Whatever Happened to Defense in the SEC? Part 1

For the first 2 parts of my report I am limiting the defensive stats to the TOP 6 in the SEC: Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida.  In this first part we will be looking at the defenses of LSU, Texas A&M, and South Carolina. As a benchmark for this report I am only using the first 3 games of the season. Not only have all these teams played at least 3 games, but all their opponents have played 3 games as well. When part 4 comes out next week the stats will be expanded to include everything up to the current date. In the first two parts I will lay the groundwork of what the SEC defenses are doing and I will expand on this in the last 2 parts by showing how the SEC offensive mind-set has changed and might be impacting the stats. I will also look at how the SEC is stacking up to the rest of the county.

1. LSU
This is a defense that lost 6 defensive starters to the NFL last year, and all of them were under-class-men. This means that only 3 starters from last year's defense have returned. That's a tall order for any defense to over-come. So how are the replacements doing? I have included the stats and what year of college they are in.
DL Jermauria Rasco (JR) - 14 total tackles, 1.5 sacks
DL Anthony Johnson (JR) - 9 total tackles
DL Jordan Allen (JR) - 4 total tackles, 1 sack, 2 passes defended
DL Ego Ferguson (JR) - 16 total tackles, 1 sack
LB Lamin Barrow (SR) - 11 total tackles, .5 sacks, 1 pass defended
LB Kendell Beckwith (FR) - 5 total tackles
DB Tre'Davious White (FR) - 10 total tackles in only 2 games
DB Jalen Mills (SO) - 9 total tackles, 1 INT, 1 pass defended - he was a starter last year as a FR
DB Jalen Collins (SO) - 10 total tackles, 1 pass defended
As you can see, aside from the defensive line the Tigers are pretty young and in-experienced. In all total there are 8 true freshman that are seeing time and some of them are starting.
The defense through the first 3 games is ranked 37th nationally in giving up 19 points a game, but what about the yardage? Here is what we have:
GAME 1 - TCU
TCU Yards Gained:
     145 passing
     114 rushing and a 4.4 yds per carry average
     259 yards total
TCU on the year is averaging against other opponents
     213 passing
     188 rushing
     401 total
TCU averages last year:
     236 passing
     152 rushing
     388 total
So in TCU we have an offense that is over-performing compared to last year but did not hit their season averages against LSU. In fact there is a whopping 142 yard difference between the season average and the yardage in the LSU game.
TCU is 89th nationally in passing yards, 75th in rushing, and 82nd in points scored. They have played SE Louisiana and another ranked team Texas Tech.
GAME 2 - UAB
UAB Yards Gained:
     136 passing
     160 rushing with a 3.7 yds per carry
     296 total
UAB on the year average against other opponents
     225 passing
     188 rushing
     413 total
UAB averages last year:
     307 passing
     110 rushing
     417 total
Here we have an UAB team that is averaging about the same yardage as last year but was held to 117 yards less against LSU than their season average. Granted UAB has played Troy and Northwestern St who don't exactly have the defensive talent that LSU commands, regardless of the experience. However UAB is still ranked 67th in passing, 71st in rushing and 56th in points scored.
GAME 3 Kent State
Kent St Yards Gained:
     190 passing
     58 rushing with a 1.8 yards per carry
     248 total
Kent St on the year average against other opponents
     179 passing
     153 rushing
     332 total
Kent St averages last year:
     162 passing
     225 rushing
     387 total
Kent State is not the same offensive team they were last year. Their rushing is down significantly and so is their total. But against LSU they still suffered a huge 184 yard difference from their current yearly average. Kent State's opponents have been Liberty and Bowling Green, which like UAB's opponents are not the marks of highly touted defensive talents. Kent State is 96th in passing, 95th in rushing, and 86th in points nationally.
After the 1st 3 games this is how LSU's defense is stacking up in yards allowed:
Passing: 471 total/157 a game
Rushing: 332 total/111 a game
Total: 803 total/268 a game
A stat of note is that they are giving up 3.3 yards a rush which has gone down every single game, albeit helped by the running abilities of Kent State. If you take Kent State out of the mix LSU is giving up a non-stellar 4 yards a carry.
On the year LSU opponents are averaging per game not inluding the LSU game:
206 yards passing
176 yards rushing
382 total
All in all though, not too bad for a defense with so many new faces to be holding opponents on average to 50 yards less passing a game and 65 yards less rushing. And it's good to note that in 2 of these games it was over early and there was a lot of garbage passing yards to go around

2. South Carolina
This is a defense that also lost starters to the NFL as well as 5 senior linebackers. 7 of the 10 linebackers left on the team are freshman and no one had more than 5 career tackles at the start of the season. When I was talking about the vulnerabilities of the South Carolina defense behind the defensive line, this is exactly what I was talking about. All in all South Carolina only returned 5 starters from last year's defense (with most of those on the d-line), and here is a breakdown of some individual performances so far:
DL Chaz Sutton (JR) - 11 total tackles, 1.5 sacks
DL Kelcy Quarles (JR) - 8 total tackles 2 sacks
DL Jadeveon Clowney (JR) - 10 total tackles, 2 sacks
LB Kaiwan Lewis (SO) - 17 total tackles
LB Jordan Diggs (FR) - 4 total tackles
DB Ahmad Christian (SO) - 10 total tackles
DB T.J. Gurley (SO) - 21 total tackles, 1 pass defended
As you can already see the sack production is higher than LSU's from the defensive line. South Carolina has more experience than LSU's....coincidence? South Carolina is 67th in the nation after 3 games in allowing 25.3 points a game. BUT what about the yardage? Here we go again:
GAME 1 NORTH CAROLINA
UNC Yards Gained:
     194 passing
     99 rushing  with a 2.8 yards per rush
     293 total
UNC on year average against other opponents:
     298 passing
     118 rushing
     416 total
UNC averages last year:
     291 passing
     194 rushing
     485 total
The UNC offense is obviously not hitting its mark like it did last year, with most of that coming from a lack-luster ground game. They have played Middle Tennessee in their best offensive performance and just recently lost to Georgia Tech. But South Carolina completely dominated UNC in yards allowed by holding them to over a 100 yards less in passing vrs their season average, and that was when South Carolina got the lead and UNC had to play from behind and rely on the passing game. UNC's national ranks are 42nd in passing, 104th in rushing, and 92nd in points scored.
GAME 2 GEORGIA
Georgia Yards Gained:
     309 passing
     227 rushing - 4.3 yards a carry
     536 total
Georgia on year average against other opponents:
     387 passing
     207 rushing
     597 total
Georgia averages from last year:
     285 passing
     182 rushing
     467 total
Now here is an offense that is completely obliterating their stats from last year, with a tougher opening schedule than most. They have journeyed to Clemson and hosted North Texas. But if you look closely, as ugly as the South Carolina defense was they STILL held Georgia to below their season average across the board. How significant is it that South Carolina had such an ugly game against a fellow SEC opponent though? That question will be answered in Part 3. Georgia's national ranks are 9th in passing, 39th in rushing, and 28th in points scored.
GAME 3 VANDERBILT
Vandy Yards Gained:
     147 passing
     121 rushing - 3.7 yards a carry
     268 total
Vandy on year average against other opponents:
     287 passing
     148 rushing
     435 total
Vandy averages from last year:
     213 passing
     166 rushing
     379 total
ANOTHER SEC offense that is completely destroying their offensive stats from last year! And Vanderbilt has played Austin Peay and another TOP 25 SEC opponent in Ole Miss. But once again in an ugly looking game score-wise, South Carolina's defense held Vandy to 167 yards less than their average against other opponents with 140 in the passing game. Vanderbilt's national rankings are: 56th in passing, 84th in rushing, and 56th in points scored.
After 3 games here is the breakdown of South Carolina's defense on yardage allowed:
Passing: 650 total/217 game
Rushing 447 total/149 game
Total: 1097 total/366 game
The Gamecocks are also only allowing 3.6 yards a rush.
And on the year, South Carolina opponents are averaging per game not including South Carolina:
324 passing
158 rushing
482 total
A 120 yard difference for the Gamecocks between their D and their opponents' offensives, which is almost identical to the 114 yards less allowed by LSU. And South Carolina's opponents are averaging 148 yards per game more than LSU's opponents after 3 games.

3. TEXAS A&M - I put them last so all you Aggie fans had to read the whole post! HA!
This defense was not exactly ravaged by NFL draftees last year but still only has 5 returning starters. The secondary was 12th in the SEC last year and they have 2 new starters on defense. I don't have as many individual performances to point out on this team due to the suspensions of the first 2 games and there were a lot of different people getting a lot of playing time.
LB Donnie Baggs (JR) - 12 total tackles
LB Shaan Washington (FR) - 7 total tackles, 1 sack
DB De'Vonte Harris (SO) - 7 total tackles, 1 pass defended - 1 game
DB Deshazor Everett (JR) - 17 total tackles, 1 INT, 1 pass defended
Texas A&M is ranked 108th after 3 games in points allowed at 36 a game, but how does the yardage stack up? You have come to the right place:
GAME 1 RICE
Rice Yards Gained:
     203 passing
     306 rushing - 6 yards a carry
     509 total
Rice on year average against other opponents:
     234 passing
     183 rushing
     417 total
Rice averages last year:
     226 passing
     202 rushing
     428 total
Rice is holding their own offensively this year compared to last. They have played Kansas and Houston this year, although not on the recruiting level of A&M at this moment, they have the name and remember where coach Sumlin came from...Unlike the Gamecocks or Tigers, A&M actually let Rice have their best offensive day in their first 3 games, allowing 92 yards more than the Owl average and 123 more rushing yards. Ugly. Rice's national rankings are: 70 in passing, 32 in rushing, and 76 in points scored.
GAME 2 SAM HOUSTON
SAM Yards Gained:
     150 passing
     240 rushing - 4.7 yards a carry
     390 total
SAM on year average against other opponents:
     112 passing
     344 rushing
     456 total
SAM averages last year:
     190 passing
     268 rushing
     458 total
Sam Houston is right on pace with last year's offensive stats. They like to run and ironically enough, a defense that got ran over by Rice held Sam to 100 yards less than their average. Granted SAM does not play in the FBS so the talent level here can be a factor, and that SAM talent still put up 390 yards on the Aggies and 4.7 yards a carry.
GAME 3 ALABAMA
BAMA Yards Gained:
     334 passing
     234 rushing
     568 total
BAMA on year average against other opponents:
     191 passing
     81 rushing
     272 total
BAMA averages last year:
     218 passing
     227 rushing
     445 total
As I said before, can we start worrying about Alabama yet? This offense is awful, except against Texas A&M. There's no other way to put this. The Aggies let Alabama gain 296 yards more than they gained on average against Virginia Tech and Colorado State! If we do indeed find out whatever happened to defense in the SEC, we know it didn't go to Texas...Alabama's national ranks are: 58th in passing, 90th in rushing, and 36th in points scored.
In the first 3 games here is the line on the Aggie D yards allowed:
Passing: 687 total/229 game
Rushing: 780 total/260 game
Total: 1467 total/489 game
And the Aggie opponents are averaging per game on the year with the Aggie game not included:
179 passing
203 rushing
382 total
Unlike South Carolina and LSU the Aggie D is working in reverse and is allowing their opponents to gain over 100 yards more against them then the average against everyone else. And after 3 games they have the same record as South Carolina.

So what have we learned here: South Carolina has given up more yards than LSU but the offenses they have faced have been a lot tougher and South Carolina has responded by holding those offensive power-houses to lower yards against their average than LSU has held their weaker opponents to against their averages. However, LSU is by far the youngest and most in-experienced defense we have looked at and this could very well be a factor, but their performance is far from being sub-par. It should also be noted that it's hard to draw any conclusions about the Aggie defense since it is a defense that has been in-flux since the start of the season. It will be interesting to see where A&M is at the end of this 4 part report.

Next up: Alabama, Florida, and Georgia