Gators rising- SEC Power Rankings Week 6

Georgia came through Knoxville ‘scathed’ but with an overtime victory. South Carolina survived a furious comeback from Kentucky. Auburn survived a furious comeback from Ole Miss. LSU blew an early lead against Mississippi State and then hit another gear and blew ’em out. Florida and Arkansas was a nasty game…and not in a good way. Alabama had no problems with Georgia State…apart from keeping the score down. Oh, and in the ‘Under-The-Radar Game Of The Day’….Missouri destroyed Vanderbilt…which really impressed us.

1) Bama- Not about today’s destruction of GSU (it could have been 70, let’s face it!), but this team’s D and no little offense is the best team in the country.

2) Florida- Defense is nasty. Offense is not there yet, but with Tyler Murphy as the QB, we’re a lot more hope in things on that side of the ball. The Gators-Hogs game wasn’t exciting, and it was exceptionally chippy. Can’t wait to see the LSU game – will be unstoppable force vs unmovable object…and more chippiness. 

3) Georgia- Against Tennessee on Saturday afternoon, Aaron Murray’s best receiver, Malcolm Mitchell, injured a knee, and more importantly, running back Keith Marshall also ruined his knee — which means ‘Gurshall’ is now ‘Gurshjured’ (short for injured). but all of the injuries, they came through a battle against Tennessee thanks to a dying-seconds TD from Aaron Murray and an OT field goal victory. But it’s got us thinking….with all the injuries, are this Bulldogs team the second best team in the SEC now? Perhaps not.

4) LSU- Offense is nasty, and QB Mettenberger has weapons at WR (Beckham, Landry) and RB (Hill, Hilliard, Blue). Defense is not. However, the secondary did make some plays against Mississippi State when it needed to.

5) Texas A&M – Johnny Football, baby. He had 5 TDs and 576 yards against ByeWeek. In just 3 quarters.

6) South Carolina- Not convinced by their D, and there’s trouble between Clowney and Spurrier. But Mike Davis and Connor Shaw/Dylan Thompson keep wheels of the train moving.

7) Missouri- Only unbeaten team left bar Alabama in the SEC. Beat the crap out of Vandy. James Franklin’s got 2 honest to God good receivers to throw to.

8) Auburn- Beat Ole Miss, but nearly blew it in the 2H. Need to keep their heads in the game.

9) Ole Miss- Lost second in a row because of poor first half, and Hugh Freeze’s terrible decision-making on 4th downs. But team’s still young. Will rise.

10) Vanderbilt- Awful first half against Mizzou and not much better in second. This may well have been an overrated team that will struggle to get bowl-eligible in 2013.

11) Arkansas- Alex Collins is a beast of a running back. The defense limited Florida to no rushing TDs, and played well in the second half. This team’s improving week by week.

12) Tennessee- Of course, you wonder what would have happened if Georgia had kept its talent healthy. I expect they would have won easily. But Tennessee were gutsy, got 4th and 1s, and Neyland was rocking. There is hope on Rocky Top.

13) Kentucky- Wildcats have got to be happy with the way they stuck with Carolina. Poor start to the game though. Now Stoops has a starting QB, this could be fun! Next year.

14) Mississippi State- Blown out at home by LSU after missing a FG that would have closed the game to 3. Desperately missing Banks in secondary. Good to see Tyler Russell back, too.