Week 13, as many of us expected, what as wacky as they come.
Alabama, Ole Miss and Texas A&M – all College Football Playoff contenders – fell to unranked opponents on Saturday, very likely ending their Playoff dreams. South Carolina, who looked to be well out of the race, is now all the way back in with a top 25 matchup against Clemson in Week 14.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. As he does every week, SEC Analyst Cole Cubelic released his post-Week 13 SEC takeaways Sunday night, and he had plenty to say regarding a wild week in the conference.
As you’d expect, Cubelic was most impressed with Auburn, Florida and Oklahoma for their wins over Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Alabama, respectively. He specifically pointed out the Gators defense as a unit that stood out in their win, and insists the Gators are “just fine.”
Of every team, Cubelic seemed to be least satisfied with Alabama, calling their loss just plain ugly. That’s perfectly warranted after the Tide scored just 3 points in an environment where Tennessee, Texas and South Carolina all flourished.
Here’s a look at Cubelic’s full takeaways:
We do it each week, MY Sunday SEC takeaways…
ALABAMA: Ugly. Turnovers & flags hurt. Don’t seem as physical. Movement was a problem. Missed reads on edge that gave defenders free runners. Needed to counter edge aggressiveness but some of the struggles with interior movement…
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) November 25, 2024
FLORIDA: The Gators are just fine. Massive win. Brought the physicality. Secondary hit! Jarred multiple balls free. Tackled well in space. Don’t allow the back breaking plays on quick hitters. Played fast. Mixed coverage well. The DL was outstanding…88, 99, 94 whew! Dominant…
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) November 25, 2024
KENTUCKY: QB looked a little jittery early. Just locking in & rearing back & firing. Protection didn’t help much. Run game wasn’t bad. 0 & 10 both ran hard. Thought 10 had set the tone dropping shoulder out of the gate. Misdirection in run game helped. Thought the plan gave them…
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) November 25, 2024
MISSISSIPPI STATE: Had downhill run going early. Nice job forcing mis reads. Hit a few back side. 21 spin, power, quicks…he was nice. Quick game hit & miss. Velocity has to be altered on some of those throws. Shot plays were there. TEs helped in run game. Center solid again.…
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) November 25, 2024
OKLAHOMA: Huge win. Defense out of their minds. 28 special. Eluded blocks well. 10 a baller, just makes plays. 65 is one of the better DTs in CFB, he was great. Scheme was perfect. Forced missed reads. Movement forced wasted blockers. Attacked edges & it paid off. Forced QB into…
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) November 25, 2024
SOUTH CAROLINA: Handled their business. QB super sharp. Efficient early in intermediates. Locked onto & under threw INT. Like how he gets downhill in run game. He’s a smart runner. Couple routes he could’ve been on earlier. Good touch on checks. Movement back inside hurt run…
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) November 25, 2024
TEXAS A&M: Really surprised they came out in as much 3 down as they did. Hardly seen that on regular downs this year. Might have neutralized pass rushers a bit. The interior stunts with them got caught early. Felt like they were a bit pass heavy early. Had a few drops. Missed a…
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) November 25, 2024
VANDERBILT: Couldn’t sustain run. Needed it inside to set up QB. 28 & 23 needed more touches. OL struggled with edges. Brutal on 3rd down but had to take some risks. Felt like defense had a beat on QB movement. QB had quick pressure. Got out of it a few times. Did hit a couple…
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) November 25, 2024
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
