I called it “change the narrative Saturday.”
It was an opportunity for narratives across the SEC to shift. The 3 headliner games — LSU-Mizzou, Alabama-A&M and Kentucky-Georgia — were all chances for underdogs to upset preseason top-5 squads with statement victories.
But beyond that, Florida had a chance to change its offensive narrative against Vanderbilt while Arkansas had a chance to change its free-fall narrative against Ole Miss.
Oh, and I suppose that applied to Mississippi State, as well.
So what did “change the narrative Saturday” actually tell us in the SEC?
Here’s 1 thing I learned from each of the 11 SEC teams in action in Week 6:
Alabama — Yes, Jalen Milroe can expose a juicy passing matchup
A week ago, I wrote about how telling it was that Tommy Rees only had Milroe throw the ball 12 times in a favorable matchup against a struggling Mississippi State secondary. A week later, it was telling just how much Rees trusted Milroe to test that up-and-down A&M secondary. It worked. Milroe gashed A&M for career-highs in completions (21), attempts (33), passing TDs (3 was a tie with 2 other games) and passing yards (321).
For the first time all year, he seemed to seek and find a go-to receiver. Jermaine Burton essentially matched his pre-Week 6 production with 13 targets, which he turned into 9 catches for 197 yards and a couple of scores. There was an obvious mismatch in single coverage, and Milroe shook off an interception early in the second half to play the best game of his young career. Without it, A&M would’ve taken a commanding lead in the SEC West race. Instead, that belonged to Alabama by day’s end.
Arkansas — There’s still fight left … but the question is how long will that last?
On the road against an Ole Miss team riding an extreme high, Arkansas showed up desperate. It marched 80 yards and scored to silence a crowd that probably thought the Hogs were left for dead. That wasn’t the case. Arkansas held Quinshon Judkins in check and it didn’t allow a 3rd-down conversion until the 4th quarter. Despite all the offensive line issues, KJ Jefferson had a chance to lead a game-tying or go-ahead drive in the final minutes. That didn’t happen.
However, despite the brutal first half of the schedule, this group hasn’t given up hope. If it had, that game would’ve been 45-7. There’s still talent, and Jefferson is going to keep playing until they tell him to stop. The problem is that even on a night in which Arkansas left it all on the table, it was held to 1.2 yards/carry and the shuffling of the offensive line didn’t yield a different result. Next up? Trying to avoid a 5th consecutive loss against an Alabama team that appeared to find its passing game mojo at A&M.
Florida — Without Trevor Etienne and 2 starting OLs… the Gators were fine
Don’t take that for granted. Not after last year’s Vanderbilt debacle. Billy Napier had to breathe a sigh of relief knowing that a few days removed from defending his offense, that depleted unit was excellent in a favorable matchup against Vandy. Montrell Johnson Jr. took those lead back duties and turned that into 135 yards on 18 carries for a Florida ground attack that racked up 215 yards. Even though pass protection issues were evident, Graham Mertz was highly effective in the intermediate passing game with an 83% completion rate for 254 yards and 3 scores. And sure, this was one of those touchdown passes:
First Gators touchdown for @ewil_iii ‼️
?https://t.co/0Y9Z6UT7kg pic.twitter.com/lYD0yblP61
— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) October 7, 2023
That was Florida’s best offensive showing against FBS competition this season. Granted, it came against a Vandy defense that ranked No. 114 in FBS entering the night. Still, though. Not having to sweat out Vanderbilt after last year’s uphill climb in Nashville was all that a depleted Florida offense could’ve asked for on Saturday.
Georgia — That passing game figured things out last week at Auburn
That was the takeaway after Carson Beck was surgical down the stretch in the comeback win at Auburn. All he did was come out and hit the 300-yard mark in the first half. And a week after Brock Bowers had a legacy game at Jordan-Hare, he picked up where he left off with another 100-yard day (he actually could’ve had an even bigger day but he dropped a touchdown). Against a rock-solid Kentucky defense, Beck looked comfortable all night. UGA had more points in the first quarter (14) than it had in the first halves of its first 2 SEC games combined (13).
Little pitch and catch.
Watch live on ESPN#GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/ceBVTEixFK
— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) October 7, 2023
Most encouraging was the fact that 4 UGA players had a catch of 20 yards. That didn’t even include Ladd McConkey or Dominic Lovett. The Dawgs had nothing but scoring drives in a 34-point first half. It was exactly the sight that Georgia fans could’ve hoped for to cap the first half of the season. And dare I say, there were shades of the 2022 offense with the spaces that Beck threw into on Saturday night. Putting up 608 yards of offense against a respected defense is no small feat, even for the 2-time defending champs.
Kentucky — Turns out, that UGA game timing couldn’t have been worse
Two things appeared to be working in UK’s favor entering the day. Ray Davis went off for 280 yards against Florida and he’d get to face a UGA run defense that had its worst day in 5 years. But as we found out, it’s hard to establish the run when you’re staying at a multi-score deficit all night on the road. OC Liam Coen actually dialed up some good looks, and it was by no means a disastrous day for Davis, who still found a way to make his presence felt with a touchdown via a screen pass.
But this was about Kentucky’s defense running into a buzzsaw. Georgia’s offense looked like it found its identity in the second half against Auburn. The ability to get Brock Bowers looks in space was second to none, and the tentative Carson Beck that we saw in the first part of SEC play was nowhere to be found. He had over 300 passing yards … in the first half. And with UK banged up at linebacker, no, that wasn’t particularly good timing for that matchup. The East title path starts in Athens.
LSU — Jayden Daniels is even tougher than we give him credit for
I’m not going to tell you that I like every decision Daniels makes with his legs. There are times when he takes unnecessary hits with that narrow frame, and I often worry when one will sideline him for significant time. Well, Daniels took a hit as he was going into the end zone — it was called back because of a penalty — and his ribs took the worst of it. After Garrett Nussmeier replaced him for the rest of the series, Daniels came back in. Was he hurting? I’m sure he was. He had a deep ball to Malik Nabers that hung in the air without a whole lot of zip.
But after that, man, Daniels turned it on. He ripped off a 35-yard touchdown to take the lead once, and after LSU coughed up the lead, he came back and led another touchdown drive to take the lead for good. That ended with him finding a wide-open Nabers downfield. If LSU still had 1 loss, it would’ve felt like a “Heisman moment” for Daniels. He was the difference in LSU surviving that day. The Tigers needed every bit of his 393 yards and 4 touchdowns of offense. Even less than 100%, there might not be 5 better quarterbacks in America.
Mississippi State — Injuries to Woody Marks and Will Rogers were a buzzkill
It’s been that type of year for Mississippi State. Even in a get-right game at home against Western Michigan, the Bulldogs weren’t able to get through it unscathed. Injuries to Marks and Rogers weren’t what the doctor ordered for a struggling squad. Marks, who has been the team’s best offensive player, got his leg twisted in the first half and appeared to hurt an ankle that was already banged up entering the day. That forced him to the sideline for the rest of the day with a boot. We’ll wait and see what the severity of the injury is — Zach Arnett said afterward that they didn’t have an update yet on Marks or Rogers — but keep in mind that he came into the day tied for No. 2 in the SEC in scrimmage touches (87). He’s an incredibly valuable piece of the Kevin Barbay offense, which is still searching for week-to-week consistency.
As for Rogers, he appeared to leave with a left shoulder injury. He came back to the sideline without pads on. The good news is that Mike Wright is about as experienced of a backup as one can ask for. It remains to be seen if the former Vandy starter will be needed after the bye week. That’s the other good news. A bye week might’ve come at the perfect time for the banged-up Bulldogs.
Mizzou — This team wasn’t quite ready for the big time
Here’s what I mean by that.
Yes, I know that the officiating was awful (I’m still not sure how that Maason Smith facemask was missed). I also know that Mizzou had a (mostly) ideal offensive day, outside of Brady Cook’s first interceptions of the year. Luther Burden was brilliant again, as was the underrated Cody Schrader. As much as many were focused on the LSU defensive issues, let’s not lose sight of how big of a revelation Kirby Moore has been as Mizzou’s new OC. I get all of that.
But for Mizzou to capitalize in its first home game involving 2 ranked teams since 2014, it was going to have to play a tight game. It couldn’t have coverage busts like it did throughout the second half, nor could it afford to have ball security issues. It wasn’t just the 2 picks from Cook. That fumble off the sack prevented him from having a realistic 4th-down attempt in the final 90 seconds. In a game that would’ve been monumental for the trajectory of Eli Drinkwitz’s program, Mizzou committed 11 penalties, and no, that wasn’t entirely the byproduct of the horrendous officiating. And the top-ranked run defense allowed 274 LSU rushing yards. Not ideal. Mizzou should still win plenty of SEC games, but to beat a team with that kind of talent at the skill positions, it needed a cleaner showing.
Ole Miss — Lane Kiffin’s team can win in gritty fashion
A week after that emotional win against LSU, Ole Miss didn’t have its best fastball. Call it a hangover or just call it a run-in with an Arkansas team that showed up desperate. Whatever the case, Ole Miss had to dig deep on both sides of the ball to avoid what would’ve been a disastrous loss as a double-digit favorite. That marked just the 4th time that Ole Miss won a game when it was held to less than 28 points under Kiffin. Before Saturday, Ole Miss was 3-10 in those games.
Jaxson Dart told the broadcast crew that he was working through an injury. Still, though. Ole Miss had less than half as many yards as it had a week earlier against LSU. Credit Arkansas for that. The Hogs held Ole Miss without a 3rd down conversion until the start of the 4th quarter. Pete Golding’s defense got the 2 turnovers it needed and took advantage of a struggling Arkansas offensive line. Kiffin needs more wins like that if his team wants to stay in New Year’s 6 bowl contention.
Texas A&M — Jimbo Fisher isn’t “all gas, no breaks” when it comes to beating Nick Saban
The past 2 years fooled me. I believed that against Saban, Fisher played to win instead of not to lose. I was wrong. How else can you explain Fisher:
- Taking a timeout into the locker room instead of pushing for more points up 17-10 with 42 seconds left on his own 23-yard line
- Punting from plus territory on 4th-and-1 and 4th-and-6
- Attempting a field goal on 4th-and-5 while facing a 24-17 deficit with 8:55 to play
Yes, we play the results with decisions like that. Here’s the problem, though. Fisher looked like he didn’t have any confidence in his offense. You’re never going to beat Alabama playing like that. In the previous 2 matchups, A&M looked like a lost team that treated the Alabama game like its Super Bowl. That confidence was nowhere to be found in a second half in which A&M was held without a touchdown drive.
Vanderbilt — This ground game is a total disaster
It shouldn’t have come down to Ken Seals to do the heavy lifting in place of the injured AJ Swann. Not on the road. Not against a Florida defense that let former Vandy running back Ray Davis run for 280 yards last week. Nope. That didn’t happen. That group was held to 64 rushing yards on 3.4 yards per carry. That wasn’t just game flow, either. Vandy was within a touchdown until the final minute of the first half.
For the 4th consecutive game, Vandy ran for less than 100 yards. Through 7 games, Vandy’s best rushing game against FBS competition was 109 yards against Wake Forest. Sedrick Alexander moved into the starting role after a promising start, but any hope that he’d provide a little juice has since faded.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
