So last week, I called out Drew Lock and Jarrett Stidham.

I basically wrote why both have watched their first-round draft stocks take significant hits this season.

Then what happened? They both went out and beat ranked teams. Obviously I’ll take all the credit for firing them up.

In all seriousness, it was a huge week for SEC veterans like Lock, Stidham, Nick Fitzgerald and Jake Bentley. All of them, I’d argue, have disappointed this season. They certainly didn’t disappoint Saturday.

All of them were on the rise in my latest SEC quarterback rankings:

14. Terry Wilson, Kentucky

I’ll say this: When Wilson actually has to throw, he’s been better than I thought he’d be. In obvious throwing situations the past 2 weeks, Wilson was decent. Still, it was clear that if Kentucky couldn’t get Benny Snell rolling against Georgia, that game was all but over. That’s the tough part about Wilson. He’s just not able to stretch the field and hit on many home run plays. Kentucky was in desperate need of a home run play Saturday to keep things close. He might not have been able to lift Kentucky to a division title, but Wilson should still have a chance to put up some big numbers against a favorable schedule to finish 2018.

13. Ty Storey, Arkansas

An off week for Storey hopefully allowed him to get healthy. It might not seem like it, but let’s not forget this is a pretty important 3-week stretch coming up for Storey. He’ll see 3 solid SEC defenses, and Arkansas will likely be double-digit underdogs in each one of them. If he balls out and pulls off a major upset, maybe some of that Kelly Bryant chatter dies down. Maybe. If the guy throws for 300 yards every game and looks like exactly what Chad Morris wants at the position, you just never know. Narratives change in a hurry in this game.

12. Feleipe Trask, Florida

Yeah, we’re combining names again.

That’s because Feleipe Franks was benched for Kyle Trask after a very 2017-like effort. Franks missed open receivers and looked like he had a Georgia hangover. The fact that Dan Mullen benched him mid-game suggests that his patience is wearing thin, and the chances that we see Trask get his first career start are looking better than ever. And obviously part of that was because Trask looked solid.

He’s certainly not the mobile threat that Franks is, but it’ll be interesting to see how Mullen plays this. All signs pointed to him trusting Franks throughout the season even when he had shaky moments early on. After losing a second consecutive division game by 3 scores, that’s definitely in question now.

11. Kyle Shurmur, Vanderbilt

Shurmur does a lot of the things that others on this list don’t. He completes 60 percent of his passes, he doesn’t take a ton of sacks and he rarely throws interceptions. Sure, his numbers would look better if he were throwing to a bunch of 5-star receivers. But we’re still talking about someone who hasn’t completed more than half of his passes in 3 of 5 SEC games, and I still wouldn’t trust him to fuel a comeback effort against even a mediocre defense. Is it possible that I’m underrating Shurmur? Absolutely. We’ll see if he can rise up this list in some favorable matchups to close 2018.

10. Jake Bentley, South Carolina

Nothing will get you right like that Ole Miss defense. Bentley brought it for 4 quarters this time, leading a South Carolina offense to a tie for its highest single-game output in conference play during the Will Muschamp era. Bentley delivered a season-high 363 passing yards and 2 touchdowns on 69 percent accuracy. You’ll take that all day. That performance should have all but killed the notion that Michael Scarnecchia should be starting. And here’s something to consider:

9. Jarrett Guarantano, Tennessee

One offensive touchdown against Charlotte continued a weird trend for Guarantano. He’s been significantly better on the road than he has been at home this year. It’s odd. In 5 home games, Guarantano has just 2 touchdown passes total and an average of 144 yards per game. Keep in mind that 3 of those home games were against the likes of East Tennessee State, UTEP and Charlotte. In his past 3 road games against the likes of Georgia, Auburn and South Carolina, Guarantano has 2 touchdown passes per game, and he’s averaging 226 passing yards. Unfortunately for Guarantano, he has home games against 2 of the SEC’s better defenses coming up and it doesn’t look like that offensive line/running game is getting better anytime soon.

8. Kellen Mond, Texas A&M

I hate to use the “R” word, but Saturday felt like some in-season regression from Mond. I’ve been high on him all year and willing to dismiss the fact that he takes too many sacks and he’s not afraid to take some chances. But man, Saturday’s finish was rough. Not only did Mond throw a costly interception on probably his worst read of the season, but he also couldn’t lead a comeback effort after the Aggies blew a 10-point lead.

Jimbo Fisher certainly wasn’t happy with the decisions Mond made. The numbers certainly aren’t on his side, either. Since that Clemson game, Mond has just one game with multiple passing touchdowns and he hasn’t had a rushing score since September. That’s not exactly midseason form.

7. Nick Fitzgerald, Mississippi State

While it looks like Mond is trending in the wrong direction in the first year with his new offensive-minded coach, Fitzgerald looks like he’s figuring things out in his first (and only) year with a new offensive-minded coach. While it was only Louisiana Tech, remember that was a team that was within a touchdown of LSU in the fourth quarter at Tiger Stadium in September. Fitzgerald has looked like a different quarterback since his meltdown in Baton Rouge. In his past 2 games, Fitzgerald has a total of 679 yards from scrimmage and 8 touchdowns. He’ll get the ultimate barometer game when MSU travels to Alabama this week.

6. Joe Burrow, LSU

So I’ve become a bit of a Burrow apologist. I realize that I find myself pointing out how he keeps facing elite passing defenses. Obviously he faced another one Saturday night, and he and the entire LSU offense struggled. Big time. Not being able to score a point against Alabama certainly didn’t help the belief that Burrow was finally going to put an end to the passing game limitations LSU has had in recent memory.

The fact that he’s only thrown a touchdown pass in 1 of his past 6 games — and it was Ole Miss — is not good. Duh. But with Arkansas, Rice and Texas A&M left, I fully expect Burrow to pad those numbers and for the Tigers to win out en route to a New Year’s 6 Bowl. In the meantime, I’ll keep apologizing.

5. Jarrett Stidham, Auburn

A tip of the cap to Stidham, who ignored the boo birds and led arguably the most impressive comeback of his career. He made clutch throws down the stretch, and he prevented Auburn from suffering more home heartbreak. That’s the measure of a good quarterback. When you can put the ball in his hands to rally a team late and he delivers with big throw after big throw, you’re in good hands.

Regardless of the fact that Auburn’s bye week adjustments consisted of scheming even more gadget plays and somehow less intermediate passes, Stidham found a way to win. That was the guy we were all expecting to see in 2018. With Georgia and Alabama trips coming, it’s a good time for Stidham to have his swagger back.

4. Jordan Ta’amu, Ole Miss

I feel for Ta’amu. If you score 44 points, you should win. Period. Go figure that Ta’amu actually didn’t have a touchdown pass and the Rebels still racked up those kind of numbers. Ta’amu did still fuel that with 445 yards from scrimmage. The rushing ability is a big reason that Ta’amu keeps rising on this list.

Ole Miss has made a concerted effort to have designed runs for him because guess what, he can move. In his first 4 games, Ta’amu had a total of 24 rushing yards. In the 5 games since, he has 338. He’s riding a streak of 4 consecutive games with at least 320 passing yards and 40 rushing yards. Ta’amu is going to run away with the SEC’s yardage lead this year, and he could finish with 4,000 passing yards in a 12-game season.

3. Drew Lock, Mizzou

All I have to say is, it’s about time. That was my reaction to watching Lock finally dice up an elite foe. That was probably also the reaction of Mizzou fans seeing Emanuel Hall on the field for the first time since September. The Tigers’ deep threat obviously makes this offense completely different.

He opens up everything, and if you can’t get pressure on Lock, it’s pitch and catch. On a day when Lock passed Peyton Manning and moved into third on the SEC’s passing touchdown list, he played arguably the best game of his career. The Mizzou senior won’t approach the record-setting touchdowns mark from last year because of how much he struggled without Hall, but talk about a big-time bounce-back week. He’ll be fun to watch with tasty matchups to close the season.

2. Jake Fromm, Georgia

After Fromm delivered the best response of his young career against Florida, he took a back seat to the dominant Georgia running game. Fromm wasn’t his usual efficient self (5.3 yards per attempt), but he did still make some clutch throws in key spots. His first pass of the game was a nice read on a 4-yard ball to Isaac Nauta that prevented the Dawgs from settling for a field goal after getting great field position on a Mecole Hardman punt return. Fromm converted 3-of-4 third-down pass attempts, and he also ran for a first down. You’ll take Fromm completing 70 percent of his passes and not turning the ball over on the road against the nation’s top scoring defense. All day. The question now is how Fromm will match up against an Alabama defense that looks to be hitting its stride.

1. Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama

An interception! A fourth quarter pass! Craziness! History!

Things we haven’t seen from Tagovailoa in 2018 were on full display on Saturday night in Baton Rouge. Did it matter? No. Of course it didn’t. Even in a game in which Alabama failed to hit 39 points for the first time all year, Tagovailoa was still brilliant. Against the top secondary in the country on the road, he had 344 yards from scrimmage, including a career-long 44-yard touchdown run. He’s as mobile as Jalen Hurts, just with a mindset to throw. That’s perhaps the craziest thing about Tagovailoa. His efficiency and accuracy numbers took a hit off their historic pace, but on the year, he’s still averaging a 12.2 yards per attempt with 68 percent accuracy to go with a 27-1 touchdown-interception ratio. Insane.