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Turnover scoreboard: Despite miscues against Vanderbilt, Florida still shows the way
By Randy Capps
Published:
Before Florida’s home date with Vanderbilt last weekend, the Gators had a commanding lead in the SEC’s turnover stats. After coughing up three fumbles and an interception in a 9-7 victory, that lead is now much smaller.
Florida still has a conference-best turnover margin of +9, which is slightly better than LSU’s -7.
Vanderbilt’s effort against Florida improved its turnover margin to -7, but the Commodores still reside at the bottom of the league standings. Ole Miss and Kentucky are only slightly better at -4.
The Gators are 1st in forced turnovers with 19, one better than Alabama’s 18. Ole Miss is 3rd with 17 takeaways.
While those teams specialize in taking the ball away, LSU excels at keeping it. The Tigers have just three turnovers all season, four better than the next-lowest mark (Arkansas).
Here’s a look at the SEC’s turnover scoreboard through Week 10:
| Rank | School | Turn. Margin | Fum. Rec. | Int. | Total Lost |
| 1 | Florida | 9 | 8 | 11 | 10 |
| 2 | LSU | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 |
| 3 | Auburn | 5 | 4 | 11 | 10 |
| 4 | Arkansas | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 |
| 5 | Alabama | 3 | 5 | 13 | 15 |
| 5 | South Carolina | 3 | 5 | 10 | 12 |
| 7 | Missouri | 1 | 5 | 8 | 12 |
| 7 | Tennessee | 1 | 6 | 6 | 11 |
| 7 | Mississippi State | 1 | 1 | 10 | 10 |
| 10 | Texas A&M | -1 | 7 | 8 | 16 |
| 11 | Georgia | -2 | 6 | 8 | 16 |
| 12 | Mississippi | -4 | 5 | 12 | 21 |
| 12 | Kentucky | -4 | 6 | 6 | 16 |
| 14 | Vanderbilt | -7 | 10 | 4 | 21 |
Recovering three fumbles in one game does wonders for a team’s standing in the fumble charts as Vanderbilt vaults to the top of the rankings. The Commodores now have an SEC-high 10 recoveries on the season and are getting them at a league-best rate of 52.6 percent.
Florida and Texas A&M are close behind with eight and seven recoveries, respectively. Only Vanderbilt, Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas are recovering fumbles at a rate of at least 50 percent. Those teams, along with Kentucky, are also the only SEC schools above the national average for recovery percentage of 45.8 percent.
Mississippi State anchors the bottom of the chart with one fumble recovery in eight chances. LSU has three recoveries, while Arkansas and Auburn each have four.
Here’s a look at the fumble scoreboard through 10 weeks, 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. | Rec. % |
| 1 | Vanderbilt | 10 | 7 | 19 | 52.6 |
| 2 | Florida | 8 | 6 | 16 | 50 |
| 3 | Texas A&M | 7 | 5 | 17 | 41.2 |
| 4 | Georgia | 6 | 8 | 15 | 40 |
| 4 | Kentucky | 6 | 3 | 13 | 46.1 |
| 4 | Tennessee | 6 | 7 | 12 | 50 |
| 7 | Mississippi | 5 | 8 | 17 | 29.4 |
| 7 | South Carolina | 5 | 3 | 16 | 31.3 |
| 7 | Missouri | 5 | 3 | 12 | 41.7 |
| 7 | Alabama | 5 | 6 | 12 | 41.7 |
| 11 | Auburn | 4 | 2 | 15 | 26.7 |
| 11 | Arkansas | 4 | 2 | 8 | 50 |
| 13 | LSU | 3 | 2 | 12 | 25 |
| 14 | Mississippi State | 1 | 9 | 8 | 12.5 |
Randy Capps is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, South Carolina and Georgia.
