This article covers one thing each SEC team can do to take a step forward this fall.
Alabama: Be Better on the Road
The preseason #1 team was great as expected at home, but once again had issues playing on the road. In Alabama’s five road games, they lost to LSU and Tennessee in addition to playing two more close games against Texas and Ole Miss. Penalties were also costly on the road, with fifty-six in five road games compared to fifty-seven in the other eight contests. Alabama’s standards are too high to lose two regular season games while returning Heisman winner Bryce Young.
Arkansas: Improve the Defensive Consistency
After breaking out in 2021, Arkansas battled injuries and fell back to a 7-6 record. Sam Pittman’s defense had some excellent performances against the run/pass but rarely could convert that into a great defensive outing. For example, the Razorbacks held LSU to 86 passing yards but gave up 544 yards through the air to Kansas. Meanwhile, Ole Miss ran for 463 yards, but South Carolina only had 40. If Arkansas can play complete games of defense, they can return to their 2021 form in 2023.
Auburn: Start Slinging the Rock
In a year of transition, Auburn’s passing game took the biggest hit. Quarterback Bo Nix left for Oregon and despite Robby Ashford’s strengths as a runner, his passing left a lot to be desired. Auburn finished last in the SEC with only 172.7 yards passing a game and a total of nine touchdowns. Hugh Freeze led explosive passing games during his time at Ole Miss and he needs to do it again for Auburn to improve next year.
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Florida: Get off the Field on Third Down and Score in the Red Zone
Nothing is more painful than getting to the red zone, getting an opposing offense to third down just to get converted on, or failing to get in the end zone. Florida knows this feeling all too well as they only scored on 75% of red zone trips and gave up 49.71% of third downs conversions, both being last in the SEC. Improving on these numbers will benefit the Gators in Billy Napier’s second year.
Georgia: Avoid Turnovers Against Lesser Competition
The back-to-back champions were by far the most dominant team in 2022, but they weren’t perfect. A combined eight turnovers caused games against Missouri, Kentucky, and Kent State to be way closer than they should have been. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs didn’t turn the ball over against Oregon and TCU, winning by a combined 114-10. Putting a larger emphasis on ball security will remove more scares in 2023.
Kentucky: Toughen up the Offensive Line
Despite their high expectations and future first-round pick Will Levis at quarterback, Kentucky’s potential was wasted by a porous offensive line. The Wildcats led the SEC by being sacked 46 times and were also tackled for loss 92 times. The poor offensive line also hurt the run game which had an SEC-low 3.3 yards per carry. Placing a bigger focus on the offensive line will only help Kentucky in 2023.
LSU: Find a Bell Cow
Without a consistent run game, LSU won the west in Brian Kelly’s first season. Quarterback Jayden Daniels led the team with 885 yards rushing, but nobody else was within 300 yards of him. The Tigers also fumbled twelve times, the second most in the conference. If LSU finds a true RB1, they have a much better chance of returning to Atlanta.
Mississippi State: Develop a Run Offense
The obvious downside of Mike Leach’s Air Raid (RIP) is the run game. The scheme has proven to be successful, but also incredibly one-dimensional. When the pass was shut down by LSU, Kentucky, and Alabama, there was no chance the Bulldogs could still win. Overall, the Bulldogs’ 81.7 yards per carry were the lowest in the SEC and second-fewest in the country. New coach Zach Arnett is looking to implement a more balanced offense, which will hopefully improve the run game in Starkville.
Missouri: Improve the Quarterback Play
Despite having star receivers Luther Burden and Dominic Lovett, Eli Drinkwitz’s team didn’t cross 300 passing yards in a single game all season. Among SEC teams, Missouri finished fourth to last in passing yards per game (214.1), third to last in passer rating (129.5), and had the second-fewest passing touchdowns (14). The Tigers brought in former Miami quarterback Jake Garcia from the transfer portal, we’ll see if he’s the answer in Columbia. That will be even more challenging with Lovett having transferred.
Ole Miss: Win in the Red Zone
Ole Miss started 2022 off 7-0 but slipped and lost five of their last six games. A big reason for the drop is the Rebels’ red zone production on both sides of the ball which was one of the worst in the SEC. Only two teams scored fewer than Ole Miss’ 79.69% red zone score percentage, while only one team gave up red zone scores more than the Rebels’ 88.46%. The Rebels need to both tighten up and finish drives in the red zone to get back to their early season form.
South Carolina: Limit Turnovers
After a miserable start to the season, no team finished with bigger back-to-back wins than the Gamecocks by beating Tennessee and Clemson. While they led the SEC by a wide margin turning the ball over twenty-seven times, South Carolina played cleanly against Tennessee which shows how scary the offense could be. Still, the Spurs had 2 plus turnovers in eleven games, and 3+ in four games which are unacceptable, and need to improve in 2023.
Tennessee: Tighten up the Pass Defense
Teams threw more passes on Tennessee than everybody else in the SEC and it worked. The Vols gave up the most completions (303), second most passing yards (287 per game), and touchdowns (21). Over 1,300 yards and ten touchdowns came from just three games, so the passing defense really needs to come alive in big games for improvement next year.
Texas A&M: Convert on Third and Fourth Downs
The Aggies were the train wreck that you couldn’t help but watch and were an embarrassment given the talent on the roster. There were many problems from the sloppy team, but the biggest one was converting third and fourth downs. Texas A&M had the second-lowest third-down conversion percentage (36%), and lowest fourth-down percentage (36.4%). The talent couldn’t overcome bad scheming on the biggest downs of the game which held the Aggies back from even making a bowl game and needs to change next season.
Vanderbilt: Work on Stopping the Pass
Tennessee might have given up more volume in the past, but Vanderbilt was worse per play. No conference team allowed more than Vandy’s 290.5 pass yards per game, twenty-nine touchdowns, 64.4% completion percentage, and 158.8 passer rating. Couple that with the defense that generated the fewest sacks in the SEC, and it leads to the Commodores getting killed through the air.
