Ole Miss- 51 vs Troy- 21
Ole Miss took a dominating lead early on and dominated in every aspect of the game, as they should have. Bo Wallace took advantage of Troy’s subpar defense and dismantled them with both his arm and his legs. His trio of touchdowns through the air along with his one rushing touchdown would have been enough to beat Troy even if Ole Miss had not scored any other touchdowns. Although, they did score more touchdowns as Barry Brunetti came in to relieve Bo Wallace and threw a touchdown. Along with Brunetti’s touchdown, Jaylen Walton and Mark Dodson found their way into the end zone as well.
Bo Wallace and company were supported well by their defense. Troy attempted to run the ball 22 times, but ended the game with negative 13 yards. While they also surrendered over 300 passing yards, Ole Miss did not allow a touchdown pass, but they recorded an interception.
Vanderbilt- 22 vs Kentucky- 6
To some degree, Vanderbilt’s offense was rather unimpressive. Their one passing touchdown came in the end of the fourth quarter in “garbage time” from their backup quarterback, Patton Robinette.
The rushing attack as a whole could only muster up 116 yards through their 37 carries; good for 3.1 yards per carry.
The only shining piece of Vanderbilt’s offense was Jordan Matthews, who caught twelve passes for 141 yards, which was roughly three-fourths of Vanderbilt’s receiving yards.
Fortunately, Vanderbilt’s defense was a turnover factory. Jalen Whitlow was forced into throwing four interceptions and only completed half of his 28 passes. In Kentucky’s defense, they were able to run the ball more effectively than Vanderbilt.
Whitlow and Raymond Sanders combined for 129 yards on 31 carries; good for just over four yards per carry.
(7) Auburn- 43 vs (25) Georgia- 38
Games such as this are prime examples of why people love college football. Until the fourth quarter, Auburn had a safe lead over Georgia at 34-17, but Georgia refused to go down without a respectable fight.
Following an Auburn field goal, Georgia scored three straight touchdowns to take a 38-37 lead. Auburn’s season was now at risk and its fate was to be decided by one final drive.
In a last ditch effort, Nick Marshall of Auburn took a shot down the field. It appeared as if it would be easily batted down, but Georgia’s Josh Harvey-Clemons tipped the ball up and into the hands of Auburn receiver Ricardo Louis and he trotted into the end zone for the game winning touchdown.
Auburn’s difference maker was Nick Marshall. He threw for 230 yards, ran for 89 yards, and had three total touchdowns. Not only that, but his mistakes were seldom and he did not throw an interception. Georgia’s Aaron Murray was crucial in his team’s efforts as well. Murray passed for over 400 yards and had four touchdowns, two rushing and two passing. Unlike Nick Marshall, Murray did have an interception.
(10) South Carolina- 19 vs Florida- 14
It was expected by most that Florida would be dominated by the tenth ranked team in the nation, but at the half, Florida reigned supreme with a 14-6 lead. Unfortunately for Florida, a spark was lit within the South Carolina locker room. South Carolina ended the game on a 13-0 scoring run. Ultimately, Florida’s downfall was their inability to pass the ball. Redshirt freshman Skyler Mornhinweg struggled in his first start and was restricted from passing until later in the game when it became necessary. He barely surpassed 100 yards, as well as having zero touchdowns and an interception. Kelvin Taylor was keeping Florida’s offense alive. Despite interior offensive line struggles, Taylor ran for 96 yards and two touchdowns- Florida’s only two touchdowns.
For South Carolina, Shon Carson ended up being their saving grace. Mike Davis had been struggling with injury issues all game long, so Carson was forced to take more carries. Through a miniscule 13 carries, Carson surpassed 100 yards rushing.
(1) Alabama- 20 vs Mississippi State- 7
Surprisingly, Alabama did not dominate the struggling Mississippi State team. The matchup turned into a stereotypical SEC stalemate that allowed for little offensive success. Alabama’s AJ McCarron’s two touchdown passes were accompanied by a pair of interceptions and he did not surpass 200 yards passing. TJ Yeldon was Alabama’s cornerstone on offense as he rushed for 160 yards.
Mississippi State’s offense was even more abysmal. Tyler Russell passed for just under 150 yards, but threw an interception that he did not counter with a touchdown pass. As a collective corps, Mississippi State’s rushing attack accounted for 53 of the team’s yards, but did so on nearly 30 carries.