We’re officially at the halfway point of the season, and Week 7 will once again feature some massive matchups that could shape the landscape of the conference and potential college football playoff race. Here are the three most important matchups of Week 7.
1. LSU’s pass rush vs Mississippi State’s offensive line
Mississippi State’s offensive line has improved since last year, but that’s not saying much. The bar wasn’t low coming into this season, it was on the floor. Last year’s offensive line gave up 45 sacks in 13 games. This year’s unit has allowed 13 in five games which ranks 12th in the SEC. They’ll be facing a unit for LSU that has already registered 23 sacks this season. If Kamario Taylor does play, but is less mobile because of an apparent turf toe injury, they’ll need to make sure he is kept upright long enough to connect on explosives in the passing game.
2. Tennessee’s WRs vs Alabama’s secondary
We’re not used to seeing this level of production from either of these units, and that’s not a good thing. Tennessee currently ranks last in the SEC in passing yards per game and is 12th in yards per attempt at just 7.3 per pass. The explosives have fallen off in the passing game as well. The Vols have just 15 passing plays of 20 yards or more which ranks 12th. To make matters worse, three of the four teams they currently rank ahead of have played one less game. They’ll need to get some explosives through the air this weekend against an Alabama defense that has been porous at times on the back end. This was supposed to be one of the best secondaries in the country, but through six games they’ve already allowed 22 pass plays of 20 yards or more. Not only is that tied for last in the league, but it’s also only six less than they allowed last season in 15 games.
3. Missouri’s run game vs Ole Miss defense
Ole Miss ranks last in the SEC in rush yards allowed per game this season (176.4). They also rank 14th in yards per carry allowed at 4.3 per rush. They’ve allowed over 100 yards in every game so far this season. All of that is bad, however, they seemed to have turned a corner after the bye week. Granted it was Vanderbilt, but Ole Miss looked significantly better against the Commodores. They surrendered 103 yards on 37 carries. They’ll need that kind of effort against a Missouri team that boasts the league’s leading rusher and is averaging 5.84 yards per carry in their last two games. Those games against Florida and Texas A&M saw the Tigers put up an absurd 467 yards of rushing offense.
