Turnover Scoreboard: Prescott’s three picks cost Mississippi State

Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott had thrown just seven interceptions in nine games entering Week 12, but a season-high three picks cost Mississippi State a chance at a perfect season in a loss to Alabama, while also dropping the team’s turnover margin to an unsettling minus-three on the season.

The Bulldogs defense never turned Alabama over on Saturday, allowing the Tide to improve its turnover margin from below zero to a more promising plus-one on the year. A poor success rate at recovering loose fumbles has held Alabama back from improving its turnover margin further (we’ll break that down in a minute), but the Tide is one of nine SEC teams with a positive turnover margin on the year.

Like Alabama, Georgia also improved its turnover margin in a Week 12 win over Auburn, forcing three turnovers without committing one itself. The Bulldogs have committed an SEC-low six turnovers on the year (no other team in the SEC has committed fewer than 11 this season), and they’ve forced 22 turnovers on defense, tied for the second-most in the conference along with Florida.

Ole Miss and its vaunted Landshark defense has forced an SEC-high 27 turnovers this season. The Rebels were off in Week 12, keeping them at a margin of plus-13 on the season, second-best in the SEC.

Here’s a look at the SEC’s turnover scoreboard through 12 weeks:

It’s no coincidence Georgia has also had the SEC’s best fumble recovery rate in 2014 while amassing the conference’s best turnover margin through 12 weeks. The Bulldogs have fallen on 23 of 34 loose fumbles this year, and those 23 recoveries lead the conference. Georgia forced three Auburn fumbles and fumbled twice itself in Saturday’s game, but the Bulldogs recovered four of those five fumbles, including all three of the Tigers’ giveaways.

LSU maintains the SEC’s second-best fumble recovery rate this season, but it was much less successful at falling on loose balls in a loss to Arkansas last weekend. The Tigers fumbled the ball twice and forced two Arkansas fumbles, but it only recovered one of those four loose balls on the evening. Still, the Tigers join Georgia as the only teams in the conference to recover more than 60 percent of loose fumbles this season.

As previously stated, Alabama’s 32 percent fumble recovery rate (second-worst in the SEC) has kept the Tide from posting a better turnover margin in 2014. The Tide has only fallen on nine of 28 fumbles this season, including just six of 14 opponent fumbles.

Here’s a look at the fumble scoreboard through 12 weeks, indicating a team’s fumbles, its opponents’ 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.