Week 8 SEC Letter Grades: Alabama Through Georgia
Credit: University of Florida Athletics
By Tucker Harlin
SEC football stayed wild in Week 8 of 2024.
Blowouts were surprisingly prevalent throughout the league this week, but there was at least one pair of close games involving a loss for both schools in the Yellowhammer State.
The letter grades are in groups of five this week for the sake of evenness. Ole Miss was the lone team on bye this week so it will not receive a letter grade.
ALABAMA: D
This may be perceived as harsh, but C is generally a grade I give if you play the best game possible and lose. Not only did Alabama not play its best game and lose, but it lost to a team that ***spoiler alert*** absolutely didn’t play its A game.
Everything looked disjointed about Alabama’s offense. The run game was sporadic at best, gaining just 75 yards on 34 tries.
Jalen Milroe was the biggest crimson red flag on the offense.
Milroe was constantly reaching for his security blanket in Ryan Williams over the course of the game, targeting Williams nearly 20 times. Tennessee’s defense caught on and successfully prohibited Williams from making plays over the course of the afternoon. Milroe was missing targets in all different directions in his 25/45 passing performance.
I really don’t think Alabama’s defense played that well either.
Sure it held Tennessee scoreless and forced three turnovers in 2.5 quarters, but the Tide was in trouble once the Vols began to cash in on big plays. The penetration wasn’t there against an offensive line that had struggled mightily in the previous two weeks.
Coaching wasn’t stellar either for the Tide in this game.
Why are you running a screen pass without any lead blockers on 4th and 22 deep in your own territory?
Also, 15 penalties for 115 yards is incredibly undisciplined football. I wouldn’t want to be Kalen DeBoer right now in a state full of angry fans.
ARKANSAS: F
I was wondering if Arkansas had found something in its win against Tennessee two weeks ago. If it found something, Arkansas very quickly lost it in the 34-10 beating it took from LSU.
Arkansas surrendered a touchdown on the opening drive repeatedly shot itself in the foot as the game progressed.
The Razorbacks missed a field goal on their first offensive possession, which in turn allowed LSU to stretch its lead to 10. Rashod Dubinion fumbled one play into the next possession, a fumble cashed in for a field goal on LSU’s possession.
Fast forward to the third quarter. Taylen Green threw a ball at the hands of LSU’s Whit Weeks, who managed to corral it at the Arkansas 2 to set up a quick Tigers score. Receiver Isaiah Sategna effectively ended the game by fumbling away just before the two minute timeout.
Not that the offense did it any favors, but the Arkansas defense struggled to keep LSU in check. Take LSU penalties out of the equation and the Hogs only stuck the Tigers behind the chains once with a singular tackle for loss.
The worst part of this result is how well the game was setting up for Arkansas. LSU had just come off an emotional win while the Razorbacks enjoyed a bye week, only for it to end in a three score loss.
AUBURN: C-
My rationale for giving Auburn a C while Alabama got stuck in the D tier hinges on the amount of game breaking mistakes made by each team. Auburn had nine less penalties than Alabama, and the one fumble the Tigers lost didn’t come back to haunt them at Missouri.
But Auburn let a 14-point lead evaporate in the final quarter of play for the second time this season.
The offense had momentum on the opening possession of the second half, but that was it. The other touchdown the Tigers scored was thanks to a botched punt return by Mizzou that sent the ball rolling into the end zone.
The defense got a break in the middle of the game with Brady Cook rushing to and from the hospital, but Auburn was doomed the moment Cook returned.
While I think Mizzou has shown some signs of fraudulence lately, I can’t fault a struggling Auburn too much for dropping a tight loss on the road.
FLORIDA: A
It’s hard to give a struggling Florida team anything less than an A in a 28-point conference win.
Explosive plays won the day for Florida on offense.
Despite not scoring a touchdown, Elijhah Badger, Chimere Dike, and Trey Wilson all had at least one reception that went for over 40 yards. Backup running back Jadan Baugh rushed for 105 yards and FIVE touchdowns in the absence of Montrell Johnson.
Other than one long touchdown pass and another long establishing drive it surrendered in the second half, the Gators didn’t back down on defense.
Florida’s secondary finished the night with three interceptions, one of which was a pick six by Cormani McClain to ice the cake.
So the Gators won this game by starting strong and then rolling with punches thrown their way by responding with 21 unanswered points to win the game.
GEORGIA: A-
I was juggling between A- and B+ for this one, but the Bulldogs winning by 15 against the top ranked team in the country on the road swayed me to push it to an A.
Carson Beck was the only reason Georgia’s win over Texas was a contest. Beck threw three interceptions, two of which shouldn’t have been thrown in the direction of the intended receiver while the other was too hot off the hands of his tight end and fell into a Texas defender’s lap.
Fortunately for Beck, Texas only scored one touchdown off these turnovers, a touchdown it may not score if the myriad of trash didn’t come raining down from the student section.
However, Georgia capitalized off turnovers Texas gave it. The Bulldogs scored touchdowns off both the fumble Ewers lost on a strip sack and the pick he threw later in the first half, both caused by Daylen Everette.
Georgia led this game 23-0 at half. After the second Texas touchdown, the Bulldogs marched 89 yards on a scoring drive of their own to take a 30-15 lead.
The Bulldogs stripped Ewers for another fumble on the next possession, and Texas was unable to find the end zone for the rest of the game.
While the win wasn’t perfect for Georgia, it will probably look back on its trip to Austin as its best win of the season.
