Take a Look Tuesday: Ray Davis is God Edition

Welcome back to Take a Look Tuesday, a weekly look at the rest of the teams in the SEC. For the first time all season, everyone played conference games.

Texas A&M 34 vs* Arkansas 22 (Arlington)

174 offensive yards for the Hogs. That is very bad. Arkansas had 42 total rushing yards. That is worse. Arkansas lost 41 yards on 7 sacks. That is downright abysmal. Arkansas won the turnover battle 3-1, but they couldn’t get anything going. 10 of their points came from taking advantage of turnovers, 7 from a pick-six and 3 from a fumble that gave them good enough field position so that their three-and-out could still manifest points. The Aggies had a field day on the ground with 204 yards led by Le’Veon Moss’ 107. A&M’s last two TDs came on a pick-six and a punt return. Is Arkansas very bad or is A&M better than people think? That’ll be answered Saturday when they host #11 Alabama at 2:30 p.m. on CBS. Arkansas travels to #16 Ole Miss at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

Kentucky 33 vs #22 Florida 14

Kentucky is on their longest win streak over Florida since winning four straight from 1948-51, four of the first 11 games the schools ever played. Kentucky scored its most points over Florida since scoring 37 in 2007. The biggest deal was the big cat on the field that day: Ray Davis. The Wildcat running back ran for 280 yards on 26 carries and never lost a yard on any of them. He scored 3 rushing TDs and a receiving TD for a total of 289 offensive yards. Florida had 313 offensive yards. Devin Leary of Kentucky went a mere 9/19 for 69 yards and 1 TD on the day because Ray Davis was hunting Gators. He had 141 yards in the 1^st quarter and 206 by halftime. It tied for the third-best rushing performance in Wildcats history behind Moe Williams’ 299 yards against South Carolina in 1995 and Lynn Bowden Jr.’s 284 yards against Louisville in 2019. Kentucky went 1/8 on 3^rd down, by the way. It just didn’t matter. Sometimes, one guy takes over and the other team can’t respond. This was one of those times. Kentucky travels to #1 Georgia Saturday at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN while Florida hosts Vanderbilt at 3:00 p.m. on SEC Network.

#1 Georgia 27 at Auburn 20

This game should not have been close. It’s become a common thing that Georgia starts slow before finishing off their foe, but this wasn’t that. It was sloppy, it was ugly and it wasn’t over until they made the obvious decision to start throwing to Brock Bowers. Was Auburn throwing the ball effectively? No they weren’t, they failed to have 100 passing yards against a Power 5 opponent for the 6^th straight game, finishing with 88 on 11/20 passing and a pick. It was like the 2022 Georgia-Missouri game all over again with Georgia once again remembering they have Brock Bowers late and using him as their cheat code to win the game. He finished with 8 catches for 157 yards and the game-winning TD. Georgia is not a fraud, but it is really becoming a question of the decisions they keep making. Georgia hosts #20 Kentucky Saturday at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN. Auburn is on bye.

#23 Missouri 38 at Vanderbilt 21

Missouri’s best start in a decade kept on rolling with this win over a deflated Commodores squad. The Tigers held Vandy to a mere 2/10 on 3^rd down and 1/2 on 4^th down. They also picked off a pass in the end zone to derail a 10-play drive that reached the red zone in the 3^rd quarter. As for the Missouri offense, it was firing like usual. Brady Cook went 33/41 for 395 yards and 4 TDs, setting new career highs for completions, yards and TDs in a game and extending his streak of games without a pick to 11. Luther Burden lived up to his name again with 11 catches on 13 targets for 140 yards and 2 TDs, but Theo Wease got himself 118 yards of his own and another TD. Missouri has shown themselves to be a formidable offense, and Vanderbilt has fallen downs any steps they took in 2022. Missouri hosts #23 LSU at 11:00 a.m. on ESPN while Vanderbilt travels to Florida at 3:00 p.m. on SEC Network.

#21 Tennessee 41 vs South Carolina 20

South Carolina needed to fix their offensive line so Spencer Rattler could play well. Tennessee sacked him six times. Seem like it may need more than some duct tape. Tennessee held onto the ball far longer than it had in any other game, nearly equaling South Carolina at 29:45. This was the result of long, sustained drives in the second half that allowed the Vols to chew up clock. Third downs killed the Gamecocks. Tennessee went 7/15 on 3^rd down, but South Carolina went just 2/15 and 2/5 on 4^th down. All this combined with the fact that South Carolina’s only turnover went for a pick-six combined for a miserable night in Knoxville. Both teams are on bye this week.

#12 Alabama 40 at Mississippi State 17

The Alabama-Mississippi State series is more lopsided than Bedlam and the Bulldogs haven’t won since Saban’s first season at Alabama in 2007. That remained true in this lopsided blowout that could’ve been worse had the Tide not coasted in the second half. The Bulldogs managed a mere 261 total yards and just 107 passing, and Will Rogers threw 3 picks including a pick-six. Jalen Milroe had a very efficient performance going 10/12 for 164 yards, but the Alabama ground game did its job and ran for 250 sack-adjusted yards. Mississippi State is having a rough time adjusting to its new offense, and Alabama pounced on it. Alabama travels to Texas A&M Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on CBS. Mississippi State hosts Western Michigan at 11:00 a.m. Saturday.