Ad Disclosure
Explosive plays are the reason most of us watch football.
There’s nothing more exciting than holding your breath as your favorite quarterback lets one fly 50 yards down the field, or when the conference’s most exciting running back slips through a seam and has nothing but daylight in front of him.
So this season, we’re going to be tracking explosive plays for each team … how well they’re able to produce them, and how well they are able to defend them.
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.
EXPLOSIVE PLAY MARGIN
This is the ultimate measure of how well a team is performing in the explosive plays department. It is simply a tally of explosive plays created measured out against the amount of explosive plays allowed. If your team has made more explosive plays than they’ve given up, there’s a good chance they are doing something right.
The top two teams in this area remain the same after Alabama’s 29-15 win over Florida in the SEC Championship Game. Alabama and Mississippi State are still tied for 1st since the Crimson Tide had an even margin against the Gators. The previous week, Alabama’s massive +5 performance against Auburn helped it sit alongside the Bulldogs, who had held the lead in this category for much of the season.
As a result, Florida (+6) is still in a four-way tie for 7th with Arkansas, Auburn and Missouri.
| TEAM | EXPLOSIVE PLAY MARGIN | EXPLOSIVE PLAYS | EXPLOSIVE PLAYS ALLOWED |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1. Alabama | +15 | 36 | 21 |
| T1. Mississippi State | +15 | 39 | 25 |
| T3. LSU | +14 | 41 | 27 |
| T3. Ole Miss | +14 | 46 | 32 |
| 5. Georgia | +12 | 36 | 24 |
| 6. Tennessee | +10 | 41 | 31 |
| T7. Arkansas | +6 | 41 | 35 |
| T7. Auburn | +6 | 32 | 26 |
| T7. Florida | +6 | 33 | 27 |
| T7. Missouri | +6 | 22 | 16 |
| 11. Texas A&M | +2 | 35 | 33 |
| 12. Kentucky | +1 | 40 | 39 |
| 13. South Carolina | -5 | 33 | 38 |
| 14. Vanderbilt | -11 | 21 | 32 |
EXPLOSIVE PLAYS: OFFENSE
This will be the area in which we break down how the explosive plays are happening for each team.
Alabama had three explosive plays against Florida, one on the ground and two through the air, to bring its season total to 36, which is tied for 7th in the conference. The Tide’s 21 runs of 20-plus yards is tied for 5th-best.
Jake Coker’s 55-yard pass to Calvin Ridley in the second quarter set up the team’s first touchdown of the game, and Coker later connected with ArDarius Stewart for a 32-yard TD in the third quarter that was a backbreaker, putting Alabama up 22-7.
Florida also managed three explosive plays in the game, also one on the ground and two through the air. Treon Harris’ 46-yard TD pass to C.J. Worton provided the last score of the game.
| TEAM | EXPLOSIVE PLAYS | RUSHES FOR 20+ | PASSES FOR 30+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Ole Miss | 46 | 21 | 25 |
| T2. Arkansas | 41 | 20 | 21 |
| T2. LSU | 41 | 28 | 13 |
| T2. Tennessee | 41 | 26 | 15 |
| 5. Kentucky | 40 | 24 | 16 |
| 6. Mississippi State | 39 | 15 | 24 |
| T7. Alabama | 36 | 21 | 15 |
| T7. Georgia | 36 | 26 | 10 |
| 9. Texas A&M | 35 | 16 | 19 |
| T10. Florida | 33 | 13 | 20 |
| T10. South Carolina | 33 | 16 | 17 |
| 12. Auburn | 32 | 17 | 15 |
| 13. Missouri | 22 | 13 | 9 |
| 14. Vanderbilt | 21 | 13 | 8 |
EXPLOSIVE PLAYS: DEFENSE
Much like the offensive rankings above, we’ve taken similar effort to break down exactly how the SEC defenses are allowing explosive plays.
Entering last week, Alabama was tied with Akron and Navy for the fewest 20-yard runs allowed (five). The Tide only allowed one against Florida, a 23-yard scramble by Harris to make it six. In the CFP semifinals, Alabama will face a Michigan State team that’s allowed exactly twice as many but is still tied for 24th in the FBS.
The Crimson Tide’s three explosive plays allowed doesn’t affect its overall ranking, which is still 2nd behind Missouri.
Florida did a respectable job preventing explosive plays, but the two passes of 30-plus yards really hurt the Gators, who had only allowed 10 all season before that. In the Citrus Bowl, Florida will face a Michigan defense that’s also been good at limiting big plays through the air, only allowing 10 this season. That’s tied for 2nd in the Big Ten and tied for 8th in the FBS.
| TEAM | EXPLOSIVE PLAYS | RUSHES FOR 20+ | PASSES FOR 30+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Missouri | 16 | 9 | 7 |
| 2. Alabama | 21 | 6 | 15 |
| 3. Georgia | 24 | 15 | 9 |
| 4. Mississippi State | 25 | 15 | 10 |
| 5. Auburn | 26 | 16 | 10 |
| T6. Florida | 27 | 15 | 12 |
| T6. LSU | 27 | 10 | 17 |
| 8. Tennessee | 31 | 15 | 16 |
| T9. Ole Miss | 32 | 15 | 17 |
| T9. Vanderbilt | 32 | 19 | 13 |
| 11. Texas A&M | 33 | 23 | 10 |
| 12. Arkansas | 35 | 12 | 23 |
| 13. South Carolina | 38 | 29 | 9 |
| 14. Kentucky | 39 | 22 | 17 |
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
