Georgia, Florida meet in pivotal division game
Here are some things to watch during Week 9 of the Southeastern Conference football season:
GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 7 Georgia vs. No. 9 Florida in Jacksonville, Florida: Georgia, Florida and No. 12 Kentucky are in a three-way tie for first place in the SEC East with 4-1 conference records. Saturday’s Georgia Florida game and next week’s Georgia Kentucky matchup in Lexington should clear up which of these three teams represents the East in the SEC championship game. Kentucky is visiting Missouri on Saturday. Georgia trounced Florida 42-7 last year to snap the Gators’ three-game winning streak in this annual series. MATCHUP OF THE WEEK
Texas A&M running back Trayveon Williams vs. Mississippi State’s run defense. Williams has 798 yards rushing this season, which ranks second in the SEC, and has scored eight touchdowns while averaging 5.7 yards per carry. He’ll go against a Mississippi State defense that’s giving up just 13.6 points per game and 3.2 yards per carry.
NUMBERS GAME
Missouri’s Drew Lock has thrown 87 career touchdown passes to rank sixth in SEC history, but he could move into third place with a big performance Saturday against Kentucky. Tennessee’s Peyton Manning (1994-97) ranks third with 89 touchdown passes. Former Florida teammates Chris Leak (2003-06) and Tim Tebow (2006-09) are tied for fourth with 88 each. The record is owned by Aaron Murray, who threw 121 touchdown passes for Georgia from 2010-13. … Florida coach Dan Mullen is 4-1 against Power Five teams in his debut season with the Gators. The other 20 first-year head coaches are a combined 20-51 against Power Five teams. … In its 58-21 victory over Tennessee , No. 1 Alabama posted the highest point total of any visiting team ever at Neyland Stadium, which opened in 1921. … A victory over Missouri this week would enable Kentucky (6-1, 4-1 SEC) to clinch a winning conference record for the first time since 1977. … The Tennessee-South Carolina game has been decided by six points or fewer each of the last six years. They meet again Saturday at South Carolina.
IMPACT PERFORMER
Texas A&M’s Braden Mann is averaging an astounding 54.5 yards per punt that puts him on an NCAA record pace. The highest single-season average by an FBS punter who attempted at least 36 punts was 50.3, set by LSU’s Chad Kessler in 1997. Mann averaged 60.8 yards per punt against Alabama and had an 82-yarer against Kentucky. Texas A&M has a net punting average of 45.3, on pace for the second-highest average in FBS history behind the 1971 Utah team’s average of 46.7.