In football, playing through pain is just a part of the game. The tough-guy maxim goes that everyone is hurt, but to miss a game a player better be injured.

More often than not, star players find a way to keep themselves on the field. Many legends are born of a player gutting through pain to put up a big performance in a crucial moment.

Sometimes, the injuries are too much for a player to overcome, no matter how badly they want to be on the field. Let’s look through the SEC’s recent history to find some of the biggest games missed due to injury.

Percy Harvin, Florida — 2008 SEC Championship: Harvin missed a handful of games throughout his college career, and it became more of a problem when he reached the NFL. None of the games he missed at Florida was bigger than the 2008 SEC title game, a matchup with Nick Saban’s first great Alabama team, which came into the game undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country. Harvin suffered a high ankle sprain the week before in Florida’s rivalry game against Florida State, and despite the severity of the injury was determined to play, rehabbing relentlessly in the week leading up to the game. He was unable to go, but Tim Tebow and the Gators pulled the upset over Alabama anyway on the strength of a balanced offensive effort. Harvin recovered in time for the BCS Championship, rushing for 122 yards as Florida handled Oklahoma.

Mark Barron, Alabama — 2011 Captial One Bowl vs. Michigan: As Alabama fell to eventual national champion Auburn, they had to deal with injury on of the insulting loss, which saw the Tide blow a three-score lead. Barron, an All-American safety, tore his pectoral muscle in the loss to cap off a disappointing regular season in which the defending national champions lost three games to end up in the Capital One Bowl. Even without their defensive leader, the Tide came out with an edge and blasted Michigan State, holding the Spartans scoreless until garbage time in a 49-7 win. The silver lining to the injury is that it helped make Barron’s decision to return for his senior year easier; Alabama would go on to win the national championship the following season.

Eric Reid, LSU — vs. Arkansas, 2011: One of the best safeties to come through the SEC in recent memory was sidelined for one of the biggest games of LSU’s 2011 season. The week prior to this pivotal game, Reid suffered a quadriceps injury on kickoff coverage against LSU, knocking him out of the game, and he was unable to go for No. 1 LSU as it met No. 3 Arkansas in Baton Rouge. Luckily, the Tigers had a more-than-adequate replacement ready to go. The Tigers shifted playmaking cornerback Tyrann Mathieu to safety, and Honey Badger delivered. He came up with eight tackles, a fumble recovery and, most importantly, a 92-yard punt return touchdown that opened the floodgates for LSU. The Tigers rolled onto an SEC title and a BCS championship game appearance.

Connor Shaw, South Carolina — at Clemson, 2012: Shaw dealt with injuries for much of his career. From various muscle strains to a shoulder issue that was supposed to knock him out for three weeks (he didn’t miss any games), he put on some gutsy efforts through pain in his career, none more impressive than his performance against Missouri in 2013. However, at the tail end of 2012, Shaw actually couldn’t go against Clemson, the only game he missed due to injury in his career. Dylan Thompson stepped up to throw three touchdowns, while Jadeveon Clowney had a school-record 4.5 sacks as South Carolina pulled off its fourth-straight win over its biggest rival.

Aaron Murray, Georgia — at Georgia Tech, 2013: Murray saw the end of his brilliant career at Georgia dashed by a torn ACL. While the Bulldogs were already out of SEC contention when Murray went down, they still had to deal with rival Georgia Tech on the road. After falling behind 20-0 early, Hutson Mason and Todd Gurley helped rally the Bulldogs out of a hole, eventually pulling off a 41-34 double-OT win when Ramik Wilson knocked down a final pass attempt from the Yellow Jackets to seal the victory.