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Saturday wasn’t about a showdown in the SEC West.
The big game was the Georgia-Tennessee matchup in the East Division.
It was about non-conference mismatches (Arkansas over Alcorn State, Auburn over Louisiana-Monroe, Ole Miss over Memphis) and conference mismatches (Alabama over Kentucky).
And it was about one team staying relevant. LSU’s impressive 42-7 rout of Missouri showed that the Bayou Bengals will not fold their tent after the firing of Les Miles following last week’s loss at Auburn. These Tigers look like they have an offense to go with the defense.
How much offense? Try 634 yards, the most LSU has ever amassed in an SEC game.
So welcome back to the SEC West race, LSU. We miss Miles, but at least we still have his former team.
Alabama: One of the most amazing statistics of the college football season so far is that Alabama has scored at least one non-offensive touchdown in its last seven games and has scored seven this season. That’s as many total touchdowns as South Carolina has scored all season. In a 34-6 win over Kentucky, a 55-yard Ronnie Harrison fumble return kept the streak going. This Crimson Tide team has so many ways it can beat teams, whether it’s with Jalen Hurts (262 yards passing), Calvin Ridley (174 yards receiving) or its plethora of running backs (Joshua Jacobs rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown).
Arkansas: It’s hard to learn much from a one-sided win over a middling FCS team, but Arkansas fans have good reason to enjoy the win. The week after a tough loss to Texas A&M, there was no hangover for the Razorbacks, who jumped to a 24-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. It’s hard to take much from any single statistical aspect of the game, but that the Razorbacks were dialed in from the opening gun bodes well as nothing remains in front of No. 20 Arkansas except SEC games.
Auburn: The expected rout came in Auburn’s 58-7 win over Louisiana-Monroe, but what’s impressive for the Tigers is the continued progress of quarterback Sean White, who was 14-for-17 for 239 yards and 2 touchdowns. This came after a 19-or-26, 234-yard outing in Auburn’s 18-13 upset of LSU. With an efficient White and a fast-improving defense, Gus Malzahn may have a formula that can save the season for 3-2 Auburn and his job.
LSU: Maybe a little bit lost in the offensive glow of LSU’s 42-7 win over Missouri was the fact that Dave Aranda’s defense played perhaps its best game of the season as well, holding Missouri to 265 yards after Mizzou entered the game leading the SEC in total yards (albeit, against a schedule front-loaded with non-conference rent-a-wins). With cornerback Kevin Toliver back in the starting lineup after missing the Auburn game with an injury, the LSU pass defense was suffocatingly good, rarely allowing MU quarterback Drew Lock to have an open receiver.
Ole Miss: In a 48-28 win over Memphis, the Rebels’ offense proved to be more than just the arm of Chad Kelly as the team rushed for 263 yards with both Eugene Brazley, and Akeem Judd broke the 100-yard mark. That had been a weak spot for the Rebels, who were 13th in the SEC in rushing at 130.7 yards per game on the ground, and while it would be naive to think that a performance against Memphis will translate to the heart of the SEC schedule, it’s a welcomed balance for an offense that usually leans too much on Kelly.
Texas A&M: The 5-0 Aggies didn’t have a great passing day from Trevor Knight and didn’t have pass-rushing star Myles Garrett, but the Aggies were still good enough to gut out a 24-13 road win at South Carolina. Sure, the Gamecocks are one of the more anemic offenses in the SEC, but it was a pretty resilient effort by the ninth-ranked Aggies (5-0) considering they were on the road. Now, the next two games are against No. 11 Tennessee and No. 1 Alabama, the two current favorites to win their respective divisions. The layman summary of the Aggies so far has been that their offense has been saved by Knight, and the defense is all about Garrett. The win on Saturday proved they are more than that.
