The Mississippi State defense mustered just one sack of Alabama’s Blake Sims in last week’s loss to the Tide, but it was enough to keep the Bulldogs atop the SEC’s sacks leaderboard through 12 weeks this season.

Alabama returned the favor with just one sack of its own, bringing its season total to 24, which remains fifth in the SEC.

Tennessee had the most sacks of any defense in the SEC in Week 12, taking down Kentucky’s quarterbacks five times in a 50-16 rout of the Wildcats in Neyland Stadium. The Vols rank fourth in the SEC in sacks but lead the conference in tackles for loss with 78 on the year. They recorded nine tackles for loss in Saturday’s win over Kentucky.

Arkansas also had a big game defensively, recording four sacks and six tackles for loss in a shutout win over LSU to snap a 17-game SEC losing streak. The Razorbacks climbed from 13th to 10th in the conference in sack total this season.

South Carolina only recorded one sack in a win over Florida, but considering it now has just nine sacks in 10 games this season, any sack by the Gamecocks is worth noting. The Cocks also have a conference-worst 36 tackles for loss, while everyone else in the SEC has at least 54 on the year. However, South Carolina did close the gap between it and Vanderbilt at No. 13, recording six tackles for loss against the Gators.

Here’s a full rundown of every SEC defense’s sack and tackles for loss totals so far this season:

Team Sacks Sack Yards Tackles For Loss
1. Mississippi State 33 205 71
2. Missouri 32 239 73
3. Texas A&M 31 149 63
4. Tennessee 29 152 78
T5. Alabama 24 149 65
T5. Kentucky 24 148 59
T7. Georgia 22 183 59
T7. Florida 22 173 63
9. Ole Miss 20 172 73
T10. Arkansas 17 137 62
T10. LSU 17 102 61
T10. Auburn 17 100 63
13. Vanderbilt 16 101 54
14. South Carolina 9 79 36

Auburn continues to boast the SEC’s lowest sacks allowed total this year, due in large part to its limited number of pass attempts, and as a result the Tigers allowed just nine sacks in their first 10 games of the season. The Tigers were dismantled by Georgia last weekend between the hedges, but they allowed the Bulldogs to record just one sack all game despite throwing the ball more than it had in any game in the last month.

Georgia didn’t allow any sacks to Auburn in the victory, and it has allowed just 13 in 10 games this season, good for the fourth-fewest sacks allowed in the SEC this season.

Texas A&M and its pass-happy offense knew it would be in for a challenge in facing Shane Ray, Markus Golden and the vaunted Missouri pass rush, but the Aggies allowed just three sacks in a seven-point loss. A&M was already allowing 1.9 sacks per game entering Week 12, so allowing just one sack above its average to two of the best pass rushers in the conference actually indicates some promising damage control by a struggling Aggies o-line.

Here’s a full rundown of each SEC team’s offensive line play so far this season:

Team Sacks Allowed Sack Yards Allowed Tackles For Loss Allowed
1. Auburn 9 53 48
2. Alabama 10 72 46
3. Arkansas 11 85 46
T4. Florida 13 77 55
T4. Georgia 13 84 52
6. Missouri 15 121 58
7. Vanderbilt 16 119 42
8. Mississippi State 17 113 45
9. South Carolina 20 165 47
T10. LSU 22 165 53
T10. Texas A&M 22 157 53
12. Ole Miss 23 113 70
T13. Kentucky 33 221 79
T13. Tennessee 33 242 73

Ray continues to lead the SEC in sacks after recording his 13th of the year (in 10 games) last week against Texas A&M. Myles Garrett failed to record a sack in the loss to Mizzou, but he remains in second in the conference with 11 sacks on the season.

Garrett is a few weeks removed from breaking Jadeveon Clowney’s single season freshman sacks record of eight, set in 2011, and Tennessee freshman Derek Barnett became the latest newcomer to break Clowney’s old record by recording two more sacks in a win over Kentucky.

Unfortunately, Garrett had already extended the record to 11 sacks prior to Barnett’s Week 12 performance, meaning technically Garrett is the record-holder and Barnett simply moved from third to second on the all-time freshman list. Barnett has two games remaining this season to close ground on Garrett, while Garrett has just one game left against LSU on Thanksgiving.

Ray, Barnett and Garrett also lead the SEC in tackles for loss this season, although in this instance it is Barnett who sits ahead of Garrett through 12 weeks with 5.5 more tackles for loss in one fewer game than the Aggies’ standout.

Mississippi State defensive end Preston Smith ranks fourth in the conference in tackles and is tied with Garrett for third in tackles for loss this season, asserting himself as one of the premier defensive linemen in the conference. He ranks behind the three aforementioned stars in both categories, but also ranks in the top 5 in the SEC on both lists.

Smith had one sack and one tackle for loss in MSU’s loss to Alabama.

Tennessee freshman Curt Maggitt cracked the top 5 in the SEC in sacks for the first time all season following a two-sack performance against Kentucky. LSU’s Danielle Hunter remains fifth in the SEC with tackles for loss, having recorded 1.5 tackles for loss in LSU’s Week 12 loss to Arkansas.

Here’s a rundown of the SEC’s top 5 individuals in sacks and tackles for loss this season:

Name Team Position Sacks
1. Shane Ray Missouri DL 13.0
2. Myles Garrett Texas A&M DL 11.0
3. Derek Barnett Tennessee DL 9.0
T4. Preston Smith Mississippi State DL 8.0
T4. Curt Maggitt Tennessee LB 8.0
Name Team Position Tackles For Loss
T1. Shane Ray Missouri DL 18.0
T1. Derek Barnett Tennessee DL 18.0
T3. Myles Garrett Texas A&M DL 12.5
T3. Preston Smith Mississippi State DL 12.5
5. Danielle Hunter LSU DL 12.0