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SEC Football Power Rankings After Week 8: Tigers Top 3

By Jake Mastroianni

Oct 22, 2016; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers running back Stanton Truitt (10) gets past Arkansas Razorback defenders and scores a touchdown during the fourth quarter at Jordan Hare Stadium. The Tigers beat the Razorbacks 56-3. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 22, 2016; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers running back Stanton Truitt (10) gets past Arkansas Razorback defenders and scores a touchdown during the fourth quarter at Jordan Hare Stadium. The Tigers beat the Razorbacks 56-3. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 22, 2016; Columbia, SC, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback Jake Bentley (4) passes against the Massachusetts Minutemen in the second half at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 22, 2016; Columbia, SC, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback Jake Bentley (4) passes against the Massachusetts Minutemen in the second half at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports /

12 – South Carolina – 3-4 (1-4) – Even

South Carolina made a change at quarterback against UMASS going with freshman Jake Bentley from Opelika, Ala.

It seemed to pay off as the offense tallied almost 400 yards of offense and scored 34 points. Bentley threw for 201 yards and 2 touchdowns. I had the game on one of my TVs and he made a couple of throws that had me jumping out of my seat.

Both of his touchdown passes were absolutely beautiful, especially the first one.

A bit concerning is the fact that the defense gave up 28 points to UMASS and they couldn’t seem to put a 1-7 team away. They gave up 389 total yards to the Minutemen.

Two fourth quarter touchdowns made the score a lot closer than it should have been, but it’s still a bit troublesome considering how good their defense has been all year.

Maybe Bentley is the spark South Carolina needs on offense. They still have two very winnable games against Missouri and Wester Carolina. Then they’ll just need to upset Tennessee this weekend or Florida or Clemson later in the year to reach a bowl game.

11 – Mississippi State – 2-5 (1-3) – Even

Oct 22, 2016; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats wide receiver Dorian Baker (2) reaches for a pass against Mississippi State Bulldogs defensive back Jamal Peters (2) in the second half at Commonwealth Stadium. Kentucky defeated Mississippi 40-38. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 22, 2016; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats wide receiver Dorian Baker (2) reaches for a pass against Mississippi State Bulldogs defensive back Jamal Peters (2) in the second half at Commonwealth Stadium. Kentucky defeated Mississippi 40-38. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports /

The Bulldogs are really drowning after a difficult loss on the road this past weekend to Kentucky 40-38.

You knew this was going to be a tough season for Dan Mullen’s bunch, but this is probably worse than expected.

When you’re the worst team in the SEC West you’re almost guaranteed to lose at least five games. That means you have to take advantage of your out-of-conference games and games against the SEC East. Losses to South Alabama, BYU and now Kentucky have set this program back and put Dan Mullen on the hot seat in Starkville.

They’ll get any easy win against Samford this weekend, but then I’m not sure they win another game the rest of the season. And three wins just isn’t good enough for Mississippi State.

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