The SEC’s Week 9 report card:

OFFENSE

Arkansas: A

Ole Miss scored 76 points on this same Tennessee-Martin team, so even though the Skyhawks have only lost once in FCS play, an offensive explosion wasn’t unexpected. Arkansas also failed to cover the 37-point spread, but that can’t be blamed on the offense. The Hogs did whatever they wanted with the ball, averaging 10.6 yards per play and scoring on three plays that covered at least 49 yards. Alex Collins led the way, rushing for 173 yards and five touchdowns on 16 carries.

Vanderbilt: F

Houston is a quality team, so this grade isn’t about the opponent. Vanderbilt’s failure is internal, localized to the offense, and complete. The Cougars entered the weekend giving up 362 yards per game and the Commodores only gained about half of that while turning it over four times in a 34-0 rout. Vanderbilt quarterbacks combined to complete 5 of 20 passes for 44 yards. We’re often tempted to treat bad teams with kid gloves in this space, but Saturday’s performance was beyond the bounds of our sympathies. C’mon, Vandy. Do better.

DEFENSE

Florida: A

The Gators moved within an eyelash of the SEC East crown thanks to a smothering effort from their defense. Georgia’s offense looked hapless from the outset, turning the ball over four times and converting just 2 of 12 third-down opportunities. The Bulldogs’ offensive line, reputed to be one of the conference’s best, was overwhelmed by Florida, and Georgia finished with just 69 rushing yards on 22 carries.

Ole Miss: B-plus

The Rebels gave up some big plays against Auburn, but the Landsharks were at their best in the biggest situations. Auburn was just 2 of 15 on third-down conversions, 0 for 2 on fourth downs, and had to settle for field goals on all three of its trips to the red zone. Ole Miss finished with seven tackles for loss, three sacks and six hurries and held an opposing quarterback to a completion rate less than 50 percent for the second straight week.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Tennessee: A

Evan Berry returned a kick and Cameron Sutton took back a punt for scores against Kentucky, giving the Volunteers special teams more touchdowns than Georgia, Auburn and Vanderbilt combined on Saturday. Berry’s return was his third of the season, while Sutton’s was his second.

COACHING

Texas A&M: A-minus

It’s been anything but smooth, and disgruntled fans might justly argue that these sort of questions should’ve been answered in August, but the Aggies coaching staff deserves credit for the midseason pivot that seems to have landed the team on an offensive identity that works. In back-to-back losses against Alabama and Ole Miss in which the offense foundered, Texas A&M seemed like it didn’t have a clear idea of what it wanted to be. The insertion of Kyler Murray into the starting lineup appears to have solved that problem, at least for the time being. With the electric true freshman taking snaps, the running game accounted for 321 yards, Texas A&M’s best total since the 2013 Cotton Bowl.

But while the offense regained some potency, John Chavis and the Aggies defense still have issues. Perhaps chief among them is how to cover for the deficiencies at the linebacker position.

Georgia: F

From a Georgia perspective, there’s no way to view what happened in Jacksonville as anything other than an abject failure. The Bulldogs came into the season with what was expected to be one of the best offensive lines in the SEC. Losing RB Nick Chubb was a gut shot, no doubt, but the Bulldogs have depth and talent in the backfield and have yet to find a way to make use of it. Brian Schottenheimer’s schemes aren’t working and Mark Richt’s decision to start the third-string quarterback in arguably the biggest game of the season smacks of desperation. To be fair, if it worked, Richt would be hailed as a fearless leader willing to make bold moves to jump-start his team. But it didn’t work – not even close – and hindsight is a cruel and unforgiving judge.

The staff gave QB Faton Bauta his first career start against one of the best defenses in the SEC with Georgia’s division title hopes hanging in the balance and, not surprisingly, he wasn’t up to the task. Frankly, it would’ve been shocking if he had been.

Clearly, Richt is scrambling for answers. It might feel like that shouldn’t be the case for a coach in his 15th season, but it happens. The Bulldogs have reached crisis points more than once in recent years. This, at the very least, is another. At worst, it’s the beginning of the end.

OVERALL

Ole Miss-Auburn and Texas A&M-South Carolina proved to be competitive, compelling games, and Florida all but locked up its spot in Atlanta with a convincing win over Georgia. All in all, not a bad Saturday, and next weekend looks even better.

Alabama-LSU is the obvious headliner, but Ole Miss-Arkansas could have just as much impact on the race in the West. The Tigers and Rebels can take the West by winning out – they play Nov. 14 in Baton Rouge – while the Tide needs to keep winning and have Ole Miss drop another game somewhere along the way.