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.

Nick Jones caught a 47-yard pass for South Carolina on Saturday, setting up an Elliott Fry field goal.

That’s a nice play to be sure. But the Gamecocks allowed a 41-yard catch by Bud Sasser, a 26-yard catch by Wesley Leftwich and a 22-yard run by Marcus Murphy — all on two fourth-quarter touchdown drives that allowed Missouri to win by one point.

That’s epitomized South Carolina’s season, which includes two home losses prior to October, neither of them to Georgia. Steve Spurrier’s offense, with Dylan Thompson at quarterback instead of Connor Shaw and a less-explosive Mike Davis at running back, has produced just seven big gainers, fewest in the conference. And the troubled defense has allowed a league-high 17.

The result? A negative margin of 10 explosive plays, by far the worst in the conference and well below SEC East rivals Vanderbilt (margin of 0), Florida (margin of -1) and Tennessee (margin of -2).

Team Margin Explosive Plays Explosive Plays Allowed
T1. Alabama +16 20 4
T1. Texas A&M +16 25 9
3. Auburn +11 18 7
T4. Georgia +10 17 7
T4. Kentucky +10 17 7
T6. LSU +7 21 14
T6. Mississippi State +7 19 12
8. Ole Miss +4 17 13
9. Arkansas +2 18 16
10. Missouri +2 13 11
11. Vanderbilt 0 9 9
12. Florida -1 9 10
13. Tennessee -2 8 10
14. South Carolina -10 7 17

Texas A&M leads the conference with 25 explosive plays, including three crucial ones in the fourth quarter and overtime against Arkansas that determined the outcome.

On that note, the Razorbacks lead the SEC with 14 rushes for 20 or more yards, but the Aggies have a somewhat surprising nine to go along with an SEC-best 16 passes of at least 30 yards.

Georgia has 13 explosive runs compared with four explosive passes, an indictment of Hutson Mason, but it also illuminates how talented the Bulldogs’ backfield is even beyond Todd Gurley.

Tennessee and South Carolina are the only two SEC schools with as few as three 20-yard rushes, and both schools produced a 100-yard rusher Saturday.

Granted, Florida missed its Week 1 game against Idaho due to lightning and had a bye last week. But the Gators, which brought in offensive coordinator Kurt Roper, a longtime David Cutcliffe henchman, to revitalize the offense, have produced just nine explosive plays, tied with Vanderbilt. That’s not where any SEC offense wants to be in 2014.

EXPLOSIVE PLAYS: OFFENSE

Team Explosive Plays Rushes For 20+ Passes For 30+
1. Texas A&M 25 9 16
2. LSU 21 11 10
3. Alabama 20 10 10
4. Mississippi State 19 11 8
T5. Arkansas 18 14 4
T5. Auburn 18 8 10
T7. Georgia 17 13 4
T7. Kentucky 17 8 9
T9. Missouri 13 7 6
T9. Ole Miss 13 5 8
T11. Florida 9 4 5
T11. Vanderbilt 9 4 5
T13. Tennessee 8 3 5
T13. South Carolina 7 3 4

Despite not playing Saturday, Mississippi State has allowed a conference-worst 10 passes for at least 30 yards. That’s significant given the Bulldogs are hosting Texas A&M and QB Kenny Hill this weekend.

MSU’s front seven is among the best in the league, in the same category as Alabama and Ole Miss. The Bulldogs have given up just two runs of 20 yards. But UAB torched the secondary several times, and even South Alabama made the Mississippi State defensive backs look suspicious.

Speaking of the Rebels, the Ole Miss secondary is the strength of the defense, giving up a conference-low two passes of 30 yards. But Alabama’s offense is the most balanced in the SEC, producing 10 explosive plays running and passing.

The Crimson Tide defense is no slouch by itself, giving up a conference-low four explosive plays in four games. But the Ole Miss receivers are more talented than any Alabama has faced to this point.

EXPLOSIVE PLAYS: DEFENSE

Team Explosive Plays Allowed Rushes For 20+ Passes For 30+
T1. Alabama 4 2 2
T2. Auburn 7 3 4
T2. Georgia 7 2 5
T2. Kentucky 7 4 3
T2. Ole Miss 7 5 2
T6. Texas A&M 9 3 6
T6. Vanderbilt 9 5 4
T8. Florida 10 3 7
T8. Tennessee 10 6 4
10. Missouri 11 6 5
11. Mississippi State 12 2 10
12. LSU 14 10 4
13. Arkansas 16 8 8
14. South Carolina 17 9 8