Week 6 SEC Letter Grades: Georgia Through South Carolina

Credit: University of Mississippi Athletics

GEORGIA: B+

I was between an A- and B+ for Georgia this week, but a 31-13 win over Auburn may be the best it has considering the lack of explosive playmakers on a consistent basis.

The Bulldogs were never in danger of losing this game, they just weren’t able to pull away until the middle of the second half. The only true break the defense had was on Jarquez Hunter’s touchdown run.

There’s also some consideration about the previous week going into this assessment. Georgia was coming off an emotional loss at Alabama, so the best performance of the season wasn’t going to surface this week.

Other than the seven penalties for 85 yards, you can’t point into any damning mistakes for the Bulldogs in the victory.

MISSOURI: F

Missouri is among the growing list of poster children who are examples of why preseason polls are meaningless.

The Tigers were dealt bad breaks of penalties and no calls that went against them in the early going of their trip to Texas A&M. But penalties alone aren’t responsible for a 41-10 loss.

Mizzou blinked and found itself down 34. Brady Cook finished the day a crisp 13/31 for 186 yards while the defense gave up 276 through the air to a quarterback whose previous high for the season was 125 yards against McNeese.

In my questions I ask ahead of each week of SEC football, one of mine for this week was if the Tigers could hold up in a hostile road environment. The answer is a resounding “no.”

Keep in mind some of these people voting in both the AP poll and several national awards for the season are Missouri alums.

So when somebody tells you the world needs more Mizzou journalists, don’t listen. They aren’t any better than the rest of us with a journalism degree.

OLE MISS: A

A big question I had before the weekend began was how the Rebels were going to play in a hostile environment off a disappointing home loss. Until last week, Lane Kiffin had won every game he was supposed to win and lost every game he was supposed to lose in his four seasons at Ole Miss.

They responded very well, blowing out South Carolina 27-3 in Williams-Brice Stadium.

Ole Miss capitalized on early mistakes by the Gamecocks to take a 14-point lead in the first quarter. The Rebels scored all of its touchdowns on the ground in the first half thanks to both Henry Parrish and defensive lineman J.J. Pegues.

The Rebels limited red zone visits by the Gamecocks. The furthest South Carolina made it down the field was to the Ole Miss 6 where it was picked off late in the game.

The defensive front finished with six sacks and 10 tackles for loss.

Overall, the win was a critical bounceback ahead of the meat of SEC play for Ole Miss

SOUTH CAROLINA: F

Drawing a ranked team the week after it put up a stinker is never easy. But losing 27-3 on your home turf after a bye is another level of disappointing.

The first and most concerning part of South Carolina’s performance was the horrible first quarter it posted.

Beamer Ball backfired in its own territory early in the game, leading to a subsequent Ole Miss touchdown. Disaster struck again just a few plays into the next possession as Robby Ashford lost a fumble that the Rebels again capitalized on with a touchdown.

Aside from hurtful mistakes, the offensive line remains a big question mark as Ole Miss got all the penetration it could ask for against the Gamecocks.

I put the defense’s struggles more on the offense’s mistakes than its own doing. Other than whatever Dylan Stewart did right here, it could’ve been a much worse day for the defense.

Previous
Previous

Week 6 SEC Letter Grades: Tennessee Through Vanderbilt

Next
Next

Week 6 SEC Letter Grades: Alabama through Florida