We keep track of red zone stats for you each week.

OFFENSIVE RED ZONE STATISTICS

It’s no coincidence as the season goes on that the cream starts to rise to the top in terms of red zone production. No. 4 LSU, the only unbeaten team left in the SEC, now assumes the highest scoring percentage in the red zone at 90.3 percent, coming away with points on 28 of 31 tries. The Tigers are also 2nd in the SEC behind Mississippi State in touchdown percentage at nearly 68 percent.

However, the Bayou Bengals stand at opposite ends of the spectrum, also ranking last in opponent red zone scoring percentage, allowing scores over 94 percent of the time (16 of 17 tries) and touchdowns about 82 percent of the time (14 of 17 tries). On Saturday, LSU will have its hands full against Alabama, which is 5th in the SEC by scoring on 30 of 35 trips.

Overall, No. 11 Florida has struggled in coming away with points, ranking 11th in the SEC. However, that’s mostly due to the fact that the Gators are the worst field goal kicking team in the league. When it comes to getting in the end zone, Florida is 3rd in the SEC with a rate of 65.7 percent, and only Mississippi State (75.8) and LSU (67.7) have been better.

It’s no surprise that the three worst SEC teams all rank among the last at getting in the end zone: Vanderbilt ranks 12th (38.5 percent), South Carolina ranks 13th (37.5) and Missouri ranks last (33.3).

This list is sorted by scoring percentage.

SCHOOL GAMES ATT SCORES SCORE% TD TD% FG FG%
1. LSU 7 31 28 90.3% 21 67.7% 7 22.6%
2. Kentucky 8 27 24 88.9% 17 62.9% 7 25.9%
3. Mississippi State 8 33 29 87.9% 25 75.8% 4 12.1%
4. Auburn 8 31 27 87.1% 19 61.3% 8 25.8%
5. Alabama 8 35 30 85.7% 21 60% 9 25.7%
6. Texas A&M 8 37 31 83.8% 22 59.5% 9 24.3%
T7. South Carolina 8 24 20 83.3% 9 37.5% 11 45.8%
T7. Missouri 8 18 15 83.3% 6 33.3% 9 50%
9. Ole Miss 9 41 34 82.9% 22 53.7% 12 29.3%
10. Tennessee 8 39 32 82.1% 24 61.5% 8 20.5%
11. Florida 8 35 28 80% 23 65.7% 5 14.3%
12. Georgia 8 28 22 78.6% 13 46.4% 9 32.1%
13. Arkansas 8 36 27 75% 21 58.3% 6 16.7%
14. Vanderbilt 8 26 16 61.5% 10 38.5% 6 23.1%

DEFENSIVE RED ZONE STATISTICS

Florida’s discrepancy in scoring percentage and touchdown percentage on offense is also alive and well on defense. The Gators are 9th in the SEC by allowing teams to score about 81 percent of the time, but opponents are only punching it into the end zone about 43 percent of the time. That means the Gators are 3rd-best at getting in the end zone and also 3rd-best at preventing opponents from getting in the end zone.

Mississippi State has only been a middle of the road team in many defensive categories this season, but the Bulldogs know how to tighten up in the red zone. MSU leads the SEC by only allowing teams to get in the end zone at a rate a little over 33 percent of the time, or 9 of 21 tries.

Let’s revisit LSU’s jekyl and hyde act in terms of offense vs. defense in the red zone. You could argue that although the Tigers have allowed teams to score touchdowns 14 of 17 times at an SEC-worst rate of 82 percent, it’s still impressive that they’ve only allowed teams to even reach the red zone 17 times, which is the fewest in the SEC. That does count for something. However, the team that’s allowed the 2nd-fewest trips is none other than Alabama with 18, and the Tide have played one extra game. By comparison, Alabama has fared much better by only allowing teams to get in the end zone exactly half of those times (9 of 18 trips).

SCHOOL GAMES ATT SCORES SCORE% TD TD% FG FG%
1. Georgia 8 23 16 69.6% 12 52.2% 4 17.4%
T2. Vanderbilt 8 28 21 75% 11 39.3% 10 35.7%
T2. Kentucky 8 36 27 75% 20 55.6% 7 19.4%
4. Tennessee 8 29 22 75.9% 14 48.3% 8 27.6%
5. Mississippi State 8 27 21 77.8% 9 33.3% 12 44.4%
6. Missouri 8 23 18 78.3% 10 43.5% 8 34.8%
7. South Carolina 8 35 28 80% 22 62.9% 6 17.1%
8. Texas A&M 8 31 25 80.7% 14 45.2% 11 35.5%
9. Florida 8 21 17 80.9% 9 42.9% 8 38.1%
10. Auburn 8 35 29 82.9% 21 60% 8 22.9%
11. Alabama 8 18 15 83.3% 9 50% 6 33.3%
12. Arkansas 8 31 26 83.9% 19 61.3% 7 22.6%
13. Ole Miss 9 32 27 84.4% 14 43.8% 13 40.6%
14. LSU 7 17 16 94.1% 14 82.4% 2 11.8%