Friday’s game
Missouri at Arkansas, 2:30 p.m., CBS
Saturday’s games
Georgia at Georgia Tech, noon, ESPN2
Louisville at Kentucky, noon, SEC Network
Clemson at South Carolina, noon, ESPN
Alabama at Auburn, 3:30 p.m., CBS
Vanderbilt at Tennessee, 4 p.m., SEC Network
Ole Miss at Mississippi State, 7:15 p.m., ESPN2
Florida State at Florida, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
Texas A&M at LSU, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network
Dak Prescott is the best quarterback in the SEC, but Arkansas’ Brandon Allen is completing the throws and compiling the stats to make NFL teams take notice.
NFLDraftScout.com senior analyst Dane Brugler put Allen at the top of his list of NFL prospects who improved their standing last weekend.
“Over the summer, scouts viewed Allen as a camp arm and long shot to be drafted, but with his productive senior year, he will receive draftable grades from some teams as he’s shown the necessary skills to develop into a backup at the next level,” he wrote at CBS Sports.com. “He isn’t great in any one area, but he’s confident and resilient, and he understands his strengths and weaknesses, not trying to be someone he’s not on the field.”
Allen leads the SEC with 29 touchdown passes, thanks in part to throwing seven in the Razorbacks’ 51-50 loss to Mississippi State last week.
He’s thrown for 14 touchdowns in his past three games and for 49 scores and 11 interceptions in the past 24 games.
Allen is the only player in school history with at least six touchdown passes in a game, and he’s done it twice this season.
“He continues to be very impressive,” Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said after Saturday’s game. “He threw some money throws with pressure in his face. He really continues to impress.”
Initial success: Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher has been effusive in his praise of Florida coach Jim McElwain heading into Saturday's game between the 12th-ranked Gators (10-1) and 13th-ranked Seminoles (9-2).
FSU is 13-1 against other state teams since Fisher was promoted to replace Bobby Bowden in 2010. McElwain is in his first season at Florida.
“Jim has come in with great structure, great organization and a great big-picture plan,” Fisher told reporters. “He has implemented that and got everyone over there to buy into it and become one. That’s the key. It’s structure, organization, which then allows you to start changing culture, which is the most important thing if you’re ever going to turn a program around.”
Florida ranks third in the nation in scoring defense (14.5 points a game), sixth in the nation in total defense (281.7 yards) and eighth against the run (108.3 yards).
The Gators will need to stop FSU running back Dalvin Cook, who ranks sixth in the FBS with 1,475 yards rushing.
Egg-stra special bowl: Ole Miss has a shot at winning the SEC, but the Rebels have to defeat Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl on Saturday and need Auburn to upset No. 2 Alabama in the Iron Bowl.
This already has been a significant season for Ole Miss.
The Rebels have defeated Alabama, LSU and Auburn in the same season for the first time. They’ve also set single-season school records for scoring (445 points), touchdowns (57) and passing (3,768 yards).
Coach Hugh Freeze said his team will travel to Mississippi State during the Iron Bowl, which begins at 3:30 p.m. His players’ phones will be “put away” when they arrive for the Egg Bowl, which begins at 7:15 p.m.
“We won’t have any idea of what is going on with that game,” Freeze told reporters. “There may be some updates in the stadium. I don’t know. I typically don’t hear those. There will be enough riding on the Egg Bowl, regardless of the outcome of that game. We should play with everything that we have.”
Freeze reportedly said “War Eagle” when he left his media conference earlier this week and said he texted “good luck” and encouragement to Auburn coach Gus Malzahn.
NFL-bound: Versatile Pharoh Cooper, who is leaving South Carolina after his junior year, has 134 career catches for 2,077 yards heading into his final game against Clemson.
He was All-SEC with 69 catches for 1,136 yards in 2014. He has 62 catches for 887 yards and seven touchdowns this year.
“Pharoh Cooper is as good as there is in the SEC,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said on the ACC coaches teleconference this week.
Bowl outlook: Alabama (10-1) leads the group of SEC teams that have qualified for bowls.
- Who's in: Florida (10-1), Georgia (8-3), Ole Miss (8-3), Texas A&M (8-3), Mississippi State (8-3), LSU (7-3), Tennessee (7-4), Arkansas (6-5) and Auburn (6-5).
- Needs a win: Kentucky (5-6), Missouri (5-6).
- Who's out: Vanderbilt (4-7), South Carolina (3-8).
He said it: "I don't think I have to tell anybody anything that they don't already know about this game. The Iron Bowl is one of the great rivalries in college football. It means a lot to a lot of people in this state, as well as around the country. It's certainly an opportunity that you appreciate as a competitor." — Alabama coach Nick Saban
Etc.: Dan Skipper, Arkansas' 6-foot-10 junior offensive tackle, ranks second among active FBS players with five career blocked kicks. … Defensive back T.J. Gurley (Cairo) is South Carolina's fourth-leading tackler with 53. … Kentucky running back Stanley "Boom" Williams (George Walton) needs 172 yards rushing to reach 1,000 for the season. … Defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche (Grayson) has started 32 of the 33 games he's played at Ole Miss. … Vanderbilt sophomore Ralph Webb already ranks ninth in school history in career rushing yards with 1,910. He's fifth in the SEC with 1,003 yards this season. … Tennessee punter Trevor Daniel is averaging 45.6 yards, sixth in the FBS and second in the SEC. … LSU has lost three consecutive and will be without receiver Travin Dural (hamstring) for the rest of the season. He's the Tigers' second-leading receiver, with 28 catches for 533 yards and six touchdowns.
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