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Sacks and Sacked: Vols pass protection improving thanks to Dobbs
By Ethan Levine
Published:
Mississippi State reclaimed the title of “SEC’s best pass rushing defense” in its 45-16 cake walk past UT Martin last weekend, raising its sack total on the season to 32 in nine games. The Bulldogs sit just ahead of Texas A&M and its 31 sacks, although the Aggies have played 10 games this season and thus have a far worse sacks per game average than MSU.
Missouri, which led the SEC in sacks prior to last weekend, fell to third in the conference after sitting out last week on a bye. The Tigers have still cost their opponents the most sack yards on the season with 225.
Tennessee, which ranks fourth in the conference in sacks this season, leads the SEC in tackles for loss with 69 in nine games. The Vols maintained their lead in that category despite joining Missouri on a bye last weekend. Mizzou and Mississippi State are close behind the Volunteers with 68 and 66 tackles for loss, respectively.
South Carolina has had the SEC’s worst defensive line all season, and the gap between the Gamecocks and the rest of the conference is widening by the week. South Carolina was also off last week, keeping it at a modest eight sacks in nine games this season. Not only is that the lowest total in the SEC (no one else in the conference has fewer than 13 sacks this year), but it ranks 123rd out of 128 teams in the FBS this season.
That’s not even South Carolina’s worst stat when it comes to its putrid defensive line. The Gamecocks have recorded just 30 tackles for loss this season, an average of just 3.3 per game. Every other team in the SEC has recorded at least 54 tackles for loss in 2014, leaving a remarkable gap between the Gamecocks and everyone else.
South Carolina’s 30 tackles for loss rank 127th in the nation.
Here’s a full rundown of every SEC defense’s sack and tackles for loss totals so far this season:
| Team | Sacks | Sack Yards | Tackles For Loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Mississippi State | 32 | 198 | 66 |
| 2. Texas A&M | 31 | 149 | 60 |
| 3. Missouri | 29 | 225 | 68 |
| 4. Tennessee | 24 | 128 | 69 |
| T5. Alabama | 23 | 145 | 60 |
| T5. Kentucky | 23 | 138 | 56 |
| 7. Georgia | 21 | 178 | 56 |
| T8. Ole Miss | 20 | 172 | 73 |
| T8. Florida | 20 | 158 | 57 |
| 10. Auburn | 17 | 100 | 59 |
| T11. LSU | 16 | 101 | 55 |
| T11. Vanderbilt | 16 | 95 | 54 |
| 13. Arkansas | 13 | 101 | 56 |
| 14. South Carolina | 8 | 74 | 30 |
Tennessee has still allowed more sacks than any other team in the SEC, but the Vols’ numbers in pass protection have improved dramatically since Josh Dobbs took over as the team’s starting quarterback. Tennessee has allowed just two sacks in two games since Dobbs was inserted into the lineup, this after Tennessee gave up 30 sacks in its first seven games of the year.
Only one other team in the SEC has allowed more than 23 sacks this year (Kentucky), indicating there’s still plenty of distance between the Vols and the rest of the pack in the conference, but Tennessee is trending positively since turning to its dynamic, dual-threat quarterback.
Auburn and Alabama remain the two best pass protecting offenses in the SEC, having allowed eight and nine sacks on the season, respectively. Auburn has attempted the fewest passes of any team in the SEC, which is likely why its sacks allowed total is so low. Alabama, meanwhile, has attempted 71 more passes this year than Auburn yet has allowed just one more sack than the Tigers in 2014.
Only four SEC teams have allowed 50 or more tackles for loss this season, but three of those teams have allowed a whopping 70 on the year, indicating a major disparity between those three teams (Ole Miss, Kentucky and Tennessee) and the rest of the SEC. The other 11 teams in the conference have all allowed between 40-49 tackles for loss this season, led by Arkansas at 40 followed by Alabama and South Carolina.
Here’s a full rundown of each SEC team’s offensive line play so far this season:
| Team | Sacks Allowed | Sack Yards Allowed | Tackles For Loss Allowed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Auburn | 8 | 48 | 45 |
| 2. Alabama | 9 | 65 | 41 |
| 3. Arkansas | 10 | 78 | 40 |
| 4. Florida | 12 | 72 | 49 |
| 5. Georgia | 13 | 84 | 48 |
| 6. Missouri | 15 | 121 | 55 |
| T7. Mississippi State | 16 | 109 | 40 |
| T7. Vanderbilt | 16 | 119 | 42 |
| T9. LSU | 18 | 129 | 47 |
| T9. South Carolina | 18 | 150 | 41 |
| 11. Texas A&M | 19 | 143 | 48 |
| 12. Ole Miss | 23 | 113 | 70 |
| 13. Kentucky | 28 | 197 | 70 |
| 14. Tennessee | 32 | 232 | 70 |
Shane Ray and Myles Garrett continue to lead the SEC in sacks with 12 and 11, respectively. Ray set a school record for sacks in a season in Missouri’s last game two weeks ago, and he has three weeks left to extend his record. Garrett and the Aggies defeated Auburn last weekend, but the freshman phenomenon couldn’t record a sack against the SEC’s best pass protecting offense.
No other player in the SEC has more than seven sacks this season, proving just how sensational both Ray and Garrett have been in 2014. Derek Barnett, Xzavier Dickson and Preston Smith are all tied for third in the conference with exactly seven sacks apiece. Barnett was off last week while Dickson added a half-sack in Alabama’s win over LSU. Smith, a three-time SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week, added a sack to his season total in Mississippi State’s win over UTM, breaking him back into the top 5 in the conference.
Four of the top 5 sack artists in the SEC also rank in the top 5 in tackles for loss this season, with Ray, Barnett, Garrett and Smith leading the way. The one difference is LSU’s Danielle Hunter, who ranks fifth in the conference with 10.5 tackles for loss in 2014. No other player in the SEC can claim double-digit tackles for loss.
Here’s a rundown of the SEC’s top 5 individuals in sacks and tackles for loss this season:
| Name | Team | Position | Sacks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Shane Ray | Missouri | DL | 12.0 |
| 2. Myles Garrett | Texas A&M | DL | 11.0 |
| T3. Derek Barnett | Tennessee | DL | 7.0 |
| T3. Xzavier Dickson | Alabama | LB | 7.0 |
| T3. Preston Smith | Mississippi State | DL | 7.0 |
| Name | Team | Position | Tackles For Loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Shane Ray | Missouri | DL | 16.0 |
| 2. Derek Barnett | Tennessee | DL | 14.0 |
| 3. Myles Garrett | Texas A&M | DL | 12.5 |
| 4. Preston Smith | Mississippi State | DL | 11.5 |
| 5. Danielle Hunter | LSU | DL | 10.5 |
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
