A look at Week 7 n the Southeastern Conference:
GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 3 Alabama (6-3, 3-0 SEC) at No. 6 Tennessee (5-0, 2-0)
Tennessee is looking to end a 15-game losing streak to the Crimson Tide and upend the SEC and national championship picture. The Vols lead the SEC at more than 46 points a game under coach Josh Heupel’s supercharged offense. Alabama is second in the SEC in giving up just 12.3 points per game. The game also features a matchup of two of the country’s top quarterbacks in Alabama’s Bryce Young and Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker. Young was injured two weeks ago and missed last week’s 24-20 win over Texas A&M. Hooker has completed 70% of his passes for 1,432 yards and 10 touchdowns without throwing an interception .
BEST MATCHUP
No. 16 Mississippi State (5-1, 2-1) at No. 22 Kentucky (4-2, 1-2)
A possible clash of Wills looms: Much depends on whether Kentucky quarterback Will Levis (1,405 yards, 12 touchdowns, four interceptions) returns from a left foot injury that kept him out of last week’s loss to South Carolina. Mississippi State boasts the SEC’s top (Bull)dog in passing in record-setting junior QB Will Rogers, who has thrown for 1,133 yards and 12 TDs during a three-game winning streak. Rogers last week surpassed Georgia’s Aaron Murray as the SEC’s career completions leader (946) and is one TD shy of Dak Prescott’s MSU record (70). The Bulldogs have outscored their last three opponents by a combined 127-55 under third-year coach Mike Leach.
IMPACT PLAYER
Ole Miss RB Quinshon Judkins. Judkins puts the work in workhorse for the rising Rebels. He’s second in the SEC in rushing to Arkansas’ Raheim Sanders and leads the league with eight rushing touchdowns. Judkins has averaged 6.05 yards per carry this season, second in the conference to Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs (8.31) among the SEC’s top 10 rushers.
UPSET ALERT
Arkansas (3-3) at BYU (4-2). The Razorbacks, ranked in the top 10 last month, have lost three straight and could stretch that to four against BYU, eager to bounce back from a loss to Notre Dame. The good news for Arkansas appears to be that dynamic quarterback KJ Jefferson has apparently cleared concussion protocol and plans to return this week.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Mississippi State RB Dillon Johnson stands eighth in the SEC with 402 yards rushing and fifth with 218 in SEC contests. … The Bulldogs have converted 20 of 21 red-zone chances with 19 touchdowns. …. Kentucky yielded six sacks against South Carolina and ranks 129th of 131 FBS teams with 25. … Three SEC teams have bye weeks (Missouri, South Carolina and Texas A&M). … Tennessee DE Byron Young had 2.5 sacks in the win over LSU last week. It was the most for a Vol since 2020 and tied for most by anyone in the SEC this season. … Mississippi WR Jonathan Mingo had nine catches for 247 yards in a win over Vanderbilt last week. That set the school mark, besting Elijah Moore’s mark of 238 receiving yards from 2020.
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AP Sports Writer Gary B. Graves in Lexington, Kentucky, contributed to this report.
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