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Each week, we break down who in the SEC is lighting it up and who needs to pull it together. After another Saturday of fantastic football, the Magnolia State is still on top, while one SEC East team’s luck ran out.
HOT
- The Mississippi schools. Ole Miss and Mississippi State made up the hottest same-state tandem in college football a week ago, and they’re even hotter after perhaps an even more impressive week. Dak Prescott and the Bulldogs handed it to then-No. 2 Auburn, while Ole Miss went on the road and got a huge win in front of 110,000-plus fans at Kyle Field. The two schools are very deserving of the national spotlight for at least another week.
- Georgia’s running game. Who needs Todd Gurley? The Bulldogs beat up Missouri without their superstar running back thanks to a breakout performance from Nick Chubb, who took the ball 38 times and rushed for 143 yards. Georgia even plugged in little-used backup Brendan Douglas, who was good for 65 yards. Georgia’s running backs keep going down — they’re currently without Keith Marshall and Sony Michel as well as Gurley — but it’s “next man up” in Athens.
- The Ole Miss defense. The Rebels rolled into Kyle Field and silenced not just the record-setting crowd but the SEC’s best offense as well. The 455 total yards for the Aggies is a bit misleading, as they averaged just 5.2 yards per play. Ole Miss’ defense had scored as many touchdowns through the first 59-plus minutes as Texas A&M’s offense. Enough said.
NOT
- Missouri’s SEC East chances. After knocking off South Carolina two weeks ago and getting the good fortune of a home game against division favorite Georgia, Missouri seemed to be in position to make a run at a second straight SEC East crown. Those dreams are likely dashed after the Tigers no-showed in their home tilt with the Bulldogs. Apparently, losing to Indiana and struggling to put away Toledo are good indicators that a team is not a contender in the SEC.
- Florida’s luck. Twice this season, the Gators have caused in when officials missed a play clock violation. Those missed calls allowed them to score the game-winning touchdown against Kentucky in early September, and they hit their go-ahead field goal against Tennessee with the play clock seemingly showing zeroes. That good fortune ran out against LSU. With the clock running down in the fourth quarter, officials decided that Florida players were intentionally trying to delay the game, stopping the clock and giving LSU time to spike the ball. Colby Delahoussaye followed that up with a 50-yard field goal. What goes around comes around, Gators.
- Arkansas’ rushing attack. The Razorbacks came into with one of the top running games in the country, but had that dangerous unit shut down by Alabama. The Razorbacks rushing yards per game average dropped from 316.6 to 278.7 after being held to a paltry 89 yard on the ground. If they’d been able to get anything from Alex Collins, their leading rusher who was held to 13 yards, Arkansas might have been able to steal one after a subpar game from the Crimson Tide. Alas, here they sit at 3-3.
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
