SEC Football by the Numbers: Top 10 from Week 11

SEC Football by the Numbers: Top 10 from Week 11

On the 11th Saturday of the SEC’s 2023 season, Alabama defeated Kentucky 49-21, Auburn defeated Arkansas 48-10, Georgia defeated Ole Miss 52-17, LSU defeated Florida 52-35, Missouri defeated Tennessee 36-7, South Carolina defeated Vanderbilt 47-6 and Texas A&M defeated Mississippi State 51-10 in conference games. Here are 10 numbers about the SEC’s Week 11 games:

1 Player in NCAA FBS history had had at least 350 passing yards and 200 rushing yards in the same game – LSU QB Jayden Daniels, who accomplished the feat in a 52-35 victory over Florida on Saturday. Against the Gators, Daniels completed 17-of-26 passes for 372 yards with three TDs and no interceptions and ran for 234 yards and two TDs on 12 carries. With 606 yards of total offense, Daniels broke the SEC single-game record set by Mississippi State QB K.J. Costello when he had 585 (623 passing and minus-38 rushing) in a 44-34 victory over LSU on Sept. 26, 2020. Daniels’ output on Saturday moved his career totals to 12,102 passing yards and 3,091 rushing yards, making him the first NCAA FBS player to top 12,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards, and pushed his total offense total for the 2023 season to 4,082 yards, making him the 17th SEC player to reach 4,000 in a single season. Daniels’ output on Saturday included an 85-yard TD run, which is the longest run by an SEC player this season and the longest TD run by a quarterback in LSU history.

1 Player in SEC history has had at least 200 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in the same game – Missouri RB Cody Schrader, who accomplished the feat in a 36-7 victory over Tennessee on Saturday. Schrader is the 10th NCAA FBS player to reach those milestones in the same game. Schrader ran for 205 yards and one TD on 35 carries and caught five passes for 116 yards. Schrader’s 321 yards from scrimmage rank as the second-most in one game in Missouri history behind the 333 of Devin West, who had 319 rushing yards and 14 receiving yards in a 41-23 victory over Kansas on Sept. 12, 1998. Schrader is the first Missouri player with at least 100 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in the same game.

1 SEC first-year head coach has started a season without finishing it – Mississippi State’s Zach Arnett. SEC coaches have been fired during seasons. SEC coaches have lasted only one season. There have even been SEC coaches who never gotten to Game 1 of what was supposed to be their first season. But Arnett is the first who failed to complete his first season after starting the campaign. When MSU coach Mike Leach died after the 2022 regular season, Arnett guided the Bulldogs to a 19-14 victory over Illinois in the ReliaQuest Bowl. But with a 4-6 record in 2023 with the SEC’s lowest-scoring team, Arnett was let go on Monday with games against Southern Miss and Ole Miss still to play. Arnett wasn’t the only SEC coach given the boot this week. Jimbo Fisher is out at Texas A&M in his sixth season. The Aggies are 6-4 in 2023 and had a 45-25-2 record under Fisher.

1 Kickoff has been returned for a TD in a conference game in the SEC this season. In Mississippi State’s 51-10 loss to Texas A&M on Saturday, WR Zavion Thomas returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a TD. Saturday also had a punt-return TD in the SEC when Auburn DB Keionte Scott ran one back 74 yards in the Tigers’ 48-10 victory over Arkansas. It was the first punt-return TD (without a blocked punt) for Auburn in a conference game since Chris Davis went 85 yards in a 55-23 victory over Tennessee on Nov. 9, 2013.

3 Rushing TDs and 3 passing TDs for Alabama QB Jalen Milroe in the Crimson Tide’s 49-21 victory over Kentucky on Saturday. He became the fifth SEC player to have at least three TD runs and three TD passes in a non-overtime conference game. On Nov. 8, 1952, Mississippi State QB Jackie Parker had three TD runs and three TD passes in a 49-34 victory over Auburn. On Oct. 24, 2015, Mississippi State QB Dak Prescott had three TD runs and three TD passes in a 42-16 victory over Kentucky. On Oct. 9, 2021, Arkansas QB KJ Jefferson had three TD runs and three TD passes in a 52-51 loss to Ole Miss. On Oct. 15, 2022, LSU QB Jayden Daniels had three TD runs and three TD passes in a 45-35 victory over Florida. Against Kentucky, Milroe completed 15-of-22 passes for 234 yards and ran eight times for 41 yards. He became the third Alabama player to be responsible for at least six TDs in a game, following Tua Tagovailoa, who had six TD passes and one TD run in a 59-31 victory over Ole Miss on Sept. 28, 2019, and five TD passes and one TD run in a 52-21 victory over Auburn on Nov. 24, 2018, and Bryce Young, who had five TD passes and one TD run in a 55-0 victory over Utah State on Sept. 3, 2022.

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4 Consecutive opponents have scored a touchdown on the opening possession against Georgia. Vanderbilt went 75 yards in five plays, but Georgia won 37-20 on Oct. 14. Florida went 66 yards in seven plays, but Georgia won 43-20 on Oct. 28. Missouri went 75 yards in nine plays, but Georgia won 30-21 on Nov. 4. Ole Miss went 75 yards in 11 plays, but Georgia won 52-17 on Nov. 11.

4 Successive Auburn games have had more rushing yards for the Tigers than the previous contest. Since Auburn had 139 rushing yards in LSU’s 48-18 victory on Oct. 14, Auburn had 153 rushing yards in a 28-21 loss to Ole Miss on Oct. 21, 186 rushing yards in a 27-13 victory over Mississippi State on Oct. 28, 230 rushing yards in a 31-15 victory over Vanderbilt on Nov. 4 and 354 rushing yards in a 48-10 victory over Arkansas on Nov. 11. Auburn’s rushing total against Arkansas marked the most yards gained on the ground by an SEC team this season.

14 Previous appearances in the SEC Championship Game for Alabama and 10 previous appearances in the SEC Championship Game for Georgia. Alabama and Georgia will square off for the conference championship of the 2023 season on Dec. 2 in Atlanta. The Crimson Tide also represented the Western Division in the SEC Championship Game in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2021. Alabama won the title in 1992, 1999, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2021. The Bulldogs also represented the Eastern Division in the SEC Championship Game in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. Georgia won the title in 2002, 2005, 2017 and 2022.

28 Points has been Florida’s lowest output in its past five games against LSU, and the Gators lost each contest. LSU defeated Florida 42-28 in 2019, 37-34 in 2020, 49-42 in 2021, 45-35 in 2022 and 52-35 on Saturday. Before 2019, LSU had scored 40 points against the Gators twice in 65 games, and Saturday’s point total was the Tigers’ highest in 70 matchups with Florida. In Saturday’s game, LSU’s offense rolled up 701 yards – 329 rushing and 372 passing – surpassing the 684 yards gained by Oklahoma in a 55-20 victory over the Gators in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 30, 2020, as the most yielded by Florida in one game in school history.

226 Consecutive passes have been thrown by Florida QB Graham Mertz since his most recent interception in a 33-14 loss to Kentucky on Sept. 30. Mertz surpassed the school record for consecutive passes without an interception as he added 38 to his total in Saturday’s 52-35 loss to LSU. The Florida record for consecutive passes without an interception had been 203 by Tim Tebow during the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The SEC record for consecutive passes without an interception is 348, reached this season by Missouri QB Brady Cook. Mertz’s streak is tied for the ninth-longest in SEC history.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.