We have seen 12 SEC conference games played through the first 5 weeks of the season. Ole Miss and South Carolina have each played 3 conference games. Five other teams have played multiple conference games. Everyone but Texas has played at least 1 league game.
Four of the 5 SEC games in Week 6 feature interconference matchups. Oklahoma, which plays Kent State, is the only league team that takes the field this weekend and doesn’t face a league opponent.
For the most part, the nonconference portion of the league calendar is out of the way. It’s time to get to the meat of the schedule. And the opening month offered a tease of what should be a knock-down, drag-out fight to get to Atlanta in December.
So, which teams are best prepared to run the gauntlet in the SEC? Let’s take a look at how every team in the league is performing on offense after 5 weeks.
Which team has the SEC’s best offense?
Raw, unadjusted data says Vanderbilt has the best offense in the SEC through the first 5 weeks of the season.
The Commodores rank fourth nationally in yards per play, averaging 7.9, and they rank fourth nationally in scoring at 49.0 points per game. Tennessee is scoring 2.0 more points per game than Vandy, but the Vols’ offense is doing so less efficiently, averaging 7.0 yards per play. That ranks 20th in the country.
Five SEC teams rank inside the national top 25 for per-play offensive efficiency. They include Vanderbilt, Arkansas (7.7, seventh), Ole Miss (7.1, 18th), Tennessee, and Mizzou (6.9, 22nd).
Additionally, 5 SEC teams rank inside the national top 25 for scoring. They include Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Mizzou (45.2, ninth), Ole Miss (40.6, 14th), and Mississippi State (38.6, 21st).
Mizzou, Vanderbilt, and Arkansas have 3 of the nation’s 8 best third-down offenses through the first 5 weeks of the season. The Tigers are converting 61.6% of their third-down tries through their first 5 games. That ranks second nationally and is only 0.06 percentage points below first place. Vanderbilt has converted 60.9% of its third downs this season, the fourth-best mark in the FBS, while Arkansas has converted 57.9% to rank eighth. Alabama (13th), Tennessee (16th), and Ole Miss (18th) are also in the top 25 in this category.
Arkansas and Vanderbilt also rank second and third, respectively in red zone touchdown percentage. The Razorbacks have made 19 trips to the red zone this season and come away with 17 touchdowns (89.5%). The Commodores have made 29 red zone trips and scored 25 touchdowns (86.2%). Oklahoma (17-for-17), Auburn (14-for-14), and Texas A&M (12-for-12) are the only SEC teams that have scored points of any kind on 100% of their red zone possessions this season. They are 3 of only 13 FBS teams that have done so through the first 5 weeks of the year.
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SEC advanced offensive stats through Week 5
Another way we can look at offensive success is by comparing 2 metrics that break the game down on a granular level. In the table below, you’ll find two statistics for each team, and then how those metrics compare year-over-year to what each team averaged during the 2024 season.
Success rate is exactly what it sounds like: A measure of how successful a team is on a down-to-down basis, factoring in down-and-distance.
“PPP” references points per play, which cuts through some of the noise in traditional points-per-game averages and looks at how many plays a team has to run to score points. In college football, offenses that have to string together drives longer than 7 plays to reach the endzone typically score less. This is why coaches harp on explosive plays.
Judging offensive efficiency by schedule
None of the numbers listed above account for schedule strength. They are raw, unadjusted metrics that don’t account for how teams have done against relative competition.
Game on Paper offers a metric that adjusts for quality of opponent, home-field advantage, and garbage time. The outlet looks at EPA (expected points added) per play.
Vanderbilt ranks second nationally in adjusted EPA per play. Arkansas ranks sixth, and Alabama sits ninth. Tennessee (15th), Mizzou (16th), and Ole Miss (23rd) are all sitting in the top 25.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
