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SEC power rankings, Week 10: Georgia, Kentucky get huge wins

By Rucker Haringey

JACKSONVILLE, FL - OCTOBER 27: The Georgia Bulldogs celebrate following a game against the Florida Gators at TIAA Bank Field on October 27, 2018 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
JACKSONVILLE, FL - OCTOBER 27: The Georgia Bulldogs celebrate following a game against the Florida Gators at TIAA Bank Field on October 27, 2018 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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STARKVILLE, MS – OCTOBER 06: Head coach Gus Malzahn of the Auburn Tigers reacts during a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium on October 6, 2018 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
STARKVILLE, MS – OCTOBER 06: Head coach Gus Malzahn of the Auburn Tigers reacts during a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium on October 6, 2018 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

Auburn headed to their bye after a much-needed victory against Ole Miss. We hope the Tigers enjoyed their time off. The rest of their schedule will be very challenging. Gus Malzahn’s team will host Texas A&M next week, but two of their final three contests come at Georgia and Alabama. Both teams have the capability to really expose the Tigers’ flaws. Auburn needs to secure wins while they still can down the stretch.

Joe Moorhead’s team has been maddeningly inconsistent this year, but they are always a nightmare to play in Starkville. They reminded Texas A&M of that fact on Saturday with a decisive 28-13 win. As usual, Nick Fitzgerald led the way on offense. He ran for 88 yards and threw for 241 against a pretty good Aggies defense. It was one of his more efficient games of the year.

Extra credit goes to the Bulldogs’ secondary. They forced Kellen Monds to go 23 of 46 for one touchdown and one interception. They kept him from establishing any sort of rhythm and that helped Mississippi State score a big home win.

Any Florida fans who thought the Gators were completely “back” in Dan Mullen’s first season found out the truth on Saturday. Florida still is at least a step behind Georgia in the SEC East pecking order. The Florida offense wasn’t great in this one, but their defense was a much bigger problem. In particular, giving up 189 yards on the ground to the ‘Dawgs cost them a chance to really trouble their rivals. The simple truth is that Florida was second best in every phase of the game on Saturday. It was a disheartening effort for fans in Gainesville.

Jimbo Fisher has to be a little disappointed at his team’s inability to threaten Mississippi State on the road. Losing in Starkville isn’t a win, but Texas A&M struggled to make this a close game. The team’s inability to run the ball really caused problems for Fisher’s offense. The physical Bulldogs’ defense limited A&M to just 61 yards on 22 carries. It’s hard to win SEC games when you’re dominated at the line of scrimmage. That’s just what happened to Fisher’s troops in this one.

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