Things to watch in Week 5 of the Southeastern Conference:
GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 12 LSU (3-1, 2-0 SEC) at No. 20 Mississippi (3-1, 0-1)
It's another Top 25 showdown of SEC West contenders after the Rebels stumbled to a 24-10 loss at No. 12 Alabama last weekend. The loss left the Rebels with little margin for error while LSU still gets its shot at the Crimson Tide. This one features two prolific offenses and dangerous, dual-threat quarterbacks. LSU's Jayden Daniels is leading the SEC in total offense, while Jaxson Dart is second.
The Tigers rank 10th nationally in passing offense and 10th in scoring. Ole Miss is 13th and 12th, respectively. No wonder the oddsmakers at FanDuel Sportsbook expect this to be a close one, favoring LSU by just 2 1/2 points.
SECOND-BEST MATCHUP
No. 22 Florida (3-1, 1-0) at Kentucky (4-0, 1-0)
Both teams get to state their case as the second-best team in the SEC East behind top-ranked Georgia. The Gators passed their first big SEC test in beating No. 22 Tennessee, among the other candidates for No. 2. Now, they get to back it up after struggling in the red zone against Charlotte . The Wildcats have coasted to four straight wins and now get to show if they're Top 25 worthy. Kentucky, a slight favorite, is 6-34 against ranked Gators teams but three of those wins have come in the past five seasons.
Both teams are led by transfer quarterbacks. Kentucky's Devin Leary has passed for nine touchdowns but also thrown at least one interception in each of his first four games and was picked off twice against Vanderbilt. Florida's Graham Mertz is completing 77.8% of his passes, which ranks fourth nationally.
LONG SHOT
Arkansas (2-2, 0-1) faces Texas A&M (3-1, 1-0) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Razorbacks are 6 1/2-point underdogs but pushed LSU to the brink before losing 34-31. A similar performance should keep Arkansas competitive in this one, too, for a team trying to avoid an 0-2 SEC start. The Aggies are turning to LSU transfer Max Johnson to replace quarterback Conner Weigman, who is out for the rest of the regular season with a right foot injury. Texas A&M smothered Auburn's offense in a 27-10 victor y. It would be a step forward for the inconsistent Aggies to get another strong performance against an SEC rival.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Georgia coach Kirby Smart set a new SEC record for most victories through his first 100 career games with 85, one more than Alabama's Nick Saban had produced at the century mark. ... Kentucky has three straight 4-0 starts for the first time since 1909-11. ... Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson enters the LSU game tied for third in program history with 57 career passing touchdowns. Coupled with 20 rushing TDs, he's tied with Matt Jones for the Razorbacks record for passing/rushing scores. ... No. 21 Tennessee has mostly controlled the series with South Carolina, but the Gamecocks’ 63-38 win last season marked the program’s most points and biggest margin of victory in the series. ...Tennessee QB Joe Milton set a program record for a quarterback with his 81-yard touchdown run against UTSA.
IMPACT PLAYER
Luther Burden III, WR, Missouri. The former five-star recruit is off to a blazing start for the newly ranked No. 23 Tigers. Burden is just the fifth Missouri player with three straight 100-yard receiving games and missed a fourth by 4 yards in the opener against South Dakota. Burden has become quarterback Brady Cook's go-to guy after Dominic Lovett transferred to Georgia. Burden has 32 catches for 504 yards and three touchdowns in four games. He had 45 catches for 375 yards and six scores as a freshman.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
