Missouri SEC East Instant Reactions - Week 5: They Supposed to be SEC

This was the worst defensive performance of the season... And I’m glad it happened tonight. They faced what is likely the best offense for the rest of the regular season and they came out with a win. This’ll prepare them in a way that beating up a Sun Belt team couldn’t. Hope this trial by fire shapes to be true contenders. Having said that, in the words of an LSU fan, I am "happy, happy, happy."

This was a dominant win, and it felt like Will Muschamp's team playing Will Muschamp football, coiling itself around the other team's neck and squeezing for 60 minutes. Florida held the ball for 38 minutes and nine seconds, and is likely to continue leading the country in time of possession after statistics through this week are calculated.

The game was a story of striking momentum shifts--UCF came out blazing early, and when Connor Shaw went out with injury, things looked frightening. However, despite playing poorly on offense, the Gamecocks managed to get through the half only down 10-0. Carolina adjusted offensively in the second half, going to a power running attack out of the I. Mike Davis and the offensive line shined in this role until a botched block led to a Davis fumble on the goal line late in the game. Carolina led 28-10 at one point and looked to have the game put away. However, while our defense seemed to have figured out UCF's offense for most of the game after the Knights' initial drive, the Knights took advantage of a couple of secondary breakdowns late in the game to close the gap. UCF had a chance to recover an onsides kick late in the game, in which case it could have tied or won the game, but Carolina recovered and won the game out of the victory formation, final score of 28-25.

After heading into the locker room at halftime up 24-7, the Tennessee Volunteers barely held on against scrappy upstart South Alabama to win 31-24. UT's rushing attack racked up 278 yards, but once again the passing attack was wildly inconsistent and nearly cost the Vols the game. Quarterback Justin Worley went the whole way and did have a period in the first half where he looked very good, throwing two TDs and even keeping on the option for positive yards to thunderous applause from fans, but he also threw three interceptions and stalled out drives with multiple inaccurate throws.

Along those lines, Tennessee ran for 278 yards today at a phenomenal 7.5 yards per carry. But the Vols, who led almost the entire way and had a substantial lead into the third quarter, still leave today with 37 rushes and 36 passes. You can applaud the balance if you like, but we're not a balanced offense. To be successful, Tennessee needs the run game to be great. It was great today, but why didn't we lean on it more?

We came, we played, but we did not conquer.

The Alabama Crimson Tide rode a stifling rush defense and typical Nick Saban opportunistic football to a 25-0 shutout victory over Ole Miss in Tuscaloosa tonight. Our Rebels couldn't establish any sort of a rushing attack, being held to a mere 46 yards on the ground - which contrasts rather sharply with Ole Miss 200+ yards per game averaged over the other three games of the season - and failed to capitalize on big play opportunities in the passing game.

1) The Defense. What can be said? I don't know why I hoped for anything given our defensive performance over the past few weeks. We only gave up 50 or so yards more than we did to SMU, but man. This was hard to watch. It seems like we just kept getting beat by the same plays over and over and over again.