THURSDAY’S GAME
Mississippi State at Missouri, late
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Kentucky at Georgia, noon, SEC Network
Vanderbilt at Florida, noon, ESPN
Arkansas at Ole Miss, 3:30 p.m., CBS
South Carolina at Tennessee, 4 p.m., SEC Network
Auburn at Texas A&M, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network
LSU at Alabama, 8 p.m., CBS
They’ve been maligned and criticized. Their play has been dissected in detail.
They have plenty of shortcomings, but Brandon Harris and Jake Coker start at quarterback for two of the top four teams in the College Football Playoff rankings.
And they’ll share the field when No. 2 LSU (8-0) plays at No. 4 Alabama (7-1) on Saturday.
Both offenses revolve around remarkable and rugged running backs — LSU’s Leonard Fournette and Alabama’s Derrick Henry — but Harris has been efficiently effective for the Tigers and Coker is coming off his best performances.
“I think Brandon Harris is getting it,” LSU coach Les Miles said this week. “He needs a little more. He’s coming of age a little bit. He’s going to get some.”
Harris, who beat out Anthony Jennings (Marietta) for the starting job, has spent most of the season handing the ball to Fournette, who has 1,352 yards and 15 touchdowns.
He’s picked his spots to throw, which has resulted in Harris rising to No. 2 in the SEC in passing efficiency.
And he hasn’t thrown an interception in 128 attempts — about 100 less than other SEC starting quarterbacks — to go with nine touchdown passes and 1,098 yards.
“We expect to get the same style of Brandon Harris play, and we’re fortunate that he’s progressed like he has,” Miles said. “He’s one of the reasons why we stand here undefeated right now.”
Coker has struggled at home, throwing all seven of interceptions at Bryant-Denny Stadium, but he’s 7-0 as a starter — Cooper Bateman started the loss to Ole Miss — and he’s completed at least 72.7 percent of his attempts in each of the past three games.
Coker led Alabama on a game-winning 71-yard touchdown drive to defeat Tennessee 19-14 on Oct. 24. He completed only two passes on the drive, but was 21-of-27 for 247 yards in the game.
“I think the big thing with Jake is he certainly proved he can stay focused in the moment, in a critical time of the game,” Alabama coach Nick Saban told reporters last week. “He never missed a beat. He made a lot of good throws. He made a lot of good decisions. He just did a fabulous job.”
Coker has thrown for 1,623 yards and 11 touchdowns this season.
Containing Vols: Most teams love a balanced offense, but not so much a defense that is equally bad against both the run and pass.
South Carolina has given up 1,722 yards passing and 1,722 yards rushing this season, which equates to 430.5 yards of offense per game. That’s second worst in the SEC, ahead of only Auburn.
And now the Gamecocks face Tennessee, which features one of the more balanced offenses.
The Volunteers rush for 214.1 per game and pass for 210 behind quarterback Joshua Dobbs (Alpharetta) and running back Jalen Hurd.
“That’s probably the best combination, if you look at them offensively, of a quarterback, running back situation in the conference,” Gamecocks interim coach Shawn Elliott told reporters this week.
South Carolina allowed 544 yards of offense Saturday in a loss to Texas A&M, another read-option team.
“Tennessee is a lot more physical than Texas A&M,” Gamecocks linebacker Skai Moore said. “They run the zone-read pretty much the same (as Texas A&M), but they’re just good at it. (Dobbs) adds an extra dimension. He’s a good runner.”
Auburn struggles: Will Muschamp is going to need time to restock and revitalize Auburn's defense.
The Tigers have shown improvement in their first season with Muschamp as coordinator, but they’re still near the bottom of the FBS in team defensive statistics.
Auburn ranks 98th against the run (194.4 yards), 93rd against the pass (252.1) and 107th in total defense (446.5). Those numbers don’t bode well heading into Saturday’s game at Texas A&M (431.8 yards a game)
SEC vs. the world: The SEC is 36-6 in non-conference games, with a 5-2 record against other Power Five conferences.
The SEC is 3-0 against the ACC and 1-0 against each the Big Ten and Pac-12.
The Big 12 has won both of its games against SEC teams. Oklahoma defeated Tennessee and Texas Tech beat Arkansas.
The SEC also is 3-2 against the American Athletic Conference, with Ole Miss’ loss to Memphis (8-0) and Vanderbilt’s loss to Houston (8-0).
The streak: Auburn receiver Ricardo Louis has caught at least one pass in 24 consecutive games.
That streak dates to the Tigers’ 43-38 win over Georgia on Nov. 16, 2013, when he caught the “Prayer at Jordan-Hare,” a 73-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Nick Marshall (Wilcox County).
Louis has 88 career catches for 1,185 yards and seven touchdowns.
He said it: "Probably my hair. Let's go with that. I put a lot of time into my hair. I'm still growing it out, letting it do its thing. There's not an end goal with it, I just want to let it grow as long as I can." — Hurd, when asked about his most prized possession, as reported by utsports.com
Etc.: Ole Miss' Laquon Treadwell has surpassed 100 yards receiving and scored at least one touchdown in each of the past four games. … Evan Berry (Creekside) tied Tennessee's single-season mark with his third kickoff return for a touchdown in the win over Kentucky. Willie Gault (Griffin) also returned three kickoffs for scores in 1980. … Vanderbilt linebacker Nigel Bowden (Central-Macon), who had 78 tackles last season, will miss the rest of the season with a concussion. He hasn't played since the loss to Georgia on Sept. 12. … Florida's Treon Harris has completed a combined 11 passes in the Gators' past two wins over the Bulldogs. … Ole Miss has defeated Auburn and Alabama in the same season for the first time since 2003 and both on the road for the first time in program history. … LSU's Trent Domingue hasn't missed a kick this season, going 9-of-9 on field goal attempts and hitting all 35 of his extra-point attempts.
About the Author
