It’s not every week that we get a Saturday like this.

I’ve been saying all week that Week 11 was special in the SEC because every game either had significant Playoff/New Year’s 6 b/bowl eligibility takes on the line. A pair of top-15 matchups headlined an electric Saturday, but we also had a rivalry showdown in Baton Rouge and Alabama traveling for a tricky matchup at Kentucky.

We got a fantastic Week 11 slate. So what did we learn from it?

Here’s 1 thing I learned from each SEC team in Week 11:

Alabama — That was the sign that Alabama’s offense has truly turned the corner

When Jalen Milroe took a hit to his thigh on the opening drive, Alabama trainers attended to the star quarterback. It was fair to wonder if perhaps all of that offensive progress was about to go in the wrong direction with the emerging Tide quarterback on the Kroger Field turf. Instead, it was a reminder that nothing has gotten in Milroe’s way since the Texas game.

All Milroe did was become the first Alabama player to have 3 passing touchdowns and 3 rushing touchdowns in the same game. It didn’t matter that Jermaine Burton was out with an illness, or that Alabama was on the road against a respected Kentucky defense. That’s perhaps the difference between Saturday’s showing and the 42-point outburst against Alabama. The Tide rolled against a capable defense, and did so with all the offensive confidence possible.

Don’t tell the “dynasty is dead” crowd, but that’s now 3 SEC West titles in the past 4 years for Alabama.

Arkansas — Kenny Guiton’s game No. 2 calling plays was a totally different story

After all the good vibes that Arkansas earned by winning an overtime game in The Swamp last week, they faded in a hurry in front of the home fans. The Hogs looked like the Dan Enos offense. Getting walloped by Auburn like that was a humbling way to miss out on bowl eligibility, especially in front of the home fans. Arkansas wasn’t built to come back from down 21-0 in the middle of the first quarter. It didn’t help that Rocket Sanders was banged up again in this one, not that it would’ve made the difference.

This was a winnable game in which Arkansas could’ve built some real momentum with a favorable FIU matchup next. Instead, it squandered its last remaining opportunity at a bowl berth because it again struggled to protect KJ Jefferson, it couldn’t scheme in the passing game and it turned the football over. That’s a losing trio for a losing offense.

Auburn — The ground game strides weren’t just a byproduct of competition

I questioned how well Auburn was running the football after it ran for 186 against Mississippi State and 230 against Vanderbilt. While Jarquez Hunter looked like he had returned to form, it was at least fair to question how it would look on the road against an Arkansas team fighting to keep its bowl hopes alive. But against the Hogs’ above-average run defense, Auburn ran wild. Hunter led the way with 109 of Auburn’s season-high 354 rushing yards. That was the Tigers’ most rushing yards against SEC competition since 2016 … against Arkansas.

More important, Hugh Freeze’s squad didn’t mess around on the road. It took the soul of a team on life support with a 21-0 lead by the middle of the first quarter, and then it put the game on ice with the rushing attack. Since the start of 2018, Auburn only recorded a 3-game winning streak twice. One of those happened in the middle of 2020, and the other is the streak that the Tigers are on. That’s some nice momentum heading into New Mexico State and a “nothing-to-lose” Iron Bowl.

Florida — The defensive answers aren’t coming

It’s never good when the words “most yards allowed in program history” flash during the 4th quarter of the broadcast. Austin Armstrong’s defense has been trucked each of the past 4 weeks, but LSU was a different kind of beatdown for the Florida defense. Jayden Daniels reached whatever blade of grass he wanted, whether it was via his arm or his legs. He racked up 606 (!) yards and 5 TDs (3 passing/2 rushing) against that depleted Florida defense.

It’s been a disastrous month for the young defensive coordinator. It’s not just the fact that Shemar James was lost for the season in the Georgia game. This team is far too inexperienced and undisciplined to beat quality SEC competition away from home. That’s the issue. Also an issue? Tackling Cody Schrader is on deck after he just became the first SEC player to ever have 200 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in the same game.

Yikes.

Georgia — Brock Bowers isn’t human after all

Unbelievable. After the tightrope surgery, the timetable for a return was expected to be 4-6 weeks. Just 3 weeks and 4 days removed from the procedure, Bowers returned. Not only did Bowers return, as Kirk Herbstreit pointed out, but he rarely left the field all night. It was fitting that Herbstreit said that the play before Bowers got back into the end zone.

Unbelievable. The only downside of Bowers’ return was that Ladd McConkey left the game with what Holly Rowe reported was “a bloody calf” but that “it didn’t look too serious.” We’ll get more information on the severity of that. For now, Georgia fans should just appreciate that their star not only returned way ahead of schedule, but that he looked darn good doing it.

Kentucky — This team still can’t get out of its way

If there was hope that Kentucky would put together a complete game and catch Alabama at the right time coming off the big LSU win, well, that vanished in a hurry. By the time the Cats ran their 5th offensive play, they were already down 21-0. That was a combination of a Barion Brown fumble that set up an easy Alabama touchdown, as well as some poor communication on the back end of the UK secondary. In other words, it was more of the same up-and-down play we’ve seen from Kentucky on both sides of the ball.

Kentucky had a chance to get the ball back in a 28-14 game, but instead, it let Jalen Milroe sit back in a clean pocket and hit a crossing Kobe Prentice for a 30-yard gain on 3rd-and-17. It was all downhill from there. That’s been the story of the year against quality competition. Through Week 11, Kentucky has 4 SEC losses, all of which were against teams with winning conference records. Three of them were by at least 3 scores. Mark Stoops’ squad has plenty of talent, but it continues to put together incomplete games against the better SEC foes.

LSU — Jayden Daniels was healthy enough to play … and dominate at a historic level

What do I base that on? Oh, nothing. Just the fact that he casually recorded the longest touchdown run by an LSU quarterback in program history with an 85-yard scamper. He had 139 rushing yards … in the first half. He became the first FBS quarterback to ever throw for 350 yards and run for 200 yards in the same game. No big deal. That was even more important on a night in which leading rusher Logan Diggs was sidelined.

It was a legitimate question whether we’d see Daniels after taking the well-documented hit by Dallas Turner that sidelined him in the 4th quarter against Alabama. Brian Kelly said that Daniels passed the necessary protocols to play. We didn’t see him play with any restrictions, which is just further confirmation that Daniels is as tough as they come. We knew that after his rib injury in the Mizzou game. Daniels has still yet to miss a start in an LSU uniform. Fingers crossed that continues through the postseason.

If he’s not at the forefront of the Heisman conversation, nobody is.

Mississippi State — Chris Parson was the guy, until he wasn’t

A Chris Parson vs. Jaylen Henderson SEC quarterback matchup was unexpected, but that’s what we got on Saturday night in College Station. Unfortunately for Mississippi State, it was A&M’s third-string quarterback who looked the part. Parson, meanwhile, struggled in his first start. The true freshman was a walking interception. He was picked off 3 times by the A&M defense, which prompted Zach Arnett to rotate Mike Wright back into the mix.

It was an even worse offensive showing than what the 10 points indicated because Mississippi State took the opening kick back for a touchdown. It was the second consecutive game in which the Bulldogs were held without an offensive touchdown. While this offense wasn’t a world-beater before Will Rogers and Woody Marks went down, getting those guys back in a couple of weeks for the Egg Bowl is all that Mississippi State fans can hope for.

Mizzou — Luther Burden III played but was definitely limited while Cody Schrader wasn’t limited by anything

It wasn’t a good sign that Burden came up limping on his first touch of the day. That ankle limited his usual shiftiness in space. It wasn’t a given that Burden was going to play. Eli Drinkwitz made that decision late in the week after he was banged up in the Georgia game. We did see Burden get loose for a late 21-yard score wherein he cut upfield extremely well.

The good news for Mizzou? Schrader delivered a performance for the ages in a blowout win. Schrader became the 5th Power 5 player in the last 25 years to record 200 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in a game. His 321 scrimmage yards came on a whopping 40 touches. Schrader all but locked in his All-SEC status, and then some. This offense has developed in significant ways under first-year play-caller Kirby Moore.

Ole Miss — Jaxson Dart finally met his match

I mean that in a couple of ways. The Ole Miss quarterback has been excellent this year, and the improvement against quality competition has been significant, especially since the Alabama loss. But the veteran quarterback ran into a Georgia defense that had his number throughout the night, including on a play in which he was sandwiched by a pair of UGA defenders instead of going out of bounds. He was shaken up on the play, and ultimately, it sidelined him for the rest of the day.

Dart famously isn’t a fan of sliding. He takes on extra contact, and so far at Ole Miss, it hasn’t prevented him from missing a start. It remains to be seen how seriously he was banged up. The game was over by the time he was sidelined, and Oklahoma State transfer Spencer Sanders is as experienced as they come, but Dart’s health will be a pressing topic. Ole Miss can still reach a New Year’s 6 bowl if it avoids a stumble in the Egg Bowl. That shouldn’t be forgotten after a deflating night.

South Carolina — Clayton White’s defense has a pulse, as do those bowl chances

It hasn’t been the best year for the South Carolina defensive coordinator. Entering Saturday, Georgia was the only Power 5 opponent that the Gamecocks’ defense held to less than 30 points. So yeah, Vandy or not, it was a welcome sight to see South Carolina consistently get stops. It was such a good day for the South Carolina defense that defensive tackle Alex Huntley scored as many points (6) as the entire Vandy offense.

Entering Week 11, South Carolina allowed 6.21 yards/play against SEC competition, so holding Vandy to 3.3 yards/play was an ideal development in a bowl-or-bust game. That’s the approach that’ll be needed against an improved, but inconsistent Kentucky offensive line to keep those bowl hopes alive.

Tennessee — Dont’e Thornton finally got his first TD … and couldn’t even celebrate

Brutal. It’s been a rough go for the Oregon transfer after he was the talk of camp. In fittingly bittersweet fashion, he hauled in a beautiful long touchdown catch on a moonball by Joe Milton, only to get his ankle twisted as he was hauling it in. Thornton’s first touchdown as a Vol resulted in him limping to the sideline and unable to put any weight on his leg. What a shame.

That was the story of the day for the Tennessee offense. It was the lone score in what amounted to Josh Heupel’s lowest offensive output since arriving in Knoxville. After the Bru McCoy injury against South Carolina, the Vols have been atypically short-handed at receiver. Seeing Thornton emerge with a downfield play and not even get the chance to celebrate his best moment as a Vol was another brutal development for a Tennessee wideout.

Texas A&M — QB Jaylen Henderson got the nod and did a whole lot with it

Henderson entered the night with 8 career FBS pass attempts, 6 of which happened against FCS teams. Those all came during his time at Fresno State. To say that Henderson was an unknown would be an understatement. By night’s end, the southpaw made his presence felt to Aggieland. In place of the injured Max Johnson, Henderson had 4 total touchdowns (2 passing, 2 rushing) in a lopsided A&M win. Not too shabby for the third-string quarterback who hadn’t thrown a pass in 2 years.

In the second consecutive year in which A&M started 3 different quarterbacks, Henderson’s arrival wasn’t met with nearly as much doom and gloom. He instead led A&M to its best offensive output in SEC play since the 7-overtime game against LSU in Year 1 of the Jimbo Fisher era back in 2018. Just as everyone predicted.

Vanderbilt — Just like Year 1 with Clark Lea, it’ll be a winless season in SEC play

I know, I know. That Tennessee game is still on the schedule. The Vols also haven’t lost a home game in 2 years. But Saturday, against a 3-6 South Carolina team with issues galore, Vandy still looked like a team that didn’t belong on an SEC field. With CJ Taylor still sidelined, the Gamecocks did whatever they wanted offensively. Xavier Legette was a walking mismatch in the passing game, and Mario Anderson busted loose for a 72-yard score against that depleted Vandy defense. Offensively, the quarterback mystery continued with Ken Seals playing nearly all the reps with redshirt freshman Walter Taylor briefly entering the game during meaningful minutes. Neither could get anything going in the first 3 quarters.

Even though Vandy was trying to beat South Carolina for the first time in 15 years, this felt like Vandy’s only chance at an SEC win. Instead, it was a reminder that much like its stadium, this Vandy rebuild is still very much a work in progress.