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In an SEC weekend highlighted by the Florida-Georgia showdown for supremacy in the SEC East, there were a few surprises in how some top players performed, and how a former contender has been revealed as a pretender.
Here are the biggest surprises from Week 9:
5. Murray joins elite company: In his first start, Texas A&M QB Kyler Murray displayed his dual-threat capabilities (20-of-28, 233 yards, TD; 20 carries, 156 yards, TD). By throwing and passing for touchdowns while accumulating more than 200 yards through the air and more than 100 on the ground in a 35-28 win over South Carolina, he became the first freshman quarterback since Auburn legend Cam Newton to do so in his first career start. (H/t: ESPN sportscenter tweet link)
4. The receiver with the most yards in the Auburn-Ole Miss game wasn’t Treadwell: A lot was made of Ole Miss WR Laquon Treadwell facing Auburn, the team that ended his season a year ago on a fourth-quarter goal-line tackle. Treadwell delivered a game-ball worthy performance (7 catches, 114 yards, TD), but Tigers WR Ricardo Louis finished with more yards (137) and a touchdown of his own.
3. Treon Harris regressed despite two weeks of preparation: With an extra week of first-team practice reps, conventional wisdom suggests UF QB Treon Harris should have looked better against Georgia than he did against LSU. Harris, however, had fewer completions and a lower completion percentage against the Bulldogs, going only 8-for-19 in Jacksonville after a 17-of-32 performance in Baton Rouge, La.
2. Kentucky’s fall from second place to fifth in the SEC East: As recent as Oct. 14, UK was one touchdown (14-9 loss to Florida) from being first place in the SEC East. Since a tough 30-27 loss to Auburn on Oct. 15, the Wildcats have plunged to the division cellar with back-to-back embarrassing losses, falling 42-16 to Mississippi State in Week 8 and 52-21 to Tennessee. At 4-4 overall and 2-4 in the SEC, Kentucky is officially eliminated from winning the division and is in danger of missing out on a bowl game for the fifth season in a row.
1. Georgia started a running quarterback, but called only three quarterback runs: In the two weeks leading up to Georgia’s showdown with Florida, it was widely discussed just how desperately Bulldogs coach Mark Richt needed a win over UF and how he would probably throw the kitchen sink at the Gators. When reports emerged of Faton Bauta starting at quarterback, it looked like Richt and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer were going to use the running quarterback to get the ground game going an unveil a new offense wrinkle on an unprepared UF. Bauta finished with more interceptions (4) than carries (3) in a 27-3 victory by Florida.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
