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Each week, we break down who in the SEC is lighting it up and who needs to pull it together. Here’s our breakdown after a dramatic Saturday that saw some shakeup in the rankings.
HOT
- LSU’s offensive line. The front five were supposed to be a strength for LSU at the start of the season, and they’re finally looking like a group of stars. The offensive line battered the Ole Miss defense all night, crashing into them and opening up holes for their stable of backs all night. The Tigers put up 264 rushing yards, about 70 yards more than the second-best rushing performance against the Rebels, and credit goes to a persistent group. La’el Collins, Ethan Pocic, Elliott Porter, Vadal Alexander and Jerald Hawkins should take a bow.
- Lane Kiffin and the Alabama offense. At one point early in their game against Tennessee, Alabama had scored 93 unanswered points over the course of three games. Kiffin’s crew came out like gangbusters against Tennessee, jumping out to a 20-0 lead before fans could even get settled in their seats. Kiffin has Blake Sims and Amari Cooper putting up massive totals on a near-weekly basis, and he finally had his offense perform up to par on the road.
- Referee criticism. Even before Mike Pereira penned a column blasting the SEC’s referees, fans were already upset with the officials. South Carolina lost out on a chance to win the game when the refs missed a jersey violation, LSU lost out on a touchdown thanks to an inadvertent whistle, and several other incidences of blown calls cropped up yet again.
NOT
- South Carolina’s defense. Dylan Thompson and the Gamecocks offense did everything to keep the team afloat, although a pair of red zone interceptions helped kill their chances. They might not have been quite as costly if South Carolina had been able to get a stop here or there. In total, the Gamecocks only got Auburn off the field twice, on their first and last drives of the game. In between, Auburn scored on six straight possessions. Lorenzo Ward’s group has been abysmal all season, and they’re costing Carolina games on a weekly basis.
- Hugh Freeze’s decision making. The Ole Miss head coach is a big reason his team got out to a 7-0 start, and he takes a big portion of the blame for the Rebels’ first loss of the year. First, there was a methodical drive in crunch time that wound up with a failed fourth down try, on which it seemed the Rebels couldn’t get the plays in quick enough. Then, with just seconds left, Freeze couldn’t make up his mind quick enough whether to go for 42-yard field goal and wound up with a delay of game. Instead of trying a 47-yarder, he sent his offense back out with 9 seconds showing on the clock, and Bo Wallace ended up throwing a pick that sealed the loss.
- Kentucky’s special teams. Last week, the Wildcats allowed LSU to return a punt for a touchdown and gave up a couple other long returns, frustrating UK fans. They were a recovered onside kick, from the 50-yard line no less, from having a chance to tie the game against No. 1 Mississippi State. Instead, they bounced the attempt right to Bulldogs tight end Christian Holmes, who took the kick the other way for a score to seal the game.
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
