Red Zone Watch: Which SEC teams are best in red zone through 11 weeks?
Unfortunately, ESPN hasn’t rolled out an SEC version of NFL RedZone for the conference’s new network. It would fit well on the alternate channel and would’ve rocked this season. Instead, we’ll keep track of red zone stats for you each week.
OFFENSIVE RED ZONE STATISTICS
The Florida Gators continue to boast the best red zone offense in the SEC, but they failed to come away with points on a red zone possession for just the second time this season in Saturday’s 34-10 win over Vanderbilt. The Gators scored on five of six red zone possessions, including three touchdowns, but also turned the ball over on downs inside the Commodores 5 yard line in the first half of play.
Nevertheless, Florida has still scored on more than 93 percent of its red zone possessions this season, although it has ventured into the red zone the third-fewest times of any team in the SEC. Only Vandy and Missouri have made fewer trips to the red zone, but the Tigers do have the second best scoring rate on red zone possessions in the conference.
Missouri has scored on close to 93 percent of its red zone possessions, but has come away with a touchdown on only 64 percent of those possessions. Eight of the other 13 teams in the conference have better touchdown percentages on their red zone possessions, headed by Arkansas and Auburn.
The Razorbacks and Tigers have both scored touchdowns on 73.2 percent of their red zone possessions, although Auburn has come away with points in some form on 37 of 41 red zone possessions, while Arkansas is only 33 of 41 in the red zone in 2014.
Here’s a full rundown of all 14 SEC teams’ numbers in the red zone this season:
Team | RZ Scoring % | RZ Trips | RZ TDs | RZ TD % | RZ FGs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Florida | 93.6% | 31 | 18 | 58.1% | 11 |
2. Missouri | 92.9% | 28 | 18 | 64.3% | 8 |
3. Auburn | 90.2% | 41 | 30 | 73.2% | 7 |
4. Tennessee | 89.7% | 39 | 23 | 59.0% | 12 |
5. Texas A&M | 87.5% | 40 | 29 | 72.5% | 6 |
6. Georgia | 86.2% | 47 | 34 | 72.3% | 7 |
T7. South Carolina | 86.5% | 37 | 24 | 64.9% | 8 |
T7. LSU | 86.5% | 37 | 24 | 64.9% | 8 |
9. Mississippi State | 84.6% | 39 | 27 | 69.2% | 6 |
10. Kentucky | 83.9% | 31 | 18 | 54.8% | 9 |
11. Alabama | 83.8% | 37 | 24 | 64.9% | 7 |
12. Arkansas | 80.5% | 41 | 30 | 73.2% | 3 |
13. Ole Miss | 76.5% | 34 | 21 | 61.8% | 5 |
14. Vanderbilt | 73.9% | 23 | 13 | 56.5% | 4 |
DEFENSIVE RED ZONE STATISTICS
Mississippi State continues to boast the SEC’s best red zone defense in 2014, allowing opponents to score on fewer than 60 percent of their red zone possessions. What’s more impressive, the Bulldogs have only allowed opponents to score touchdowns on 32 percent of their red zone possessions, which is also the best figure in the SEC.
However, the Bulldogs are one of five SEC teams to allow more than 30 opponent possessions to reach the red zone this season, revealing the defense’s flaws in between the 20’s. Mississippi State has also allowed 10 opponent touchdowns from outside the red zone this year, which leads the conference for the wrong reasons.
Four teams ranked in this week’s AP Poll lead the SEC in red zone defense, and the conference’s six ranked members are all among the top 8 in the SEC in red zone defense in 2014.
On the other end of the spectrum, four unranked teams have allowed opponents to score on more than 90 percent of their red zone possessions this season. Tennessee is the worst among the four, allowing opponents to score on more than 95 percent of their red zone possessions (20 of 21 trips), but the Vols have also allowed the fewest opponent red zone possessions of any team in the conference, indicating the defense’s success between the 20’s.
Here’s a full rundown of the SEC’s red zone numbers on defense this season:
Team | RZ Scoring % | RZ Trips | RZ TDs | RZ TD % | RZ FGs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Mississippi State | 58.1% | 31 | 10 | 32.3% | 8 |
2. Auburn | 66.7% | 36 | 18 | 50.0% | 6 |
3. Ole Miss | 75.0% | 24 | 10 | 41.7% | 8 |
4. LSU | 77.3% | 22 | 11 | 50.0% | 6 |
5. Arkansas | 80.0% | 25 | 17 | 68.0% | 3 |
6. Florida | 81.8% | 22 | 11 | 50.0% | 7 |
7. Alabama | 85.0% | 20 | 8 | 40.0% | 9 |
8. Georgia | 85.7% | 28 | 20 | 71.4% | 4 |
9. Missouri | 88.0% | 25 | 16 | 64.0% | 6 |
10. South Carolina | 88.4% | 43 | 29 | 67.4% | 9 |
11. Texas A&M | 90.0% | 30 | 19 | 63.3% | 8 |
12. Vanderbilt | 90.5% | 42 | 26 | 61.9% | 12 |
13. Kentucky | 94.1% | 34 | 24 | 70.6% | 8 |
14. Tennessee | 95.2% | 21 | 15 | 71.4% | 5 |