(12) South Carolina- 28 vs Central Florida- 25
Blake Bortles and company came only a field goal away from taking down their SEC opponent, despite taking an early 10-0 lead and South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw going down with a shoulder injury. Shaw’s backup Dylan Thompson, while only throwing 15-of-32 for 261 yards, zero touchdowns, and one interception, was able game manage well enough to secure the win. The real difference maker was Mike Davis of South Carolina. On his 26 attempts, Davis slashed through the UCF defense for 167 yards and three touchdowns. His efforts toward the win were almost nullified by Blake Bortles of UCF, who kept the game much closer than it should have been. Bortles’ 358 passing yards and pair of touchdowns, both in the fourth quarter, were impressive, but his two interceptions were his downfall. Both interceptions were thrown while UCF was in South Carolina territory.
Tennessee- 31 vs South Alabama- 24
Shortly after the half, Tennessee’s Rajion Neal scored a rushing touchdown to take a 31-7 lead for the Volunteers and the game seemed like it was already over, but South Alabama had other plans. South Alabama ended the game with a 17 point streak that still fell short of victory, but nonetheless, their efforts made for an unexpectedly interesting game. Tennessee’s Jason Worley completely fell apart after his two touchdown passes in the first quarter. After that, he threw three interceptions without throwing any more touchdowns. Luckily for him, his running backs had an unbelievable cooperative performance. Rajion Neal, who had 25 of the combined 30 carries, and Marlon Lane worked together to rush for 235 yards and two touchdowns, one for each.
(9) Georgia- 44 vs (6) LSU- 41
This SEC showdown was ironically much more impressive from an offensive standpoint than a defensive one. LSU’s Zach Mettenberger threw for 372 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions, while Georgia’s Aaron Murray threw for 298 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. On the ground, LSU’s Jeremy Hill rushed for 86 yards and scored once. Georgia’s duo of Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall combined for 169 yards through 28 total carries. The single most impressive performance was from LSU’s Jarvis Landry as he caught 10 passes for 156 yards and one touchdown. Despite LSU’s incredible performances, Mettenberger failed to connect with his receiver on their potential game winning drive.
(1) Alabama- 25 vs (21) Ole Miss- 0
An Alabama victory was expected, but a shutout was not. Ole Miss’ Bo Wallace failed to run a respectable offense as he threw 17-of-31 for only 159 yards. To be fair, Jeff Scott’s 28 yards on a miniscule eight carries was of no help. Alabama, on the other hand, had immense offensive success, especially when running the ball. TJ Yeldon and Kenyan Drake collectively rushed 29 times for 220 yards and two touchdown, one from each of them. Their efforts allowed AJ McCarron to play comfortably in his game manager role, but he still threw an interception without any touchdowns.
(10) Texas A&M- 45 vs Arkansas- 33
Unlike any other week, Johnny Manziel dominated his opponent. In terms of passing, he was 23-of-30 with 261 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Not only that, but he also ran for 59 yards on nine carries to bring his yardage total for that game to 320. Although, Manziel was not the only player with an impressive rushing performance. A&M’s leading rushers, Trey Williams and Tra Carson, totaled 18 carries 147 yards. Trey Williams also scored once and Ben Malena scored twice via rushing. From Arkansas, Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams came together to smash through Texas A&M’s defense for 169 yards and one touchdown. They were aided by Brandon Allen’s 282 passing yards and three touchdowns, but his two interceptions and sub 50% of completion tarnished his record for the day.
(20) Florida- 24 vs Kentucky- 7
Tyler Murphy played perfectly to the role of game manager that the Gators have so desperately needed since the departure of Tim Tebow. Murphy was 15-of-18, had 192 total yards, and two total touchdowns. Although, he did throw an interception. Matt Jones was the backbone of Florida’s offense as he ran for 176 yards as well as a touchdown. Kentucky’s two active quarterbacks combined for 17-of-26, but only managed to total 125 yards and an interception by Vernon Hargreaves III. Their combined rushing attack between 9 different ball carriers only ran for 48 yards against the stout Florida defense.
Missouri- 41 vs Arkansas State- 19
Missouri quarterback James Franklin scored with both his feet and his arm yet again. Through the air, he was 21-of-30 for 256 yards, three touchdowns, and did not throw an interception. With his legs, he scampered around for 33 yards and a touchdown. The collection of running backs behind him totaled 206 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. The opposing rushing attack of Arkansas State was only able to muster up 117 yards through a total of 41 carries. Their quarterback, Adam Kennedy, had a middling performance. It took Kennedy 46 passes to throw for 318 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, which is rather inefficient.
Vanderbilt- 52 vs UAB- 24
Vanderbilt had an offensive field day against UAB. Austyn Carta-Samuels threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns on his 29 attempts. While he also threw and interception, his rate of 11.5 yards per attempt- essentially a first down every time he throws- was more than enough to make up for the mishap. With Jordan Seymour’s 107 yard performance heading the group, Vanderbilt rushers had 206 yards. The most impressive aspect is that the crew pounded the ball into the end zone five times with four different running backs (Seymour scored twice). Despite their offensive success, the Vanderbilt defense was not quite as impressive as they allowed a respectable 362 yards from UAB.