Statistics can be misleading at times, but generally speaking, teams that have a positive turnover margin also have a winning record.

Ole Miss is proof positive of that in the early stages of 2015.

The Rebels are off to a 3-0 start and have a plus-6 turnover margin in those games. Last week, Ole Miss knocked off Alabama, 43-37, for its first win in Tuscaloosa since 1988 — and the first back-to-back wins over the Crimson Tide in school history.

How did it happen? Chad Kelly and the Ole Miss offense took care of the football, and Alabama’s offense didn’t. Five Alabama turnovers led directly to 24 Rebel points, while Ole Miss played a turnover-free game.

On the other side of the ledger, Vanderbilt’s margin is an SEC-worst minus-7, and those miscues have been a factor in its 1-2 start.

Of course, turnover margin isn’t a perfect indicator of success — and certainly not after just three weeks.

South Carolina is tied for third in the league at plus-3 despite its 1-2 record. The Gamecocks’ issues, it seem, run deeper than the turnover battle.

Here’s a look at the SEC’s turnover scoreboard through Week 3:

Rank Name Turn. Margin Fum. Rec. Int. Total Lost
1 Mississippi 6 3 7 4
2 Tennessee 5 3 3 1
3 South Carolina 3 1 4 2
3 Georgia 3 0 5 2
5 LSU 2 1 1 0
5 Kentucky 2 2 4 4
5 Florida 2 2 4 4
5 Arkansas 2 2 3 3
9 Missouri 0 2 4 6
10 Alabama -2 3 2 7
10 Texas A&M -2 2 2 6
10 Mississippi State -2 0 2 4
13 Auburn -5 1 2 8
14 Vanderbilt -7 1 0 8

The Rebels lead the SEC in a few statistical categories through three weeks, and they share the league lead in fumble recoveries (3) with Tennessee and Alabama.

Meanwhile, Georgia and Mississippi State are the only two teams that have yet to recover a fumble this season. MSU has had only one chance to do so, while Georgia is tied for the league-high with seven forced fumbles.

Odds are, some of those loose balls are going to start bouncing Georgia’s way at some point.

Alabama (75 percent) and Florida (66.7 percent) are the only teams in the SEC that are recovering opponent fumbles at a rate higher than 50 percent.

As a comparison, Ole Miss and LSU shared the SEC lead with a 55.6 percent recovery rate last season.

Here’s a look at the fumble scoreboard through three weeks, indicating a team’s fumble recoveries, its own fumbles, its opponents’ fumbles and the rate for recovering those opponent fumbles so far this season:

Rank Name Fumbles Rec. Fumbles Opp. Fum. Rec. %
1 Mississippi 3 2 7 42.86
1 Tennessee 3 0 6 50
1 Alabama 3 2 4 75
4 Texas A&M 2 3 6 33.33
4 Missouri 2 1 6 33.33
4 Arkansas 2 1 4 50
4 Kentucky 2 0 4 50
4 Florida 2 2 3 66.67
9 Auburn 1 2 7 14.29
9 Vanderbilt 1 2 6 16.67
9 South Carolina 1 0 5 20
9 LSU 1 0 2 50
13 Georgia 0 2 7 0
13 Mississippi State 0 4 1 0