Week 13 SEC Letter Grades: Alabama Through Florida

Written By Tucker Harlin

Credit: University of Florida Athletics

By Tucker Harlin

We officially have one week left of the college football season. After several important shifts in the College Football Playoff rankings, the committee has more important decisions to make on Tuesday.

No league had more shifting with its teams in the projected field than the SEC as three different ranked programs took losses.

Everybody played this week, so every team receives a letter grade.

ALABAMA: F

The Crimson Tide is the first team in what is a sparsely populated F tier.

Never did I think I’d see a day in which a quarterback would throw for just 68 yards against Alabama and win. The Tide let Oklahoma’s banged up offense run all over it Saturday night for 260 yards.

The bigger problem for Alabama was Jalen Milroe, who threw as many picks as the number of points it scored. All three interceptions Milroe threw were either in the flat or backfield to his right.

Two of the picks resulted in subsequent Oklahoma touchdowns while the other was a game sealer.

ARKANSAS: C+

I will never understand how this Arkansas team managed to defeat Tennessee and then disappeared off the face of the earth just weeks later.

The Razorbacks didn’t score until about the 6-minute mark in the second quarter. Between this moment and the start of the game, Taylen Green airmailed his receiver for an interception and Andrew Armstrong lost a fumble.

Arkansas got the ball rolling on offense near the end of the first half. Green had a total of four touchdowns and the Razorbacks surpassed 200 rush yards for the game.

But just as the offense started clicking, the defense found itself falling into complacency. Louisiana Tech made it a two score game in the final five minutes.

At the end of the day, Sam Pittman is bowling and still has a job.

AUBURN: B+

The opening quarter of Auburn’s 43-41 four-overtime win against Texas A&M was the best its offense has constructed all season.

Payton Thorne uncorked deep passes to KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Cam Coleman, both catching shots for over 60 yards. Jarquez Hunter ran for 130 yards and a hat trick of touchdowns.

There were lapses that allowed for Texas A&M to claw back into the game. Thorne threw an interception, the defense allowed the Aggies to bust its coverage on a deep touchdown pass, and clock management wasn’t ideal in the closing minutes.

To pull off ranked wins when the odds are stacked against you, some luck needs to go your way. Texas A&M drew up a perfect play in the fourth overtime, but the receiver couldn’t secure the catch.

The Tigers were due a close win, and they finally wound up with a result they wanted.

FLORIDA: A-

You knew it was going to be a fight for Florida to try and knock off Ole Miss, but it weathered the storms to a 24-17 win as a double-digit underdog.

D.J. Lagway threw a pick early on in this game, but he responded with this screen pass to Jadan Baugh to tie the game back up at 14.

The defense bent more than it broke Saturday.

The Gators forced the Rebels into a missed field goal, turned them over on downs twice in the red zone, and picked off Jaxson Dart twice in the final minutes. Dart had pressure coming at him all game long.

It’s weird to hear people advocating for Billy Napier to be considered a “coach of the year,” but here we are.

Tucker Harlin
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