By Matt Smith
SouthernPigskin.com

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Matt Smith recaps week nine in the SEC.

Scores
No. 6 Florida 38, Vanderbilt 17
LSU 27, Arkansas 24
No. 1 Alabama 63, Kentucky 3
No. 23 Auburn 30, Tennessee 17
No. 13 Georgia 31, Mississippi State 24
Missouri 17, South Carolina 10

The Big Story
Welcome to the show, J.T. Daniels.
The mystery surrounding the Georgia quarterback who transferred from USC in the offseason is finally over, as Daniels made his first start of the season, the third Bulldogs quarterback to do so, in Saturday nights 31-24 win over Mississippi State. On a night with a disappointing performance from the running game and an inconsistent defensive showing, Daniels led the way for Georgiae, throwing for 401 yards and four touchdowns while connecting on more than 70 percent of his passes.

Daniels always was the option that gave Georgia its highest ceiling. While championship hopes are pretty much over for the Bulldogs, his performance on Saturday night in Athens should give Georgia fans hope that one day soon their offense can start to look like Alabamas and Floridas. 31 points isnt eye-popping, but the style in which Georgia attacked Mississippi State was more aggressive, as four different Georgia receivers caught passes of 28 yards or longer to help the 8Dawgs stave off the upset bid. The young receiving corps will only get better.

As I noted after the Florida loss, that game may have been a blessing in disguise. It was proof that status quo just wasnt going to work. The second loss in three games and the extra week off made it logical for Kirby Smart to turn things over to Daniels, and the redshirt sophomore did not disappoint. Georgia will be off the radar for the next few weeks, but it still has a chance to close the season strongly, send well wishes to Floridas Kyle Trask on his NFL future, and get ready to regain command of the SEC East in 2021.

Top Takeaways
*LSUs resolve was tested after its 17-7 lead at Arkansas withered away into a 24-20 fourth-quarter deficit with heavy rain falling in Fayetteville. The Tigers resemble little about their 2019 national championship team, but they found at least part of a heart of a champion in rallying for a late touchdown to move to 3-3 with a 27-24 win over the Razorbacks. Aided by a clean pocket almost all day, T.J. Finley played well for the Tigers, throwing for 271 yards and a pair of touchdowns, helping LSU overcome five fumbles, four of which they were able to recover.

LSUs secondary was a mess, as star cornerback Derek Stingley left the game with an upper-body injury. Feleipe Franks averaged a whopping 20 yards per completion, with three different Arkansas receivers catching passes for 50 yards or longer. LSU won the money down, however, as the Hogs failed to convert a single third-down attempt. The Tigers now face a rested and explosive Texas A&M team next week in College Station, a game in which the secondary will again be tested. With Alabama in the finale on Dec. 5, Arkansas will need a win at Missouri next week to avoid a season-ending four-game losing streak, which would in no way dampen the spirits of this season in Fayetteville.

*Tennessee did it again. After a productive first half on the road at No. 23 Auburn that saw the Vols jump to a 10-0 lead, Tennessee was outscored 20-7 in the second half in its fifth straight defeat. In a mind-blowing statistic, Tennessee has now been outscored 108-14 in the second halves of its last five games. The Volunteers led Georgia at halftime in Athens. They were up double digits at Arkansas. They were tied at Auburn. Theyre going toe to toe with pretty good teams on the road, as they outgained the Tigers by 79 yards on Saturday night. Yet, the Vols just cant get of their own way after halftime. Thats a major coaching failure.

Where do things stand with Jeremy Pruitt? His future likely gets determined this week at Vanderbilt. If the Vols drop their sixth game in the last nine meetings to little brother, theyd be looking at an eight-game losing streak immediately following an eight-game winning streak. Even in the COVID financial environment, Im not sure Pruitt can survive that. This program has now completely wasted all the goodwill from last seasons strong close. Its a mess, and the path out of it is unclear.

Quick Hitters
*Florida was sleepy against 0-6 Vanderbilt, spotting the Commodores a 7-0 lead before the offense emerged with scores on four straight possessions during the second and third quarters. Kyle Trask was very good, but did not produce an eye-popping stat line. The Heisman Trophy contender finished 26-of-35 for 383 yards and three touchdowns 3 his first game of the season with fewer than four touchdown passes. After some steps forward against Missouri and Georgia, the Gators defense has regressed the last two weeks, including allowing more than 400 yards to Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt should expect to beat Tennessee next week. Not just think it can beat Tennessee if it plays well. Expect to beat Tennessee. The Volunteers are wounded. The Commodores are hungry.

*No. 1 Alabama rolled over Kentucky, 63-3. It was a pretty ho-hum day for Mac Jones, as he threw an interception and finished with just 230 yards through the air. The Wildcats offense was the minimal threat as advertised, now having failed to reach the end zone against both Georgia and Alabama. DeVonta Smith broke former Crimson Tide All-American Amari Coopers SEC record for receiving touchdowns with 32, and that added a second touchdown reception later for good measure to give him 33. Surging Auburn comes to Tuscaloosa next week for Alabamas first legitimate test since beating Georgia five weeks ago.

*Auburn allowed 222 yards on the ground to Tennessee on Saturday night, a very bad sign heading into next weeks Iron Bowl in Tuscaloosa. The Tigers are pretty good on the back end with a playmaking secondary, as evident by Smoke Mondays game-changing pick-six in the third quarter against the Vols, but its hard to envision Najee Harris not going for 150-plus yards next Saturday against this Auburn front. Kevin Steele is an excellent defensive coordinator, but if he can patch things up in the next seven days and slow down the Crimson Tide, excellent may not be a strong enough term to do him justice.

*Missouri-South Carolina was ugly, as the teams failed to reach 600 combined yards of offense in the Tigers 17-10 road win. Missouri stormed to a 17-0 halftime lead on the road before a five-punt second half allowed the Gamecocks to climb back in the game. Luke Doty saw most of the work at quarterback for South Carolina, replacing an ineffective Collin Hill in the second half and getting the Gamecocks back in the game before an interception in the final minute squelched hopes of a comeback win. At 3-3 and with games remaining with Arkansas, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, the Tigers have a great chance to get to 6-4, and a home date with Georgia, likely to be played on Dec. 19, is winnable as well. Missouri is beating the teams it should beat, which is more than they did toward the end of the Barry Odom era.

Around The Nation
*The Big 12 title race is now a complete jumble after Oklahomas 41-13 rout of Oklahoma State in Bedlam. The Sooners finally look like the team we thought they would be this season, now sitting at 6-2 after their 1-2 start. Iowa State is the only team with just one conference loss, but the Cyclones, who pounded Kansas State, 45-0, on Saturday, visit Texas on Friday. A four-way tie with Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas is possible, which would create a Red River Shootout rematch in the conference title game. There isnt a playoff team in this league, but thats fine. Its highly entertaining, and the stretch run should be very enjoyable.

*Northwestern is now 5-0 after winning an ugly 17-7 game over Wisconsin. The Wildcats managed just 263 yards of offense, but their defense forced five Badgers turnovers to help take control of the Big Ten West. Northwestern has a pretty cushy schedule down the stretch, while Wisconsin is now a game behind and without the head-to-head tiebreaker, and still has to play both Indiana and Iowa. This division race is pretty much over. The Wildcats are going to go from first to last to first in the division over the last three seasons. Major credit to Pat Fitzgerald for quickly fixing things after last years disastrous season.

*Penn State and Nebraska are now a combined 1-9 after three-score home defeats to Iowa and Illinois respectively. Attrition and injuries have completely wrecked the Nittany Lions, but there is no excuse for that program to ever be 0-5 in the Big Ten. Its too early for hot seat talk for James Franklin, but this program has a very important 2021 ahead. Nebraskas issues are harder to pinpoint. The Cornhuskers dont have talent to compete for conference titles, but they should be at least a .500 team, and theyre nowhere close to that.

*No. 7 Cincinnati kept CFP hopes alive with a 36-33 comeback win at UCF. The Bearcats will likely need both the ACC and SEC runners-up to have multiple losses to be able to vault to the No. 4 spot, with the easiest path being Alabama and Notre Dame finish undefeated, while Texas A&M suffers a second loss. That would give an unbeaten Bearcats team a great chance to join the Big Ten champion in the CFP with the Crimson Tide and Fighting Irish. Cincinnati will likely still have to conquer the magical rabbits foot of Tulsa twice, however. The two teams who are both 5-0 in AAC play meet Dec. 12 in Tulsa and are likely to rematch for the AAC title a week later.

*Saturdays Clemson-Florida State game was postponed just hours before kickoff, reportedly after the Seminoles did not deem it safe to play following a positive test for a Clemson player that had previously tested negative despite having some mild symptoms. Who is to blame here? Clemson claimed that masking and social distancing protocols reduced transmission risk from the player, who traveled with the team. Florida State disagreed, as it felt the player should have not been around the team once displaying symptoms. Theres no right answer here. Players with symptoms probably should be isolated, as weve seen instances where symptoms are appearing before a positive test. Given there are no known instances of in-game transmission, however, Florida State probably overreacted. Its just another unfortunate circumstance of a season that lacks clarity in every aspect.

A Peek at Next Week
The Big One
No. 22 Auburn at No. 1 Alabama, 3:30 p.m. ET (CBS)
Can Auburn hang? The Tigers havent won in Tuscaloosa since the Cam-back in 2010, but have won three of the past seven meetings overall. Bo Nix was outstanding in last years 48-45 win, while Mac Jones was burned by two pick-sixes. Alabama has only lost to the same team in consecutive years twice under Nick Saban, so revenge is generally served on a silver platter for the Crimson Tide.

Dont Miss
Arkansas at Missouri, Noon ET (SEC Network)
Mississippi State at Ole Miss, 4 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
LSU at No. 5 Texas A&M, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Flip Around
No. 15 Iowa State at No. 20 Texas, Friday, Noon ET (ABC)
No. 2 Notre Dame at No. 25 North Carolina, Friday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Colorado at No. 19 USC, 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Pittsburgh at No. 4 Clemson, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
No. 13 Oklahoma at West Virginia, 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC)