Here’s a look at the SEC’s top position groups from Week 9:

QUARTERBACKS  — South Carolina: Dylan Thompson played out of his mind in a 42-35 loss to Auburn, throwing for 402 yards and five touchdowns in a losing effort in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Thompson carried the offense for most of the night in trying to keep up the Auburn offense, which scored touchdowns on six straight possessions. The Gamecocks had the ball with a chance to win the game as time expired, all thanks to the efforts of their star quarterback. In a seven-point loss on the road to a top 5 team, Thompson and his 50 pass attempts was the Gamecocks’ most important player, and he came through in a big way despite the loss.

RUNNING BACKS — Auburn: The Tigers rushed for 395 yards as a team Saturday night, so it’s easy to see why they earned the nod as the SEC’s best running backs in Week 9. Cameron Artis-Payne led the way with 167 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, and star athlete Ricardo Louis added 102 yards and a touchdown on just three carries in the victory. Nick Marshall is technically a quarterback, but in Gus Malzahn’s spread rushing attack he does a lot of the same things a tailback does in the open field. The proof: Marshall ran the ball 10 times for 89 yards and three touchdowns, and many of those runs were designed runs allowing Marshall to pick apart the Gamecocks defense with his legs. Auburn was an unstoppable rushing machine, countering Thompson’s brilliance with a 42-point performance in a big SEC win.

WIDE RECEIVERS — South Carolina: I haven’t forgotten about every other game in the SEC in Week 9, but as far as offense goes the Auburn-South Carolina game was far and away the best game of the weekend. The Gamecocks’ receivers had their way with the Auburn defense, as four players recorded at least four catches and five players amassed at least 40 yards through the air in the victory. The Gamecocks threw on Auburn time and time again, but the Tigers could never contain South Carolina’s explosive playmakers, including Pharoh Cooper, Shaq Roland, Nick Jones and Jerell Adams. But even more impressive than South Carolina’s top-flight talent was its incredible depth at wideout, as eight different players had a catch of 10 yards or more in a losing effort.

OFFENSIVE LINE — Arkansas: It could be argued Auburn deserves the nod here, but in the interest of showing the rest of the SEC some love the recognition goes to the Razorbacks’ offensive line, which plowed through an overmatched UAB defense in a 45-17 victory Saturday afternoon in Fayetteville. Arkansas ran for 273 yards of 46 carries, an average of just below six yards per carry, and star tailbacks Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins combined to run 33 times for 235 yards and two touchdowns in the win. The Blazers managed to sack quarterback Brandon Allen just one time all game, and Arkansas offensive lineman Sebastian Tretola even set an SEC record as the heaviest player to throw a touchdown pass in the conference’s history. When your offensive linemen are throwing for touchdowns, you know it’s a good day.

DEFENSIVE LINE — Missouri: The Tigers star defensive end tandem of Shane Ray and Markus Golden had its quietest game of the season in a 24-14 victory against Vanderbilt, but the Tigers’ defensive line never missed a beat. Mizzou showed off its incredible depth along the defensive line as players like Matt Hoch and Harold Brantley carried the load in a narrow victory in Columbia. Hoch led the team with six tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, while Brantley added four tackles and a sack, marking the fourth straight game he’s gotten to the opposing quarterback. The Tigers have been among the more inconsistent teams in the SEC this season, but their defensive line has consistently been the best in the conference since Week 1.

LINEBACKERS — LSU: The Bayou Bengals manhandled the Ole Miss offense Saturday night, never allowing the Rebels to establish a rushing attack in a 10-7 LSU victory. After removing one 30 yard run by Cody Core, the Rebels rushed for just 107 yards on 33 carries, an average of just 3.2 yards per attempt for the game. The lack of a rushing attack forced Ole Miss to become one-dimensional on offense, which then allowed LSU to stifle the Rebels offense in a low-scoring game. LSU possessed the ball for 12 minutes longer than Ole Miss did, thanks in large part to the Tigers’ defensive line, which forced Ole Miss off the field following short drives for most of the game.

DEFENSIVE BACKS — Ole Miss: The Rebels lost to LSU, but it certainly wasn’t the defense’s fault. The Rebels defense was on the field for more than half the game thanks to an inept Ole Miss offense, yet for most of the game the Rebs shut down a confident LSU offense in Death Valley. The secondary limited LSU to just eight completions for 142 yards all game, and no LSU player caught more than two passes all game. Senquez Golson registered his eighth interception in eight games this year, and Mike Hilton added an interception of his own in a losing effort. Safety Cody Prewitt forced and recovered a fumble, and four of the Rebels’ top six tacklers were members of the secondary, proving the secondary’s domination Saturday night.