Updated SEC Power Rankings After Upset-Filled Week 6
AUBURN, Ala. — Saturday was a banner day in the state of Mississippi, as No. 12 Mississippi State steamrolled No. 6 Texas A&M 48-31 in Starkville, and No. 11 Ole Miss upset No. 3 Alabama 23-17 in Oxford, sending the college football world into quite a mess.
One state over, No. 5 Auburn—the defending conference champion—had its way with No. 15 LSU 41-7.
Auburn has company in the SEC, but instead of traditional powers Alabama and LSU, it's the two Mississippi schools making the most noise.
How does the SEC shake out after a wild Week 6? Our power rankings are in this slideshow.
14. Vanderbilt Commodores
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My, how the "mighty" have fallen?
No, Vanderbilt didn't contend for the SEC championship or even the SEC East under former head coach James Franklin. Back-to-back nine-win seasons, however, put a tremendous amount of pressure on first-year head coach Derek Mason.
The Commodores lost 44-17 to Georgia on Saturday afternoon to fall to 1-5 and 0-4 in the SEC, with their only win coming in come-from-behind fashion over winless UMass.
The quarterback situation is a mess, the defense can't stop anybody, and the absence of any kind of depth makes it darn near impossible for Mason's squad to compete in single games, let alone for an entire season.
Vandy is back to being "Vandy," and Mason's got a lot of work to do to turn the program back around.
13. Tennessee Volunteers
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Tennessee was right on the cusp of making the turn...and then it made a U-turn.
The Vols, fresh off a near-miss on the road at Georgia, got beat at home as favorites by Florida 10-9 Saturday afternoon. What's more, they got beat after Florida benched veteran quarterback Jeff Driskel in favor of true freshman Treon Harris, who lit a fire the Gator offense had been missing since Urban Meyer was the head coach.
Head coach Butch Jones' offense was stymied by the Gator defense, which allowed just 233 yards on the afternoon.
"There were times when we didn't beat man-to-man coverage and everybody wants to point to the offensive line, but it's a team game," Jones said in quotes released by Tennessee. "It's never one single person's mistake. You win football games by playing complementary football: offense, defense and special teams working together as one."
That didn't happen Saturday, and as a result, the Vols took one step back after taking two steps forward.
That's what happens when you're building a program "brick-by-brick."
12. South Carolina Gamecocks
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After three straight 11-win seasons, South Carolina is bound for a rebuilding year.
This is its rebuilding year.
The Gamecocks fell to 3-3 on the season with a 45-38 loss to Kentucky in Lexington on Saturday night. What was the problem? It was basically the same thing that has plagued them from the jump this year—the defense can't stay off the field.
The Wildcats gained 447 yards on 66 plays for an average of 6.77 yards per play. This after head coach Steve Spurrier's crew came into the game giving up an SEC-worst 6.27 yards per play. They can't get pressure on quarterbacks, and they can't cover, which is a terrible combination that is only going to be fixed with time.
What's more, quarterback Dylan Thompson did as much to lose the game as his defense Saturday, tossing three picks, including a pick-six to Alvin "Bud" Dupree with 2:29 left that served as the game-winning touchdown.
This is what South Carolina is this year—a team that's going to force itself into shootouts and, at times, not be able to keep up.
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11. Florida Gators
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It was a good-news, bad-news kind of day for the Florida Gators.
The good news was that the they went on the road and beat Tennessee—a slight favorite—10-9, found its defense—which had been missing in action all year—and benched veteran quarterback Jeff Driskel in favor of true freshman Treon Harris, who helped lead the Gators to the come-from-behind win.
The bad news: Harris' presence under center might not be permanent.
"No decision on QB at this time moving forward
— Morgan Moriarty (@Morgan_Moriarty) October 4, 2014"
It needs to be permanent because, as I wrote on Saturday, Harris at least sparks some life into an otherwise stagnant offense. Until Harris is named as the unquestioned starter, Florida is still one giant question mark.
10. Kentucky Wildcats
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Remember when Kentucky was a pushover? A punchline that only mattered when football season ended and people started paying attention to basketball?
Second-year head coach Mark Stoops is doing his best to make you forget those days.
After notching his first career SEC win last week over Vandy, Stoops followed it up with a 45-38 win over South Carolina in one of the most thrilling games of the college football Saturday.
"Stoops: “It was one of the most special atmospheres I’ve been in, because of what it means for this program."
— Brett Dawson (@BDawsonRivals) October 5, 2014"
This is a program on the rise. With the Air Raid offense employed by offensive coordinator Neal Brown, Stoops' recruiting efforts (particularly in Ohio) and a defense that's getting more comfortable with the system, Kentucky will be back to annual bowl games sooner rather than later.
If it plays like it did Saturday, it could come as soon as this year.
After all, it's not like the SEC East is predictable.
9. Missouri Tigers
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Missouri fought like crazy to beat South Carolina 21-20 on the road last week, which is nice. A home loss to Indiana earlier in September, on the other hand, isn't as nice.
The Jekyll-and-Hyde Tigers are unblemished in the SEC, but the defense looked terrible against the Hoosiers, and the offense couldn't get out of its own way for the majority of the win over South Carolina.
Maty Mauk is a solid quarterback when he's on, but when he gets rattled, he makes some bad decisions that can put his team into some really bad spots.
What does that make head coach Gary Pinkel's crew?
It makes them one of the better teams in the SEC East because, unlike other teams in the division—looking in your direction Florida and Vanderbilt—at least Pinkel knows all pieces of the puzzle can work at times.
8. Georgia Bulldogs
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Yes, Georgia is the seventh straight SEC East team to grace the bottom of these power rankings.
No, it's not an accident.
Georgia throttled Vanderbilt 44-17 Saturday and finally looked like a competitive defense. The Bulldogs gave up just 320 yards and only 188 through the air, which is a departure from the norm for head coach Mark Richt's crew.
"Defensively, we're getting closer to communicating the things we need to do and we're executing better," Richt said in quotes emailed by Georgia. "We're getting more reps and more confidence. We've got a chance to keep improving as a football team. If we do that, we've got a chance to get back to Atlanta."
Was that a positive sign of the future or a product of Vanderbilt's offense being a hot mess?
That simply isn't something that can be answered at this point. Until Georgia does that to a team that's actually somewhat competitive, it's hard to put them above any team from the rugged SEC West.
Even LSU and Arkansas.
7. Arkansas Razorbacks
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The college football world knew about Arkansas running backs Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams coming into the season. The unknown for Arkansas was quarterback Brandon Allen.
He has answered the questions surrounding the Hogs' quarterback position early and often this year, tossing nine touchdowns, only one pick and posting a passer rating of 153.38.
Heisman numbers? Not in the least.
Considering the brand of football second-year head coach Bret Bielema wants to play, though, they're just right.
Arkansas can force its brand of football on other teams. When things are going right, the Hogs are capable of beating just about anybody, and with an offensive line that is relentless, they will at least leave their mark even if they don't get the "W."
6. LSU Tigers
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LSU's quarterback position can be described as one thing—a mess.
If you wish to get more creative, it's a "hot mess."
True freshman Brandon Harris made his first career start at Auburn on Saturday night and promptly went 3-of-14 before being pulled in favor of Anthony Jennings in a 41-7 loss on the Plains. Jennings' inefficiency in the passing game was the reason for Harris' presence in the first place after the true sophomore completed just over 50 percent of his passes during the first month of the season.
To make matters worse, LSU's defense gave up 566 yards to Auburn and 570 two weeks ago to Mississippi State. LSU is far from a complete team at the moment, and with so many fresh faces on both sides of the ball, it's only going to change with time.
In the meantime, though, this is an LSU team that's going to take many more lumps in the SEC West before it returns to the contender of old. It's a flawed team that will be good at times and bad at others—like Saturday.
Basically, that's the definition of a lower-tier SEC West team and virtually all of the SEC East.
5. Texas A&M Aggies
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Remember that Texas A&M defense of old? You know, the one that missed a whole bunch of tackles, was always out of position and generally lacked any semblance of fundamentals?
It's back.
The Aggies were throttled 48-31 by Mississippi State in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the score indicated Saturday afternoon in Starkville. The Aggies gave up 526 yards to the Bulldogs on Saturday, as Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott furthered his case for the Heisman Trophy in front of the eyes of the college football world.
Offensively, the Aggies are fine.
Quarterback Kenny Hill stepped in for Johnny Manziel and has played well. Sure, Saturday wasn't his best performance, but his wide receivers didn't help him out by dropping countless passes that should have been big gains.
Texas A&M's offense is going to keep them in most games. Unfortunately for Sumlin, the defense will take it out of a few, too, which was the case Saturday.
4. Alabama Crimson Tide
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It only takes one loss to take a tumble down the power rankings, and Alabama suffered a brutal one Saturday afternoon in Oxford, Mississippi.
The No. 3 Crimson Tide managed just 396 yards of offense against Ole Miss in a 23-17 loss, they fumbled a kickoff return late that set Ole Miss up for the game-winning touchdown, and quarterback Blake Sims tossed a pick in the end zone when the Tide needed seven points for the win.
"Nick Saban postgame: "We didn’t play as well as we would have liked today. That starts with me. I’m responsible for that.”
— Marquavius Burnett (@Marq_Burnett) October 5, 2014"
Alabama has really only put together one complete game: the 42-21 win over Florida two weeks ago when every phase of the game clicked for head coach Nick Saban.
Even with its "B" game, Alabama is still capable of beating teams like Florida and West Virginia. It needs to bring its "A" game if it wants to compete with big boys of the SEC West, and it doesn't look like this Tide team can do that this year.
3. Ole Miss Rebels
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Ole Miss went into its Week 6 matchup with No. 3 Alabama looking to make a statement that this program isn't just a "cute little story" anymore and that it's a true contender for the SEC and national titles.
Statement made.
The Rebels topped the Tide 23-17 on Saturday afternoon, with quarterback Bo Wallace—he of "good Bo" and "bad Bo"—tossing three touchdowns. He threw the game-winner to running back Jaylen Walton late in the fourth quarter.
"Wallace: "The Good Bo/Bad Bo thing is the most annoying thing I've ever heard. I must be only QB in the country to throw an interception."
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) October 5, 2014"
If this version of Wallace sticks around for the long haul, there's no reason why Ole Miss can't make a serious push to play in the SEC Championship Game for the first time ever.
The defense is one of the SEC's best, and when the offense clicks, it clicks in a big way. The Rebels got over a huge hurdle Saturday and now are in the lead as the leaves begin to change color.
2. Mississippi State Bulldogs
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Heisman candidate? Check.
Dynamic, relentless, multidimensional offense? Check.
Front four that is littered with depth? Check.
Mississippi State has all the ingredients to be successful, and they've done just that over the first month-plus of the season.
Quarterback Dak Prescott has emerged as a true dual-threat quarterback who is operating in head coach Dan Mullen's offense in a similar fashion that Tim Tebow did when Mullen was the offensive coordinator at Florida. Josh Robinson is the best running back you've never heard of, and Preston Smith, Chris Jones and the rest of the Bulldog defensive line carries the "Psycho Defense" label as a badge of honor.
The Bulldogs followed up their 34-29 demolition of LSU—yes, it was, don't be fooled by the score—two weeks ago with a 48-31 thumping Saturday of No. 6 Texas A&M in Starkville.
That sets up a meeting next week with the No. 1 team in this power ranking of the SEC, a matchup that should be a lot of fun.
1. Auburn Tigers
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If you thought Auburn rode to the SEC title and to within 13 seconds of the national championship last season on luck, what do you think of the Tigers now?
Auburn polished off a 41-7 shellacking of No. 15 LSU on Saturday night on the Plains in a game in which head coach Gus Malzahn really took his foot off the gas early in the fourth quarter. Otherwise, it could have been much, much worse.
Everybody loves to talk about Auburn's offense with quarterback Nick Marshall, a deep and talented running back corps and a wide receiving corps that would make NFL defenses concerned. What's made this Auburn team great, though, is its defense.
It held LSU to just 280 yards and a mind-boggling 0-of-13 conversion on third downs. It came into the night ranked third in the SEC in rush defense (90.75 YPG) and limited the Bayou Bengals to 138 yards on the ground Saturday night.
Auburn is the total package this year and is headed full steam ahead to a showdown with Mississippi State next weekend in Starkville.
Barrett Sallee is the Lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
