WBN SEC Power Rankings: 09-22-2013 Edition

Sep 21, 2013; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban talks with quarterback A.J. McCarron (10) during the first quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

1. #1 Alabama Crimson Tide (3-0, 1-0) Last Game vs. Colorado St. 31-6 Win: It wasn’t a spectacular performance by Alabama, but it’s down in the books as a W. It was AJ McCarron’s 30 yard TD pass to DeAndrew White in the fourth quarter to seal things up. The inconsistency of Alabama showed after their impressive performance against Texas A&M. AJ McCarron threw for 258 yards and had a TD pass along with an interception. Yeldon only carried the ball 7 times for 49 yards (the majority off a single 38 yard run. Next Game: vs. # 21 Ole Miss on Saturday, September 28th @ 6:30 PM ET.

2. #6 LSU Tigers (4-0, 1-0) Last Game vs. Auburn 35-21 Win: Jeremy Hill went off in LSU’s first SEC win of the season. Despite his early off the field issues, Hill deserves a prominent role in the Tiger’s offense after he rushed for 183 yards and scoring 3 TD’s of his own. Les Miles showed a lot of support to his teams fast start against Auburn. Mettenberger threw for 229 yards, throwing a TD as well as an interception. The Tigers are making noise early in the season, and they look to continue their fast start. Next Game: @ #9 Georgia on Saturday, September 28th @ 3:30 PM ET

3. #10 Texas A&M Aggies (3-1, 0-1) Last Game vs. SMU 42-13 Win: Texas A&M recovered from their loss to Alabama while dominating SMU on the offense and defensive side of the ball. However, Johnny Manziel was beat by Garret Gilbert of SMU in passing yards overall (310 yards to Maziels 244). The Heisman candidate did account for 346 yards overall, with adding 102 yards on the ground. After halftime, the Aggies never looked back. Next Game: @ Arkansas on Saturday, September 28th @ 7:00 PM ET

4. #9 Georgia Bulldogs (2-1, 1-0) Last Game vs. North Texas 45-21 Win: The game was tied in the 3rd quarter and Aaron Murray had to take things under his belt to get past hump in this one. The quarterback’s beautiful 408 yard passing performance along with 3 TD tosses and a rushing TD was the difference in the outcome of the game. Murray’s Heisman hopes are still alive, and the support that he got from Gurley’s 91 yard, 1 TD performance was well needed. The Bulldogs keep playing well, and I think that their opening season game loss is well behind them by now. Next Game: Vs. #6 LSU on Saturday, September 28th @ 3:30 PM ET

5. #12 South Carolina Gamecocks (2-1, 1-1) Last Game BYE: Next Game @ UCF on Saturday, September 28th @ 12:00 PM ET

6. #21 Ole Miss Rebels (3-0, 1-0) Last Game BYE: Next Game @ #1 Alabama on Saturday, September 28th @ 6:30 PM ET

7. #19 Florida Gators (2-1, 1-0) Last Game vs. Tennessee 31-17 Win: Quarterback Jeff Driskel suffered a broken lower right leg in his team’s impressive win against the Vols. Therefore, back-up quarterback Tyler Murphy stepped in to take responsibility. The kid did better than expected honestly. Throwing for 134 yards and 1 TD pass on only 8/14 passing proved to be strong enough to get his team the W. Even though Florida will be without their starting Quarterback the whole year, I wouldn’t be too worried about the position they’re in. The defense looks really good, and their back-up boosted his confidence significantly. Next Game: @ Kentucky on Saturday, September 28th @ 7:00 PM ET

8. Auburn Tigers (3-1, 1-1) Last Game @ #6 LSU Tigers 35-21 Loss: Auburn suffered its first loss of the season, but it’s nothing to hang their head about. Losing by only 14 points on the road at LSU wasn’t a too bad after all. They remain 8th in WBN’s SEC Power Rankings, and they still have room to get better. Nick Marshall went 17-33 on 224 yards passing along with 2 interceptions. Tre Mason had a good game overall with 132 yards on the ground with 2 TD rushes. Next Game: BYE

9. Missouri Tigers (3-0, 0-0) Last Game @ Indiana 45-28 Win: The Tigers played this one out, and controllably won this game. The early big plays and the crowd picking up changed the momentum of things overall. James Franklin threw for 343 yards with 2 TD’s and 2 interceptions. Russell Hansbrough rushed for 104 yards on only 13 attempts, literally carrying the Tiger’s on their impressive offensive show. Next Game: vs. Arkansas State on Saturday, September 28th @ 7:30 PM ET

10. Arkansas Razorbacks (3-1, 0-0) Last Game @ Rutgers 28-24 Loss: Quarterback Gary Nova for Rutgers seemed to always have the upper hand in Saturday’s game against the Razorbacks. Arkansas did have a 24-7 lead at one point in the third quarter, but after that things went dead. The quarterback play wasn’t great, and the run game didn’t go above the century mark. Consistency wasn’t in Arkansas’s vocabulary. Signs of aggressive play were on and off. Next Game: vs. #10 Texas A&M on Saturday, September 28th @ 7:00 PM ET

11. Tennessee Volunteers (2-2, 0-1) Last Game @ #19 Florida 31-17 Loss: A 7-3 first quarter lead was all the Volunteers had. They didn’t take advantage of Florida’s back-up quarterback taking the field, and when you’re on the road you have to take advantage of things like that. They didn’t seem to put much pressure on the new-coming QB, and the defense just fell apart in the secondary. Tennessee had 6 turnovers and 66 overall yards on the ground in Saturday’s game. That won’t get it done. Next Game: vs. South Alabama on Saturday, September 28th @ 12:21 PM ET

12. Mississippi State (2-2, 0-1) Last game vs. Troy 62-7 Win:  Dak Prescott threw for 233 yards and a touchdown, rushed for 53 yards and two touchdowns and caught a 36-yard touchdown pass to put Mississippi State over Troy 62-7 on Saturday night. The Bulldogs looked really good showcasing their SEC team quality. Going 8-12 on third down conversions is always a good thing to talk about when winning a game. No problems at all for the Bulldogs this week, and they are looking better than before on both sides of the ball. Next game: BYE

13. Vanderbilt Commodores (2-2, 0-2) Last game @ Massachusetts 24-7 Win: A pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter helped the Commodores sail away from this one. Carta-Samuels went 18-27 and had 219 yards in the air along with 2 TD’s and a interception. Vanderbilt gained 167 of its 406 total yards in the fourth quarter in a late surge. Next Game: vs. UAB on Saturday, September 28th @ 7:30 PM ET

14.  Kentucky Wildcats (1-2, 0-0) Last Game BYE: Next Game vs. #20 Florida on Saturday, September 28th @ 7:00 PM ET