SEC Round-Up: Inevitability of a big-time upset lurks in Week 12

Major upsets are common in Southeastern Conference football.

Just last season, unranked Vanderbilt upset No. 1 Alabama, unranked Kentucky upset No. 6 Ole Miss, unranked Arkansas upset No. 4 Tennessee and unranked Auburn upset No. 15 Texas A&M.

So far this season, there haven’t been many stunning upsets. Florida beat No. 9 Texas, but aside from that, top teams emerged relatively unscathed.

There’s been near misses, for sure. Mississippi State pushed Texas and Tennessee to overtime. Kentucky also went into overtime vs. Texas. South Carolina held a fourth-quarter lead before falling to Alabama by a touchdown.

The lack of stunning upsets could cause some uneasiness for top teams. There could be a sense of foreboding that a ranked SEC team is due to be upset.

If not careful, No. 3 Texas A&M (9-0) could be a victim. The surging Aggies face struggling South Carolina (3-6) at Kyle Field.

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South Carolina defeated Texas A&M in Columbia last season, 44-20.

The Aggies are aware of the danger, though. Just last year, unranked South Carolina upset the No. 10 Aggies, 44-20.

There are differences this year, however.

That game was played in Columbia, where South Carolina is typically difficult to beat. Also, the Gamecocks should have been ranked. They’d earlier lost by three points to LSU and two to Alabama.

This year, the Gamecocks aren’t the threat they were a year ago.

But don’t tell that to Texas A&M coach Mike Elko. He sees any team with quarterback LaNorris Sellers, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound sophomore, as a major threat.

“I see the same big, physical, athletic kid that ran all over us and threw all over us last year,” Elko said earlier this week. “I see the same kid, so our kids better see the same kid because he absolutely lit us up last year.

“And if we want to have any level of success on Saturday, we will do a much better job of understanding what the challenge actually is this year.”

Last season, Sellers passed for 244 yards and rushed for 106 on the Aggies' defense. He ran 23 yards for a touchdown and passed 15 and 57 yards for two more.

“We got embarrassed by South Carolina last year,” A&M linebacker and team captain Taurean York said. “We had a plethora of missed tackles, so you’re just trying to find some details and make sure we’re tackling these guys with the right technique come Saturday.”

The media that covers college football has put the Aggies on upset alert the last two weeks for games vs. LSU and Missouri.

A&M won both games by wide margins.

The Aggies want to make sure they’re not victims of the seemingly inevitably SEC major upset.

Around the SEC

This week’s games: South Carolina at No. 3 Texas A&M: Arkansas at LSU; Tennessee Tech at Kentucky; No. 11 Oklahoma at No. 4 Alabama; New Mexico State at No. 23 Tennessee; Florida at No. 7 Ole Miss; No. 10 Texas at No.5 Georgia; Mississippi State at Missouri

Who’s hot: Arkansas RB Mike Washington Jr. What’s this? Washington, a transfer from New Mexico State, is second in the league in rushing (92.0 yards per game) and has hit the 100-yard mark in three of the past four games, including twice against ranked teams (A&M and Tennessee). His production will be important if the Hogs are to upset LSU. The Tigers are reeling, but nothing helps a struggling offense like going against Arkansas’ horrendous defense. It would help the Hogs’ defense if their offense could stay on the field, which is where Washington comes in.

Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Mike Washington Jr. ran for a season-high 147 yards vs. Texas A&M on Oct. 18.

Who’s not: Raise your hand if you knew Alabama was 14th in the SEC and 120th nationally in rushing offense. The Crimson Tide averages just 111.89 rushing yards per game. Alabama has rushed for 128 total in its past two games. That was against South Carolina and LSU. Those defenses aren’t as good as Oklahoma’s — the team the Tide will see Saturday. Alabama has been held under 100 rushing yards in four games this season. Meanwhile, the Sooners have allowed just four teams to reach 100. They held a strong Tennessee rushing attack to 63 last week.

Keep an eye on: Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, who is at the top of Florida’s coaching wish list. And who do the Rebels play on Saturday? Why, it’s Florida — who stunned Ole Miss in Gainesville to knock the Rebels out of contention for the College Football Playoff last season. The Gators are struggling. The Florida nightmare: Ole Miss wins by six touchdowns, and Kiffin announces in the postgame news conference that he will sign an
extension to stay in Oxford.

The pressure is on: Oklahoma QB John Mateer must get the Sooners' offense moving. Presumably, Oklahoma’s defense will do its part to make the game against Alabama at least somewhat winnable, but can Mateer and the offense come through? Mateer has not been the same since sustaining hand surgery in late September. In the past four games, he has thrown four picks and just two touchdown passes. His accuracy on deep balls has all but disappeared. He displayed his running ability in last week’s win over Tennessee, with 80 yards and a touchdown. In the previous three games, though, he had run for a total of 36 yards on 35 carries. For the Sooners to pull the upset, the defense obviously must play at a high level, but so, too, must Mateer. He’ll likely need to throw for at least 250 yards, rush for at least 50, and account for at least three touchdowns.

Best matchup: Georgia offensive line vs. Texas defensive line. Texas is second nationally in rush defense. The Longhorns' linebackers get most of the attention, but the defensive line has done an excellent job of mucking things up and letting the ’backers run free. Texas has held seven of nine opponents to less than 100 rushing yards. Georgia’s rushing attack is averaging 197.2 yards per game, which is fourth in the SEC and 24th nationally. But Auburn and Florida did solid jobs of slowing the Georgia running game. Texas needs to do the same. Georgia’s pass protection has been excellent. So has Texas’ pass rush. If Texas can stifle the run and pressure Bulldogs quarterback Gunner Stockton without blitzing, this game will be mighty interesting.