Outside of the Cocktail Party in Jacksonville, it was a pretty weak slate in college football. Like, really weak.

The same was true in the SEC, where 4 of the 6 games had double-digit spreads. One of the ones that didn’t, Mississippi State-Arkansas, was decided by 30 points.

Yeah, it was that kind of weekend.

But there was still, however, plenty of takeaways from the rather weak slate to kick off November.

Here’s 1 thing I learned about each (active) SEC team in Week 10:

Arkansas: Yes, it can get worse

I feel like I’ve said that before about Arkansas in this column, but it’s worth repeating. After all, that was Chad Morris’ best chance for an SEC win this year. Even as just a touchdown underdog, Arkansas looked like it was playing against the top team in the country, and not a Mississippi State team that lost 4 consecutive games. The most embarrassing thing was allowing 300 rushing yards … in the first half. Arkansas continues to stoop to new lows with Morris. Then again, perhaps I spoke too soon. Former Arkansas quarterback Ty Storey and Western Kentucky would give Morris the ultimate gut punch with a win in Fayetteville this weekend.

Auburn: An offense can put up 500 yards and still frustrate its fans

Imagine that. I don’t blame Auburn fans for being frustrated with only scoring 20 points against Ole Miss at home. While the Rebels’ defense was improved, it was still frustrating to see long drives not end in points. Three missed field goals will do that. But every chance that Auburn had to put its foot on the gas offensively, it seemed to waste. The Rebels attempted a game-winning drive that I’m sure made the Jordan-Hare faithful plenty nervous. That would have been a disastrous loss for Gus Malzahn. But the spin zone is his team put up 500 yards of offense against a halfway decent SEC defense and is sitting at No. 12 in the country entering the second weekend of November. Life could be worse.

Florida: The Gators aren’t quite at that level just yet

I was baffled that Georgia was nearly a touchdown favorite. I thought Florida was going to come out and make it a brutal afternoon for the Bulldogs’ offense. Instead, the Gators struggled at the line of scrimmage. Jake Fromm had plenty of time to throw, Florida’s pressure couldn’t get home and as a result, the defense couldn’t get off the field on 3rd down. And for all the credit I gave Dan Mullen for what he’s done with Kyle Trask, I wasn’t crazy about the game plan against an elite defense. Bringing in Emory Jones when he did was odd, though Saturday was a reminder of why Trask wasn’t a prototypical fit in Mullen’s offense. Florida needed a better athlete at quarterback against that Georgia defense.

Mullen said that Florida is 7 points from Georgia, but it felt a bit more like a statement win from the Dawgs that they’re still on a slightly higher level than the Gators.

Georgia: Lawrence Cager is an invaluable warrior

I mean, the guy said he would have played in that game with a broken leg. I believe him. Dealing with a rib injury and probably still not at 100% from the separated shoulder he suffered earlier in the season, Cager was the difference-maker in the Georgia passing game. He converted more 3rd downs (3) than Florida had all game (2). Jake Fromm trusts him more than any receiver on the roster. We saw that on the first 3rd down of the game for Georgia:

That set the tone for the day that was. The Miami grad transfer is proving to be one of the most valuable players in the SEC. That’s a different ballgame if Cager is still banged up like he was when Georgia’s offense sputtered the last 2 games.

Mississippi State: MSU can actually impose its will against an SEC team (kind of)

Before Saturday, we hadn’t seen that type of performance against an SEC team, especially not on the road. Arkansas is technically an SEC team, and MSU did technically set a program record for most yards against an SEC team since it joined the conference. Joe Moorhead challenged his team to dominate the line of scrimmage and to let that set the tone. It did. Kylin Hill had massive holes to run through en route to a career day, and MSU couldn’t be stopped on the ground. Will it translate into a couple of more wins to earn bowl eligibility? Saturday was certainly more encouraging than any effort against a Power 5 team all year.

Ole Miss: This team isn’t as far off as I thought it would be, but …

To actually have a chance to win that game against Auburn late was impressive. Another close loss for Ole Miss all but eliminates the Rebels from bowl eligibility, which is frustrating considering I think this is the best team the program had since 2015. The defense plays hard and avoids those long, back-breaking touchdowns. And while John Rhys Plumlee still isn’t at an SEC level as a passer, I buy his fit in the Rich Rodriguez offense more and more every week.

The issue in Oxford is obvious. A decision will need to be made at season’s end — possibly by an interim athletic director — about whether to extend or fire Matt Luke. It’s one or the other at this point given the 4-year regulation on contracts for public employees in the state of Mississippi. Fire Luke and this young, but somewhat promising Ole Miss team has to start from scratch. Or keep him and potentially stay in the SEC West basement. An interesting dilemma, it’ll be.

South Carolina: Ryan Hilinski had a very mature performance

Without Shi Smith and Rico Dowdle, South Carolina was staring at a 7-0 deficit at home to Vandy midway through the 2nd quarter. It would have been easy for Hilinski to tense up. Instead, it looked like he settled into the game and found his groove. The true freshman quarterback had arguably his best game since Alabama and reminded South Carolina fans of why he has such promise. It helps when you have someone like Bryan Edwards to throw the ball to.

Hilinski still needs to improve his downfield accuracy, but Saturday was an important step for him to make in his development as a starting quarterback.

Tennessee: This looks like a vastly different team than the one that lost to Georgia State

UAB was a 1-loss team and an interesting upset candidate. And for the 2nd consecutive week, Tennessee blew the doors off a legitimate FBS team despite the fact that the quarterback situation remains somewhat of a mess. That’s OK. Tennessee’s defense is so good right now that it can get away with that. Bryce Thompson and Co. took away any chance the Blazers had of even making that game interesting. The Vols have allowed just 7 points in their past 6 quarters of football, which is obviously a far cry from the group that was pushed around against Georgia State and BYU. It’ll be fascinating to see how quickly the Jeremy Pruitt narrative changes if he can close the regular season by earning a bowl berth. Finally, his team is buying in.

Texas A&M: The offense is figuring things out

Yes, it was UTSA. But if the Aggies’ slow offensive start turned into an ugly game, that would have been a major cause for concern with Georgia and LSU coming up soon. I’ve been extremely critical of the A&M running game, or lack thereof. But Isaiah Spiller and the offensive line played much better dating to the 4th quarter against Ole Miss. Do I think Spiller is suddenly going to have more 200-yard performances when the competition gets tougher? No, but by at least showing Spiller can bust loose, A&M will enter the home stretch at least appearing like a more balanced offense that’s tougher to defend.

Vanderbilt: Mizzou wasn’t a turning point

Contrary to what Derek Mason said after his team’s stunning defeat of Mizzou, his team didn’t turn the corner. Vandy suffered its 6th loss, all of which have been by at least 3 scores. Nobody could cover Bryan Edwards and the Commodores’ passing game was about as inefficient as it gets once Riley Neal went down. Even worse, Kalija Lipscomb had an undisclosed absence. Mason’s team rallied for that out-of-body effort against Mizzou, but Vandy should be a significant underdog in each of its final 3 SEC games.