the tape in slow motion or pause. He could also switch between camera angles at the touch of a button. Lowe said there’s also the ability to zoom slightly, but images become cloudy and pixilated very quickly. So with those tools at his disposal, Jackson made his decision. To him, the tape had shown without a doubt that Hodge’s catch should be overruled.

MISS. STATE

Michael Henig heard boos from some Mississippi State fans when he entered Saturday’s 33-21 loss to Tennessee at Scott Field. “Just ignorant people,” Henig, Mississippi State’s junior quarterback and former starter told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. “I try to take it like a duck and just let it fall right off my back. Half the people who are probably booing have never played a down of football in their life and they’re probably just - it’s kind of hard to understand it, but they booed Wes Carroll when he slid on fourth down. They just boo and boo and boo. I’ve heard boos from this stadium for four years and I’ve been here four years. And I’m sure they were booing before I got here and they’re going to boo after I get out.” Henig went in late in the second quarter when Carroll, the starter, received a mild concussion. He handed off three times; Carroll returned on State’s next offensive series in the third quarter. Henig’s pressing concern is his right hand, which he broke Sept. 15 at Auburn. He thinks he may have aggravated the injury in the Oct. 6 victory over UAB and can hardly bend his fingers. He’s trying not to throw and says he’s not 100 percent, though he thinks he could play if needed Saturday at No. 9 West Virginia. “It’s just going to take time,” Henig said. . .Kentucky’s Oct. 27 homecoming game with Mississippi State has been selected as Lincoln Financial Game Of The Week. Kickoff will be at 11:30 a.m. CT

SOUTH CAROLINA

Carolina safety Emanuel Cook received a lot of attention for his performance at North Carolina (a team-leading nine tackles, two interceptions and a sack). But Carolina coach Steve Spurrier also had high praise for fellow safety Darian Stewart, who had the Gamecocks’ other interception and caused two fumbles. It escaped notice because North Carolina recovered both of them during its second-half rally. “Darian Stewart had a heck of a game,” Spurrier said. “Just any one of those recoveries looked like might have gotten the thing out of hand,” Spurrier said. “But we didn’t have anyone hustling around to fall on either one of them, so they got them both back.”

TENNESSEE

Tennessee ranks second in the SEC with an average time of possession of 31 minutes, 11 seconds. Last week, it had the ball for 31:39 and ran nine more plays than Mississippi State. Linebacker Jerod Mayo said the Vols’ ball-control offense also helps the Tennessee defense. “We have three great running backs and those guys do an excellent job,” he said. “Arian Foster is really taking his game to a new level. Having them out on the field longer gives us more of a break on the sidelines so we can go out and play 100 percent each and every play.”

VANDERBILT

The Commodores’ loss marked their eighth in as many appearances on ESPN2. Vanderbilt is 1-14 on ESPN and its affiliates, winning only its 2005 season opener at Wake Forest on ESPNU. . .Each of Vanderbilt’s five SEC Eastern Division foes are listed among the top 25 in the initial BCS standings — further proving the division’s competitive level. South Carolina, the Commodores’ opponent on Saturday, is sixth, with Kentucky seventh, Florida 15th, Georgia 20th and Tennessee 21st. “That’s pretty impressive to me,” Vandy coach Bobby Johnson said. “But we knew that coming in. We still think we can beat any of them when we’re playing well, and we plan to play well.”. . .Earl Bennett’s three-reception game marked the first time the junior receiver had been held to fewer than four catches since his Oct. 8, 2005, outing against Louisiana State — a string of 22 straight games. With 205 career catches, Bennett needs four to become the SEC’s all-time leader in receptions.