Inside the SEC West: Alabama has injuries, Auburn has a QB and LSU isn't backing down
With each passing week, the clarity for where each team stands in the West becomes more and more clear — Week 10 was no different.
Arkansas — despite getting a win — continued to show why it’s the worst team in the division.
On the other hand, Alabama and Auburn both walked away with two-score victories.
Week 11 will include plenty of quality matchups — Auburn-Georgia, Alabama-Mississippi State and more — but before we can move on, here’s what happened in the West in the past week:
Alabama
It wasn’t the most impressive performance that we’ve seen from Alabama, but they found a way to extend their win streak against LSU to seven games, prevailing 24-10 on Saturday night.
The win came at a cost, however, as the Tide’s defense lost two more key contributors — inside linebackers Shaun Dion Hamilton (knee) and Mack Wilson (foot) — for the year.
That makes it four linebackers who have gone down for the season.
The tough stretch continues in Week 11 as Alabama travels to Starkville to take on a Mississippi State team that is riding a four-game win streak.
Arkansas
This may not be news, but it’s certainly worth mentioning again: Arkansas isn’t a very good football team.
The Razorbacks got their fourth win of the season, but it was against a Coastal Carolina team that is dead last in the Sun Belt with a 1-8 (0-5) record. Making matters worse, Arkansas was down 38-25 in the fourth quarter.
The Hogs scored two touchdowns late to get the win, but this season has gotten ugly in a hurry for head coach Bret Bielema.
Senior quarterback Austin Allen was suppose to have played in the second half, but the plans changed with the team’s poor performance. Expect him to return this week against LSU.
Auburn
Auburn didn’t get the start it wanted — it was looking like the Aggies would go up 17-7 late in the second-quarter with a first-and-goal — but the Tigers defense held them to a field goal, and then Auburn proceeded to put up 14 consecutive points to go into halftime with a 21-13 lead.
The second half saw the Tigers outscore the Aggies 21-14 for a final score of 42-27.
Jarrett Stidham, who A&M passed up on signing, was back to his efficient style of play — completing 74.1 percent of his passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns.
Auburn QB Jarrett Stidham was 🔥 when Texas A&M blitzed him on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/HPjcCAzvux
— PFF College Football (@PFF_College) November 5, 2017
It was the first time that the Baylor transfer has thrown for three touchdowns at Auburn.
The Tigers are riding high, but No. 1 ranked Georgia looms in Week 11.
LSU
Yes, LSU dropped its third game of the season, but you can clearly see that the Tigers are a better football team than the one that lost 24-21 to Troy back in Week 5.
They beat Alabama in time of possession (34:07 to 25:53), rushing yards (151 to 116) and third-down conversions (47.4 percent to 35.7 percent).
At this point, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Tigers finish the regular season with a three-game win streak against Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas A&M.
Mississippi State
Week 10 wasn’t good to teams in the West who played out-of-conference opponents.
Like Arkansas, State had to make a second-half push to pull out a victory against a non-Power 5 team — winning 34-23 over UMass.
Nick Fitzgerald continued to struggle through the air — only 139 yards and two interceptions — but he made up for it with another 100-plus yard rushing performance that included two touchdowns.
Those pesky interceptions continue to be an issue, however, as Fitzgerald now has 12 of them against only 13 passing touchdowns.
Ole Miss
In what was one of the better SEC games played Saturday, quarterback Jordan Ta’amu and the Rebels pulled out a last-second victory with a 7-yard touchdown pass to D.K. Metcalf, beating Kentucky 37-34.
Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
There was controversy too, as it had looked like Ta’amu had fumbled the play before only to have it overturned.
It’s been a season surrounded by distractions, but it was nice to see Ole Miss deliver its fans an exciting victory for the second consecutive week.
Texas A&M
Nick Starkel wasn’t terrible in his return from injury — he threw for 184 yards and two touchdowns against Auburn. Opposing QB Jarrett Stidham was a lot better, however.
It’s worth noting that Stidham was interested in coming to Texas A&M when Kevin Sumlin stopped recruiting him in favor of his current QBs.
— Gig Em Gazette (@GigEmGazette) November 4, 2017
Overall, it was a poor performance from the Aggies. Being held to seven three-and-outs is simply unacceptable.
With A&M suffering its fourth loss of the season, it’s safe to say that Kevin Sumlin’s seat is beginning to heat back up.
Tweet of the week
When you let teams like Arkansas hang around they start to believe they can actually play with the Coastal Carolinas of the world.
— Jeff Yeager (@jyeag4) November 4, 2017
Quote of the week
“We’re coming. We’re coming, and we ain’t backing down” — Ed Orgeron following LSU’s 24-10 loss to Alabama.
