For the purposes of this story, SDS defines an explosive play as a run of at least 20 yards or a pass of at least 30 yards.

EXPLOSIVE PLAY MARGIN

The Florida Gators made a greater leap in explosive play margin than any other team in the SEC in Week 13, improving from plus-three to plus-six in a 52-3 win over Eastern Kentucky. The Gators executed four explosive plays and only allowed one on the day, and surprisingly three of the Gators’ four explosive plays came through the air, including two touchdown passes of 50-or-more yards. Florida only had 10 explosive completions in nine games prior to the win over EKU.

Alabama continues to claim the SEC’s best explosive play margin in 2014, yet it failed to improve its margin in a 48-14 win over Western Carolina last week. The Tide executed two explosive plays but also allowed two explosive plays to the Catamounts to remain at plus-25 on the season.

Considering Alabama had only allowed 12 explosive plays in 10 games entering Week 13, the Catamounts actually deserve a great deal of respect for their performance against the No. 1 team in the nation.

Only two teams experienced a drop in their explosive play margin — the Tennessee Volunteers and the Vanderbilt Commodores, which entered the weekend with the two worst margins in the conference only to lose ground on the rest of the field.

Vanderbilt fell from minus-five to minus-seven in a 51-0 loss to Mississippi State, and Tennessee fell from minus-13 to minus-14 in a 29-21 loss to Missouri.

Here’s a rundown of every SEC team’s explosive play margin so far this season:

Team Margin Explosive Plays Explosive Plays Allowed
1. Alabama +25 39 14
2. Georgia +21 41 20
3. Mississippi State +18 44 26
4. LSU +13 37 24
T5. Ole Miss +11 34 23
T5. Auburn +11 41 30
7. Florida +6 28 22
8. Texas A&M +5 37 32
T9. Arkansas +3 30 27
T9. Kentucky +3 34 31
11. Missouri +2 22 20
12. South Carolina -3 30 33
13. Vanderbilt -7 19 26
14. Tennessee -15 18 33

EXPLOSIVE PLAYS: OFFENSE

Mississippi State remains the SEC’s most explosive offense, executing a pair of explosive runs in a win over Vandy. The Bulldogs rank second in the SEC in explosive rushes and remain third in explosive completions despite failing to connect on any against the Commodores.

Alabama fell to fourth in the SEC in explosive plays as Georgia passed the Tide with three explosive plays in a win over Charleston Southern. The Dawgs lead the SEC in explosive rushes and added two to their total against CSU.

Missouri had just seven explosive completions in its first 10 games this season, but it managed two in a win over Tennessee to stay atop the SEC East standings. The Tigers rose to 12th in the conference in explosive plays despite ranking in the bottom three in the conference in both explosive runs and explosive completions.

Vanderbilt was the only SEC in action in Week 13 that failed to execute an explosive play on offense. Nonetheless, the Commodores continue to boast more long plays than the SEC’s least explosive offense — Tennessee, which managed two explosive plays against Mizzou but could not close enough ground to match the Dores’ 19 explosive plays this year.

Arkansas dismantled Ole Miss in a 30-0 victory, but the two teams each recorded two explosive plays to match one another in an otherwise lopsided game. South Carolina also ran two explosive plays in a win over South Alabama to remain in the top 10 in the conference in that category this season.

Here’s a complete breakdown of every SEC offense’s explosive plays this season:

Team Explosive Plays Rushes For 20+ Passes For 30+
1. Mississippi State 44 26 18
T2. Auburn 41 24 17
T2. Georgia 41 28 13
4. Alabama 39 19 20
T5. LSU 37 20 17
T5. Texas A&M 37 14 23
T7. Kentucky 34 16 18
T7. Ole Miss 34 14 20
T9. Arkansas 30 21 9
T9. South Carolina 30 16 14
11. Florida 28 15 13
12. Missouri 22 13 9
13. Vanderbilt 19 6 13
14. Tennessee 18 7 11

EXPLOSIVE PLAYS: DEFENSE

Vandy may have been the only offense in the SEC to fail in executing an explosive play last week, but on the other side of that coin the Mississippi State defense was the only defense in the SEC to hold its opponent without an explosive play in Week 13.

Each of the four SEC teams matched up with an FCS foe allowed at least one explosive play on Saturday, and the four teams (Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Georgia) combined to allow six explosive plays to their opponents.

No team in the conference allowed more than two explosive plays in Week 13, and as a result there was not much shakeup among the SEC’s explosive play defenses. Alabama continues to boast the best defense against long plays, allowing only 14 in 11 games this season. No other team in the conference has allowed fewer than 20 on the year.

Tennessee and South Carolina are tied for the worst explosive play defense, having each allowed 33 in 11 games this season. The Volunteers rank last in the conference in explosive plays, explosive plays allowed and explosive play margin with one week left in the regular season.

Here’s a rundown of every SEC team’s explosive play defense this season:

Team Explosive Plays Allowed Rushes For 20+ Passes For 30+
1. Alabama 14 6 8
T2. Georgia 20 12 8
T2. Missouri 20 10 10
4. Florida 22 10 12
5. Ole Miss 23 11 12
6. LSU 24 15 9
T7. Vanderbilt 26 13 13
T7. Mississippi State 26 8 18
9. Arkansas 27 10 17
10. Auburn 30 15 15
11. Kentucky 31 20 11
12. Texas A&M 32 17 15
T13. South Carolina 33 20 13
T13. Tennessee 33 16 17