Week Six in the SEC: A recap of action around the league

Alabama rolls, Ole Miss rediscovers its offense and Auburn exposes LSU. At about the halfway point of this abbreviated, SEC-only season, a few things are becoming clearer while the near future of a few other teams is in doubt.

NO. 2 ALABAMA 41, MISSISSIPPI STATE 0

This one did not need a point spread; it needed an estimated time of death. The Crimson Tide put this one on cruise control or it could have gotten even more out of hand. Mac Jones threw for 291 yards, 203 of them going to DeVonta Smith who scored four times. Najee Harris ran for 119 yards. Another ho-hum day for Bama.

Touchdown Alabama!

Mac Jones to DeVonta Smith x2 🤩 pic.twitter.com/SBIf7DV86f

— Alabama Diehards (@AlabamaDieHards) October 31, 2020

Mississippi State is learning that a team cannot keep losing players each week and still compete in the Southeastern Conference. 

Alabama’s anti-aircraft fire essentially grounded the Bulldogs’ air-raid offense. Two MSU quarterbacks combined for 163 yards passing and a couple of interceptions. K.J. Costello has crashed back to Earth after his record-smashing debut against LSU. Against Bama, his passer rating was 7.3.

OLE MISS 54, VANDERBILT 21

Elijah Moore set an Ole Miss record with 238 yards receiving on a single-game, school record-tying 14 catches. Matt Corral jumped above Eli Manning in the Rebels’ record book by completing 19 consecutive passes, which happened to be his first 19 attempts in the game.

Matt Corral threw 6 touchdown passes today to only 3 incompletions 😲 #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/htBM4nELvO

— Def Pen Sports (@DefPenSports) October 31, 2020

Jerrion Ealy chipped in 95 yards rushing as the Rebels get to take Saturday’s success into a much-needed bye week.

Despite having one of the most depleted rosters due to COVID-19 concerns, Vanderbilt still has talent left on the team. True freshman quarterback Ken Seals threw for 319 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Ben Bresnahan is one of the best tight ends in the SEC that no one seems to know about. He grabbed six passes for 72 yards and a touchdown.

NO. 5 GEORGIA 14, KENTUCKY 3

Georgia suffered from a classic case of looking ahead as the Bulldogs slept-walked to a win. Yes, UGA has a meeting with Florida next week. Georgia got just enough offense from Zamir White’s 136 yards rushing and 131 yards passing from Stetson Bennett.

Zamir White @zeus1_34 is SMOOTH for such a powerful runner. He is climbing up my board the more I watch and could easily jump into my top 3 RBs in the 2021 class if he chooses to declare. 📈📈📈 pic.twitter.com/cOau9A5YBf

— Garret Price (@DynastyPrice) November 1, 2020

Fortunately for the Bulldogs, the defense did come to play. Nakobe Dean and Richard LeCounte combined for 27 tackles.

Kentucky quarterback Terry Wilson was unavailable, and the Wildcats missed him. His replacement, Auburn transfer Joey Gatewood, never got in a rhythm, throwing for just 91 yards, a paltry 3.6 average, and running for 23 yards. Chris Rodriguez, Jr. was the bright spot for UK, running for 108 yards.

NO. 8 TEXAS A&M 42, ARKANSAS 31

Uh-oh. SEC fans might want to keep an eye on Texas A&M. The Aggies are ranked eighth nationally and will move up this week after No. 6 Oklahoma State lost Saturday. Kellen Mond turned in the type of performance Jimbo Fisher wants each week, completing 21-of-26 for 260 yards and three touchdowns.

Kellen Mond with the STRIKE 🎯 pic.twitter.com/lMNOxqynJJ

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) November 1, 2020

The Aggies also ran for 182 yards. A&M should be favored in each of its games the rest of the way.

Arkansas played relatively well and scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to make the game seem tighter than it really was. Feleipe Franks did throw for 239 yards and three touchdowns and Treylon Burks caught seven passes for a game-high 117 yards. Former Aggie Rakeem Boyd ran for 100 yards for the Razorbacks.

NO. 10 FLORIDA 41, MISSOURI 17

No one can say this one was not a fight – literally. At the end of the first half, both teams gathered in the middle of the field and punches were exchanged, leading to three ejections.

https://twitter.com/TheCFBHQ/status/1322713853403299846?s=20

Kyle Trask threw his haymakers during the game, completing 21 passes for 345 yards and four touchdowns. Kadarius Toney scored three times – two on receptions — and tight end Kyle Pitts had another big day catching five passes for 81 yards.

Mizzou’s Connor Bazelak threw for 208 yards on 21 completions but got no help from his running game. The Gators bottled up Larry Roundtree III who could only muster 36 yards on the ground. Keke Chism was able to grind out 68 yards for the Tigers.

AUBURN 48, LSU 11

If anyone says they predicted this one, they are either lying or on a Sunday flight to Las Vegas to pick up a lot of money. Bo Nix finally had the game Auburn has been waiting for from its sophomore quarterback. Nix led the Tigers in passing (300 yards) and in rushing (81) and accounted for four touchdowns.

Auburn is leading LSU 48-3 🤯

Bo Nix just completed a 91-yard TD to Schwartz

(via @CBSSports)pic.twitter.com/p6RBLCWArd

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 31, 2020

Anthony Schwartz led the receiving corps with 123 yards on four catches including a 91-yarder for a touchdown.

This one will put coach Ed Orgeron’s home-spun charm with the media and fans to the test. LSU was simply bad in this game. A pair of freshman quarterbacks combined for 315 yards as they played for the injured Miles Brennan, but in this one, Joe Burrow would have had trouble since the running game only accounted for 32 yards. Tiger runners were dropped for losses seven times. The offense was the good news. The Bayou Bengals defense did not cover well, did not tackle well and at times looked as if it was looking forward to the clock striking all zeroes.