Around the SEC: Week 11 (Football)
The SEC has been the epitome of elite college football for over a decade, winning six of the last 10 national championships. The latest AP Poll places three SEC representatives in the top 10, as Alabama claimed the top slot.
Let's look back at the Week 10 matchups and look ahead to some exciting Week 11 games.
Vanderbilt (0-5) remained winless as Mississippi State (2-4) took a 17-point lead early and emerged with a 24-17 homecoming victory. Despite a 300-yard performance, Vandy quarterback Ken Seals's three interceptions proved the contest's deciding factor.
In Fayetteville, Arkansas (3-3) topped Tennessee (2-4) 24-12. Three third-quarter touchdowns courtesy of signal-caller Feleipe Franks lifted the Razorbacks over the Volunteers.
No. 7 Texas A&M (5-1) embarrassed South Carolina (2-4). Kellen Mond's four passing touchdowns in the 48-3 massacre gave him 68 for his career, breaking the school record and cementing himself as the most decorated quarterback in Aggie history. Aside from Mond, running back Isaiah Spiller erupted for 131 yards, averaging 7.3 yards per carry.
The game of the week featured No. 8 Florida (4-1) and No. 5 Georgia (4-2). Florida running back Zamir White provided 100 yards and a rushing touchdown, but Heisman hopeful Kyle Trask stole the show. He annihilated Georgia's secondary, exploding for 474 yards and four passing touchdowns in a 44-28 beatdown.
Covid-19 has played a significant role for Week 11 in the SEC, as positive tests have resulted in postponements. The matchups that succumbed to these unfortunate circumstances are No. 1 Alabama (6-0) vs. LSU (2-4), No. 24 Auburn (4-2) vs. Mississippi State (2-4), No. 5 Texas A&M (5-1) vs. Tennessee (2-4) and No. 12 Georgia (4-2) vs. Missouri (2-3).
It may be challenging to reschedule LSU's game against the Crimson Tide. The Tigers have already experienced one postponement that caused them to lose their bye week as their previously canceled game against Florida was moved to December 12, an extra weekend built-in by the SEC in anticipation of a Covid-19 canceling or postponing games.
There have been talks among SEC personnel about tentatively moving further postponed games to December 19, the same day as the SEC Championship. However, any games featuring a divisional winner would be canceled, as the East and West divisional winners play for the conference championship. If this were to occur, it would be the first time since 1963, Alabama and LSU did not play.
The silver lining for Georgia's postponement is that Kirby Smart has another week to name a starting quarterback. Last week against Florida, quarterback Stetson Bennett IV suffered an injury to his throwing shoulder.
Smart has not confirmed whether Bennett will remain the starter if healthy, leaving the door open for the other quarterbacks on the depth chart, D'Wan Mathis, JT Daniels and Carson Beck, to win the job.
Despite the cancelation of over half the scheduled SEC games for Week 11, there are still three matchups on tap for Saturday.
After being humiliated at home against Texas A&M, South Carolina (2-4) aims to get back in the win column against Ole Miss (2-4), but Lane Kiffin and the Rebels are out for blood coming off a bye and crushing Vanderbilt the week prior.
Vanderbilt (0-5) travels to Lexington hoping to pick up their first win of the season. Kentucky (2-4) has had the Commodores' number of late as Vandy heads into this matchup looking to snap a four-game losing streak against the Wildcats.
A week after upsetting Georgia, Kyle Trask and the No. 6 Florida Gators (4-1) welcome the Arkansas Razorbacks (3-3) to the swamp. All signs point to an easy win for Gators as the combination of Trask and Zamir White is too dynamic for the mediocre Arkansas defense.
This bout is the sole contest having National and conference title implications. The Gators can widen their lead in the SEC East and all but solidify their place in the SEC championship game.
JC Colavita is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jrc6383@psu.edu.
