It’s another huge weekend in the SEC, with three Top 25 matchups, and that doesn’t even include Florida at Texas or the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry in Athens. Here’s one thing we want to see from every SEC team in Week 7.
Alabama (at Tennessee): The ability to get back up
Nobody watched that Alabama-Georgia game and came away with a lot of negative things to say about this team.
It was a war for 3.5 hours and they were impressive on both sides of the line of scrimmage for most of the night. But, can they bounce back, especially physically?
We’ve seen teams struggle the week after playing Georgia and Alabama for over a decade because of the physical toll. That can’t happen in Knoxville.
Arkansas (at Vanderbilt): Zero punts
Screw it, Silverfield. You’re a touchdown underdog to Vanderbilt. YOLO.
Auburn (at Georgia): Two offensive touchdowns
Auburn has scored just six touchdowns in their last seven trips to Athens. That means they’ve had almost as many head coaches as they’ve had trips to the endzone between the hedges.
Florida (at Texas): Jadan Baugh’s resurgence
Baugh is still the best, and most talented, back in the country. However, his production has fallen off a cliff in the last two games.
In his first four games he had 83 carries for 600 yards. Against Missouri and South Carolina he had 27 carries for 72 yards.
Georgia (vs Auburn): A shutout
Please read the above statement about Auburn.
Kentucky (at Oklahoma): A 3-0 road start
Kentucky already made a little program history earlier this year after their 2-0 start on the road. Their victories at Texas A&M and South Carolina helped them start 2-0 in their first two SEC road games for the first time since 1984.
LSU (vs Mississippi State): Lane Kiffin to get to 8-0
Clearly the 8-0 record doesn’t apply to the actual overall record. However, Lane Kiffin is 7-0 in his last seven games coming off a loss.
He’s also winning those games by an average of 17.6 ppg. LSU desperately needs to get up off the mat after their loss to Kentucky.
Mississippi State (at LSU): Kamario Taylor not Kamari-Toe Taylor
In case you haven’t heard yet, Taylor is battling an injury ahead of the LSU game. Even with the bye week he appears to be limited.
We’ll learn more when the initial injury report comes out, but a healthy Kamario Taylor is what everyone wants to see. Well, everyone except Blake Baker.
Missouri (at Ole Miss): Keep the train rolling
Missouri is one of the best stories in the entire country right now. However, it’s Missouri and, for whatever reason, the SEC just refuses to respect them as much as they should.
And naturally, their Top 15 matchup against Ole Miss landed on SEC Network. A win in Oxford wouldn’t just get them to bowl eligibility, it would propel them into the conversation for the College Football Playoff.
Oklahoma (vs Kentucky): A win without a non-offensive touchdown
That feels like we’re asking a lot, but wouldn’t it be something? They’ll have a good chance at that this weekend against one of the worst defenses in the SEC, Kentucky.
Ole Miss (vs Missouri): The ability to stop the run
Ole Miss still ranks last in the SEC in rush yards allowed per game, but we saw marked improvement in their game against Vanderbilt.
The Rebels looked much better last week, but now they’ll face their toughest test against the league’s leading rusher, Jamal Roberts.
Tennessee (vs Alabama): Control the explosives in the passing game
Tennessee faces a pretty large uphill battle this weekend with Alabama coming to town. They’ll most likely be starting George MacIntyre again, which will be his second start of this career.
They’ll face a Bama defense that’s allowed 22 pass plays of 22+ yards or more this season. Tennessee, on the other hand, ranks first nationally in yards per dropback allowed (4.16) and first in the SEC in sacks this season (25).
Texas (vs Florida): Mistake free football
Texas’ issues aren’t solely on Arch Manning. However, him being more accurate on downfield throws and protecting the football would be a heck of a start to fixing some of the Longhorns’ problems.
Lucky for him, he’ll be facing the worst pass defense in the SEC that was torched a week ago against South Carolina.
Texas A&M (vs The Citadel): Boos from the cesspool
I don’t care if Mike Elko apologized. I hope the fanbase that he called a cesspool lets him hear it this weekend.
Vanderbilt (vs Arkansas): First SEC win of the year
Imagine someone telling you eight years ago that Vanderbilt would be a touchdown favorite over Arkansas. Nevermind, it would be believable then, too.
Here’s to seeing the young gun Jared Curtis lead the Commodores to their first SEC win of the year and inch one step closer to bowl eligibility.
