SEC Penalty Report: Week 9

Last week, the SEC’s most penalized teams were also the most successful teams of the weekend, making us wonder whether there is any correlation between penalties and winning.

This week, however, order was restored. The SEC’s least penalized teams won big, while its most penalized teams dropped critical games in conference play. The lone team to step outside the conference in Week 9, Arkansas, committed just two penalties for nine yards in a convincing win over UAB. The Razorbacks were tied for the fewest penalties of any SEC team on the weekend, and lost the least amount of penalty yardage of any team in the conference.

Mississippi State also committed just two penalties in a 14-point win over Kentucky, and the Wildcats committed just three penalties as they pushed MSU until the final minutes of the game. Meanwhile, the SEC’s most penalized teams in Week 9 — Ole Miss and Vanderbilt — both lost close games to conference foes, and issues with penalties certainly didn’t make matters better for either team.

For the most part, the entire conference limited penalties on Saturday, as only the Rebels and Commodores committed more than six penalties in a game. Of the 11 SEC teams in action, eight committed five penalties or fewer, and seven teams limited the damage to fewer than 50 penalty yards on Saturday.

Ethan Levine

A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.