25 Things You Need To Know Before Kickoff..

25 SEC Football Facts You Need To Know Before Kickoff

Aug 29th, 2011

Last season…

1. Mississippi State averaged 185.2 rushing yards per game. This was higher than every team but Auburn. Ole Miss averaged 179.9 yards per game, higher than Alabama, South Carolina, Arkansas, Florida and Georgia.

2. Mississippi State gave up only 8 rushing touchdowns. The only defense better was Alabama with 6.

3. LSU, Auburn and Mississippi State had the lowest passing yards in the SEC (with the exception of Vanderbilt). Auburn was undefeated, LSU had 2 losses and Mississippi State had 4 losses.

4. South Carolina had the top rush defense giving up only 107.2 yards per game. They also had the 10th worst pass defense giving up 245.2 yards per game in the air (only better than Auburn and Vandy).

5. The SEC team that gave up the fewest total yards as a defense was…. Florida. Just ahead of LSU and Alabama.

6. Florida was only fifth best with regards to points given up. Alabama, LSU, Mississippi State and South Carolina were all better.

7. Kentucky averaged 406.6 yards of offense per game – only teams better were Arkansas and Auburn.

8. Alabama had an SEC best 12 interceptions. South Carolina had the SEC worst with 3.

9. The SEC teams with the most sacks were Arkansas and South Carolina – each with 27.

10. Auburn averaged 25 first downs each game. Vanderbilt averaged 12.

11. Despite Les Miles’ reputation, LSU only went for a 4th down conversion 7 times. They converted 6 of them for an SEC best 85.7% conversion percentage. Florida converted 10 of 21, and Ole Miss converted 12 of 22.

12. The best team at converted third downs was South Carolina, barely edging out Auburn.

13. The best red zone offense was…. LSU. They scored 28 of 30 times with 15 touchdowns.

14. Ole Miss had the worst red zone defense with a perfect 22 scores in 22 times that their opponents reached the red zone. 16 of the 22 were touchdowns.

15. Alabama had the best red zone defense with 16 of 23 scores and only 9 touchdowns.

16. There were four kickoffs returned for touchdowns by SEC teams. Two were by Florida’s Andre Debose.

17. Kentucky’s Mike Hartline was third in the SEC in total offense with 3174 yards, behind Cam Newton and Ryan Mallett, ahead of Aaron Murray, Stephen Garcia, and Greg McElroy.

18. Florida’s Trey Burton scored 10 touchdowns, behind Cam Newton, Marcus Lattimore and Knile Davis.

19. Kentucky’s Randall Cobb averaged 200.9 all purpose yards per game. The next best was Marcus Lattimore with 153.3.

20. Kentucky’s Danny Trevathan led the SEC with 11.5 tackles per game.

21. Alabama’s Robert Lester had a league high 8 interceptions.

22. Next highest was Vanderbilt’s Casey Hayward with 6.

23. Marcus Lattimore averaged 4.8 yards per carry. Of the six other running backs who ran for over 900 yards, five had higher per carry averages: Knile Davis (6.5), Brandon Bolden (6.0), Vick Ballard (5.2), Tauren Poole (5.1), Michael Dyer (6.0). Lattimore had the highest number of attempts however with 249 (second highest of the group was 204 carries from Poole and Davis). *Numbers include SEC Championship game and bowl games.

24. Besides Cam Newton, the player with the most touchdowns was Vick Ballard (20). Marcus Lattimore had 19 and Brandon Bolden had 17.

25. Both the USA Today and the AP Poll had Alabama, Florida and Texas in the top five going into the 2010 season. The three teams lost a combined 15 games. Auburn was ranked 23rd and 22nd in the two polls. Oregon was ranked 11th.

All stats based on regular season games with the exception of #23.