SEC Football: Power Ranking The Running Backs Going Into Week 5
Another week of bruising SEC action is complete and Jody Alberson is here to give you the SEC RB Power Rankings.
Note: This rankings are a comparison of conference rank of yards rushing and TD of each of the top three rushing RB for each team. As this is a RB Power Ranking, QB and WR stats were not considered as part of the criteria.
Well, without further ado here are the rankings. Comment below to add your view on the Power Rankings, who should be higher, who is overrated, etc. and as always thanks for reading.
Georgia Bulldogs
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The Georgia RB corp of Washaun Ealey, Carlton Thomas, and Caleb King are sitting at last in the SEC RB Power Rankings with 382 yards rushing with two TD on the season.
This three game slide for Georgia that began with a 17-6 loss to South Carolina, has continued culminating in an upset win by Mississippi State last Saturday 24-12.
In that game Georgia's backs only gained 81 rushing yards and accounted for no TD.
In SEC play so far, Georgia has yet to rush for over 150 yards. And have been held to under 100 yards twice.
Arkansas Razorbacks
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Arkansas is at a tie with Georgia for last in the conference RB Power Rankings, but for different reasons.
The Arkansas RB corp of Broderick Green, Knile Davis, and Dennis Johnson have ruhsed for 338 yards and three TD on the season.
Arkansas doesn't run much, having attempted the fewest rushes in the SEC with only 102 attempts. Offensively the Razorbacks rely on the SEC's leading passer in QB Ryan Mallett.
Mallett has thrown for 1438 yards and 10 TD on the season. Basically, Arkansas has not needed to run the ball.
In their last game against Alabama, the Arkansas RB corp gained 67 yards with no TD.
Vanderbilt Commodores
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Vanderbilt comes in at 10th in the SEC RB Power Rankings. The RB corp of Warren Norman, Zac Stacy, and Kennard Reeves have gained 397 yards with four TD on the season.
In their last game, the Vandy RB corp gained 168 yards and two TD in a 28-14 win over Ole Miss.
Vanderbilt has only attempted 111 rushes this year in what is typically a run-based offense for the Commodores.
On of the problems the Commodores are facing is the discrepancy in the number of plays they run offensively compared to their opponent.
Vanderbilt is averaging 59 plays a game while opponents are averaging 72 plays a game against Vanderbilt.
It's obvious that when your defense can't get off the field and you're not controlling the time of possession, your offense, especially the run game, can't produce.
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Mississippi State
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The Bulldogs currently sit at eighth in SEC RB Power Rankings. The Mississippi State RB corp has rushed for 375 yards with six TD on the season.
A large reason why the Bulldog totals are low is due to QB Chris Relf being the teams leading rusher. But as this is a ranking of the RB, Relf's totals were not taken into consideration.
The Bulldogs' RB are led by Vick Ballard who has gained 178 yards and scored all six rushing TD.
In their last game, the Mississippi State RB corp rushed for 91 yards and two TD leading the team to a 28-14 victory over Georgia.
Auburn Tigers
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The Tigers are tied for 8th in the SEC along Mississippi State, and much like the Bulldogs, the ranking has a lot to do with their QB Cameron Newton being the team's leading rusher.
The Auburn RB corp of Michael Dyer, Ontario McCalebb, and Mario Fannin have rushed for 617 yards and two TD on the season thus far.
The Tigers have the best rushing attack as a team in the SEC, but not necessarily the best RB corp. A lot of that is due to the play of Cam Newton who has rushed for 485 yards and five TD.
The Tigers last performance was a gashing of the South Carolina Gamecock defense in route to a 35-27 victory. Auburn's RB gained 200 yards, but no TD.
Auburn RB Michael Dyer leads the team's RB on the season with 312 yards and one TD.
LSU Tigers
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LSU's RB corp of Stevan Ridley, Alfred Blue, and Michael Ford have rushed for 516 yards and four TD this year, good enough for 7th in the SEC.
Due to the ineffectiveness of QB Jordan Jefferson in the passing game, the Tigers have relied on a decent running game and a stellar defense to get them to 4-0 (2-0).
RB Stevan Ridley leads the team in rushing with 434 yards and three TD, putting him at 2nd in the conference.
Ridley rushed for 116 yards and one TD in LSU's 20-14 win over West Virginia a week ago.
Tennessee Volunteers
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The Vols are currently 6th in the SEC RB Power Rankings behind 561 yards rushing and four TD by RB corp Tauren Poole, David Oku, and Rajion Neal.
Tennessee is clearly in a rebuilding phase this year having suffered their worst loss at home in history to Oregon, losing their 6th straight to Florida, and letting UAB push them to overtime before a Vol victory.
A bright spot for Tennessee has been the play of RB Tauren Poole who has rushed for 318 yards and three TD.
In the Vols last game, the Vol RB corp mustered 76 yards and no TD. Pretty paltry considering the history of talented RB to play at Tennessee.
South Carolina Gamecocks
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The Gamecock RB corp led by Marcus Lattimore, Brian Maddox and Kenny Miles sits at 5th in the SEC rankings thanks mostly to the play of Lattimore, the SEC's 5th leading rusher and first in TD.
The Gamecocks have rushed for 444 yards on the season and have added seven TD. In their last game, the Auburn Tigers limited the Gamecock rushing attack to just 46 yards and one TD.
The Gamecocks as a team only rushed for 97 yards due largely to the ineffectiveness of the o-line run blocking and superb passing attack.
Florida Gators
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Florida is 4th in the SEC rankings led by the corp of Jeffery Demps, Mike Gillislee, and Emmanuel Moody.
The Gators have rushed for 635 yards with five TD. In their last game Florida rushed for 135 yards and no TD due to Gator QB Trey Burton rushing for five TD.
Florida is led by speedster Jefferey Demps who is currently 4th in rushing in the SEC gaining 367 yards with two TD.
Kentucky Wildcats
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The Wildcats, led by RB corp Derrick Locke, Donald Russell, and Raymond Sanders, have gained 631 yards and eight TD on the season which is good enough for 3rd in the SEC.
In the 48-14 loss to Florida last week, Kentucky gained 103 yards rushing from their RB corp, all by SEC leading rusher Derrick Locke.
Like most team's, more than just RB contribute to the rushing attack. For Kentucky that is WR/QB/KR/PR Randall Cobb. But as this is a RB ranking, Cobb's stats were not a factor.
Ole Miss Rebels
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Rebel RB corp of Brandon Bolden, Enrique Davis, and Jeff Scott come in at 2nd with 647 yards and eight TD on the season.
In their 55-38 win over Fresno State, the Rebels rushed for 328 yards and four TD. That performance garners them the performance of the week for SEC RB corp.
Ole Miss is led by RB Brandon Bolden who has gained 410 yards with four TD on the season.
Alabama Crimson Tide
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And to no surprise, Alabama comes in at 1st overall in the SEC RB Power Rankings.
The Tide, led by RBs Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson, and Eddie Lacy have rushed for 848 yards and 11 TD on the season.
The team is led by Trent Richardson who has gained 356 yards and four TD on the season due in large part to the absence of Mark Ingram through the first two games.
Ingram returned against the rout of Duke and has picked up where he left off last year rushing for 308 yards and four TD in limited action. Ingram is averaging close to 10 yards a carry.
In their 24-20 win over Arkansas, Ingram and Richardson totaled 242 yards with two TD.
SEC Team Rushing Power Rankings
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And quickly to conclude this article, here is the overall team rushing rankings of the SEC thus far this season.
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