CBS Sports thought enough of what happened in the SEC during Week 8 to pick not one but two coordinators as its SEC Coordinators of the Week.
That’s because LSU and Oklahoma had very impressive victories for CBS Sports to highlight, as the Tigers went to the Plains and smashed Auburn, 38-17, while the Sooners also went on the road and took care of a banged-up Mississippi State team, 23-15.
Two impressive SEC road wins and two SEC coordinators to reward on Monday for CBS Sports, which went with an offensive slant on the SEC in naming LSU offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. and Oklahoma OC Ben Arbuckle its 2 standout coordinators in the conference for Week 8.
We’ll start with LSU and Weis, with the Tigers rolling up a whopping 552 yards of total offense against that Auburn defense. Sam Leavitt was special in the win, and he was also rewarded by being named SEC Offensive Player of the Week, but it was Weis at the controls in helping guide Leavitt and that offense to such a dominant performance.
LSU piled up 29 first downs on the afternoon and went 3 for 4 on fourth down. The Tigers ran for 165 yards, didn’t turn the ball over and possessed the ball for 33 minutes, 41 seconds, so Weis had the Tigers’ offense humming as he settles in during his first season as LSU’s OC.
Then there was Arbuckle and the previously struggling Oklahoma offense, which rolled up 467 yards of total offense in Saturday’s win in Starkville. The Sooners punished the Bulldogs on the ground, rushing for 184 yards, and they were mighty impressive on third down, going 7 for 16.
Oklahoma’s offense had the ball for 33 minutes, 16 seconds, so the Sooners’ second-year OC Arbuckle was on it on Saturday, and he and Weis were properly rewarded by CBS Sports.
Here is CBS Sports’ complete list of top coordinators in each conference for Week 8:
With November right around the corner, the battle for SEC supremacy is reaching a really high level. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about the best odds to capture the SEC championship in December:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
