Georgia’s season came crashing to a possible end in Knoxville, while Alabama, Florida and Ole Miss continued to make a case as the best team in the SEC. Week 6 in the conference also gave us a glimpse of life without Leonard Fournette and Dak Prescott with back-ups in LSU and Mississippi State getting some serious play time and production.
Here are the biggest takeaways from another wild Saturday Down South:
No stopping LSU backs: Turns out, LSU doesn’t need Leonard Fournette to rush for more than 200 yards every game. It just makes life much easier. Not that the Tigers had much trouble disposing South Carolina in Week 6. Fournette’s 200-yard performance streak ended at three games, but the nation’s leading rusher still gained 158. yards. The sophomore didn’t lead LSU, however, in rushing. That honor went to freshman Derrius Guice, who tallied 161 yards and a touchdown.
RELATED: What Les Miles said after LSU’s win over the Gamecocks
Gator done: The numbers aren’t eye-popping, but Florida continues to win the games it needs to in order to compete for the SEC East — which it controls by two games at the season’s midpoint. Quarterback Will Grier had 208 yards passing, Kelvin Taylor had 99-yards rushing and Demarcus Robinson led the Gators with 79 yards receiving. Yet Florida cruised to a relatively routine win over Missouri in Week 6. Jim McElwain’s squad is in the driver’s seat with three of its four conference wins coming over SEC East foes, with games against Georgia, Vanderbilt and South Carolina remaining.
RELATED: McElwain brings Florida offense back from the dead
Ragland making it count: Barring injury, it looks like Reggie Ragland made the correct decision to return to Alabama for his senior season. Ragland was unrelenting in the Crimson Tide’s Week 6 win over Arkansas, racking up a team-high 8 tackles, a sack and two quarterback hurries, while also forcing a fumble. Pretty standard game for the Tide linebacker who is playing himself into a high draft pick. At one point, the Bama student section broke out into a “Reg-gie” chant. Ragland has a team-high 50 tackles, 18 more than the closest teammate, Jarran Reed.
RELATED: Alabama outlasts Arkansas with shutdown defense
Got Dak’s back: Mississippi State found out that strong quarterback play all of a sudden might be its thing. Freshman Nick Fitzgerald spelled an ailing Dak Prescott (illness) to throw for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ 45-17 romp over Troy. Fitzgerald also ran for 29 yards and a score. Prescott left after just six pass attempts, but did manage to connect with Fred Ross for a 59-yard touchdown that tied the quarterback with Rex Grossman for No. 10 on the SEC’s all-time list for career touchdown responsible for (83).
RELATED: What Dan Mullen had to say after the Bulldogs beat Troy
UT/UGA role reversal: Tennessee finally put it all together and played a complete game. The Vols’ win over Georgia moves them to 3-3 (1-2 SEC). Had it not been to two fourth-quarter meltdowns of 14 and 13 points to Oklahoma and Florida, Tennessee could be looking at 5-1. Their inability to put teams away has been on display all year. In Week 6, they finally put it all together. Georgia, conversely, has lost its two biggest challenges and hasn’t looked good in either. The loss of Nick Chubb will test this team, but running back isn’t where the Bulldogs have issues. Poor tackling and inconsistent quarterback play doomed Georgia in its losses and were perhaps masked by inferior opponent’s earlier in the season.
RELATED: Michel rushes for 100+ in relief of Chubb
Chris Wuensch is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers South Carolina and Tennessee.
