SEC Football by the Numbers: Top 10 from Week 6
During the sixth week of the SEC’s 2022 season, Alabama defeated Texas A&M 24-20, Florida defeated Missouri 24-17, Georgia defeated Auburn 42-10, Mississippi State defeated Arkansas 40-17, Ole Miss defeated Vanderbilt 52-28, South Carolina defeated Kentucky 24-14 and Tennessee defeated LSU 40-13 in conference games. Here are 10 numbers about the SEC’s Week 6 games:
2 Interceptions for Florida CB Jaydon Hill in a 24-17 victory over Missouri on Saturday. Hill returned his first interception off Missouri QB Brady Cook 49 yards for a touchdown as the Gators took a 10-0 lead with 1:01 left in the first quarter. Hill’s second interception came with Missouri on the Florida 16-yard line with 1:02 left in the third quarter. The Gators moved 91 yards for a touchdown after Hill’s second interception to take a 24-10 lead in the fourth quarter. Hill had no interceptions in his college career before Saturday’s game.
2 Arkansas possessions started at the Razorbacks 1-yard line in a 40-17 loss to Mississippi State on Saturday. MSU WR Jaden Walley downed a 41-yard punt by Archer Trafford at the Arkansas 1 in the second quarter. The Razorbacks punted from their 10, the Bulldogs got the football on the Arkansas 40 and went on a TD drive to take a 21-0 lead. A kickoff return that included a muff and a fumble put Arkansas on its 1-yard line to start the second half. The Razorbacks again didn’t get a first down and MSU scored after getting the football back to take a 27-10 lead. Arkansas also had trouble on the other 1-yard line. The Razorbacks had second-and-goal at the Bulldogs 1, but after two runs for no gain sandwiched an incompletion, Arkansas lost the football on downs trailing 27-10 with 8:16 left in the third quarter.
3 Victories over ranked teams in the past four games for Tennessee, making 2022 the first time that the Volunteers have defeated three ranked teams in a single regular season since 2001. Tennessee defeated No. 17 Pitt 34-27 in overtime on Sept. 10, No. 20 Florida 38-33 on Sept. 24 and No. 25 LSU 40-13 on Saturday. Against LSU, Tennessee posted its largest margin of victory against a ranked team on the road since a 41-14 win over No. 12 Alabama on Oct. 14, 1995, in Birmingham. Tennessee plays No. 3 Alabama on Saturday. In 2001, the Vols defeated No. 14 LSU 26-18, No. 12 South Carolina 17-10 and No. 2 Florida 34-32.
4 Consecutive games against Georgia have included fewer than 100 rushing yards for Auburn. The Tigers had 93 rushing yards in Saturday’s 42-10 loss to the Bulldogs. Auburn had 84 rushing yards in a 21-14 loss to Georgia in 2019, 39 in a 27-6 loss in 2020 and 46 in a 34-10 loss in 2021. No other opponent has held the Tigers to fewer than 100 rushing yards in four consecutive games in this century. Auburn has an 0-8 record since 2000 against Georgia when it fails to reach 100 rushing yards.
7 Years since an opposing player ran for three TDs against Auburn, as Georgia RB Daijun Edwards did in the Bulldogs’ 42-10 victory on Saturday. He became the first player with three TD runs against the Tigers since Leonard Fournette in LSU’s 45-21 victory on Sept. 19, 2015. Georgia scored six TDs on the ground on Saturday to become the second opponent this century to reach six rushing TDs in a game against Auburn. Texas A&M also had six rushing TDs in its 63-21 victory over the Tigers on Oct. 27, 2012.
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8 SEC players had at least 100 rushing yards on Saturday, the most in any week this season for the conference. Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs had 154 rushing yards against Texas A&M, Tennessee’s Jabari Smith had 127 against LSU, Kentucky’s Christopher Rodriguez Jr. had 126 against South Carolina, Missouri’s Nathaniel Peat had 117 against Florida, Arkansas’ Malik Hornsby had 114 against Mississippi State, South Carolina’s MarShawn Lloyd had 110 against Kentucky, Vanderbilt’s Re’Mahn Davis had 105 against Ole Miss and Mississippi State’s Dillon Johnson had 100 against Arkansas. Johnson became Mississippi State’s first 100-yard rusher since Kylin Hill ran for 132 yards in a 21-20 victory over Ole Miss on Nov. 28, 2019. Between the 100-yard games by Hill and Johnson, every other SEC team had at least seven 100-yard rushing performances. Kentucky had 24, Texas A&M 20, Alabama and Ole Miss 17 each, Tennessee 15, Arkansas 14, Missouri 13, Auburn 12, South Carolina 11, LSU and Vanderbilt nine apiece and Florida and Georgia seven each.
13 Seconds went off the clock before South Carolina scored a TD against Kentucky on Saturday, even though the Wildcats had possession first. South Carolina DB David Spaulding caused Kentucky RB Christopher Rodriguez Jr. to fumble on the first play of the game, and South Carolina DL Tonka Hemingway returned the recovery 15 yards to the Wildcats 2-yard line. South Carolina RB MarShawn Lloyd scored on the next snap to start the Gamecocks on their way to a 24-14 victory.
14 Tackles were made by Arkansas LB Bumper Pool in a 40-17 loss to Mississippi State on Saturday. Pool’s final tackle on Saturday established him as the Razorbacks’ career leader in tackles as he surpassed the 408 made by Tony Bua from 2000 through 2003.
247 Yards and two TDs on nine receptions for Ole Miss WR Jonathan Mingo in a 52-28 victory over Vanderbilt on Saturday to set a school single-game record. Mingo broke the mark of 238 yards that Elijah Moore had set when he had a school-record 14 receptions against Vanderbilt in 2020. Mingo had TD receptions of 71 and 72 yards from QB Jaxson Dart in the second half against the Commodores.
946 Completions for Mississippi State QB Will Rogers, the most in SEC history. Rogers broke the league record for career completions by going 31-of-48 for 395 yards with three TDs and no interceptions in a 40-17 victory over Arkansas on Saturday. Rogers broke the league record of 921 completions established by Georgia QB Aaron Murray in 52 games across the 2010 through 2013 seasons. Rogers broke the record in 28 games. Rogers almost broke the SEC record for most 400-yard passing games, too, which he shares with former Kentucky QB Tim Couch. Rogers came up 5 yards short of his eighth 400-yard game.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.