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SEC Football Power Rankings 2017: Week 3 Edition

By Hunter Kinniburgh

BATON ROUGE, LA - SEPTEMBER 09: Derrius Guice #5 of the LSU Tigers runs with the ball as Tavon Lawson #4 of the Chattanooga Mocs defends during the second half of a game at Tiger Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LA - SEPTEMBER 09: Derrius Guice #5 of the LSU Tigers runs with the ball as Tavon Lawson #4 of the Chattanooga Mocs defends during the second half of a game at Tiger Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images)
(Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images) /

Ole Miss takes a slight dip in this weeks power rankings. If the rankings were based on offense, they would’ve been okay. But these rankings take into account the defense and the Rebel defense is practically inexistent right now.

Related Story: Tennessee Football: 3 things we learned from UT-Martin win

Improvement was expected from the defense going into this season and while improvement is noticeable at times, its too sporadic for Ole Miss right now. If the defense does improve, then Ole Miss will look even more like a threat for SEC teams. Shea Patterson on the other hand is a different story, as he has established himself as one of if not the best SEC quarterback. Sure the oppenets haven’t been top tier, but we’ll know more this week as the Rebels had to California to face the Golden bears in Berkeley. Something tells me the Rebel offense won’t be slowed down.

The Vols followed up their exciting win over Georgia Tech with an easy victory over Indiana State in Neyland stadium. The Volunteer offense looked efficient, but time will tell where Tennessee stands once they face better teams.

Perhaps the best stat of this game was the fact that the Volunteer defense held Indiana State to 0-11 on third down. I don’t care who you’re playing, that is always impressive when the defense doesn’t allow a third down conversion. More will be known about Tennessee when they face the Florida Gators this Saturday. The Gator offense was bad against Michigan so we’ll see if Tennessee can keep up the good defensive play.

The Bulldogs came out and took care of business against Louisiana Tech. Nick Fitzgerald was good once again but the defense seemed to leave a little to be desired over the course of the game, as they allowed some points in this game. Also; the bulldogs might want to learn how to fall on a fumbled ball. That third-and-93 play is hilariously bad not because of Louisiana Tech, but because Mississippi State kept trying to scope and score when they should’ve just fell on it, as Louisiana Tech ended up with the ball back.

This game was a good win for Mississippi State but they didn’t look like a conference contender to me. The offense was slow out of the gate. Granted once they got going, they never looked back but the offense is somewhat one dimensional around Fitzgerald. He once again led the team in passing and rushing. Against better defensive teams, that one dimensional quality will hinder them. As the season progresses we’ll know whether the Bulldogs can adapt or not.

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