Rarely has the SEC given us a week where the divide was so sharp between the top of the class and the bottom. Time to hand out grades for the week that was, and then honor a few top students for the best work in offense, defense and special teams — as well as calling out those who might need to head to detention in the same areas.

SEC WEST

Alabama: A

There was a thought that the same passing attack that had troubled Alabama for the past three years might trouble the Tide this year. Not so much. Two consecutive weeks of 600+ yards in conference play is pretty impressive.

Auburn: A-

Five hundred yards of offense, pretty evenly split between pass and run, combines with an evening of shutting down Nick Fitzgerald in the passing game to give the Tigers another week near the top of the class.

Texas A&M: B

South Carolina did a good job taking Christian Kirk out of this game, but to A&M’s credit, it played defense (allowed just 23 rushing yards) and ground it out (49 carries for 237 yards). It won’t work against everybody, but it did work this week.

Arkansas: C+

The re-emergence of the Arkansas offense continues. On the other hand, the Razorbacks again allowed over 300 yards passing to a quarterback who isn’t exactly Aaron Rodgers.

Mississippi State:  C-

For a second straight week, State was awful against good competition. The failure of the defense is the most disconcerting. If Nick Fitzgerald has to put up Tecmo Bowl numbers to keep the Bulldogs competitive, that’s an unfair burden.

Ole Miss:  D+

Terrible week for the Rebels, not that it was shocking. Alabama will do that to anybody, although it presumably won’t beat everybody by 63 points.

LSU: F

Sure, Troy is better than most people realize. They lost at Clemson by six last year. But LSU has no business losing at home to Troy. That’s really all there is to it. Even without Derrius Guice, there’s no reason LSU should have been outrushed by Troy.

SEC EAST

Georgia: A

Sure, Tennessee is awful. But beating anybody by 41 points on the road is an accomplishment. A year ago, Tennessee had the Dobbsnail Boot. This year, Georgia just blasted the Vols out of their own stadium.

Florida: A-

Florida managed to score 38 points in a game. Despite the season-ending injury to Luke Del Rio, Florida both passed and ran the ball effectively. The Gators’ defense combined with an actual offense is an imposing possibility.

Kentucky: C

Kentucky won despite racking up just 228 yards of total offense against Eastern Michigan. It was ugly from the very first play from scrimmage, when UK QB Stephen Johnson was sacked and lost the ball. This game was an emotional hangover, but Kentucky better have it out of its system.

South Carolina: C-

Averaging under a yard per carry against a defense that surrendered 43 points to Arkansas and that coughed up a 34-point lead to UCLA doesn’t show good signs for the Gamecocks’ season. This offense is somehow worse than Kentucky’s.

Vanderbilt: C-

This was a disappointing loss for Vandy, simply because Florida gashed their supposedly tough defense both in the air and on the ground. Florida hadn’t managed a sharp offensive performance yet this season, so either the Gators improved a lot this week or Vandy’s defense is struggling.

Tennessee: F

Zero points. Sure, Georgia is good. But zero points. It’s worth noting that the other team that got an F has a coach in his first full season as his school’s head coach. This is Jones’s fifth.

Missouri: Incomplete

This is the week when the worst student just doesn’t come to school.

Hall passes

OFFENSE
Alabama: A mere 365 yards rushing for Alabama this week. Brian Daboll as offensive coordinator is a much better fit for the Tide than Lane Kiffin ever dreamed of being.

Auburn: 511 total yards of offense against Mississippi State was a sharp performance. Integrating an actual passing game with the Kerryon Johnson show was a nice step up.

DEFENSE
Georgia: A shutout on the road in which Tennessee was held to 2.1 yards per carry and passed for just 80 yards in the game? That’s a pretty nice day’s work.

Texas A&M: Holding Carolina down late and giving up just 23 yards rushing for the game were good signs for an A&M defense that got shredded earlier in this season. They’re growing up in a hurry.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Kentucky: A blocked punt and a great job by UK punter Matt Panton were two big factors in a win when UK was outgained by nearly 100 yards.

Georgia: The Bulldogs get credit for a blocked punt of their own.

Detention

OFFENSE
Tennessee: No points. 142 yards. One play of more than 10 yards in the entire game. This was an expulsion type of performance.

Kentucky: They did beat Eastern Michigan, but gained just 228 yards and their offensive line allowed QB Stephen Johnson to get sacked five times and picked up just 1.4 yards per carry on the ground.

DEFENSE
LSU: Troy’s Jordan Chunn rushed for 191 yards at LSU. What else needs to be said?

Vanderbilt: Allowing nearly 500 yards of offense as well as 38 points to Florida is really worst than what Alabama did to Vandy last week.

SPECIAL TEAMS
LSU: Nothing horrible, but a missed field goal always hurts in a three point loss.

South Carolina: Much the same, although their loss was by seven points.