By Matt Smith
SouthernPigskin.com

Follow us at Twitter.com/SouthernPigskin.  Become a fan at the SouthernPigskin.com Facebook Page

Matt Smith breaks down everything you need to know about week seven in the SEC.

Scores

South Carolina 20, (3) Georgia 17 (2OT)
Tennessee 20, Mississippi State 10
(1) Alabama 47, (23) Texas A&M 28
UNLV 34, Vanderbilt 10
Missouri 38, Ole Miss 27
Kentucky 24, Arkansas 20
(5) LSU 42, (7) Florida 28

The Big Story

I fully expected this section to be about Florida-LSU. Then South Carolina-Georgia happened and overshadowed every other storyline from the SEC on Saturday. The Gamecocks 20-17 stunning overtime win in Athens took a supreme effort from their defense, allowing only seven points to Georgia after DAndre Swifts touchdown run early in the second quarter. They intercepted Jake Fromm three times, one for a pick-six and one in overtime on a gift from above when Tyler Simmons dropped a routine pass that deflected right into the hands of Israel Mukuamu.

Georgia outgained South Carolina by 171 yards, but the Bulldogs made too many uncharacteristic mistakes. Fromm was unusually inaccurate. The running game managed just four yards per carry. Even reliable senior kicker Rodrigo Blankenship missed a field goal, coming in double overtime to set off a garnet and black celebration between the hedges. Georgia couldnt run, kept trying to run, and couldnt just put the game in the hands of its struggling quarterback. A great defensive effort, which saw South Carolina score just three points on eight second half and overtime drives, was wasted.

Where does Georgia go from here? Playoff hopes are far from gone, but the margin for another error obviously is, so forget any hopes of getting there without winning the SEC title. The more pressing question is how does this team get right before the showdown with Florida in three weeks? Fromm and the offensive line both played their worst games of the year. The defense was great, but couldnt get the critical takeaway, compared to the Gamecocks defense which turned Georgia over four times. Fromm has too much of a resume to think this was more than a one-off. Hell be better in Jacksonville.

Top Takeaways

-Florida-LSU was everything we hoped it would be. It didnt quite come down to the final minutes, as LSUs defense shut the Gators out over the final 25 minutes of the Tigers 42-28 victory, but the first three quarters were as entertaining as we could have hoped for. Joe Burrow led a touchdown drive. Kyle Trask answered with a gutty effort on a gimpy knee. After Florida took the lead by taking advantage of the last possession of the first half and the first of the second half, Burrow was the one who had to respond. He did, as he has all season. Once his defense slammed the door on Trask, je kept going, capping his night with a game-clinching 54-yard touchdown pass to JaMarr Chase. Burrow completed 21 of his 24 passes against an excellent Gators defense.

The best news for LSU was the play of its two lines. The defensive front began to wear down Floridas shaky offensive line in the second half, getting four consecutive stops after allowing three straight long touchdown drives. Burrow had the luxury of time in the pocket all night long. Floridas pass rush was weakened without Jonathan Greenard and with a sub-100 percent Jabari Zuniga, but this was still a big test for a unit that hadnt faced much resistance yet this season. They passed it, and now the visit from Auburn is less frightening.

-What to make of Florida now? The effects of playing Auburn last week took their toll in the second half in Baton Rouge, but if there were any doubts about Florida having a quarterback who can take the Gators to Atlanta, those should be gone after another gutty performance from Trask. His late-game interception in the red zone with Florida down by seven was just a great play by cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. The windows were tight most of the night, but Trask put the ball in spots for his great group of wideouts to make plays, and they did.

The Gators go back on the road next week at rejuvenated South Carolina. Williams-Brice Stadium is always a tough environment, and it will be even more so now after the Gamecocks shocked Georgia on Saturday. Florida would love another shot at the Tigers, and it may get it if it plays like it did on Saturday night. Naming an SEC East favorite is a challenge right now, with Missouri sitting on top at 2-0 and Florida and Georgia looking very evenly matched at 3-1 and 2-1 respectively.

Quick Hitters

-Lets give South Carolina credit for an incredible victory, but turnovers explain the past. They dont necessarily predict the future. The 3-3 Gamecocks have one near-certain win (Vanderbilt) and one near-certain loss (Clemson) remaining. That means there are four swing games 3 Florida, at Tennessee, Appalachian State and at Texas A&M. Theres 0-4 potential, but theres also 3-1 potential. Im sticking with no bowl for South Carolina. Even with the promise Ryan Hilinski has shown, the offense still lacks any consistency. Even if South Carolinas season does end on Thanksgiving weekend, this season may still be remembered fondly simply for what happened on Saturday in Athens.

-Tennessee had to beat Mississippi State to avoid this season being a total embarrassment, and it did just that, surviving an injury to starting quarterback Brian Maurer and riding a great defensive effort to a 20-10 victory. The game was marred by turnovers, as three different quarterbacks combined to throw five interceptions. The quarterback who didnt throw a pick was starter-turned-backup Jarrett Guarantano who came off the bench to hit six of seven passes, including the clinching touchdown for 39 yards to Tyler Byrd just as the Bulldogs found some momentum. Tennessee will have to absorb a whipping next week at Alabama, but even coming home from Tuscaloosa at 2-5, there will still be something to play for as the schedule eases. Credit Jeremy Pruitt. This team has kept battling, and it finally got a payoff on Saturday.

-Its probably safe to declare this a lost season for Mississippi State. Joe Moorhead back to Tommy Stevens against Tennessee after true freshman Garrett Shrader had started the past two games was strange. Stevens was benched in the second half, as Shrader came off the bench to spark Mississippi State, but the defense couldnt get a late stop to give him a chance to win the game. Moorhead has been hampered by suspensions, but his decision-making has left a lot to be desired in his first season and a half in Starkville. The best-case scenario now is probably to get to the Egg Bowl against Ole Miss at 5-6 and be playing for a bowl game. Ole Miss might be in that same position. Forget achieving any big goals now. The Bullies just need to salvage the season and avoid ending in the SEC West basement.

-Up the road in Oxford, bowl hopes are now on the line next week. The 3-4 Rebels shuffled quarterbacks John Rhys Plumlee and Matt Corral with only moderate success against Missouri, as the Tigers built a 28-7 lead, and Ole Miss never could get back within one score. As the saying goes, when you have two quarterbacks, you have none. Ole Miss needs to pick one, likely Plumlee, and go forward with him. With near-certain losses coming to Auburn and LSU, the Rebels need to beat Texas A&M next week. Its at home. Its at night. There will be beer sales for the first time. Get that one, and youre going to Starkville on Thanksgiving Night playing for a bowl bid. To get that one, however, the quarterback shuffling should be scrapped.

-The Missouri defense did allow 440 yards, but holding Ole Miss without a point for a 39-minute stretch was a great performance in the first game without physical and emotional leader Cale Garrett. The 5-1 Tigers are for real, and Kelly Bryant showed few ill effects of his knee injury suffered last week. Now its time to leave Columbia for the first time since August. Vanderbilt and Kentucky look like pushovers. Take care of business there, and Missouri might just need to split games with Georgia and Florida after its second idle week to win the division. Are the Tigers eligible to play in the SEC Championship Game? Thanks to unsurprising NCAA incompetence, no one knows, as the schools appeal of its postseason ban remains unresolved.

-Once again, theres not much to say about Alabama. Tua Tagovailoa broke the school record for touchdown passes against Texas A&M, but his 13 incompletions were a season-high. The running game made some progress, and the pass rush came alive with five sacks of Kellen Mond. Its still almost four weeks until the LSU game. We wont learn much more before then.

-Kentucky beat Arkansas with a converted wide receiver playing quarterback. The Hogs led 13-0 and seemed poised to end their 13-game SEC losing streak, but the 8Cats scored 24 of the games final 31 points. Lynn Bowden stepped in for an injured Sawyer Smith and ran a modified Wildcat offense beautifully, amassing 196 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Arkansas is now left with one more legitimate chance to win an SEC game this season 3 Nov. 2 vs. Mississippi State. The losing streak could reach 19 by seasons end, which would be the longest an SEC team has experienced since the league went to division play in 1992.

-I guess I have to mention Vanderbilt. Saturdays 34-10 loss to 1-4 UNLV was the most embarrassing loss of the six-year Derek Mason eta, and there are some bad ones in that time. The offense is completely broken, and despite being a defensive guy, that falls on Mason, who promoted from within when offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig left for Utah after last season. The Commodores are 1-5, and theres nothing to play for until the rivalry game with Tennessee in late November. Masons job status is now a talking point. New athletic director Malcolm Turner had a quick trigger on basketball coach Bryce Drew, so even at a place that normally displays patience with coaches, a change has to be on the table now after a pathetic effort for a program that cant even fill half its stadium without a huge influx of visiting fans.

Around The Nation

-Oklahoma might not have a national championship defense, but in holding Texas to 27 points, its safe to say the Sooners have one that can allow the team to produce a perfect regular season for the first time since 2004. The offense was great between the twenties, but made some key mistakes in the red zone. The door was ajar for the Longhorns, but Oklahomas defense rose to the occasion, holding Texas to just 310 yards. The 34-27 Sooners win wasnt all that close statistically, as Oklahoma outgained its bitter rival, 511-310.

-Elsewhere in the Big 12, Iowa State and Baylor remain the two teams capable of preventing a Red River rematch in the Big 12 Championship Game. The Bears had to scratch and claw to survive a double-overtime thriller with Texas Tech, but theyre 6-0 for the fifth time in seven years. Only Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State have also done that. The Cyclones, now 2-1 in league play, delivered a mature performance on the road at West Virginia, wearing the Mountaineers down in the second half in a 38-14 win. Both teams host Texas in consecutive weeks in late November. If one can knock off the Longhorns, it might be the team to get a second swing at Oklahoma in December.

-Wisconsin now has four shutouts in six games after a 38-0 pasting of Michigan State. The Spartans managed just 149 yards of offense. The competition hasnt been great, and Ohio State is looming in two weeks, but the Badgers defensive statistics are off the charts 3 3.1 yards per play, 4.8 points per game, 1.75 yards per carry, 15.7% on third-down attempts. Its been complete dominance, and I cant wait to see what this group can do in Columbus against the Buckeyes. Oh yeah, Jonathan Taylor is pretty darn good too. The junior running back now has 14 touchdowns on the season after scoring twice on Saturday. Hes on pace for 32 for the season, which would be No. 3 all time.

-cAint played nobodyd is a running joke in the college football world, but it was mostly true for Penn State. That was until Saturday night, when the 5-0 Nittany Lions went into a tough atmosphere at No. 17 Iowa and didnt allow a touchdown until the final minutes of their 17-12 victory. The defense continues to rock, and the elite athleticism of their offensive skill position players was the difference in an old-fashioned Big Ten slugfest. Michigan comes to State College next week, and Penn State should be considered a sizable favorite.

-Nice effort from USC to not throw in the towel against No. 9 Notre Dame when it fell behind 20-3 on a chilly night in South Bend. The Irish hung on for a 30-27 victory, topping 300 yards on the ground to remain on the fringe of the cplayoff pictured, if such a thing exists in mid-October. The cIs Clay Helton getting fired?d Wheel appears to have landed squarely on yes for this week. Moral victories dont help Helton at this point. USC has six games left, and that includes two games against ranked teams (Oregon and at Arizona State). At 3-3, Helton needs all six to survive.

-Outside of USC, it was a pretty ho-hum week in the Pac-12. Oregon and Washington rolled against Colorado and Arizona respectively in the lead-ups to their clash next week in Seattle. The Huskies have to have it to stay in the conference title race, while the Ducks can slam the door on the North Division with a road win. Arizona suffered its first league loss, and now the South Division is a jumbled mess, as all six teams have either one or two conference losses.

-The ACC Coastal went full Coastal this week, as Miami (FL) held off Virginia, 17-9, to put the most balanced division for football fully up for grabs. Virginia has one conference loss, as do Duke, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech. Georgia Tech being a dumpster fire has ruined any hopes of the 7-way tie, but there is no favorite right now.

-Oh my, Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights lost 35-0 to Indiana and managed just 75 yards. 75 yards! Theyve now failed to top 17 points in their last 16 Big Ten games. Their only legitimate shot to do so this season comes in three weeks at Illinois.

-Rivalry games, man. Bowling Green, coming off losses by 52, 28, 42, and 52 points, was a 27-point home underdog to 4-1 Toledo. Bowling Green 20, Toledo 7. This sport makes no sense sometimes.

-Other teams to catch my eye in Week 7, in a good way: Louisville, Minnesota, Western Kentucky

-Other teams to catch my eye in Week 7, in a bad way: BYU, Maryland, Tulsa

Resume Rankings

1. LSU
2. Ohio State
3. Alabama
4. Auburn
5. Wisconsin
6. Oklahoma
7. Clemson
8. Florida
9. Penn State
10. Oregon
11. Notre Dame
12. Baylor
13. Boise State
14. Texas
15. SMU
16. Washington
17. Minnesota
18. Appalachian State
19. Georgia
20. Cincinnati
21. Utah
22. Arizona State
23. Michigan
24. Missouri
25. Iowa

The 5 Week 8 SEC Games I’m Most Interested In

1. No. 9 Florida at South Carolina (Noon ET, ESPN)
2. Texas A&M at Ole Miss (7:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
3. No. 2 LSU at Mississippi State (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS)
4. Tennessee at No. 1 Alabama (9 p.m. ET, ESPN)
5. Kentucky at No. 10 Georgia (6 p.m. ET, ESPN)

The 5 Week 8 National Games I’m Most Interested In

1. No. 16 Michigan at No. 7 Penn State (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
2. No. 12 Oregon at Washington (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
3. No. 17 Arizona State at No. 13 Utah (6 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network)
4. Iowa State at Texas Tech (Noon ET, FS1)
5. No. 18 Baylor at Oklahoma State (4 p.m. ET, FOX)