SEC. Bret Bielema has a big buyout. Bret Bielema has a really good agent. ... Time (EDT). Matchup. TV. SATURDAY. Noon. B
THIS wEEk IN THE INSIDE ONE OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL’S PREMIER CONFERENCES | COmPILED BY PaTRICk STEVENS, SPECIaL TO GaTEHOUSE mEDIa BY THE NUmBERS
GamE OF THE wEEk NO. 10 AUBURN (5-1, 3-0 SEC) AT LSU (4-2, 1-1)
POwER RaNkINGS
STANDINgS
When: 3:30 p.m. EDT Saturday Where: Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, La. TV: CBS
Breaking down the SEC
(Through Oct. 7) EAST Team Georgia Florida Kentucky South Carolina Tennessee Vanderbilt Missouri
Conf. 3-0 3-1 2-1 2-2 0-2 0-3 0-3
All 6-0 3-2 5-1 4-2 3-2 3-3 1-4
T25 1-0 0-1 0-1 1-0 0-2 0-3 0-1
WEST Team Alabama Auburn Texas A&M LSU Mississippi State Arkansas Ole Miss
Conf. 3-0 3-0 2-1 1-1 1-2 0-2 0-2
All 6-0 5-1 4-2 4-2 3-2 2-3 2-3
T25 1-0 0-1 0-1 1-0 0-2 0-1 0-2
1. Alabama (6-0): Facing turnoverprone Arkansas could lead to another Crimson Tide rout. (Last week: 1)
Auburn running back Kerryon Johnson carries the ball during the first half of a game against Mississippi Oct. 7 in Auburn, Ala. [THOMAS GRANING/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS]
2. Georgia (6-0): The first half of the regular season went nearly as well as it could have for the Bulldogs. (LW: 2)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS (Through Oct. 7) PASSING YARDS Player 1. Shea Patterson, MISS 2. Drew Lock, MIZ 3. Jake Bentley, SC 4. Jarrett Stidham, AUB 5. Stephen Johnson, UK
Yds. 1,792 1,470 1,456 1,345 1,238
PASSING TOUCHDOWNS Player 1. Drew Lock, MIZ 1. Shea Patterson, MISS 3. Kyle Shurmur, VAN 3. Jake Bentley, SC 5. Jake Fromm, UGA
No. 13 13 12 12 10
RUSHING YARDS Player 1. Nick Chubb, UGA 2. Benny Snell Jr., UK 3. Jalen Hurts, ALA 4. Kerryon Johnson, AUB 5. Damien Harris, ALA
Yds. 618 523 517 504 500
RECEIVING YARDS Player 1. A.J. Brown, MISS 2. J’Mon Moore, MIZ 3. Calvin Ridley, ALA 4. D.J. Chark, LSU 5. Jonathan Nance, ARK
Yds. 504 398 390 385 374
SCORING Player 1. Kerryon Johnson, RB, AUB 2. Andy Pappanastos, PK, ALA 3. Daniel Carlson, PK, AUB 4. Austin MacGinnis, PK, UK 5. Daniel LaCamera, PK, TA&M
Pts. 72 61 59 57 54
TEAM STATISTICS (Through Oct. 7) TOTAL OFFENSE Team Alabama Auburn Texas A&M Georgia LSU Missouri Ole Miss Mississippi State Kentucky South Carolina Arkansas Florida Tennessee Vanderbilt
Yds./G 483 453 425 414 398 470 434 422 350 340 393 347 333 277
Pts./G 43.0 35.8 34.3 35.0 25.3 27.2 26.8 31.2 27.5 26.8 32.6 25.0 24.2 20.3
PASSING OFFENSE LEADERS Team Yds. Ole Miss 1,792 Missouri 1,470 South Carolina 1,456 Auburn 1,348 Kentucky 1,267
Yds./G 358.4 294.0 242.7 224.7 211.2
RUSHING OFFENSE LEADERS Team Yds. Alabama 1,810 Georgia 1,610 Auburn 1,368 Texas A&M 1,349 Mississippi State 1,264
Yds./G 301.7 268.3 228.0 224.8 252.8
STaRS OF THE wEEk • S Minkah Fitzpatrick, Alabama: Had five tackles (two for loss), a forced fumble and an interception in the Crimson Tide’s triumph at Texas A&M. • TB Kerryon Johnson, Auburn: Continued his stellar recent stretch by gashing Ole Miss for 204 yards and three TDs. • TB Sony Michel, Georgia: Rushed 12 times for 150 yards and a TD in the Bulldogs’ road rout of Vanderbilt.
STaT OF THE wEEk
3
Consecutive SEC victories by at least 20 points for Auburn, the first time the Tigers have done that since 1987. Auburn has routed Missouri (51-14), Mississippi State (49-10) and Mississippi (44-23) to open league play.
TIGERS TIMES TWO AUBURN, LSU FACE OFF IN DEATH VALLEY IN KEY SEC TILT
KEYS FOR AUBURN Defend the edge. One of the reasons LSU presumably hired Matt Canada as a high-priced offensive coordinator after last season was to implement the sort of things he did last year at Pittsburgh — involve a lot of players in the offense and use jet sweeps to great effect. Finally unleashed last week, the Tigers looked like they were running Canada’s offense. Stopping plays to the outside is a priority this week for Auburn. Carry on, Kerryon. Coach Gus Malzahn has found himself a workhorse back in Kerryon Johnson, who has rushed for 11 touchdowns over the last three games. As a point of comparison, he had 11 touchdowns all of last season in 182 rushing attempts. Fresh
off a 204-yard day against Mississippi, Johnson figures to be the centerpiece of the Auburn offense as it heads into Death Valley. KEYS FOR LSU Don’t waste scoring chances. No one is going to suggest this LSU team is the most explosive bunch that’s ever graced Baton Rouge. But while it isn’t statistically bad at much, one thing stands out — red zone offense. The Tigers are tied for 116th nationally, scoring just 72.7 percent of the time they get inside the 20. With Auburn wielding a quality offense, LSU can illafford to squander whatever chances it creates. Silence Stidham. It’s simply a fact of life that Auburn is going to run the ball a lot, and it will
probably enjoy some success in that area against just about anyone. But if QB Jarrett Stidham gets going — and though Auburn is 70th nationally in passing yardage, it is 13th in pass efficiency — it will surely be a long night for LSU. Taking away big plays in the passing game is a must for Ed Orgeron’s team.
5. Texas A&M (4-2): The Aggies weren’t better than Alabama, but they were competitive — especially with their defense. (LW: 5) 6. Louisiana State (4-2): The Tigers are good enough to beat another faded SEC power with omnipresent quarterback issues. (LW: 12) 7. Florida (3-2): The Gators haven’t swept their games against SEC West foes since 2012, and it won’t happen this year. (LW: 4)
9. South Carolina (4-2): Three defensive touchdowns led to a comfortable margin over Arkansas. (LW: 10)
10. Mississippi State (3-2): It’s possible they face only one more ranked team (Alabama, Nov. 11) the rest of the way. (LW: 8)
S. CAROLINA (4-2, 2-2) at TENNESSEE (3-2, 0-2)
ARKANSAS (2-3, 0-2) at No. 1 ALABAMA (6-0, 3-0)
TEXAS A&M (4-2, 2-1) at FLORIDA (3-2, 3-1)
When: Noon EDT Saturday Where: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tenn. TV: ESPN Notes: Tennessee leads series 25-8-2, but South Carolina won last year’s game 24-21. The host Volunteers come out of their bye week looking to Dormady get their season on track after absorbing a 41-0 drubbing against Georgia on Sept. 30. QB Quinten Dormady struggled against the Bulldogs, completing just 5 of 16 for 64 yards and two picks.
When: 7:15 p.m. EDT Saturday Where: Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Ala. TV: ESPN2 Notes: Alabama leads series 20-7 and is 10-0 against the Razorbacks under coach Nick Saban, including last year’s 49-30 Hurts triumph. The Crimson Tide isn’t going to hang half a hundred on everyone in the SEC; Texas A&M saw to it that QB Jalen Hurts and TBs Damien Harris and Bo Scarbrough didn’t do too much damage last week.
When: 7 p.m. EDT Saturday Where: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Fla. TV: ESPN2 Notes: Florida leads series 2-1 and won the last meeting 20-17 in 2012. Both teams are coming off defeats, though there was at Mond least some optimism for Texas A&M to take from its 27-19 setback against Alabama. The Aggies averaged just 1.8 yards per carry, but did move the ball in the second half some behind QB Kellen Mond.
Time (EDT) SATURDAY Noon 3:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m.
4. Kentucky (5-1): While not deep on accomplishments outside of winning at South Carolina, there’s no arguing the Wildcats’ record. (LW: 6)
pREDICTION Auburn 23-13. The last time Auburn came to Death Valley and left with a victory was 1999. That means LSU held serve at home against the SEC West’s other Tigers throughout the Nick Saban and Les Miles eras. LSU looked better in last week’s triumph at Florida, but that also came against a team with offensive limitations.
BEST OF THE REST ThIS wEEK’S OThER TOp gAMES
ROUNDING IT OUT ThE REST OF ThE MATChUpS
3. Auburn (5-1): The best of the one-loss teams? The Tigers’ defense puts them at the top of the list. (LW: 3)
Matchup BYU at Mississippi State Vanderbilt at Mississippi Missouri at Georgia
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TV SEC SEC SEC
8. Tennessee (3-2): Does the Volunteers’ season spiral out of control after a Sept. 30 loss to Georgia? (LW: 7)
11. Vanderbilt (3-3): Drubbings against Alabama, Florida and Georgia have sent the Commodores plummeting. (LW: 11) 12. Arkansas (2-3): Bret Bielema is 10-24 against the SEC. Bret Bielema has a big buyout. Bret Bielema has a really good agent. (LW: 9) 13. Mississippi (2-3): The 2-0 start was nice, but reality has set in for the year in Oxford. (LW: 13)
14. Missouri (1-4): Facing Georgia this week is almost certainly not the cure to what ails Barry Odom’s Tigers. (LW: 14)
