Friday, October 30, 2009
Did you know, SEC style
By Chris Low
ESPN.com
Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low
A little bit of this and a little bit of that as we point toward Week 9 in the SEC:
- Florida can clinch the Eastern Division title and a berth in the SEC Championship Game with a win Saturday over Georgia and a Tennessee win over South Carolina.
- Alabama is off this weekend, but the Crimson Tide can clinch the Western Division title and a berth in the SEC Championship Game with a win over LSU on Nov. 7.
- The last time Georgia wasn’t nationally ranked in its matchup with Florida was 1996. The Gators were No. 1 and went on to win the national championship that year.
- Georgia is 11-3 under Mark Richt coming off a bye week, which includes a 42-30 win over Florida in 2007.
- The Gators’ red zone offense has dropped off considerably from a year ago. They were tied for sixth nationally last season and scored touchdowns inside the red zone 75 percent of the time. This season, they’re tied for 107th nationally, scoring touchdowns inside the red zone just 44.4 percent of the time.
- Tennessee’s defense hasn’t allowed an offensive touchdown since the fourth quarter of the Auburn game on Oct. 3. Georgia had a special teams touchdown and a defensive touchdown the following week, while Alabama kicked four field goals last week.
- A win against Tennessee would give South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier 106 SEC wins, which would tie him with Ole Miss’ John Vaught for second all-time in league wins. The record is held by Alabama's Bear Bryant, who won 159 SEC games.
- The Gamecocks haven’t been very good at protecting quarterback Stephen Garcia this season. They rank last in the SEC in sacks allowed with 22. The Vols, however, haven’t been very good at getting to the quarterback. They’re 11th in the SEC with just 10 sacks and have now gone four straight games without a sack. They sacked Florida quarterback Tim Tebow three times and haven’t had a sack since.
- South Carolina freshman receiver Alshon Jeffery is one of the hottest players in the SEC. In his first four games, he had three catches for 29 yards and no touchdowns. But in his last four games, he has 21 catches for 414 yards and five touchdowns.
- Ole Miss’ defense has held opponents to an average of 12.6 points over the last 11 games dating back to last season. The Rebels are ninth nationally this season in scoring defense, allowing an average of 13.6 points per game.
- Ole Miss defeated Auburn 17-7 in Oxford last year, snapping a four-game losing streak in the series. A win Saturday would give the Rebels consecutive wins in the series for the first time since they won three straight from 1949-52.
- Despite a defense that ranks in the middle of the pack and an offense that ranks last in the SEC in yards per game, one of the reasons LSU is 6-1 is because the Tigers protect the ball. They have turned the ball over only six times in seven games (tied for fifth fewest in nation) and are second in the SEC in turnover margin at plus-9.
- Arkansas has thrown for 300 or more yards in six of 19 games under second-year coach Bobby Petrino. Prior to Petrino’s arrival, Arkansas had thrown for 300 or more yards 16 times in school history.
- Kentucky’s Randall Cobb demonstrated his versatility last week in the win over Louisiana-Monroe. He rushed for 41 yards and a touchdown and completed 2-of-4 passes for 46 yards from the Wildcat formation. He also was Kentucky’s leading receiver for the game with four catches for 27 yards. All told, he accounted for 198 yards and two touchdowns against the Warhawks. He also holds for placekicks and returns kickoffs.
- A loss Saturday to Georgia Tech would ensure Vanderbilt of its 26th losing season in the last 27 years.
- SEC teams are 46-8 this season when scoring first. Alabama is the only team to score first in every game this season.
