Turnover scoreboard: Florida continues to show the way through Week 7
By Randy Capps
Published:
It may have been on the wrong side of a 35-28 score line against LSU last week, but Florida continues to shine on the SEC’s turnover scoreboard.
The Gators are a league-best +9 in turnover margin, a mark that’s tied for 4th-best in the nation. They lead the SEC with 7 fumble recoveries and rank near the top of the league with only 5 giveaways this season.
LSU remains in 2nd in large part because of a league-low 2 turnovers on the season. Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina are in a three-way tie for 3rd at +3.
Vanderbilt’s 5 turnovers in last week’s 19-10 loss at South Carolina sent its turnover margin to a league-worst -9, which ranks 120th nationally.
Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Kentucky and Ole Miss are the other SEC schools with a negative turnover margin.
Here’s a look at the SEC’s turnover scoreboard through Week 7:
| Rank | School | Turn. Margin | Fum. Rec. | Int. | Total Lost |
| 1 | Florida | 9 | 7 | 7 | 5 |
| 2 | LSU | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| 3 | Tennessee | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| 3 | Alabama | 3 | 4 | 12 | 13 |
| 3 | South Carolina | 3 | 3 | 9 | 9 |
| 6 | Arkansas | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| 7 | Georgia | 1 | 4 | 6 | 9 |
| 7 | Missouri | 1 | 2 | 8 | 9 |
| 9 | Auburn | 0 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 10 | Mississippi State | -1 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| 10 | Texas A&M | -1 | 6 | 3 | 10 |
| 10 | Kentucky | -1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| 13 | Mississippi | -2 | 3 | 10 | 15 |
| 14 | Vanderbilt | -9 | 4 | 3 | 16 |
Florida appears again atop the SEC’s fumble charts with its 7 fumble recoveries. It’s recovery rate of 50 percent is also above the national average this season (around 43 percent).
Texas A&M ranks 2nd with six fumble recoveries and is recovering them at a league-best 54.6 percent clip. Five schools are tied for 3rd with 4 recoveries each.
LSU and Mississippi State reside at the bottom of the fumble chart with just 1 recovery in 7 opponent fumbles. That 14.3 percent recovery rate really has nowhere to go but up in the coming weeks.
No one takes better care of the ball in terms of fumbles than Kentucky. The Wildcats have only lost 1 fumble all season. Six other schools have lost just 2 fumbles so far in 2015.
Here’s a look at the fumble scoreboard through three weeks, indicating a team’s fumble recoveries, its own fumbles, its opponents’ fumbles and the rate for recovering those opponent fumbles so far this season:
| Rank | School | Fum. Rec. | Fumbles | Opp. Fumbles | Rec. % |
| 1 | Florida | 7 | 2 | 14 | 50 |
| 2 | Texas A&M | 6 | 3 | 11 | 54.6 |
| 3 | Georgia | 4 | 5 | 12 | 33.3 |
| 3 | Vanderbilt | 4 | 5 | 11 | 36.4 |
| 3 | Auburn | 4 | 2 | 11 | 36.4 |
| 3 | Alabama | 4 | 5 | 11 | 36.4 |
| 3 | Tennessee | 4 | 3 | 9 | 44.4 |
| 8 | South Carolina | 3 | 2 | 13 | 23.1 |
| 8 | Mississippi | 3 | 7 | 11 | 27.3 |
| 8 | Kentucky | 3 | 1 | 7 | 42.9 |
| 8 | Arkansas | 3 | 2 | 6 | 50 |
| 12 | Missouri | 2 | 2 | 8 | 25 |
| 13 | LSU | 1 | 2 | 7 | 14.3 |
| 13 | Mississippi State | 1 | 7 | 7 | 14.3 |
Randy Capps is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, South Carolina and Georgia.
