SEC Football by the Numbers: Top 10 from 2022 season
The SEC concluded its 90th football season with another national championship as Georgia completed an undefeated, untied campaign in the CFP title game on Jan. 9. Here are 10 numbers from the 2022 SEC football season:
0 Players with at least 900 plays in SEC history have a better yards-per-play average than Georgia QB Stetson Bennett. Bennett completed his career with 8,428 passing yards and 530 rushing yards on 923 passes and 141 rushing attempts – an average of 8.4 yards on 1,064 plays. Entering the 2022 season, Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel held the SEC record for players with at least 900 plays at 8.3 yards on 1,208 plays.
1 Power 5 conference had a winning record against the other Power 5 leagues during the 2022 season – the SEC. Including a 7-4 bowl record, SEC members posted a 17-9 mark against teams from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-12 this season. Big 12 teams had a 9-9 record against the other Power 5 conferences, the Big Ten went 9-10, the ACC was 10-14 and the Pac-12 went 5-8. Georgia had a 4-0 record against opponents from the other Power 5 conferences in 2022, with one win against each league.
MORE SEC FOOTBALL BY THE NUMBERS:
· WILL MIKE LEACH BE IN THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME?
· TOP 10 FROM THE REGULAR SEASON
1 SEC freshman has run for more yards than Ole Miss RB Quinshon Judkins did in the 2022 season. Judkins’ 1,567 rushing yards rank second on the SEC’s freshman list. Georgia’s Herschel Walker set the SEC freshman rushing record with 1,616 yards in 1980 (a mark that does not include 150 yards against Notre Dame in the Bulldogs’ 17-10 Sugar Bowl victory).
2 SEC teams have led the nation in points per game and yards per game in the same season, with Tennessee doing both in 2022. The Volunteers averaged 46.1 points per game and 525.5 yards per game this season. LSU led the nation in both categories in 2019 at 48.4 points and 568.4 yards. Tennessee is the fourth SEC team to lead the nation in scoring. The others have been Georgia at 37.2 points per game in 1946 and Florida at 46.6 points per game in 1996. The Volunteers also are the fourth SEC team to lead the nation in total offense. The others have been Georgia at 429.5 yards per game in 1942 and Ole Miss at 418.7 yards per game in 1961.
3 SEC players have been unanimous All-Americans more than once, including Alabama LB Will Anderson Jr., who followed his 2021 unanimous selection with another in 2022. Georgia RB Herschel Walker was a unanimous All-American in 1980, 1981 and 1982, and Tennessee S Eric Berry was a unanimous All-American in 2008 and 2009. Anderson also repeated as the winner of the Nagurski Trophy in 2022. Anderson joined Northwestern LB Pat Fitzgerald in 1995 and 1996 as the only two-time winners of the award, which has been presented annually since 1993 to the nation’s defensive player of the year.
27 TD passes and two interceptions for Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker during the 2022 season. He became the first player in SEC history with at least that many TD passes and no more than two interceptions in one season. With one interception for every 164.5 passes, Hooker set the conference’s single-season record for lowest interception rate, breaking the mark of one every 107.7 passes set by Auburn QB Bo Nix in 2021 (for players with at least 300 passes). With five interceptions in 632 passes during his two seasons at Tennessee, Hooker also surpassed the SEC career record (for players with at least 600 passes) with an interception rate of one every 126.4 passes. Alabama QB AJ McCarron held the league career mark with one interception every 86.3 passes from 2010 through 2013.
28 National championships during the poll era for the SEC, including the past four, after Georgia defeated TCU 65-7 in the CFP championship game on Jan. 9. Other conference members who have finished atop a final poll or captured the playoff finale have been Alabama in 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1992, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020, Auburn in 1957 and 2010, Florida in 1996, 2006 and 2008, Georgia in 1980 and 2021, LSU in 1958, 2003, 2007 and 2019, Ole Miss in 1960 and Tennessee in 1951 and 1998. By repeating as the CFP champion, Georgia joined the Alabama teams of 2011 and 2012 as the only programs that have won consecutive national titles during college football’s playoff era. This season’s Georgia squad also joined the 2019 LSU team as the only 15-game winners in SEC history.
48 Victories and nine losses in SEC regular-season games for Georgia’s Kirby Smart for an .842 winning percentage that is the best in conference history for any coach with at least five seasons. During the 2022 campaign, Smart guided Georgia to an 8-0 record in league regular-season play, which allowed him to overtake Alabama’s Nick Saban for the SEC lead. Smart entered the season with an .816 winning percentage, with Saban at .827. But Alabama’s 6-2 showing in conference play in 2022 moved Saban’s on-the-field record in SEC regular-season games with LSU and the Crimson Tide to 140-30 – an .824 winning percentage. Saban still holds the top spot for SEC coaches in all games with a 242-43 record – an .849 winning percentage. With an overall record of 81-15, Smart has a career winning percentage of .844.
77 Rushing yards per game were yielded by the Georgia defense in 2022, the lowest figure in the nation this season. The Bulldogs also led the nation in rushing defense in 2019 and 2020 and finished second to Wisconsin in 2021. The Texas A&M defense yielded 156.2 passing yards per game, the fewest in the nation. Georgia is the 17th SEC team to lead the nation in rushing defense. Texas A&M is the 11th SEC team to lead in the nation in passing defense.
1,159 Completions and 1,639 passes for QB Will Rogers during his three seasons at Mississippi State. Rogers became the SEC’s career leader in both stats during the 2022 campaign, when he completed 415-of-610 passes. Both those numbers are the second-most in one season in SEC history, behind his 505-of-683 in 2021. Rogers broke the conference record for completions of 921 set by Georgia QB Aaron Murray from 2010 through 2013 and the conference record for passes of 1,553 set by Missouri QB Drew Lock from 2015 through 2018.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE SEC, GO TO OUR SEC PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.