OVERRATED: SEC WEST DEFENSES
The SEC West was considered the toughest devision in all of football and were pushing for two playoff teams for most of the season. After the bowl season is complete for the West, we saw all the “powerhouses” get torched, especially on defense.
The SEC in general is known for stifling defenses, especially against non-conference foes.
Let’s take a look at some numbers here. First, we’ll look at the two wins by the West: Texas A&M and Arkansas. A&M isn’t known for its defense, so I didn’t really expect anything crazy. They surrendered 472 yards and 37 points. Arkansas gave up 59 yards total. TOTAL. Only two of those yards were rushing. That’s what an SEC defense is supposed to look like.
Now the losses: LSU’s strength is its defense, and it struggled against a team that got crushed by Southern Cal 49-7. LSU gave up 31 points and 449 yards to the Irish.
I also thought the Georgia Bulldogs would have crushed the Yellow Jackets after getting a month to prepare for the triple option. Mississippi State gave up 49 points and 577 yards to the Jackets.
The Rebels had the No. 1 scoring defense in the country, and went against the No. 2 scoring offense of TCU. The Peach Bowl was a complete blowout, as TCU scored 42 points and had 423 yards of offense. This game was over at halftime.
After blaming Ellis Johnson for the defensive struggles and hiring Will Muschamp, the Badgers put up 31 points and had 521 yards of offense, 400 of those yards were on the ground.
Alabama had everything going for them. They had the No. 1 ranking, the No. 2 scoring defense playing against a third-team quarterback, and a lot of momentum after beating Missouri soundly in the SEC championship game. Bama got shelled by the Buckeyes, giving up 42 points and 537 yards, 281 on the ground.
UNDERRATED: SEC EAST
While the East has been referred to as a dumpster fire all year long, they are 5-0 in this bowl season.
Yes, I know they didn’t play great teams like the West did in bowls, but still. The East showed up to play, and played well. South Carolina won its fourth consecutive bowl. Georgia crushed a pretty solid Louisville team, Missouri beat a physical Minnesota team, and Tennessee took down on a solid Iowa team.
Each of the four teams played very well on defense and played like a SEC team should play. The offenses were also on display in those games as well.
The Man. The Myth. The Legend.
