We’re nearing the midway point of the 2016 season.

Which means we know a lot more about SEC quarterbacks now than even four week ago.

Week 6 brings two huge showdowns and more pressing quarterback questions.

1. Austin Allen’s start has been terrific, but is he ready for Alabama?

Answer: Is anybody truly ready for that defense? Alabama has allowed just four passing touchdowns this season. It’s registered 17.0 sacks.

It turned Chad Kelly into Treon Harris for long stretches of a stunning second half.

Allen has done a lot of things remarkably well in leading Arkansas to a 4-1 start: He’s completing 67 percent of his passes. He’s fourth in the SEC with in yards (1,232) and touchdown throws (12). But his most impressive number is 2 — his interceptions.

Protecting the football is always important but never more so than against Alabama, which not only specializes in forcing turnovers but also has a penchant for scoring off them.

Sep 17, 2016; Oxford, MS, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide played react as defensive back Eddie Jackson (4) returns an interception for a touchdown the second quarter of the game against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Alabama won 48-43. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

If Arkansas has any chance to deliver a signature win Saturday, Allen can’t have a crooked number in the turnover column.

2. Jalen Hurts leads Alabama with 54 rushing attempts. How much is too much?

Answer: Lane Kiffin is walking a very fine line, one made even skinnier by Blake Barnett’s decision to transfer.

Hurts is a gifted, versatile play-maker and Kiffin doesn’t want to restrict that. No way Alabama escapes Ole Miss without Hurts’ running the ball 18 times for 146 yards.

But Hurts also weighs just 210 pounds. He isn’t built for double-digit runs — or more to the point, double-digit hits. Blake Sims, about the same size at Hurts, ran it 83 times in 2014, the most of any QB under Saban. Hurts is on pace to reach that in October.

Dak Prescott ran it 160 times last season and Joshua Dobbs 146. Even Kelly carried it 107.

Hurts will run when necessary, but I’d expect to see a season-high passing attempts from him Saturday at Arkansas. The Tide are averaging 32.6 passes per game in 2016 — 32.2 is their most in any season since Nick Saban arrived.

3. At what point does Georgia just go all-in on Jacob Eason and become Ole Miss-like in its scheme and formations?

Answer: Each week, it gets more difficult to argue that Georgia isn’t at its most explosive best when it goes up-tempo and just lets Eason sling the ball.

Cautious defenses protecting leads certainly have played a part in Eason’s late-game effectiveness. But after several years of holding your breath when a Georgia QB dropped back, fans now are waiting for Eason to take their breath away with another big throw downfield.

Georgia already has 7 pass plays of at least 30 yards. It completed just 11 such passes last season and 15 in 2014.

Meanwhile, the most astounding stat of the year is tied to the Dawgs’ backfield: Georgia has just four running plays longer than 20 yards. That’s last in the SEC.

Nick Chubb’s 55-yard TD run in the opener against UNC is their only carry longer than 30. That’s tied for last in the SEC.

Eason’s right arm is providing the big plays. Faster than anyone could have imagined, it’s time to put him in the gun full-time and let it rip, Chad Kelly style.

4. Danny Etling vs. Florida’s DBs: Who has the edge?

Answer: The only issue with having ballhawks in the secondary is sometimes they gamble — and lose.

Florida’s cover corners have excelled on the short stuff — they’ve allowed the fewest 10+ yard passes in the SEC. But they’re susceptible to giving up the home run. It obviously cost them against Tennessee, but the Gators have allowed 4 40+ yard completions in five games. Only Kentucky and Tennessee have allowed more this season.

If Etling can find Travin Dural or Malachi Dupre in space on Saturday, the Gators will have a hard time running either down.

This game isn’t the best on the Week 6 slate, but if you’re a fan of NFL caliber WRs vs. NFL caliber DBs, there’s a good chance this game provides the most exciting plays.

5. In the only Top 10 showdown, which QB wins: Trevor Knight or Joshua Dobbs?

Answer: Knight has more weapons and is a deceptively dangerous runner. He leads SEC QBs with 392 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns.

But there’s something special about Dobbs, who just keeps making winning plays.

Texas A&M will bring heat, but so far, anyway, that hasn’t seemed to bother Dobbs.

Give me Dobbs, again, on the road … and on the road to Atlanta.

Chris Wright is Executive Editor at SaturdayDownSouth.com. Email him at cwright@saturdaydownsouth.com.