Several SEC teams won games they were supposed to win on Saturday, including Alabama, Texas A&M, Tennessee, and Florida. Because these programs performed par for the course, they stay in our good graces but don’t stand out for any good or bad behavior this week.
Instead, we focus more on what surprised us in Week 11. Interestingly, it was defenses that rose up to provide the pleasant surprises this week, while offenses lapsed into the opposite category.
Here’s Who’s Hot this week, and Who’s Not:
WHO’S HOT
- Arkansas’ defense. Whether it was the Razorbacks riding their wave of momentum or the Tigers dealing poorly with shaken-up confidence, Arkansas notched a statement win over LSU on Saturday. Their defense bottled up Leonard Fournette just enough to convince the Tigers that passing was the better option, and then sent defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr., to malign LSU’s Brandon Harris. Arkansas faced down one of the scariest teams in the SEC and did so with dominance.
- Georgia’s defense in the second half. The Bulldogs defense was far from perfect early, but they totally controlled the Auburn offense in the second half. Georgia completely cut off Auburn’s passing game and held Auburn’s leading rusher, Jovon Robinson, to 93 yards. The Bulldogs also forced two fumbles and an interception.
- Vanderbilt’s defense. The Commodores have finally made it to this side of the list, and deservedly so after two weeks of great defensive play. After holding Florida to only 3 of 13 third down conversions, Vanderbilt held Kentucky to 4 of 16. Both Wildcats quarterbacks were frustrated, as they combined to go only 15 of 34 for 127 passing yards and two interceptions. Most importantly, the Commodores were able to shut out Kentucky during the fourth quarter, preserving their four-point lead.
WHO’S NOT
- Auburn’s offense. Just because they figured it out once doesn’t mean they have it figured out for good. With Jeremy Johnson and Sean White trading off playing time during the second half against Georgia, the Tigers’ offense stagnated and the passing game all but evaporated. Two fumbles in a row killed any momentum the Tigers could have generated and the field goal during the fourth quarter was too little, too late.
- Mississippi State’s offense. It’s not that the Bulldogs played terrible on offense. Mississippi State was able to gain 393 yards on Alabama’s defense, the second-most of all Alabama opponents this season. But Dan Mullen’s game plan to rely on Dak Prescott – and only Dak Prescott – finally backfired. As soon as Alabama realized the run game wasn’t a concern, their defense was on the hunt for Prescott, sacking him a season-high nine times and denying him points on his go-to plays. While letting Prescott do the heavy lifting has worked for a majority of the season, the Bulldogs should have seen this coming that he couldn’t beat Alabama all by himself.
- Kentucky’s offense. Stanley “Boom” Williams and Jojo Kemp were the only Wildcats to move the ball against the Wildcats Saturday. QBs Patrick Towles and Drew Barker continue to struggle, and the instability at quarterback is crushing the offense’s effectiveness. Struggles in the red zone continue to persist.
Christine Wang is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. She covers Auburn, Arkansas and Ole Miss.
