Higgins: McCluster deserves spotlight in SEC

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Ole Miss wide receiver Dexter McCluster (22) is chased down by Tennessee defenders linebacker Rico McCoy (5) and linebacker Herman Lathers (34) in Oxford, Miss., Nov. 14, 2009.

OXFORD, Miss. — In the Southeastern Conference rushing statistics entering Saturday's games, you couldn't find Ole Miss' Dexter McCluster listed among the top 10.

But we're a couple of weeks shy of finishing the regular season, and there's no way without a clear conscience that any voter can not seriously consider McCluster a first-team All-SEC running back.

On Saturday, McCluster ran through Tennessee's defense -- ranked No. 16 in the nation -- like it was in slow motion in Ole Miss' 42-17 beat-down. His 282 yards on 25 carries -- and the degree of difficulty on his four touchdown runs -- made it one of the best individual rushing performances I've seen this decade.

His 71-yard TD will be the one on ESPN's Play of the Day. That's the kind of run of which McCluster said, "Sometimes, some of the cuts I do surprises me, because it be so fast."

But just as impressive was a 6-yard run that McCluster made on first-and-goal from the Tennessee 7-yard-line on the Rebels' second possession of the second half. He took a late option pitch and appeared hemmed in for a loss.

"I got the pitch, saw (UT safety Eric) Berry coming," McCluster said. "I looked him dead in the eye, I knew I was going to set him up, I burst to the sideline, he missed, and then I saw two defenders (that McCluster dragged to the shadow of the goal line).

"I thought, 'I'm not going down. They've been calling me small all game; I'm going to show them I'm not small.'"

McCluster, who wasn't used mostly at running back until four games ago, has run for 100 yards in his last three SEC games (add Saturday's total to 123 vs. Arkansas and 186 vs. Auburn). For the season, McCluster has 755 yards and six rushing TDs.

Playing it safe

No. 1 Florida's 24-14 victory at South Carolina was a struggle, but that's no surprise. It's tough to get a blowout win on the road, unless you just wear out a team like No. 2 Alabama did in its 31-3 victory at Mississippi State. Coaches Urban Meyer of Florida and Nick Saban of Alabama, whose teams have clinched the Eastern and Western divisions, respectively, know they have the No. 2 and No. 4 nationally ranked defenses. So naturally, they are going to stick with conservative offensive game plans designed to minimize mistakes and consume clock. In Florida's case, South Carolina was good enough to keep the Gamecocks within striking distance. But Carolina's red zone offense is ranked 11th in the SEC, just behind Florida's, and the Gamecocks' lack of scoring punch finally caught up with them. Florida's defense was able to bring the house on Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia, sacking him four times in the fourth quarter. ... Alabama's depth, a reason why the Tide is still unbeaten, finally wore out State. When you get tired, you lose focus, and Alabama burned State for two long scoring plays, including running back Mark Ingram's 70-yard run that helped pad his Heisman Trophy résumé. ... Louisiana Tech almost caught LSU at the right time, with the Tigers coming off an emotional loss to Alabama. LSU won, 24-16, but only after sleepwalking through a first half in which it trailed 13-10 at the break. Perhaps the visiting Bulldogs were a wee but fired up after LSU coach Les Miles decided to sit starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson, who was nursing a sprained ankle.

Joker's boys run wild

Kentucky had lousy quarterback play, but Wildcats offensive coordinator Joker Phillips had sense enough in UK's 24-13 win over Vanderbilt to put the ball in the hands of running back Derrick Locke (a career-high 144 yards rushing and one TD) and Wildcat formation QB/receiver Randall Cobb (two TDs). "Those are the guys that we have to get touches, and we just decided to hand it to them before the game," Phillips said. "We had to get the ball in those guys' hands. Those guys are unbelievable and they are warriors." ... The bowl race gets even more interesting next week. The winner of LSU at Ole Miss will get hard looks from the Capital One and Outback Bowls. If the Rebels win one of their last two games, the Chick-fil-A Bowl will pluck Ole Miss in a heartbeat. ... Georgia's 31-24 win over Auburn moved the Bulldogs up. The Tigers still fit in the Cotton Bowl picture unless LSU loses to Ole Miss and beats Arkansas. Then LSU might end up in Dallas.

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