Cole Cubelic reveals post-Week 8 takeaways for every SEC program

Cole Cubelic is back with his weekly SEC dishes after a truly massive weekend in the nation’s biggest college football conference.

The two lower-seeded teams won the pair of seeded matchups last weekend. Cubelic called Georgia’s win over Texas a “statement win” while praising Tennessee’s defense (and Dylan Sampson) for the Vols’ big win over the Crimson Tide.

Florida, LSU, Mizzou, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M and South Carolina also picked up wins this weekend, all against SEC opponents except Vanderbilt (which beat Ball State). Of these, South Carolina received the biggest plaudits, specifically its defense.

The Gamecocks defense is absolutely underrated, somehow. They pressure the quarterback well, shown by their 9 sacks against Jackson Arnold and Michael Hawkins. Jalon Kilgore and Nick Emmanwori are excellent defensive backs and each have 3+ interceptions on the season, 2 of which for Emmanwori came in Week 8.

Here are Cubelic’s other takeaways from Week 8 in the SEC:

ARKANSAS: Your part is to deliver this one. He gave it away early. Lost protections. QB constantly on the run. He had great successes. QB made some good throws outside the pocket. He left a few meters there in the middle of the field. 2 played a very nice match. They worked in the middle of…

— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) October 21, 2024

FLORIDA: Good win. I had stretching game working. Good continuity with OL. He had a constant push. 13 is the man! Not being too twisted helps set up the zoning scheme. Has power, jump cut, stiff arm. fun to watch QB made some very nice throws. Use your legs well. WRs…

— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) October 21, 2024

KENTUCKY: That hurts. He didn’t look like them. DL pushed himself a little. Too much flow 3 played well in defense. 0 received push. The bearing level was later raised. Surpassed some. I got lost in the coverage of some. 25 did beautiful things. It just doesn’t seem to have much juice. The Run game seemed to be gone…

— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) October 21, 2024

MISSISSIPPI STATE: Showed some fight. Like how they have altered the career plan. More window dressing to help the young QB. He is gaining confidence. Give him more reads with quick pitches. Flat racing game extensions. Triggers are lost. RBs struggled to protect themselves…

— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) October 21, 2024

OKLAHOMA: Ugly. Loss of possession, leadership, momentum and confidence in the first 5 min. A QB change had to be made. At least he gets some consistency in the quick game with 11. He still got anxious after that. He couldn’t protect himself. Technically suffered in the attack. He could possibly have attacked…

— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) October 21, 2024

TENNESSEE: Big win. 100% of the crowd helped them get that W. Time was off several times on passes and downs. They affected things. 6 was exceptional. patience tough durable He shredded yards when he had to. OL was fine. Played with good effort. Some pressures have been lost. I have good help…

— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) October 21, 2024

TEXAS A&M: Conference win on the road. DL came out swinging. Stunts took them out of spots in the running game early on. He did not tackle well in space. 5, 17 and 18 were behind. Then the drill hurt, but they were on their way home. For the second week in a row they had defenders unlocked in…

— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) October 21, 2024

VANDERBILT: Disappointment averted. QB worked the mesh well. Make some good quick throws. OL lost some blitz pickups. He has struggled with the 2nd level. Lots of LB runs through. 2 good with head fakes. Good accuracy on the move. Missed a few high ball percentages. 28 crushed Additional hats dropped…

— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) October 21, 2024