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Turnover scoreboard: Florida dominating in turnover margin, Vandy not so much
By Randy Capps
Published:
Florida’s defense has been a big story so far this season, and that unit wrote another chapter in an emphatic 27-3 win over Georgia on Halloween.
The Gators forced 5 turnovers in last week’s win, giving them a league-high 19 takeaways and padding their margin atop the SEC’s turnover margin standings. Florida’s +13 turnover margin is 2nd in the nation, ranking only behind unbeaten Houston at +15.
LSU enjoyed a bye week in preparation for its clash with Alabama this weekend (8 p.m. ET, CBS), and thus retains its 2nd spot with a +7 margin. While Florida does it with takeaways, LSU does it with ball control. The Tigers have only two giveaways all season, which ties them with Florida State for the fewest in the country.
Vanderbilt continues to anchor the bottom of the table, as it had 4 turnovers in a 34-0 loss to Houston. The Commodores are last in turnover margin at -11. Only seven FBS schools have a worse turnover margin this season.
They are also tied for the league high in giveaways with 21, a dubious distinction that Ole Miss shares.
However, the Rebels have forced 17 turnovers, keeping their turnover margin at a more manageable -4.
Here’s a look at the SEC’s turnover scoreboard through Week 9:
| Rank | School | Turn. Margin | Fum. Rec. | Int. | Total Lost |
| 1 | Florida | 13 | 8 | 11 | 6 |
| 2 | LSU | 7 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| 3 | Arkansas | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 |
| 4 | Alabama | 3 | 5 | 12 | 14 |
| 4 | Tennessee | 3 | 5 | 6 | 8 |
| 6 | Texas A&M | 2 | 7 | 8 | 13 |
| 6 | Auburn | 2 | 4 | 8 | 10 |
| 8 | South Carolina | 1 | 3 | 9 | 11 |
| 8 | Missouri | 1 | 3 | 8 | 10 |
| 8 | Mississippi State | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 |
| 11 | Georgia | -3 | 5 | 6 | 14 |
| 11 | Kentucky | -3 | 4 | 6 | 13 |
| 13 | Mississippi | -4 | 5 | 12 | 21 |
| 14 | Vanderbilt | -11 | 7 | 3 | 21 |
The Gators stand alone atop the fumble recovery chart as well with 8, and they’re recovering them at a league-best rate of 53.3 percent.
Texas A&M and Vanderbilt each have 7 recoveries on the season with both schools recovering those fumbles at the same 43.8 percent clip.
On the other end of the spectrum, Mississippi State has only 1 fumble recovery in seven chances this season — both league lows.
Only Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas are recovering fumbles at a rate better than the national average of 45.8 percent. That figure is only slightly below the average for SEC schools last season (46 percent), so it figures that the recovery percentages should still climb a bit before season’s end.
Here’s a look at the fumble scoreboard through Week 9, 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 | School | Fum. Rec. | Fumbles | Opp. Fum. | Fum. Rec. % |
| 1 | Florida | 8 | 3 | 15 | 53.33 |
| 2 | Texas A&M | 7 | 5 | 16 | 43.75 |
| 2 | Vanderbilt | 7 | 7 | 16 | 43.75 |
| 4 | Georgia | 5 | 6 | 14 | 35.71 |
| 4 | Mississippi | 5 | 8 | 14 | 35.71 |
| 4 | Alabama | 5 | 5 | 12 | 41.67 |
| 4 | Tennessee | 5 | 5 | 10 | 50 |
| 8 | Auburn | 4 | 2 | 15 | 26.67 |
| 8 | Kentucky | 4 | 2 | 10 | 40 |
| 8 | Arkansas | 4 | 2 | 8 | 50 |
| 11 | South Carolina | 3 | 2 | 13 | 23.08 |
| 11 | Missouri | 3 | 3 | 9 | 33.33 |
| 13 | LSU | 2 | 2 | 10 | 20 |
| 14 | Mississippi State | 1 | 7 | 7 | 14.29 |
Randy Capps is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, South Carolina and Georgia.
