Take a Look Tuesday: LSU Bye Week Edition

Welcome back to Take a Look Tuesday, a weekly look at the rest of the teams in the SEC. LSU was on their bye week, and some teams played as if they were joining them.

Texas A&M 30 vs South Carolina 17

It’s been a sad year for South Carolina fans, and this made it worse. The Gamecocks earned their sixth loss of the year against an A&M team that played a great game of keep away. They held the ball 11 minutes longer, converted four 4^th downs and scored late when they needed to. Max Johnson led the way going 20/30 for 249 yards and a TD, one he threw to Ainias Smith who finished with 6 catches for 118 yards. Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper won Bednarik Player of the Week honors after his incredible day in which he had 7 tackles, 5 solo tackles, 0.5 sacks, 1.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a pass break-up. South Carolina lost 43 yards on 4 sacks and finished with 33 rushing yards. That is bad. The Aggies travel to Oxford to face Ole Miss Saturday at 11:00 a.m. on ESPN. South Carolina hosts the first ever Battle of the Gamecocks against Jacksonville State at the same time on ESPNU.

Auburn 27 vs Mississippi State 13

Auburn managed to blow past all expectations. They threw for 200 yards. Payton Thorne had an incredible day going 20/26 for 230 yards and 3 TDs, and he did it by throwing to 11 different receivers. Compare that to Mike Wright who went 16/32 for 161 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Zavion Thomas of MSU led all receivers with 9 catches for 112 yards and a TD, while Auburn’s leading receiver was Ja’Varrius Johnson with 2 catches for 59 yards and a TD. Auburn also ran the ball well thanks to Jarquez Hunter’s 144-yard day. Mississippi State is having a rough transition as was expected, and they’ll be lucky to make a bowl game. Auburn travels to Vanderbilt Saturday at 3:00 p.m. on SEC Network while Mississippi State hosts Kentucky at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

#1 Georgia 43 vs* Florida 20 (Jacksonville)

Georgia’s offense without Brock Bowers looked fine in Jacksonville. Florida got the scoring started with a TD pass 4:41 into the game. Their next points came with 12:29 left in the game. Georgia’s defense is still as good as advertised, and that helped. Even then, give a lot of credit to the offense for looking better than anyone expected. Carson Beck went 19/28 for 315 yards and 2 TDs and Ladd McConkey led all receivers with 135 yards on 6 catches and 1 TD. This game was expected to be a blowout, and it lived up to the expectations. Georgia hosts Missouri Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on CBS while Florida hosts Arkansas at 11:00 a.m. on ESPN2.

#21 Tennessee 33 at Kentucky 27

Tennessee fans showed up and made a ton of noise, and their football team answered with a big win. The Volunteers had this game in control far more than the final score indicates. Once they went up 10-0, Kentucky responded, and it went back and forth from there. Joe Milton was 18/21 for 228 yards and 1 TD, which was decent. The biggest difference in this game was the run game. Tennessee more than tripled Kentucky’s output and nearly doubled their yards per rush average. Two Volunteers outran the Wildcats. Ray Davis had been a monster throughout the year, but he had just 42 yards on his 16 carries. Kentucky is just okay this year, and that’s fine to admit. Tennessee hosts UConn Saturday at 11:00 a.m. on SEC Network while Kentucky travels to Mississippi State at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

#12 Ole Miss 33 vs Vanderbilt 7

Vanderbilt became the first SEC team eliminated from bowl eligibility in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score may indicate. Excluding sacks, Vanderbilt ran for over 200 yards in this game, which is a big positive for a team that’s had issues running the ball all year. However, their two quarterbacks combined for 60 passing yards and a pick each, so that wasn’t great. Ole Miss was as efficient as always with 6.2 yards per play. It was a solid win and a good end to the cross-division series that felt like a common-law marriage. The Rebels host Texas A&M Saturday at 11:00 a.m. on ESPN while the Commodores host Auburn at 3:00 p.m. on SEC Network.