Turnover scoreboard: Georgia, Ole Miss improve turnover margins in big wins

The Georgia Bulldogs maintained the SEC’s best turnover margin by forcing four turnovers in a 45-32 win over Arkansas last weekend. The Bulldogs forced two fumbles and pulled in two interceptions without committing a turnover of their own to improve to 6-1 on the season. The Razorbacks’ turnover margin fell below zero for the first time this season, as Arkansas dropped from a plus-one margin to minus-three.

The Ole Miss Rebels also forced four turnovers in a 34-3 win over Tennessee, and Bo Wallace played his third straight turnover-free game to help Ole Miss improve to a plus-10 turnover margin on the year. The Rebels now boast the nation’s best scoring defense, and cornerback Senquez Golson leads the SEC with seven interceptions in seven games this season. Tennessee’s turnover margin now sits at an even zero following the loss.

Texas A&M only turned the ball over once in a 59-0 loss to Alabama, but that’s all it needed to drop to the SEC’s worst turnover margin at minus-seven on the year. The Aggies have committed 13 turnovers on offense this season, tied for the fourth most in the conference, and they’ve forced an SEC-low six turnovers on defense this season. Texas A&M was tied with Vanderbilt for the worst turnover margin in the conference through seven weeks, but Vandy was off last week and stayed put with a margin of minus-six.

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

Georgia has had the best luck in the conference when it comes to recovering fumbles, falling on 14 of 19 loose balls in 2014. LSU has recovered 18 of 26 fumbles, while no other team has recovered more than 58 percent of loose balls this season.

Missouri has been the SEC’s best team when it comes to protecting the football, fumbling just three times in seven games so far this season. The Tigers have forced the second-most fumbles in the conference with 15, but have only fallen on 9 of 18 loose balls. Auburn has forced the most fumbles this season with 16, but the Tigers have the worst fumble recovery rate in the conference at just 20.8 percent.

Arkansas has fumbled more times than anyone else in the SEC, putting the ball on the turf 15 times in seven games, an average of more than two fumbles per game. The Razorbacks have only forced 11 fumbles, tied for fourth-worst in the conference, but they have fallen on 50 percent of loose balls this season, which ranks in the middle of the pack in the SEC.

South Carolina’s defense has struggled to force turnovers in 2014, and the Gamecocks have only forced eight opponent fumbles on the season, the fewest in the SEC. Mississippi State has only forced nine fumbles, and those two teams are the only teams to force fewer than 10 fumbles through the first eight weeks of the season.

LSU and Florida have both recovered eight opponent fumbles this season to lead the SEC. Auburn, meanwhile, has recovered just 3 of 16 opponent fumbles, resulting in the fewest opponent recoveries despite forcing more opponent fumbles than anyone else in the conference.

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.