OKLAHOMA — Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops took another jab at the mighty SEC, this time taking aim at the league’s defenses. OKLAHOMA — Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops took another jab at the mighty SEC, this time taking aim at the
OKLAHOMA — Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops took another jab at the mighty SEC, this time taking aim at the league’s defenses.
Stoops, who suggested during the offseason the Southeastern Conference wasn’t necessarily the best overall league in the country from top to bottom, noted dramatic changes in the conference’s defensive stats.
The SEC, long known for its potent defensive lineups, is going through a makeover this season. Offenses are running up big numbers. The same kind of gawdy offensive numbers teams used put up in the Big 12, prompting national analysts to question the strength of the conference.
“Just a few years ago, we had all the quarterbacks,” Stoops told The Oklahoman on Wednesday. “And now, all of a sudden, we can play a little better defense and some other people can’t play defense.
“Funny how people can’t play defense when they have pro-style quarterbacks over there, which we’ve had. They’re all playing in the NFL right now.”
Stoops touched on one of many reasons the tide has shifted in the SEC.
When fans tune in this week to watch the Florida take on Arkansas, they’ll be witnessing something of a rarity. The Gators are the only SEC team with a defense ranked in the top 10 in the country.
What used to be a given year in, year out — a SEC team with one of the top defenses in the country — is quickly falling to the wayside.
Florida is the only SEC team ranked in the top 10 in total defense after the first five weeks of the season. The Gators are only allowing 202 yards per game this season. Mississippi State(20), Alabama (27), Arkansas (31), LSU (39), Ole Miss (42) and Vanderbilt (44) are the only league teams ranked in the top 50 in total defense.
At the end of last season, the SEC had three teams ranked in the top 10 in total defense: Alabama (1), Florida (5) and LSU (8). The league also had South Carolina (11), Vanderbilt (19), Georgia (32) and Ole Miss (46) to round out the top 50. In 2011, the league had five team ranked in the top 10 in total defense at the end of the season, led by Alabama (1), LSU (2), South Carolina (3), Georgia (5) and Florida (8).
Brian Jones, who was an All-Southwest Conference linebacker at Texas and is the CBS Sports college football studio analyst on “College Football Today,” said there are a variety of factors driving the recent uptick in SEC scoring.
“You’ve got the spread offenses, you’ve got these quarterbacks who are adept at running and passing the ball,” Jones said. “Also factor in the young defenses, and I think you are going to get what we are seeing.”
Offensive systems like the spread, read-option and the pistol, which were rare a decade ago, are becoming more prevalent in today’s modern college football landscape.
It’s something not lost on many of today’s SEC coaches.
“I think the offenses are different now than they were 20 years ago,” South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said. “People are throwing more and spreading out a lot more and there are probably a lot more long plays then there was awhile back.
“Everybody wants to throw it around and throw a lot of touchdown passes.”
This coming from the man who might be considered the grandfather of the modern-day offense with the creation of the ‘Fun ‘n’ Gun’ system during his days at Florida in the 1990s.
The Ol’ Ball Coach is right, though, when you look at the numbers.
Heading into this week of play, there are currently 17 teams averaging more than 500 yards of total offense, including one (UCLA) averaging more than 600 yards and one (Baylor) averaging more than 700 yards of offense.
A faster style of play means higher scores, according to Florida coach Will Muschamp.
“More teams are more up-tempo so you’re seeing more snaps, which gives you more opportunities to score,” Muschamp said.
There are 26 teams averaging more than 40 points per game, including three averaging more than 50 points and one (Baylor) averaging more than 60 points.
In 2012, there were only 10 teams averaging more than 500 yards per game with only eight teams averaging more than 40 points per game, including one team (Louisiana Tech) averaging more than 50 points per game.
A year earlier, there were only six teams averaging more than 500 yards per game. There were nine teams averaging more than 40 points per game, but nobody scoring more than 50.
Then there is the flow of talented defensive players leaving the SEC for the NFL.
A record 63 SEC players were selected during the NFL Draft in April, with 35 of those players lining up on the defensive side of the ball. LSU led that group with eight players, followed by Georgia (7), Florida (5) and Alabama (4).
It’s bound to catch up with some of these teams.
“Look at Georgia and LSU last weekend,” Jones said. “Both of those defenses retooled because of the defections to the next level, so you had a bunch of young guys out there on the field and Georgia ended up making the play when they needed to.”
No one has felt that effect more than LSU, which had 11 players leave for the pros.
“I think there is also some youth that is being served with the loss of the junior into the NFL,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “I think there are some younger guys playing some significant football that might not have been seeing that much action until the backend of the game if those veterans had remained.”
And all of these young defenders are facing some of the most experienced and talented quarterbacks in the country week in, week out.
Alabama, Georgia, LSU, South Carolina, Missouri and Mississippi State are all led by quarterbacks in their final year of eligibility. Two of them — Georgia and Missouri — along with Texas A&M, which is led by the reigning Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel, are ranked in the top 10 in total offense.
“Anytime you become a league that has veteran quarterbacks, you’re going to have these kind of scores,” Miles said.
Florida defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin added, “There are some very talented quarterbacks and offenses this year in the SEC. I think it comes down to players all the time, that’s what the game comes down to.”
