ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

Alabama and Florida both remained unbeaten, although it’s obvious that nobody in this league is going to make it easy for them.

Then again, when is it ever easy in this league?

We’ve come to the official midway point now that everybody has played at least six games. It’s definitely shaping up as an Alabama-Florida race to the finish, but a race that could still take on some odd twists and turns.

Here’s a look at what we learned in the SEC in Week 7:

1. There are no sure things: We’re reminded of this every year in the SEC. Think back to unranked Ole Miss winning at Florida last season and unranked Arkansas winning 50-48 in triple overtime two years ago at LSU on the final weekend of the regular season. We almost saw it happen for a third straight year on Saturday, as Arkansas took Florida to the final seconds at the Swamp and South Carolina played Alabama into the fourth quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama and Florida are easily the two best teams in the league, maybe the best two teams in the country. But they’re going to have to play well the rest of the way to remain unscathed. And even then, there are no guarantees. This league has a way of serving up an upset that nobody sees coming. Stay tuned because there’s likely to be more drama in store.

2. Florida has warts on offense: The more you watch Florida on offense, the more obvious it becomes that this isn’t anywhere close to being the explosive unit that ripped through the league a year ago. There’s not much of a downfield passing game to speak of. The running game without Tim Tebow would really be in trouble, and suddenly Tebow is starting to get hit a bunch. Arkansas sacked him six times on Saturday. In three of the Gators’ four SEC games this season, they’ve scored 23 or fewer points, and they’re not scoring touchdowns, either. In those three games against Arkansas, LSU and Tennessee, they managed just five touchdowns. Granted, Urban Meyer has played to his defense a little more because Charlie Strong’s unit is the strength of this team. But with All-America senior linebacker and emotional leader Brandon Spikes nursing a groin injury, the Gators are going to need to score more points the rest of the way.

3. Auburn headed in reverse: Everybody wondered those first five weeks if Auburn was for real. In retrospect, maybe the Tigers weren’t. More and more, it’s looking like they feasted on a pretty cushy home schedule. It’s no surprise that depth problems are starting to plague the Tigers. Gene Chizik knew that was going to be a problem back in August. But as Auburn grinds away on what will be 11 straight weeks without a bye, the lack of depth on this team will only become more glaring. The 21-14 home loss to Kentucky last Saturday was disappointing on a couple of different fronts. The defense was again exposed, allowing 282 rushing yards to the Wildcats. But now the offense is starting to show some signs of slippage. Quarterback Chris Todd didn’t play well for the second straight week, and Auburn also hurt itself with drive-killing penalties and untimely dropped passes. All in all, this looks like a pretty average team right now that’s just trying to hang on.

4. Ingram for Heisman: The mark of a great player is being able to step up when your team really needs you. Alabama needed Mark Ingram in the worst way Saturday night after the passing game went belly-up for the second straight week, and the sophomore running back responded with a Heisman-like performance. He rushed for 246 yards on 24 carries, the most rushing yards ever in Bryant-Denny Stadium, and was virtually unstoppable in the second half. South Carolina simply couldn’t tackle him. He had more than 100 of his yards after contact and was a one-man show in the Wildcat formation on the Crimson Tide’s game-clinching drive in the fourth quarter. In his last three games, Ingram has rushed for 558 yards. He now has 11 touchdowns on the season, eight rushing and three receiving, and is the most dynamic thing going right now in college football. Despite its storied tradition, Alabama has never had a Heisman Trophy winner. Ingram is making a serious bid to be the first.

5. Kentucky follows its leader: The Rich Brooks legacy at Kentucky will be closely tied to the Wildcats’ three straight bowl victories the last three seasons and how he’s elevated the program to respectability at a school where basketball is king. But Brooks’ legacy goes even deeper than that. He’s brought a sense of toughness to Kentucky football, a sense of class to Kentucky football and a no-excuses resolve that should serve this program well long after he’s retired and back home fishing in Oregon. It’s fitting that Brooks is a former boxer, because his teams at Kentucky have never quit fighting. The Wildcats lost a heartbreaker two weeks ago at South Carolina, and in doing so, lost their starting quarterback. They were already without their best defender, cornerback Trevard Lindley, but never blinked on the heels of a three-game losing streak and went into Auburn on Saturday night and won 21-14 thanks to some gritty defense and a balanced running game. Brooks gave props to everybody from his backup quarterback, to his coaches, to his punter after the game and called it the “ultimate team win.” Well, here’s giving some props to Brooks. There’s a reason his teams play with so much heart.