Week 7 in the SEC might be the biggest one of the year. Saturday’s slate features several pivotal matchups, including Alabama at Texas A&M, Florida at LSU and Ole Miss visiting a 5-0 Memphis team that has won 12 straight games.

Here’s what the league’s coaches had to say about their teams’ respective games this weekend:

Nick Saban, Alabama: “They score a lot of points and make a lot of big plays,” Saban said. “This is certainly going to be a challenge for our defense. Tough game on the road. Our players have to focus on what we need to do to execute and do our job well.”

Gus Malzahn, Auburn: “We’re at our best when we’re playing fast, when we’re getting rhythm and tempo,” Malzahn said. “Rhythm and tempo (was) a big factor in our off week, and explosive plays. We have to get more explosive plays. That’s been probably the biggest issue that we’ve had as far as getting in rhythm, as far as getting points on the board. We’ve got that plan during the off week, personnel-wise and everything that goes with that. So hopefully that will carry over Thursday night (when Auburn visits Kentucky).”

Jim McElwain, Florida: “We were putting things in for him as we kind of go,” McElwain said, referring to new starting QB Treon Harris. “Going into this, I felt that we’ve had two really good quarterbacks. Now it’s Treon’s opportunity to take the reins and run with it. He’ll do a great job. … Obviously he has a different skill set. He can do some things with his feet that are different.”

Mark Richt, Georgia: “We weren’t having a lot of missed assignment problems, but this last ballgame, we had more than most,” said Richt, whose Bulldogs lost to Tennessee, 38-31, last week and play host to Missouri on Saturday. “So we’ve got to look at ourselves and say, ‘Are we giving them too much?’ And if we are, we need to make sure that we reduce — when you reduce learning, you usually increase the ability to play fast. The more certain a guy is of what he’s supposed to do in all situations, the faster he can play. And that’s what you’ve got to do. You’ve got to react fast.”

Mark Stoops, Kentucky: “They’re tough runners,” Stoops said about Auburn’s ball carriers. “They’re going to be physical. This offense across the board, every year it starts with a mentality of them being physical, and their backs are good runners.
Les Miles, LSU: “I assume they will still have a very capable guy,” Miles said of Florida’s quarterback situation. “I would expect that their core plays will be the same. That will not change. We will prepare in the same way. They will just have a different quarterback doing things now.”
Hugh Freeze, Mississippi: “It’s a quality, quality football team and they’re playing with great confidence,” Freeze said of Memphis, Ole Miss’ opponent on Saturday. “And they have what a lot of us desire in a really sound, good quarterback (Paxton Lynch). He’s one of the better ones I’ve seen on film.”

Dan Mullen, Mississippi State: “It helps with familiarity,” Mullen said, referring indirectly to current Bulldogs defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, who served in the same role last season for Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State’s opponent on Saturday. If there is something out of the norm, it’s not bad to know why they are doing it or what they are trying to accomplish in that,” Mullen said. “That’s why we study the film. Hopefully by the time the game hits there are no secrets out there.”

Gary Pinkel, Missouri: Obviously our players know that Georgia has been historically very, very good, consistently good, Pinkel said. “I think, right from the beginning, they understood that they’re one of the best all the time. I think that lends itself to that a little bit. It’s just such a great league and such a great division that everybody’s difficult to play. That’s why you’ve got to play your best and win games in the fourth quarter.”

Steve Spurrier, South Carolina: “I’m responsible. I’m the head coach,” Spurrier said of the Gamecocks’ 2-4 start, which led the Head Ball Coach to resign earlier this week. “It’s time for me to get out of the way and let somebody else have a go at it.” Interim coach Shawn Elliott will lead South Carolina when it plays host to Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M: “I’m not being smart here, but as you win every week, this game becomes the biggest game,” Sumlin said. “This game is a big game because we’re 5-0, and it’s Alabama, and we’re both top-10 teams, and we’re both trying to win the division championship and get to Atlanta … Is it a benchmark (game)? It’s a benchmark in the SEC every week.”
Derek Mason, Vanderbilt: “For us, the dynamics of that game don’t change a whole lot,” Mason said. “… This group is so young that they don’t really know the difference between what’s happening over there and what’s happening here on our practice field. … It’s a normal game for us.”