Mississippi State- 24 vs Arkansas- 17
The game ended in stunning fashion. Mississippi State scored in the touchdown in the beginning of the fourth quarter, but the matchup was a stalemate until the end of regulation. The two teams went into overtime and Mississippi State ultimately persevered and came away victorious.
Star running back duo Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams were held out of the first quarter by Arkansas’ head coach Bret Bielema because the two had been late to multiple team activities during the week. Despite that, Williams ran for 59 yards on eight carries and Collins ran for 52 yards on 10 carries.
As usual, Brandon Allen failed to be a competent passer and restricted Arkansas’ offense. He was 10-of-17 for a mediocre 114 yards and one interception.
Luckily for Mississippi State, they were granted competent quarterback play. Tyler Russell passed for over 250 yards, as well as throwing two touchdowns and one interception. It is not ideal, but it is a much better performance than that of their opponent. Russell was supporting well by his running back, but not the one that would have been expected. LaDarius Perkins, the usual feature back, had only six attempts for 32 yards. Sophomore Josh Robinson stole the show as he amassed over 100 yards through only 17 carries.
(11) South Carolina- 70 vs Coastal Carolina- 10
In their blowout victory, South Carolina’s backups took control of the game. Second string quarterback Dylan Thompson threw 11 passes, eight of which were completed for a total of 140 yards. He also threw two touchdowns. Although, the real story was South Carolina’s polarizing running backs. In all, South Carolina totaled 352 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground, one of which touchdowns was a 71 yard burst from Pharoh Cooper.
Quiet NFL draft prospect Matt Hazel of Coastal Carolina had a fairly good outing against an SEC opponent. Hazel caught six passes for 83 yards.
Georgia Southern- 26 vs Florida- 20
The Florida Gators have become the laughing stock of college football. For the first time since 1990, Florida will not be eligible for a bowl game.
Florida started the contest with a 10-0 lead, yet managed to blow it. Not only that, but the loss to Georgia Southern is Florida’s first loss in school history to an FCS school. As if it could not get any worse, Georgia Southern won despite not completing a single pass. They violated the Gators’ front and rushed for 429 yards.
Florida’s offense was pitiful. Skyler Mornhinweg accumulated just over 120 yards passing despite playing against an FCS school.
Kelvin Taylor and the rest of Florida’s rushing committee only racked up 157 yards, which is roughly one third of Georgia Southern’s total.
(1) Alabama- 49 vs Chattanooga- 0
To no surprise, Alabama rolled and their bench saw a lot of playing time. Before leaving, AJ McCarron completed 13 of his 16 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns. Starting running back TJ Yeldon did not see a single carry.
With Yeldon not taking carries, Kenyan Drake and freshman Derrick Henry took the majority of the carries. The two combined for 17 carries that went for 143 yards, as well as each of them rushing for a touchdown.
As expected, Alabama’s defense shut down Chattanooga. They passed for fewer than 100 yards and only accumulated 175 yards total.
(22) LSU- 34 vs (12) Texas A&M- 10
LSU did exactly what they had to in order to win: stop Johnny Manziel. Constant, relentless pressure knocked Manziel off of his game and forced him to complete fewer than half of his passes.
Manziel also passed for the fewest amount of yards in a single game that he has all season, excluding the Rice game where he only played the second half. he threw for only 224 yards and surrendered two interceptions, yet only threw one touchdown.
The ineffectiveness of Manziel’s passing attack also forced A&M to abandon the run because it likely would not have gained as many yards consistently. Excluding Manziel’s carries, A&M running backs had a total of six carries for a miniscule 21 yards.
Despite an 11-of-20 completion rate, Zach Mettenberger was dealing. He he threw two touchdowns without throwing any interceptions. Although, the large lead led to copious amounts of running. In total, LSU had 324 rushing yards and two of their touchdowns came on the ground.
Georgia- 59 vs Kentucky- 17
Just like many of their fellow SEC members, they annihilated their opponent and allowed their backups to see a decent amount of playing time. Hutson Mason, Aaron Murray’s future successor, threw a touchdown pass and ran for a touchdown. Behind Todd Gurley, JJ Green and Brendan Douglas combined for nearly 100 yards on 18 carries, as well as one touchdown each.
Oddly enough, Todd Gurley was more useful in the passing game than as a rushing threat. Gurley had 13 more receiving yards than rushing yards and he had two receiving touchdowns compared to zero rushing yards.
In the mess of the disgusting loss, Kentucky saw a flash of hope. Sophomore running back Dy'shawn Mobley quietly had an impressive performance. On just 10 carries, he racked up 92 yards and a touchdown for Kentucky.
Vanderbilt- 14 vs Tennessee- 10
Vanderbilt let this game run all the way down to the wire. Vanderbilt lost the lead in the third quarter and failed to answer until the game was nearly over. With 16 seconds left, quarterback Patton Robinette ran for a five yard touchdown to put the game away.
Neither team could get much of anything going on offense. Both teams failed to eclipse 300 yards. Each team had turnover issues as well. Vanderbilt turned the ball over four times and Tennessee turned the ball over three times, once on a fake kick.
Freshman quarterback Josh Dobbs of Tennessee is still struggling. Through 19 passes, he only accounted for 53 yards and threw two interceptions. Granted, he is only a freshman, but Tennessee is in desperate need of improved quarterback play.
(8) Missouri- 24 vs (24) Ole Miss- 10
Missouri’s rushing attack was all around brutalizing. They relentlessly pounded the ball right through the heart of Ole Miss’ defense and quarterback James Franklin even made a few plays while scrambling. Henry Josey worked for 95 yards and two touchdowns.
Bo Wallace was once again quite average. He completed just over half of his 42 passes and only accumulated 244 yards. He did not throw a touchdown, but he did throw an interception.
The most impressive player on Ole Miss’ offense was Donte Moncrief. Moncrief hauled in six passes for 115 yards.