Fansided

SEC power rankings, Week 7: Florida, Mississippi State, Texas A&M making moves

By Rucker Haringey

GAINESVILLE, FL - OCTOBER 06: Head coach Dan Mullen of the Florida Gators celebrates with fans following a 27-19 victory over the LSU Tigers at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on October 6, 2018 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FL - OCTOBER 06: Head coach Dan Mullen of the Florida Gators celebrates with fans following a 27-19 victory over the LSU Tigers at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on October 6, 2018 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
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COLUMBIA, SC – OCTOBER 06: Michael Scarnecchia (12) quarterback of South Carolina gets a pass away just before Cale Garrett (47) linebacker of Missouri makes a sack during a college football game between the Missouri Tigers and the South Carolina Gamecocks on October 6, 2018, at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC. (Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC – OCTOBER 06: Michael Scarnecchia (12) quarterback of South Carolina gets a pass away just before Cale Garrett (47) linebacker of Missouri makes a sack during a college football game between the Missouri Tigers and the South Carolina Gamecocks on October 6, 2018, at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC. (Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Heading into this game without Jake Bentley at the helm might have caused fans to worry about the South Carolina offense. Instead, Michael Scarnecchia stepped in and threw for 249 yards and three touchdowns. He was absolutely the Gamecocks best offensive player on the afternoon.

Instead, Gamecock fans should be worried about their defense. The group made Drew Lock look completely average, but they were really confounded by Missouri’s rushing attack. This group can’t afford to give up 286 yards on the ground if they want to beat quality opponents in the future. It was a really strange game, but credit Will Muschamp’s team for emerging with a valuable victory.

The warning signs have been gathering for Auburn for weeks. All of their problems came home to roost in a nightmare loss in Starkville.

It’s past time for Tigers fans to worry about Jarrett Stidham. This was another really mediocre performance for the highly touted quarterback. Going 19 for 38 for 214 yards and no touchdowns is a really bad game in Gus Malzahn’s offense.

The real problem was the defense though. They looked physically overmatched against Mississippi State’s run game. That has to change if the Tigers are going to be competitive against their SEC West peers moving forward. Expect every team left on their schedule to try to duplicate Joe Moorhead’s game plan in the coming weeks.

It’s time for Trayveon Williams to get his due. He is absolutely one of the best running backs in the SEC. Rushing for 138 yards on 24 carries against this tough Kentucky defense was a major accomplishment for the Aggies running back.

The real surprise in this game was just how well Jimbo Fisher’s defense was able to contain Benny Snell. They held him to just 60 yards on 13 carries. That put the game into Terry Wilson’s hands and he couldn’t beat the Aggies. This was a quality win for Texas A&M. The only reason they aren’t moving up this week is because of the strange results around them in our power rankings.

The Gators are the big risers of the power rankings this week. I had a suspicion they’d give LSU fits in Gainesville, but they took it one step further. Scoring this win against the Tigers really gives Dan Mullen a signature win to sell recruits.

Credit for this win should go to the Gators’ secondary. They gave Joe Burrow fits in this game and managed to come away with two interceptions. They made every play they needed to in this game.

Florida’s group of running backs also managed to grind out 215 rushing yards against LSU’s talented defense. Lamical Perine didn’t break 100 yards, but he did go for 85 yards on 17 carries. The Gators didn’t dominate this game, but they deserve credit for getting the job done.

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