Following a week which saw four postponements due to COVID-19, nearly every SEC team was back in action Saturday. It was a particularly busy night in the conference with three night SEC contests, including an all-Bulldogs affair in Athens.
Consider this your weekly need-to-know on all things SEC. Just served up for the appetite of the discriminating Georgia reader.
This Week’s Scores
No. 1 Alabama 63, Kentucky 3 No. 6 Florida 38, Vanderbilt 17 LSU 27, Arkansas 24 No. 23 Auburn 30, Tennessee 17 Missouri 17, South Carolina 10
What does all of that mean for Georgia? Here is all of what DawgNation needs to know:
Next Game’s Opponent: South Carolina (2-6)
How they fared: While the defense played much better in its first game since firing Will Muschamp, South Carolina still lost its fourth straight, falling to Missouri, 17-10.
What SC did well: After giving up 40 points in each of the last three games, the Gamecocks played much better defensively. They held the Tigers to 301 yards, including 98 yards on the ground and 2.9 yards per carry.
What SC did not do well: The inconsistency of the Gamecocks offense continued Saturday. South Carolina punted seven times, threw an interception and had a turnover on downs. The Gamecocks didn’t reach the end zone until about the 5-minute mark of the fourth quarter.
The big stat lines: With a struggling offense, there weren’t any big stat lines for the Gamecocks. Wide receiver Nick Muse led the team in yards from scrimmage with 67 receiving yards on six receptions.
DawgNation Outlook: Georgia has struggled against the pass in three of the last four games. The inconsistent Gamecocks quarterbacks might be a great medicine.
Week 11 opponent Vanderbilt (0-7)
How they fared: The Commodores played hard and even led after the first quarter, but they didn’t do much to slow down Kyle Trask and eventually fell to the Gators, 38-17.
What Vanderbilt did well: Quarterback Ken Seals had one of his best games of the season, throwing for 319 yards and two touchdowns. This was the second time this season he passed for 300 yards and multiple scores.
What Vanderbilt did not do well: The Commodores defense couldn’t slow down the Gators passing attack, and they were unable to control the clock with the running game. Vanderbilt rushed for only 87 yards while averaging 2.6 yards per carry. They allowed Florida to throw for 413 passing yards and 11.3 yards per attempt.
The big stat lines: Senior wide receiver Chris Pierce Jr. has reached the end zone four weeks in a row, and on Sunday, he scored twice with 97 receiving yards on four catches. Seals averaged 9.4 yards per pass.
DawgNation Outlook: Assuming JT Daniels remains the starting quarterback, similar to Saturday against Mississippi State, he will have the opportunity to ease his way into SEC competition versus the below average Vanderbilt pass defense.
Previous Schedule:
Arkansas (Week 1 win): The Razorbacks averaged about 14.0 yards per play on first down but behind an offense that went 0-for-10 on third down, Arkansas lost a close one at home to LSU, 27-24.
Auburn (Week 2 win): After trailing by 10 early, the Tigers scored 30 of the final 37 points of the night to defeat the Volunteers, 30-17. Smoke Monday returned an interception 100 yards to the end zone for Auburn.
Tennessee (Week 3 win): The Volunteers have lost five straight by double digits for the first time in program history. Is this bottom for Rocky Top?
Alabama (Week 4 loss): The only drama in the second half against Kentucky was whether the Wildcats would reach the end zone. They didn’t, as the Crimson Tide routed the Wildcats, 63-3.
Kentucky (Week 6 win): Kentucky allowed 5.7 yards per rush and almost 11.0 yards per pass while only posting 179 offensive yards in a 60-point defeat against Alabama.
Florida (Week 7 loss): After a sluggish start, the Gators passing attack exploded in the second half. The offense posted 586 yards against the winless Commodores in a 38-17 win.
Missouri (Week 8 postponement): The Tigers jumped out to a 17-point lead in the first half and despite zero second-half points, they held on to defeat the Gamecocks, 17-10.
The Rest of the SEC:
TEXAS A&M: The Aggies were on a bye because of a COVID-19 postponement.
LSU: The Tigers running game rebounded with 148 rushing yards to control the clock for nearly 42 minutes, and the defense held the Razorbacks to zero third-down conversions in a 27-24 win.
OLE MISS: The Aggies were on a bye because of a COVID-19 postponement.
