Week 9 in the SEC didn’t bring much chaos. It brought clean wins, a few statement performances and a fresh look at where the league sits in the rankings heading into Week 10.
Georgia made the biggest splash among the ranked teams on Saturday, Oct. 31, taking care of No. 20 Florida 27-8 in the game formerly known as the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Gunner Stockton threw for just over 100 yards, while the Bulldogs leaned on the ground game for 217 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
No. 12 Ole Miss followed a similar script in the second half against Auburn.
Trinidad Chambliss and the Rebels were up just five at halftime, then blew the game open with four touchdowns after the break on the way to a 45-15 win. Chambliss accounted for three combined touchdowns in the victory.
Texas also kept moving in the right direction. No.
11 Texas beat Mississippi State for its second straight win, marking the Longhorns’ first back-to-back victories since the first month of the season. Arch Manning was efficient throughout, going 16 of 20 for 220 yards and three touchdowns against a Mississippi State team playing its first game without Kamario Taylor.
South Carolina added another notable result on the day, using a strong second quarter to beat Oklahoma on the road. The crowd response included chants of “Fire Arbuckle,” and the result only sharpened the questions around the program.
A handful of SEC teams were idle in Week 9, including Kentucky, Alabama, LSU and Tennessee, along with Vanderbilt. Even so, the league’s place in the national polls still shifted around the results that did come in.
In the US LBM Coaches Poll, Miami held the top spot, followed by Georgia at No. 2.
Indiana checked in at No. 3, with Utah, UCLA and Notre Dame next. Kentucky landed at No.
7, Alabama at No. 9, Texas at No. 11 and Ole Miss at No.
- LSU was No. 15 and Tennessee No. 16, while Missouri sat at No.
- South Carolina was not in the Coaches Poll.
The AP Top 25 told a slightly different story near the top. Miami again was No.
1, Georgia remained No. 2, and Utah moved up to No. 3.
Notre Dame, UCLA and Indiana rounded out the next three spots. Kentucky came in at No.
8, Alabama at No. 9, Texas at No. 10 and Ole Miss at No.
- LSU was No. 15 and Tennessee No. 16, with Missouri at No.
- South Carolina appeared at No. 23, and Florida closed the rankings at No.
In Other News...
Boganowski Sends Oklahoma A Blunt Message After Defensive Collapse
Michael Boganowski had one of the bright spots in Oklahomas 42-25 loss to South Carolina, picking off his first pass as a defensive back in a game where the Sooners needed something, anything, to steady a defense that never really found its footing. Even with that takeaway, the bigger story was the same one that has followed Oklahoma at times this season: too many missed tackles, too many breakdowns, and too many explosive plays allowed when the game was still there to be controlled.
Boganowski did not try to dress it up afterward, acknowledging the poor execution and the standard the Sooners have to get back to before the schedule tightens up again. For Oklahoma, the interception was a personal milestone, but it came in a loss defined by a season-high 27 missed tackles and a defense that could not keep South Carolina from hitting multiple long touchdown passes. The message from one of the young defenders was blunt, and it matched the urgency around a unit that needs a cleaner response soon. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahomas Offense Has Reached A Point Brent Venables Cant Ignore
Oklahomas offense has spent much of this season looking like a unit still searching for its footing, and the latest loss to South Carolina only sharpened the concern. The Sooners have struggled to find any real consistency under Brent Venables and offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, with quarterback John Mateer unable to provide the kind of steady production the staff needs as the SEC grind has exposed the groups shortcomings.
The bigger issue now is not just one bad afternoon, but a season-long pattern that has left Oklahoma near the bottom of several offensive categories both in the SEC and nationally. For a program that needs its offense to carry more of the load, the lack of identity has become impossible to overlook, and whatever comes next will have to answer whether this is a fixable issue or a deeper reset heading into the offseason. [Read more 🡒]
OU Fans Now Face A Brutal Offensive Staff Reality
The loss to South Carolina was bad enough on its own, but it also sharpened the conversation around an Oklahoma offense that has struggled to keep pace with the rest of the teams season. Ben Arbuckles unit has ranked poorly nationally, and with the Sooners College Football Playoff hopes effectively gone, every uneven stretch on that side of the ball is going to be viewed through a harsher lens than it was a month ago.
Brent Venables has not confirmed any staff changes, but the speculation is now part of the backdrop as Oklahoma tries to figure out what comes next. There was at least one bright spot in the setback, with junior wide receiver Ivan Carreon turning in a career day and scoring twice, yet even that kind of production was swallowed up by a game that exposed how much work still remains. [Read more 🡒]