It was the revenge of the SEC East in week 12, but that was far from the only news from Saturday. There was a lot of offense, and one game of great defense. With one week left in the regular season, it’s getting close to final exam time. So as usual, everybody gets a grade, and we’ll pick a couple of teams for hall passes (good work) or detention (bad work) on offense, defense, special teams, and coaching.

Overall grades

SEC West

Auburn: A-

The minus is just because it’s hard to prove much against Alabama A&M. Jeremy Johnson played QB, but it could have been you or I and it wouldn’t have changed the outcome. Auburn rushed for 451 yards, and if it can find a healthy backfield could yet make next week interesting.

Arkansas: B+

It was a seventh win for the Razorbacks, and they looked good on offense in beating Mississippi State 58-42. They also looked putrid on defense, and if they’re going to move from mid-level SEC team to anything higher, they have to address the defense.

Alabama: B

It’s funny that Alabama can win by only 28 points and leave tongues wagging, but they did against Chattanooga. If the Tide is going to have a letdown, it looks like it will be on offense. That said, this was an off week because of inferior competition.

Texas A&M: C+

It was a win, and for Kevin Sumlin in November, that’s not a small thing. That said, it was very underwhelming against UT San Antonio and doesn’t make things look better for next weekend.

LSU: C-

The story of the Tigers season is coming up a yard short. LSU could easily be 9-1 right now. But they’re 6-4 after Saturday’s heart-breaking loss to Florida.

Mississippi State: D

I gave them a D because somebody needs to give them a D. Arkansas is good on offense, but 58 points tells the tale. In the end, it may not be the lack of Prescott that doomed the Bulldogs, but the lack of anything to go with Nick Fitzgerald’s offense.

Ole Miss: D

Last week, Hugh Freeze looked like a genius for pulling Shea Patterson’s red-shirt. After a 21-point loss to Vandy, he looks like a coach who may lose the Egg Bowl and have the most talented squad ever to miss a bowl game.

SEC East

Florida: A-

It wasn’t pretty — and almost nothing this year has been for the Gators — but it was a big road win that wraps up a division title. Few teams can complete seven passes and win at LSU. Florida did.

Vanderbilt: B+

Every time it looks like the Commodores have rolled over (see ugly loss at Mizzou), they come back to life and compete impressively. Derek Mason has probably secured another year, even if they lose next week.

Kentucky: B

The first quarter was an F-, but thereafter, the Wildcats were fine in overwhelming a terrible, winless Austin Peay squad. It clinches a bowl, which is not a small thing in Lexington.

South Carolina: B-

Much like for Kentucky, the result is more important than the specifics. Carolina was sloppy against Western Carolina, a bad FCS opponent, but six wins for Muschamp is a statement.

Tennessee: B-

Giving up 700 yards to the worst team in the league isn’t something to reward. Tennessee looks like the East version of Arkansas, which isn’t a compliment.

Georgia: C

It was a seventh win of the year for Kirby Smart, but poor run defense and no attention to detail won’t get you any style points.

Missouri: D

See the joke above about Mississippi State, and apply it here. It’s weird, because in the recent past, Mizzou has been lights out on defense and very vanilla offensively. Not so much this year.

Offense

Hall Pass

Arkansas: Balance has been the best thing about this team, and on a day when they passed for 304 yards and ran for 357, that balance was evident.

Missouri: Yes, I’m giving a hall pass to a team that lost by 26 points. Mostly because 740 yards of total offense at Tennessee isn’t something you see every day, even though this is a bad Tennessee defense.

Detention

Ole Miss: They couldn’t run (90 yards), and they couldn’t pass when it mattered.

LSU: Sure, 423 yards sounds pretty good. But, even giving all due credit to Florida, 10 points doesn’t.

Defense

Hall Pass

Florida: Two sides of the same coin. The Gators bent a lot, but when it mattered (see the final play), they didn’t break.

Auburn: Terrible competition, but the Tigers shut it down, which is more than you can say for much of the league.

Detention

Tennessee: Giving up 600-plus yards last week and 740 this week is beyond belief. Bob Shoop might want to call a real estate agent.

Ole Miss: Vandy struggled to pass for 100 yards a game through much of the year, but went for 273 on the Rebels. Tough loss.

Special Teams

Hall Pass

Florida: In a 16-10 game, you tend to notice your kicker, Eddy Pineiro, whose three field goals were the difference. Good game by the Florida punter as well.

Detention

Mississippi State: A missed field goal, mediocre punting, and nothing from the punt return game — oh wait, that’s because Arkansas DIDN’T punt — at all.

Coaching

Hall Pass

Vanderbilt: Derek Mason continually overcomes obstacles. But then he does things like lose to Missouri. Still, a good week for him.

Florida: Two years, two SEC East titles from Jim McElwain. Not always pretty, but always a winner.

Detention

Tennessee: They’re a loss to Vandy away from mind-numbing fan disappointment. Terrible defense and there are some definite chemistry issues on this team.

Ole Miss: Dramatic. dramatic underachievement. Not saying Freeze gets fired, but wouldn’t be at all surprised if he wasn’t on the Ole Miss sideline in 2017.