No one could’ve predicted some of the things that transpired this season when it came to running the rock in the SEC. Here are a few things that caught us off guard at the player, team and conference levels.

RELATED: 10 surprising SEC stats in 2016

Wildcat formation

There were so many incredible rushing duos in the SEC entering this season: Leonard Fournette and Derrius Guice at LSU, Nick Chubb and Sony Michel at Georgia, Jalen Hurd (gone) and Alvin Kamara at Tennessee. Meanwhile, a few others emerged like Kamryn Pettway and Kerryon Johnson at Auburn and Rawleigh Williams and Devwah Whaley at Arkansas.

But it was Kentucky that joined an exclusive club of SEC RB tandems to hit 1,000 yards in a season. One of them was a true freshman (Benny Snell).

Unusual suspects

So remember when Fournette, Chubb and Hurd were supposed to, well, “run things” this season and dominate the conference on the ground? Who would’ve thought there would be nine 1,000-yard rushers in the league and none of those three would be among them right now?

Chubb barely cracks the top 10 with 988 yards (10th), Fournette is 13th (843) and Hurd (451) only had one 100-yard game (in the season opener) before leaving the conference altogether before November.

In terms of rushing yards per game, Fournette (120.4) would be second if he qualified, and Chubb is still in 10th in that regard. The top three is occupied by a player who didn’t get a carry last season (Kamryn Pettway), Fournette’s backup (Derrius Guice) and a player coming off neck surgery (Arkansas’ Rawleigh Williams).

Gators grounded

Florida is ranked dead last in the SEC in rushing offense (129.8 yards per game). Without a healthy performance against Iowa in the bowl game, 2016 would mark just the second time since 1990 that the Gators have placed last in the conference in rushing (1992, 103.3 YPG).

The Gators may fail to average 130 rushing yards per game for the second straight season. You have to go back to 2001 to find the last time Florida didn’t hit that mark.

QBs using their legs

Prior to 2016, there were only four instances in which an SEC quarterback hit 1,000 rushing yards. Those were in 2013 (Nick Marshall), 2012 (Johnny Manziel), 2010 (Cam Newton) and 1963 (Jimmy Sidle).

This season alone, Mississippi State’s Nick Fitzgerald has already exceeded that with 1,243 yards, and Alabama’s Jalen Hurts also has a chance (841). Texas A&M’s Trevor Knight (594) was on a good pace before getting injured.

Big-game backs

The SEC has had 10 different 200-yard rushers this season and 11 such performances overall, making a rare feat seem commonplace by several backs this season.

Our astute followers on social media pointed out that the reasoning could stem from bad QB play, which could be true in some cases, but let’s look at some of the performances.

Three were achieved by true freshmen (Damarea Crockett, Rico Dowdle and Trayveon Williams), three others were accomplished on fewer than 20 carries, one was by a fullback who didn’t record a carry last season (Pettway) and the only player to record multiple 200-yard games hails from LSU but isn’t Fournette (Guice). Either way, still surprising.

Guice gone wild

Speaking of Guice, he’s had a phenomenal season for LSU. He’s averaged 7.96 yards on 157 carries. There’s only one player in SEC history that holds a higher mark with a minimum of 150 carries.

Brent Fullwood, Auburn — 8.33 (1986)
Derrius Guice, LSU — 7.96 (2016)
Bo Jackson, Auburn — 7.68 (1983)
Felix Jones, Arkansas — 7.58 (2006)

Bama’s backfield stable

The Crimson Tide have benefited tremendously from balance on offense this season, passing and rushing, but particularly on the ground. Alabama has a quartet of players who’ve rushed for at least 500 yards.

Among Power 5 teams, there’s only one team that can claim that, and there are only six others who even have three.

Alabama — 4
Baylor — 4
Georgia Tech — 3
Iowa State — 3
Ohio State — 3
Tennessee — 3
Texas A&M — 3
Wake Forest — 3

SEC trending towards the ground

From 2013-15, the SEC saw its three highest averages for rushing yards per game since the conference split in 1992. This season, the league is on pace to set its highest mark yet and could crack the 200-yard plateau for the first time.

Most rushing YPG in SEC since 1992
2016: 200.4*
2013: 197.0
2014: 189.0
2015: 177.1
*Entering bowl season

Kentucky can run

We mentioned the Wildcats before, but it’s worth touching on them again. Kentucky is averaging 5.5 yards per rush. Mark Stoops’ squad still has to play a bowl game, but that mark would shatter the single-season school record of 4.9 set in 1974.

Meanwhile, UK only needs to find the end zone through the ground one more time to break a tie with Bear Bryant’s 1949 squad for rushing touchdowns (29).

Freshman takeover

There are three freshmen running backs that went for 1,000 yards this season. There’s never happened before in conference history. The trio that accomplished that was Missouri’s Damarea Crockett (1,062), Kentucky’s Benny Snell (1,057) and Texas A&M’s Trayveon Williams (1,024).

The only time in SEC history that three freshmen — regardless of redshirt or position — went for 1,000 was in 2012 when Johnny Manziel (1,410), Todd Gurley (1,385) and T.J. Yeldon (1,108) all did so.