State of the SEC – Week 9

LSU was able to pull off the upset at home over No. 3 Ole Miss, making the SEC West even tougher to predict. PHOTO: Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports

Going into Week 9 of the college football season, the slate of  SEC games didn’t look like a particularly exciting one. Most of the games looked as though they might be watchable, but most looked like sure things.

What we were given was one of the more exciting weekends so far in the SEC.

All five games that pitted SEC teams against each other were within 14 points, including a thrilling finish to the Ole Miss-LSU game.

Let us begin with the updated SEC standings after this weekend’s games:

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We’ll start with the only true upset of the weekend. In Death Valley, the No. 24 LSU Tigers took on No. 3 Ole Miss and made enough mistakes in the first half to be behind by a decided margin. The Tigers only trailed 7-3 at the half, however, and their defense continued to stand tall in the 2nd half.

LSU scored with 5:07 left to play, and Ole Miss had the last possession and looked to be in business to possibly tie the game with 9 seconds left, but a delay of game penalty pushed back what would have been a 43-yard field goal attempt to 48 yards, and instead of trying for a long field goal, Hugh Freeze opted to try and win the game.

Quarterback Bo Wallace went on to throw his first interception of the SEC season at the 1-yard line, and LSU prevailed 10-7. The victory came less than 24 hours after LSU head coach Les Miles’s mother, Martha, passed away at the age of 91.

The Tigers desperately needed the victory Saturday to stay relevant in the SEC West, because the rest of the teams ahead of them found ways to win as well.

No. 1 Mississippi State held off a determined Kentucky team on their way to a 45-31 win in Lexington. Mississippi State rode the legs of running back Josh Robinson, who rushed for a career-high 198 yards and two scores, continuously bouncing off defenders and ripping off big plays.

The Wildcats had cut the lead to 7 after QB Patrick Towles ran in a touchdown from 4 yards out to make it 38-31 late in the 4th quarter. But Kentucky botched the ensuing onside kick, and Mississippi State’s Christian Holmes returned the ball 61 yards for the decisive score.

Towles has surprised everyone this season with his superb play at quarterback for the Wildcats, as he threw for 390 yards and ran for another 76 against the Bulldogs, amassing 466 yards of total offense and 4 TD’s. But Mississippi State was able to remain undefeated and continue the West’s dominance over the East.

Alabama and Auburn both were both given tougher tests than they expected Saturday, but both were able to win and remain two of the top one-loss teams in the country.

Alabama raced out to a 27-0 not even 18 minutes into the game, but the Vols were able to rally behind third-string QB Joshua Dobbs, and they cut the lead to 27-17 midway through the 3rd quarter.

The Crimson Tide, however, were resilient enough to win, and used an 11-play drive that lasted 7:13 in the 4th quarter that may ended with a fumble at the Tennessee 1, but it drained off so much clock that the Vols’ hopes of a comeback victory were all but dashed when they recovered the ball.

Alabama was propelled by wide receiver Amari Cooper’s record-setting night, as he hauled in 9 catches for a school-record 224 yards and 2 scores. He had 185 yards by the end of the 1st quarter, and he took Alabama’s opening play 80 yards for the first score of the game.

Auburn was able to out-gun a desperate South Carolina team that converted 5-of-6 fourth down attempts and threw for 416 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Unfortunately for the Gamecocks, they also threw 3 interceptions, and they allowed 395 rushing yards, including the go-ahead 9-yard rushing score by Tiger QB Nick Marshall with 11:22 left to play. Auburn would hang on in a back and forth game to win 42-35, handing South Carolina its 3rd consecutive SEC loss for the first time since 2009.

In a surprising turn of events, Vanderbilt looked competitive against a team not in the FCS or lower portion of the FBS. The Commodores were able to hang with Missouri despite only rushing for 44 total yards in the game, but the Tigers held off Vandy 24-14 thanks to a 25-yard TD catch by Bud Sasser with 2:05 left in the game.

Missouri’s Maty Mauk had another inefficient day as a passer, completing only 11-of-23 passes for 141 yards. He did toss 2 TD’s, however, and he added 58 rushing yards to the Tigers’ total of 244 for the game. The loss keeps Vanderbilt winless in the SEC and one loss away from being eliminated from bowl contention.

Arkansas was able to take out their SEC frustrations against UAB, as they were even able to have 350-pound offensive lineman Sebastian Tretola throw a TD pass to long snapper Alan D’Appollonio on a 4th down trick play in the 2nd quarter. The Razorbacks rolled the Blazers 45-17.

Georgia, Florida, and Texas A&M all had bye weeks this week.

Analysis

Aside from the Ole Miss upset, things pretty much stood pat in the SEC this weekend. LSU’s victory put them firmly back in the talk for the West title, but they have a match-up with Alabama looming this upcoming weekend.

The number of teams in the SEC in the AP top 25 stayed the same, but several of the teams moved their positioning after this weekend’s games. Here are the 6 teams in the AP to 25:

1. Mississippi State

3. Alabama

4. Auburn

7. Ole Miss

9. Georgia

16. LSU

Even with Ole Miss falling out of the top 5, the SEC still has 3 teams in the top 5 and 5 in the top 10. Missouri also received votes in the poll.

Missouri may not always look impressive in their games, but they stand at 3-1 in the SEC so far, and they are right behind Georgia at 4-1 in the SEC East. The Bulldogs own a head-to-head victory over the Tigers, and they might be getting All-SEC running back Todd Gurley back soon as well. Georgia is still the favorite in the East.

The West is still anyone’s game, including two-loss LSU. Mississippi State is the only undefeated SEC team remaining, but they’re tests are far from over. They still have games against Arkansas, Alabama, and Ole Miss remaining.

There will be something to watch later this week too. The first College Football Playoff Selection Committee poll will be revealed on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see if the SEC has 2 teams in the top 4 in the first poll.