SEC Penalty Report: Week 6

Saturday provided us with another thrilling, chaotic weekend of SEC football, and many of the trends established by the SEC’s 14 teams held true this weekend, especially regarding penalties.

Tennessee, the SEC’s least penalized team, was flagged just one time for five yards in its win over Chattanooga, and Vanderbilt, the SEC’s most penalized team, was flagged a whopping 10 times for 85 yards in its narrow one-point win over Charleston Southern.

Of the SEC’s six least-penalized teams in Week 7, five were victorious. The only team to lose while limiting itself to 30 penalty yards or fewer was Arkansas, which lost by one point to another one of the SEC’s least penalized teams in Alabama.

Vandy has been flagged the most times in 2014, but Texas A&M has amassed the most penalty yardage with 413 in seven games. The Aggies and the Kentucky Wildcats are tied for worst in the conference with an average of 59 penalty yards per game, but penalties haven’t stopped UK from getting off to a 5-1 start this season.

Tennessee and Arkansas have been flagged the fewest times in 2014, yet the two teams are a combined 0-5 in SEC play this year. The Vols have the fewest penalty yards of any team in the conference, followed by Georgia and Mississippi State, which are a combined 11-1 in 2014 and 6-1 against SEC opponents.

Ethan Levine

A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.