Who holds the least in the SEC? (Hint: It’s not Bama!)
Every time people think “Alabama offensive line”, there’s an automatic assumption that because their running backs succeed (and over the years, the success has been nothing short of stunning at college football level), it’s because they are holding the whole time and don’t get called for it.
Hell, we even remember being in LSU’s student section for the 2012 loss to the Crimson Tide, and every time Alabama made an offensive move, someone would scream: “Holding! Holding! Holding!”. Apparently, everyone but the Crimson Tide gets called for grabbing, and it’s all Nick Saban’s fault.
But after talking to our friends at Sport Source Analytics, we realised that this wasn’t exactly true.
Over the last two years, the teams that have gotten off the lightest for holding are in fact SEC East teams, with Florida leading the way, followed by their arch-rival Tennessee. South Carolina, Missouri, Ole Miss, Texas A&M are behind them. THEN, it’s the SEC’s mighty trio of LSU, Alabama and Auburn, with Georgia, Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Mississippi State after them.
The most sinful team on the list is Kentucky, according to the stats.
Check out the table from least to most:
- Florida
- Tennessee
- South Carolina
- Missouri
- Ole Miss
- Texas A&M
- LSU
- Alabama
- Auburn
- Georgia
- Vanderbilt
- Arkansas
- Mississippi State
- Kentucky