Turnover Scoreboard: Late fumbles undo Auburn’s title defense

The Florida Gators forced four turnovers (two fumbles and two interceptions) in a 34-10 win over Vanderbilt in Week 11, making the greatest leap in turnover margin of any team in the SEC from Week 10. The Gators rose from eighth to sixth in the conference in turnover margin, improving from an even zero to plus-four in 2014.

Georgia maintains the best turnover margin in the SEC at plus-13, but Ole Miss matched the Bulldogs following its 48-0 win over Presbyterian. The Rebels have now forced a turnover in 33 straight games dating back to 2012, the longest active streak in the nation. The Rebels forced two turnovers against the Blue Hose but also suffered one Bo Wallace interception in the victory.

Nine teams in the conference have a turnover margin of even zero or better, and five have a margin of at least plus five. None of those five teams has committed more than 14 turnovers on the season, while each of the other nine teams in the conference has committed 14 or more turnovers this year. Every SEC team has forced at least 10 turnovers this season, but only Georgia has committed fewer than 10 turnovers in 2014.

Here’s a look at the SEC’s turnover scoreboard through nine weeks:

Auburn has had the worst fortune of any team in the SEC when it comes to recovering loose fumbles, and it finally came back to haunt the Tigers in their loss to Texas A&M last week.

The Tigers fumbled the ball three times on the evening and failed to recover any of the three, two of which came in the final minutes of the fourth quarter with the game on the line. Auburn did force one Texas A&M fumble as well, but it couldn’t fall on that loose ball either.

The Tigers have now recovered an SEC-worst 21.9 percent of loose fumbles on the season. Worse yet, they’ve fallen on just two of their own 12 fumbles and just five of 20 opponent fumbles this season costing their explosive offense a number of potential possessions.

To contrast, four teams in the SEC have recovered at least 60 percent of loose balls this season and 10 of 14 teams in the conference have fallen on at least 50 percent of unclaimed fumbles in 2014. Only Auburn and in-state rival Alabama have recovered fewer than 40 percent of loose fumbles on the year.

Here’s a look at the fumble scoreboard through eleven weeks, indicating a team’s fumbles, its opponent’s fumbles and the total number of loose ball recoveries in 2014:

Ethan Levine

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.