The SEC game changers for week 11 include two bounce-back performances by quarterbacks, a defensive team win, and a blown play to lose a game.
Offensive Game Changers
Jalen Milroe QB, Alabama
Milroe’s stock has been down the last few weeks. He’s been turning the ball over and struggling to run consistently. That all changed against LSU in their 42-13 blowout victory. He was solid as a passer with a very good quarterback rating. But he exploded in the run game for 185 yards and four touchdowns. He was the entire Alabama offense in the dismantling of the Tigers. Milroe is back in the Heisman race and the Crimson Tide are back in championship contention
Quinn Ewers QB, Texas
It’s been a rough season for Ewers. He started as a Heisman trophy favorite, got hurt, and hasn’t been very good since returning. There have even been questions about benching him with Arch Manning as his backup. He exercised his demons on Saturday. In the 49-17 shellacking of Florida, Ewers was flawless completing 19 of 27 attempts for 333 yards and five touchdowns. Even more impressive, he did that in two and a half quarters. They pulled him midway through the third with a 42-0 lead. Ewers silenced the critics as one of the SEC game changers of the week.
Raheim Sanders RB, South Carolina
This is Sanders’s second week in a row making the list. He shared the honor last time, but it’s all him this time. He led the Gamecocks offense in a huge 28-7 win over a good Vanderbilt team. Sanders ran the ball 15 times for 126 yards and two touchdowns. He also added two catches for 52 yards and one of those catches was a 43-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to ice the game. He is having an excellent season with over 900 yards from scrimmage and 11 touchdowns.
Defensive Game Changers
Jihaad Campbell LB, Alabama
Milroe was the story of the game, but Campbell deserves a ton of credit. He’s been the best Bama defender this year making the SEC game changers list multiple times. On Saturday night, he was dominant and had two massive plays. His first sack forced a fumble on the play after Alabama got stuffed on fourth down. They scored a few plays later to give them a two-score lead. Up 28-6, he got his second sack on third down. LSU would have almost surely gone for it on fourth down but they were pushed back too far. Alabama scored again and the game was over. Campbell finished with 12 tackles, 3 tackles-for-loss, and a pass defended.
Defense, Ole Miss
TJ Dottery has made this list more than once this year. But the collective defense earned their due last week. They completely shut down Carson Beck and Georgia’s offense in their 28-10 victory. The team had four sacks, but that doesn’t fully encapsulate how much pressure Beck was under all day. They gave up a touchdown on the first drive and then held them to five straight punts for the rest of the half. Georgia was down two scores and driving in the fourth. The defense caused a fumble after a catch to create a turnover. Georgia got the ball back and the d-line deflected a pass that turned into an easy interception for John Saunders Jr. They capped the game with a strip-sack fumble recovery.
Negative Game Changers
Jackson Arnold QB, Oklahoma
The ugly turn Oklahoma’s season has taken was perfectly punctuated by Arnold on Saturday. In a crazy fourth quarter, the teams combined to score four straight touchdowns. One of them was a fumble return by Oklahoma. With 22 seconds left, the game was tied at 23. Oklahoma was on their 35-yard line and the game appeared headed for overtime. Arnold dropped back to pass and held the ball too long. He was hit from behind and fumbled the ball backward. Missouri picked it up and ran it in for a game-winning touchdown. Arnold can’t allow that to happen in what was the end of the Sooners season.
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