Rivalry week lived up to its billing, with upsets and the most exhilarating Iron Bowls in history. With the regular season at its close, we take a look at who’s hot and who’s cold around the SEC.
HOT
- Amari Cooper. Alabama’s record-setting receiver proved beyond any doubt that he’s the SEC’s most dominant player. Cooper took over on Saturday as Alabama sprinted from behind and pulled into the lead early in the second half, scoring twice in a five-minute span. He also set two more records on Saturday, taking sole control of Alabama’s career catches record while also shattering the Iron Bowl single-game receiving mark.
- LSU’s running game. It’s amazing what playing against Texas A&M can do for a team’s running attack. One game after being held to 1.1 yards per carry against Arkansas, LSU rumbled for 384 yards and 6.7 yards per attempt against the Aggies on Thursday. LSU didn’t just power through A&M, using a few new zone-read and jet sweep wrinkles that they hadn’t shown much of this year. If LSU’s offense can start to incorporate some of the today’s offensive trends with their power running game, they’ll start to look a bit more fearsome.
- Florida’s secondary. The Gators harassed Jameis Winston into the worst game of his career, limiting the reigning Heisman winner to a career-low 125 yards through the air and 4 interceptions, the most he’s thrown in a single game. Both of Winston’s touchdown throws came to his tight end with a linebacker in coverage. Florida ended up giving the game away with missed opportunities, but the secondary was a big reason they were in it in the first place.
NOT
- Alabama defenses. Auburn and Alabama combined for 1,167 yards of offense and an Iron Bowl-record 99 points on Saturday, but the offenses didn’t look as good as the defenses looked bad. Alabama averaged 6.7 yards per carry, while Nick Marshall threw for a career high 456 yards for Auburn. Both Sammie Coates and Amari Cooper went over 200 receiving yards, leaving defenders trailing far behind them as they streaked through the secondary. The blows Alabama landed on Auburn were apparently pretty heavy, as Auburn defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson left the staff on Sunday.
- Georgia’s red zone offense. The Bulldogs should have had a comfortable margin in the first half of this game, but both of their freshman running backs committed fumbles near the end zone. Nick Chubb was stuffed at the goal line and put the ball on the ground, while Sony Michel fumbled into the end zone as he reached out to try to score. Much transpired after those two fumbles, but the complexion of the game would have been much different if Georgia had come away with two touchdowns instead of two turnovers. On the whole, Georgia only went 3-for-6 scoring in the red zone, far below their season mark of more than 84 percent.
- The SEC’s non-conference record. All season, the SEC took care of its non-conference slate, with the only one loss to another Power 5 conference opponent. On Saturday, the SEC went 0-4 against Power 5 opponents, all coming against the ACC. Three of the ACC teams were favorites, two of which failed to cover the spread, with Georgia’s loss to Georgia Tech being the only upset. Still, it was a rough Saturday for the country’s big, bad bully, as the SEC lost a playoff contender is Mississippi State as well.
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
