The chart below ranks SEC defenses by number of sacks.

For all the attention Missouri is getting with Shane Ray and Markus Golden, Mississippi State may have the most disruptive front seven in the SEC.

The Tigers and Bulldogs each made six sacks last week to rocket up the chart and into a first-place tie with 11 sacks this season. But Mississippi State’s eye-popping 29 tackles for loss (in three games) are seven more than Missouri and Vanderbilt (surprised?).

State is tackling opponents behind the line of scrimmage nearly 10 times per game, a trend Bulldogs fans would love to see continue this weekend against LSU.

Meanwhile, two ranked teams, Ole Miss (4 sacks, 16 tackles for loss) and South Carolina (3 sacks, 9 tackles for loss), haven’t accomplished much in opposing backfields this season.

Kentucky has produced just 33 sack yards on 7 sacks, while Ole Miss has produced 49 sack yards on 4 sacks.

Team Sacks Sack Yards Tackles For Loss
T1. Missouri 11 82 22
T1. Mississippi State 11 66 29
3. Texas A&M 9 43 19
4. LSU 8 56 20
T5. Alabama 7 64 16
T5. Arkansas 7 49 21
T5. Vanderbilt 7 42 2
T5. Kentucky 7 33 19
9. Georgia 6 51 14
T10. Auburn 5 43 15
T10. Florida 5 43 15
T10. Tennessee 5 32 20
13. Ole Miss 4 49 16
14. South Carolina 3 22 9

Tennessee’s rebuilt offensive line got a lot of attention before the season, and gave up an unsettling 7 sacks at Oklahoma last week in a 34-10 loss. Some of the better defensive lines in the SEC — Missouri, for example — ought to have a field day against the Vols. Heck, maybe even South Carolina’s placid pass rush can get to Justin Worley on Nov. 1.

The Vols have allowed an SEC-worst 9 sacks and only Ole Miss, at 22, has given up more tackles for loss.

Arkansas has allowed an SEC-low one sack, but the Hogs have attempted just 57 passes compared to 137 runs. Auburn (1 sack, 45 pass attempts) and Florida (2 sacks, 91 pass attempts) have similar numbers. The Razorbacks also are the only team with three games and single-digit tackles for loss allowed.

Texas A&M has allowed 3 sacks, but the Aggies have attempted 135 passes.

Team Sacks Allowed Sack Yards Allowed Tackles For Loss Allowed
T1. Arkansas 1 7 8
T1. Auburn 1 5 8
T3. Florida 2 5 8
T3. Alabama 2 16 10
T5. Missouri 3 19 12
T5. Georgia 3 26 9
T5. Texas A&M 3 28 10
8. South Carolina 4 28 11
9. Mississippi State 5 52 11
T10. Ole Miss 6 29 22
T10. LSU 6 33 16
T10. Vanderbilt 6 42 13
13. Kentucky 7 54 21
14. Tennessee 9 59 21

Vanderbilt’s Caleb Azubike, an outside linebacker, hasn’t gotten too many pass-rush chances this season with the Commodores (1-2) down big in all three games. We’ll see if Vandy keeps it close enough with South Carolina to get him some opportunities Saturday.

Name Team Position Sacks
1. Myles Garrett Texas A&M DL 5.5
T2. Shane Ray Missouri DL 4.0
T2. Markus Golden Missouri DL 4.0
T2. Caleb Azubike Vanderbilt  OLB 4.0
5. Taiwan Johnson Arkansas DL 3.5

Shane Ray, Markus Golden and Myles Garrett are the star defensive ends of the SEC right now, while Benardrick McKinney has a great chance to become a first-round draft pick next spring.

Name Team Position Tackles For Loss
1. Shane Ray Missouri DL 7.5
T2. Myles Garrett Texas A&M DL 6.5
T2. Markus Golden Missouri DL 6.5
T4. Caleb Azubike Vanderbilt OLB 5.0
T4. Benardrick McKinney Mississippi State LB 5.0