SEC Football by the Numbers: Top 10 for Week 8

The eighth Saturday of the SEC’s 91st season features four conference contests and one non-conference game. Five SEC teams – Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt – have open dates. Here are 10 numbers, along with the schedule, TV and betting lines, to get ready for Week 8:

4 SEC defensive backs formed the secondary on the AP midseason All-American team, which was released this week. The cornerbacks were Alabama’s Kool-Aid McKinstry and Missouri’s Kris Abrams-Draine, and the safeties were Georgia’s Malaki Starks and Auburn’s Jaylin Simpson.

7 Losses for the six teams played by South Carolina this season, with the Gamecocks responsible for two of the defeats. North Carolina and Georgia are undefeated, Furman’s only loss came against South Carolina, Tennessee has one loss, Florida two and Mississippi State has three. MSU is the other team beaten by the Gamecocks in 2023. On Saturday, South Carolina plays one-loss Missouri.

10 TD passes in three home games and one TD pass in three away games for South Carolina QB Spencer Rattler this season. In 2023, Rattler has completed 66-of-77 passes for 946 yards with 10 TDs and one interception at home and 76-of-116 passes for 778 yards with one TD and three interceptions in three games away from Williams-Brice Stadium. The Gamecocks have played Furman, Mississippi State and Florida at home, Georgia and Tennessee on the road and North Carolina in Charlotte, North Carolina. Rattler has an .857 completion percentage and a 229.17 passing-efficiency rating in home games and a .655 completion percentage and a 119.53 passing-efficiency rating in away games this season. South Carolina visits Missouri on Saturday.

17 Of the 23 Auburn-Ole Miss games this century have featured a Tigers ball-carrier with at least 100 rushing yards. Auburn has a 15-2 record in those games. In the six games this century without a 100-yard rusher, Auburn has gone 3-3 against Ole Miss. Since 2000, three Auburn running backs have had 200-yard games against Ole Miss – Ronnie Brown with 224 in 2002, Kamryn Pettway with 236 in 2016 and Kerryon Johnson with 204 in 2017. Auburn’s other 100-yard rushers against Ole Miss in the 2000s have been Rudi Johnson with 165 in 2000, Carnell “Cadillac” Williams with 103 yards in 2003, Brown with 100 in 2004, Kenny Irons with 101 in 2005 and 106 in 2006, Ben Tate with 144 with 2009, Michael Dyer with 180 in 2010 and 177 in 2011, Nick Marshall with 140 in 2013, Cameron Artis-Payne with 138 in 2014, JaTarvious “Boobee” Whitlow with 170 in 2018 and Tank Bigsby with 129 in 2020, 140 in 2021 and 179 in 2022. Auburn, which plays Ole Miss on Saturday, has had one individual 100-yard rushing game this season. Tigers QB Payton Thorne ran for 123 yards and two TDs on 11 carries in a 45-13 victory over Samford on Sept. 16.

26 Consecutive field-goal attempts have been made by Alabama K Will Reichard since he missed from 50 yards with 15 seconds left in a 52-49 loss to Tennessee on Oct. 15, 2022. Reichard made his final 13 field-goal attempts in 2022 and has gone 13-of-13 in 2023. Alabama plays Tennessee on Saturday.

35 Days since Arkansas’ previous home game when Mississippi State comes to Fayetteville on Saturday. Since losing to BYU 38-31 at home on Sept. 16, the Razorbacks have lost at LSU, Ole Miss and Alabama and lost to Texas A&M in Arlington, Texas. Arkansas has the second-longest span between home games in NCAA FBS this season, behind a 37-day gap for Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers’ most recent home game came on Sept. 21, and they won’t be back at Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina, until Oct. 28.

39 Consecutive home games have been won in October by Alabama. The Crimson Tide hasn’t been beaten at Bryant-Denny Stadium in the 10th month since South Carolina took a 20-3 victory on Oct. 2, 2004. The streak includes nine victories over Tennessee, which visits Tuscaloosa on Saturday. The Volunteers’ most recent victory at Bryant-Denny Stadium came by a 51-43 score in five overtimes on Oct. 25, 2003.

92 Years since the previous time that LSU and Army squared off. Saturday’s game will be their first meeting since the Black Knights scored a 20-0 victory on Nov. 7, 1931, in West Point. That was two years before the SEC’s first football season. Army has a 7-15-2 record against SEC opponents, with a 24-22 victory over Missouri in the Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 22, 2021, in the most recent meeting. Saturday’s game will be Army’s first in the regular season against an SEC member since a 44-21 loss to Vanderbilt in 2011 and the first regular-season meeting with an SEC team other than the Commodores since a 25-21 victory over Tennessee in 1986. With LSU at No. 19 in this week’s AP poll, Army will be seeking its first win against a ranked non-service academy team since a 10-7 victory over No. 16 California in 1968.

299 Victories as a college head coach for LSU’s Brian Kelly. Kelly has a 299-103-2 on-the-field career record. A victory on Saturday against Army would make Kelly the 15th college coach with 300. The coaches with 300 victories include John Gagliardi with 489, Joe Paterno with 409, Eddie Robinson with 408, Bobby Bowden with 389, Kevin Donley with 342, Ken Sparks with 338, Larry Kehres with 332, Paul “Bear” Bryant with 323, Pop Warner with 319, Roy Kidd with 314, Amos Alonzo Stagg with 314, Frosty Westering and Larry Wilcox with 305 and Tubby Raymond with 300. Kelly has 118 victories at Grand Valley State, 113 at Notre Dame, 34 at Cincinnati, 19 at Central Michigan and 15 at LSU.

823 Passing yards for Mississippi State QB Will Rogers in the Bulldogs’ past two games against Arkansas, the Bulldogs’ Saturday opponent. Rogers completed 36-of-48 passes for 417 yards with four TDs and one interception against the Razorbacks in a 31-28 loss on Nov. 6, 2021, and 32-of-49 passes for 406 yards with three TDs and no interceptions in a 40-17 victory on Oct. 8, 2022. Rogers has nine 400-yard passing games, the most in SEC history.

This week’s SEC schedule includes (all times are CDT with point spreads from Catena):

Saturday

· Mississippi State (3-3, 0-3) at Arkansas (2-5, 0-4), 11 a.m. at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas (ESPN). Line: Arkansas at 6.5

· South Carolina (2-4, 1-3) at No. 20 Missouri (6-1, 2-1), 2:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri (SEC Network). Line: Missouri by 7.5

· No. 17 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1) at No. 11 Alabama (6-1, 4-0), 2:30 p.m. at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa (CBS). Line: Alabama by 8.5

· No. 13 Ole Miss (5-1, 2-1) at Auburn (3-3, 0-3), 6 p.m. at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn (ESPN). Line: Ole Miss by 6.5

· Army (2-4) at No. 19 LSU (5-2), 6:30 p.m. at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (SEC Network). Line: Army by 32