SEC Power Rankings: Week Seven

Most of the SEC teams held serve this week, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be a little shuffling in our power rankings. Remember, these represent how I think the teams would fare on a neutral field if they played tomorrow, not how good they’ll be a season’s end.

1. LSU – The Tigers gave a national championship worthy performance against the Gators, gutting out a win with a power running game. The defense took a little while to come to life, but when they did, they saved LSU’s season, allowing Florida just 74 yards on 18 plays after the Gators took a 24-14 lead. As long as Matt Flynn continues to be competent, its all about Jacob Hester and the smash mouth running game. The defense got passed by Ohio State this week for fewest points allowed. Wonder if that’ll circulate around the Baton Rouge locker room.
2. South Carolina – The Gamecocks got a big effort on defense, of all places, to beat Kentucky handily and establish themselves as the halfway leader in the East. By no means is this team head and shoulder above Florida, but until they stop playing great, I can’t move them. The pass defense is absolutely outstanding right now, at 1^st nationally in yards surrendered and 2^nd in defensive efficiency. However, the defense has given up 715 rushing yards against 4 SEC opponents, and even though 290 of those yards were to LSU, it would be nice if they clamp down on the ground game just a bit more. If they do, they can and will win the East.
3. Florida – The Gators have a two-game losing streak now for the first time in a long, long time, and despite a great effort in the Bayou, Florida now sits in a four-way tie in the SEC East at 2-2 along with Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee. Does the schedule let up? Nah, not really, but a bye week should help the Gators scheme for road trips to Kentucky and Sanford Stadium. Junior DL Derrick Harvey has been a one-man drive wrecking machine, with 5 solo sacks and 9 solo TFL in 6 games, but the front four on the whole isn’t putting up the numbers its used to posting. The Gators are 62^nd nationally in sacks and 64^th in TFL, to go with a 56^th place rank in pass efficiency D. These guys can hit hard and stop the run; taking some passes out of the air wouldn’t hurt.
4. Auburn – I was told last week, “a trained monkey could move teams up or down depending on how they did the week before.” Touche, but there’s no doubting this is a dangerous Auburn squad that showed absolutely no signs of a post-Florida letdown in smoking Vandy this weekend. Brandon Cox looks rejuvenated, and there are 3 backs in the Tiger stable that can carry the load deep in to the fourth quarter. The line play on both ends could be better, as Auburn sits now at 85^th in the NCAA in both sacks and sacks allowed. Keeping Cox off his back is the best way to keep this offense effective, and we all know the defense (17 points a game allowed, 17^th nationally) can do its share.
5. Kentucky – In the words of British comedy troupe Monty Python, “and now for something completely different…” After waltzing past four weak squads and an overrated Arkansas crew, Kentucky got done in by turnovers against South Carolina. The Wildcats face a program turning October slate; home dates against LSU, Florida and Mississippi State await, and 2 out of 3 wins will signify that this program has truly turned the corner under Rich Brooks. I hope they’re spending the nine days rest figuring out how to stop Jacob Hester; the ‘Cats are 10^th in the league in both rush and total D, and I’m not sure they’re built to stop smash mouth between the tackles football. Sophomore DL Jeremy Jarmon deserves special mention as the SEC sack leader, with 6 in 6 games. Jarmon has one against every team but Florida Atlantic, and nabbed two against the ‘Cocks.
6. Tennessee – I don’t actually think the Vols will prove to be an upper echelon squad, but I have to give them credit, at least temporarily, for handing it to Georgia this weekend. Every part of the Tennessee machine looked great, including a run D that stuffed Georgia’s improving rush attack cold, yielding just 69 ground yards on 25 Bulldog carries. The front four has been awful by Vol standards, at 91^st nationally in sacks and, get this, 115^th nationally in TFL. How is that possible? If there’s no backfield penetration by Robert Ayers and the rest of them, this Tennessee team is going nowhere.
7. Georgia – The Bulldogs brought their D- game to Neyland Stadium, and played a team fighting for it’s coach’s life. It happens. We found out just how important Knowshon Moreno is to the team’s offense; his 30 yards on 13 carries made life tough on Matthew Stafford, and the ‘Dawgs mustered only 243 offensive yards. The SEC’s 8^th ranked passing offense would benefit from a go-to target stepping up; Georgia’s leading receiver, Sean Bailey, is averaging less than 3 catches and 50 yards a game. There’s a fine line between great distribution and no go-to guy. For my money, Georgia’s on the wrong side of it right now.
8. Arkansas – Still haven’t beaten a D-1 team, and I’m looking forward to seeing if they get it done against Auburn this week. The Tigers will be loading the box trying to stop McFadden and Jones, and it won’t totally work, but can Casey Dick beat somebody throwing? A little defensive pressure would be nice: the Hogs are 91^st nationally in sacks. Here’s one of those things you always wonder about as a fan – why isn’t Felix Jones returning punts as well as kicks? He’s extremely dangerous both as a kick returner (4^th in NCAA) and a rusher (8^th nationally). Wouldn’t you want to get him on the field as much as possible?
9. Alabama – Like a lot of mediocre squads, ‘Bama is going to be capable of hanging with anyone on any given day, but not dependable for a quality performance every week. A few days after they fell asleep at the switch against Houston and nearly peed it down their leg, I’ve got them 9^th. Sophomore Rashad Johnson has done a bit of everything in the secondary, with 3 picks, 41 tackles, 2 TFL and a forced fumble.
10. Mississippi State – The team I’ve been touting as underrated all year let me down for the second week in a row, and I’ve got to punish them for it. MSU can and should get to 7 wins, but absolutely has no chance without a down field passing game. Anthony Dixon is a very capable back, but the Bulldogs just spent three quarters being dominated by a D that gave up 700 yards to Tulsa the previous week. We’ll see who the starting QB is this week after Michael Henig completed as many passes to UAB as he did to his own (2).
11. Ole Miss – The Rebs finally pass Vandy despite their early season loss in Nashville, thanks to a solid 24-0 beat down of La-Tech. Ole Miss has that winning feeling back now after a four-game losing streak, and we’ll see if they can parlay it in to success at home the next two weeks against ‘Bama and Arkansas. Senior QB Seth Adams is doing the job under center, but if you can’t run or stop the run, the SEC will eat you alive. Ole Miss is 98^th nationally on the ground and 106^th against the run. Paging Patrick Willis!
12. Vanderbilt – The Commodores played ugly for the second straight game, but this time they lost ugly, getting only a 1 yard run from Cassen Jackson-Garrison with 5 to play to avoid a total skunking. Vandy tried three QBs Saturday, and none threw for more than 40 yards. Jackson-Garrison is a good enough back to take maybe just a little heat off Chris Nickson, or whoever ends up throwing passes, but the aerial attack has to do better than 2.8 yards per pass. They just have to.