The SEC just had one of its most white-knuckled weekends of the year, with two top-ranked teams going down to the wire in dramatic games.

HOT

  • Alabama’s SEC West chances. The Crimson Tide have been lurking for the last month, and now they look ready to take control of the division after snapping out of a funk and sprinting past LSU late on Saturday. After knocking off the Tigers, Alabama returns home for its final three games of the season. They get No. 1 Mississippi State this coming week, providing by far the toughest game on the Bulldogs schedule this year. If the Tide can get past next week’s showdown, they’ll be in pole position to earn the division’s bid to Atlanta for the SEC Championship.
  • Texas A&M’s offense. This could go in cold as well, as the production disappeared in the second half, but the Aggies showed they can still be potent in the first half against Auburn. Kyle Allen was slinging the ball around with serious zip (sometimes too much), hitting receivers in stride on slants, as well as making a gorgeous back-shoulder throw to the sideline for a touchdown in the first half. The Aggies were able to open up the running game as well against a sputtering Auburn defense, a promising development for a team that sorely needs its offense to get going again.
  • Georgia’s ground game. The Bulldogs big-time offensive line got going against Kentucky, and with running backs returning to the lineup one by one things are only going to get better. Georgia’s leading rusher, Nick Chubb, averaged 13 yards per carry, and backup Sony Michel was over 5 yards a pop against a Wildcats defense that never stood a chance. Georgia totaled more than 300 yards on the ground against Kentucky, and they’ve topped 200 yards in all but one game, the loss to Florida last week.

NOT

  • Auburn’s ball control. The Tigers were already near the bottom of the country in fumbles lost this season coming into their game against Texas A&M, and they’ve dropped even lower following three lost fumbles against the Aggies. Auburn now ranks 10th in the SEC and 108th in the country after a series of crucial giveaways late in the game, halting them from completing a massive comeback. For a team that runs as much as Auburn does, a higher number of fumbles are inevitable. The Tigers have had some bad luck recovering the balls they’ve put on the ground, and they finally ran out of magic against A&M.
  • LSU’s passing offense. The Tigers haven’t been able to throw the ball at all since the very early days of the season, and they hit a new low on Saturday against Alabama. Anthony Jennings was just 8-for-26 for 76 yards, and his receiving corps was plagued by a case of the drops. Over the last four games, LSU has completed just 39 percent of its passes, totaling 590 yards, 4 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.
  • Alabama’s road offense. Luckily, the Crimson Tide won’t be traveling again this season until a potential SEC Championship game date, and that’s a good thing. One of the nation’s best units at home falls apart when they leave the friendly confines of Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama puts up 220 yards less of total offense on the road than they do at home (610 to 389) and score 25 fewer points per game. Alabama has put up less than 500 yards four times this season, and all four have come on the road. It’s an issue that may not come up again until next year, but it’s something that will need to be fixed when Alabama’s schedule flips next season.