SEC Football: September in review

Published October 1, 2012 - 1:35pm

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It’s officially October, and the best sports month welcomes us with several massive SEC games this weekend. Check out the week six schedule.

Let’s take a moment and realize where we were and to where we have come in one month. The contenders have been separated from the pretenders, and further separation will ensue this weekend. Our best football is ahead of us, and it’s going to be a wild finish in the SEC East.

Here are the team superlatives for September:

Best Team: Alabama
Roll Tide! The Tide have indeed rolled through September without even a challenge from any of their five opponents. With so much parity in college football, what Nick Saban is doing at Alabama is beyond imaginable. Not only has Bama won, but they have dismantled every single team on the schedule, and no one in the country looks as dominant doing so. All the talk about losing six starters on defense and the best running back in the country has all been erased.

Worst Team: Arkansas
I’m at a loss of words to describe the Arkansas program. With the timeline of events that took place in Fayetteville, it was conceived to have a drop off. But this big? No one saw this coming. Arkansas started at #8 in the polls, and they have easily one of the five worst defenses in the country. Tyler Wilson’s concussion kicked everything off, but the wheels are now off and the bus is broken down. There will be no bowl game, and the Hogs may be favored in one or two more games, but that’s about it. Sitting at 1-4, Arkansas could pull it together and get four wins, maximum, with the state of the program.

Best Offense: Georgia
Georgia has proven they are the best offensive team in the SEC so far. They can seemingly score at will and have shown that against average defenses. They have the best quarterback in the SEC, and they have the best running back duo in the SEC. Georgia is tied for the lead in scoring offense at 48.2 points per game, and they lead the country in plays over 20 and 30 yards each. Balance is the name of the game, and this team is oh-so balanced and can score in so many different ways.

Surprise Team: Mississippi State
Heading into 2012, MSU was my wild card to make some noise in the West, based on the easy start and leadership in Dan Mullen. While the team as a whole is good, the defensive secondary has played out of their minds. Johnthan Banks, Darius Slay Nickoe Whitley and Corey Broomfield could form the best defensive secondary in the SEC and one of the best in the country. Slay is tied for the lead in the SEC in interceptions (4) and Banks is second with three. They are living and dying off the turnovers, and they look to improve to 7-0 before facing Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Here are all the individual superlatives for September:

Best Overall Player: Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia (FR)
What Todd Gurley is doing at Georgia as a freshman is pretty remarkable. He’s become the best running back in the SEC as a true freshman, and he’s the best freshman player in the country. Name another one who is better. He leads the SEC in rushing with 536 yards and nine touchdowns, while averaging 7.9 yards per carry. Is it too early to say he’s a better-looking player than Trent Richardson as a freshman? I won’t go there, yet.

Best Offensive Player: Aaron Murray, QB, Georgia (JR)
By now, Aaron Murray is a seasoned veteran in the SEC. He’s seen all the highs and lows, and he’s the old timer leading the best offense in the SEC. He’s second in the SEC with 1,370 passing yards and 12 touchdowns. He can make every throw on the field. Georgia has racked up more explosive plays than anyone in the country, and Keith Marshall and Gurley are a big part of that, but Murray is having a fantastic season on a top five team in the country. We’ll see if he can lead his team through the SEC gauntlet starting this weekend against South Carolina.

Most Exciting Offensive Player: Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M (FR)
Johnny Football has taken the SEC by storm. He’s already set TAMU records for passing yards in a game and total yards in a game, and he leads the SEC in total offense (1,460 yards). The most remarkable thing about Manziel, other than the fact that he’s a freshman, is he’s had zero turnovers through four games (zero!). He’s been a part of 16 total touchdowns, and he’s on pace for Cam Newton-like numbers for 2012.

Best Defensive Player: Jarvis Jones, OLB, Georgia
I was tempted to erase Jones and pencil in a few others, but there’s no denying that Jones is the player on defense in the SEC this season. Jones in second in the SEC in forced fumbles (3), third in tackles for loss (8.0) and fourth in sacks (4.5), and he even missed a game against FAU with a groin injury. We all remember the way he dominated against Missouri on the road, with his strip-sack fumble and interception return to the one. Yeah, I hear you Damontre Moore and Jadeveon Clowney. Both have had remarkable seasons, but Jones has been the biggest stud on defense so far.

Biggest Surprise: Jeff Driskel, QB, Florida (SO)
Let me be the first to tell you that Jeff Driskel has really surprised me through four games. I realize he was thrown into the fire last year as a true freshman, so the sample size wasn’t the best judgment indicator. However, I just didn’t think he was a gamer. He looked great running and passing, but many just didn’t feel like he was ready for the big stage, yet. Guilty as charged. Driskel has improved from the first week ten-fold. It’s not about the stats or the numbers he’s posted, but the overall work from week one until now is quite remarkable. He led Florida on the road in two huge games and pulled out wins, and he didn’t turn the ball over once. He’s completed 69.8 percent of his passes and four touchdowns, while keeping drives alive with his feet. He’s a player to contend with, and he reminds me of a young Aaron Rodgers.

SEC September All-SEC Team

Offense
QB – Aaron Murray, Georgia
RB – Todd Gurley, Georgia
RB – Mike Gillislee, Florida
WR – Cobi Hamilton, Arkansas
WR – Justin Hunter, Tennessee
TE – Jordan Reed, Florida
OL – Barrett Jones, Alabama
OL – Chance Warmack, Alabama
OL – Jake Matthews, Texas A&M
OL – Jonotthan Harrison, Florida
OL – Alex Hurst, LSU

Defense
DL – Damontre Moore, Texas A&M
DL – Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina
DL – Corey Lemonier, Auburn
DL – Brad Madison, Missouri
LB – Jarvis Jones, Georgia
LB – AJ Johnson, Tennessee
LB – Alvin Dupree, Kentucky
DB – Johnthan Banks, Mississippi State
DB – Dee Milliner, Alabama
DB – Eric Reid, LSU
DB – Matt Elam, Florida

Stats that matter:

Scoring offense (points per game)
1 Texas A&M 48.2
2 Georgia 48.2
3 Alabama 40.2
4 Tennessee 39.4
5 LSU 39
6 S. Carolina 36.6
7 Miss State 36
8 Ole Miss 32.2
9 Florida 30.5
10 Missouri 27.4
11 Arkansas 23.2
12 Kentucky 21.8
13 Vanderbilt 21.8
14 Auburn 17.5

Scoring Defense (points per game)
1 Alabama 7
2 S. Carolina 11.2
3 Texas A&M 11.8
4 LSU 12.6
5 Florida 12.8
6 Miss State 13.2
7 Georgia 22
7 Vanderbilt
9 Auburn 23.5
10 Missouri 23.6
11 Ole Miss 27.2
12 Tennessee 29.6
13 Kentucky 30.8
14 Arkansas 40.6

Total Offense (total yards)
1 Georgia 536
2 Texas A&M 525.8
3 Tennessee 506.6
4 Ole Miss 434
5 LSU 432.8
6 Arkansas 417
7 South Carolina 409
8 Florida 407.5
9 Alabama 401
10 Mississippi State 399
11 Vanderbilt 384
12 Kentucky 349.4
13 Missouri 348.4
14 Auburn 297.8

Total Defense (total yards)
1 Alabama 191.6
2 LSU 217.8
3 South Carolina 288.8
4 Florida 305
5 Vanderbilt 328
6 Missouri 333
7 Texas A&M 338.5
8 Mississippi State 350
9 Ole Miss 359.6
10 Georgia 370.2
11 Kentucky 389.8
12 Auburn 419.2
13 Tennessee 425.8
14 Arkansas 510.2

Rushing Offense (total yards)
1 Georgia 248.8
2 LSU 229.6
3 Florida 224.5
4 Ole Miss 223.8
5 Texas A&M 210.5
6 Alabama 188.2
7 Miss State 184.2
8 Tennessee 177.4
9 S. Carolina 171.8
10 Vanderbilt 169.8
11 Auburn 153
12 Missouri 137.4
13 Kentucky 119.6
14 Arkansas 106.6

Rushing Defense (total yards)
1 Alabama 65.8
2 S Carolina 77.6
3 LSU 83
4 Texas A&M 106
5 Missouri 111.2
6 Florida 119.2
7 Ole Miss 125.2
8 Miss State 136.5
9 Georgia 147.8
10 Arkansas 160.8
11 Tennessee 186.2
12 Vanderbilt 186.2
13 Kentucky 192.8
14 Auburn 208.2

Sacks
1 S. Carolina 22
2 Texas A&M 16
2 Alabama 16
4 Kentucky 14
5 Missouri 13
5 Ole Miss 13
7 LSU 11
8 Auburn 9
8 Georgia 9
10 Vanderbilt 8
11 Arkansas 7
12 Tennessee 6
13 Florida 5
13 Miss St 5

Rushing Yards and Touchdowns
1 Todd Gurley-UG 536 yards, 9 TDs
2 Rajion Neal-UT 460, 4
3 M. Lattimore-SC 440, 8
4 Keith Marshall-UG 428, 5
5 Mike Gillislee-UF 402, 5
6 Kendi Lawrence-MO 395, 5
7 L. Perkins-MS 389, 5
8 Kenny Hilliard-LS 366, 6
8 Johnny Manziel-AM 366, 6
10 Zac Stacy-VU 341, 1
11 Jeff Scott-UM 317, 4
12 Tre Mason-AU 275, 1

Passing Yards
1 Tyler Bray-UT 1582
2 Aaron Murray-UG 1378
3 Tyler Wilson-AR 1355
4 Johnny Manziel-AM 1094
5 Z. Mettenberger-LS 1016
6 AJ McCarron-UA 999
7 Maxwell Smith-UK 975
8 Bo Wallace-UM 840
9 Tyler Russell-MS 822
10 James Franklin-MO 749
11 Jeff Driskel-UF 698
12 Jordan Rodgers-VU 649
13 Connor Shaw-SC 571
14 Kiehl Frazier-AU 546

Receiving Yards
1 Cobi Hamilton-AR 591
2 Justin Hunter-UT 456
3 Jordan Matthews-VU 395
4 Donte Moncrief-UM 380
5 Michael Bennett-UG 345
6 Mike Evans-AM 307
6 Tavarres King-UG 307
8 C. Patterson-UT 290
9 Odell Beckham-LS 286
10 Chris Boyd-VU 285
11 Marlon Brown-UG 272
12 Chad Bumphis-MS 271
13 Ryan Swope-AM 236
14 Chris Gragg-AR 234
15 Emory Blake-AU 222

Sacks
1 Damontre Moore-AM 6.0
2 J. Clowney-SC 5.5
3 Corey Lemonier-AU 5.0
4 Jarvis Jones-UG 4.5
5 Alvin Dupree-UK 3.5
6 Brad Madison-MO 3.0
6 Chaz Sutton-SC 3.0
6 Micah Eugene-LS 3.0
6 Collins Ukwu-UK 3.0
6 Jordan Jenkins-UG 3.0

Interceptions
1 Darius Slay-MS 4
2 Byron Moore-UT 4
3 Johnthan Banks-MS 3
4 Steven Terrell-AM 2
4 Dee Milliner-UA 2
4 Ronald Martin-LS 2
4 Shaq Wilson-SC 2
4 Jalen Mills-LS 2
4 Deion Belue-UA 2
4 Eric Gordon-UT 2

Stats Matter But What About The Eye Ball Test?
So far, there is little doubt that Alabama is the team to beat in the SEC. But outside of Alabama there are really four to five teams jockeying for a shot to be called second best. LSU, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and even Mississippi State have undefeated records, but only LSU and MSU get a shot at Alabama in the regular season. Five SEC teams are ranked in this week’s AP Poll, and two of those teams will drop out with a loss this weekend because they all play each other. You can make a case for Georgia, Florida and South Carolina to win the East, and it sets up for an exciting finish to the season.

September’s Best Games

1. Florida 20, Texas A&M 17
The Gators trailed at halftime 17-10, a game dominated by Johnny Manziel in the first half, but the Gators really shut down the Aggies in the second half and outscored them 10-0. Mike Gillislee’s go ahead touchdown with 14:00 left in the fourth quarter put the Gators over the edge 20-17.

2. LSU 12, Auburn 10
Auburn went toe-to-toe with the LSU Tigers at home and put themselves in a position to have a chance to win it at the end. However, A first quarter safety by Sam Montgomery proved to ultimately be the difference in the defensive struggle.

3. Georgia 41, Missouri 20
Missouri and Georgia was a very good game up until about midway through the third quarter. Georgia capitalized on two forced turnovers by Jarvis Jones to ultimately win the game in the second half. However, the Missouri crowd was electric, and it was a big-time SEC atmosphere.

Tags: Aaron Murray, Jarvis Jones, Jeff Driskel, Johnny Manziel, Todd Gurley