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The SEC record books took a big hit this season from all angles.
The conference set some new standards of its own, and so did one of its divisions. From players to coaches to teams, there were plenty to keep track of.
For that reason, please excuse any noteworthy records that may have been excluded.
Note: Prior to 2002, the NCAA did not count bowl stats in team/individual records.
SEC
The SEC set the college football record for most bowl victories by a single conference with eight this past postseason. The conference went 8-2 as the only two losses came from Florida (41-7 loss to Michigan) and Texas A&M (27-21 loss to Louisville).
SEC West
The best division in college football extended its SEC reign by winning its seventh straight conference title, surpassing the East’s streak from 1993-98 as the longest stretch of dominance by either division since the split in 1992.
Alabama RB Derrick Henry
Well, there’s only one place to start. As you know by now, Henry set the SEC single-season rushing record with 2,219 yards, surpassing Herschel Walker’s record of 1,891 in 1981, although Henry played four more games than Walker.
Nonetheless, he also tied the single-season SEC record for most 200-yard rushing games (4). The only other SEC players to record that many are Walker (1980), Bo Jackson (1985) and Leonard Fournette (2015, more on him coming up). On top of that, Henry now holds the conference’s single-season record for touchdowns (28) and rushing attempts (395).
Henry set several other school records, including career rushing yards (3,591), most rushing attempts in a single game (46, which was one shy of the SEC record) and most rushing yards vs. Auburn in the Iron Bowl (271).
LSU RB Leonard Fournette
Fournette also set several rushing records this season. He also topped Herschel Walker’s hallowed mark of 1,891 by going for 1,953 yards, but he only needed one more game to top it. Fournette very impressively averaged 162.8 yards per game, the 2nd-best mark in school history only behind Walker’s 171.9 in that same aforementioned 1981 season.
Fournette tied the FBS record by reaching 1,000 rushing yards just five games into the 2015 season, a feat accomplished by 10 other players in history. That list includes Barry Sanders, Marcus Allen and Ricky Williams. He became the first SEC player to rush for 200-plus yards in three straight games when he hit the mark against Auburn, Syracuse and Eastern Michigan early in the season. He hit at least 150 rushing yards in seven straight games to start the year off, the first FBS player to do so since Central Florida’s Kevin Smith in 2007.
While Henry got attention for his consistency in reaching the end zone, Fournette knows something about that, too. His 22 rushing touchdowns set an LSU single-season record, and his streak of 11 straight games with at least one rushing touchdown dating back to the 2014 matchup against Texas A&M is also a school record.
Mississippi State QB Dak Prescott
Prescott, who will go down as maybe the best player in school history, is one of four players in FBS history and the second player in SEC history (Tim Tebow) to throw for 60 TDs and rush for 40 TDs in a career. Prescott finished his career by tossing 70 and rushing for 41. His 114 career touchdowns responsible for (also had 3 receiving TDs) are 4th-most in SEC history.
Prescott also set the SEC record for plays from scrimmage. The Bulldogs’ signal-caller was involved in 637 plays from scrimmage this season, breaking the record previously held by both Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel (2012) and Kentucky’s Jared Lorenzen (2000). Both previously held the record with 635 plays from scrimmage.
That versatility defined Prescott, who passed fellow Bulldog John Bond to move into 3rd on the SEC’s all-time list for rushing yards by a quarterback (2,521).
However, Prescott was also efficient. His streak of 288 passes without an interception, which came to an end against Kentucky in Week 8, was the 3rd-longest in conference history and just four more passes from being the 2nd-longest.
You’d check out if I went through all his school records. He owns 38 of them (15 career, 15 single-season, 8 single-game).
Ole Miss QB Chad Kelly
Both Mississippi signal-callers set some records this season. Kelly set the Rebels’ single-season record for passing yards (4,042), yards per attempt (8.8), completion percentage (65.1), completions (298) and pass efficiency (155.9).
He also obliterated the school mark for 300-yard passing games in a season with eight, doubling the previous record of four. In fact, he surpassed that mark back on Oct. 17. Meanwhile, he tied Eli Manning’s record for touchdown passes (31).
Oh, and you get him for another season, Rebels fans.
Ole Miss WR Laquon Treadwell
However, Kelly’s favorite weapon will be gone. Treadwell set the single-season school marks for receptions (82), receiving yards (1,153), receiving touchdowns (11) and 100-yard receiving games (six). The previous record was five, and Treadwell had a string of five straight, the last of which against Arkansas was the record-breaker.
It’s also worth noting that Treadwell needed 3 TDs going into Ole Miss’ matchup with Oklahoma State in the Sugar Bowl to set that record, and he did it.
Florida WR Antonio Callaway
Callaway set the Gators’ single-season record for receiving yards (678) and 100-yard receiving games (three) by a true freshman. He also set an SEC Championship Game record with his 85-yard punt return for a touchdown against Alabama. That’s the longest punt return, touchdown or not, in the title game, topping the 83-yard return by Mississippi State’s Kevin Prentiss in 1998.
Meanwhile, Callaway’s 17.6 all-purpose yards per play is the most ever by a Gator true freshman and 4th-most by any player in UF history.
Arkansas RB Alex Collins
The Arkansas running back became just the 3rd SEC player to rush for 1,000 yards in his freshman, sophomore and junior campaigns. The only other players to accomplish that feat are Herschel Walker (1980-82) and another Razorback Darren McFadden (2005-07).
To put the feat in perspective, even going for 1,000 rushing yards as a freshman and sophomore is rare. Only four other SEC players managed to do that: Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno, Auburn’s Michael Dyer, Alabama’s T.J. Yeldon and LSU’s Leonard Fournette.
Alabama S Eddie Jackson
Alabama’s junior safety had 230 interception return yards this season, an Alabama record and 3rd-most in SEC history. Those return yards came off 6 interceptions.
Tennessee KR Evan Berry
The SEC record book recognizes two different sets of records for yards per kickoff return: those with a minimum of 20 returns and those with a minimum of 30 returns. For at least 20 returns, Berry’s 38.3 yards per kickoff return shattered the SEC single-season record once held by Felix Jones at 29.6.
LSU
The Tigers matched the Vols’ SEC record for the most consecutive seasons with at least eight wins. LSU has now done it for 16 straight seasons, matching Tennessee’s run from 1989-2004.
Florida coach Jim McElwain
Florida’s head coach became the first to win the SEC East in his first season and just the third in SEC history to reach the SEC Championship Game in his debut.
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
