Once known for its tough defenses, the SEC has started to open up the offense this season

AP Sports Writer

Tennessee had piled up 37 points and nearly 300 yards of offense by the time the first quarter mercifully came to an end last week against Kent State. It turned out that mercy for the Golden Flashes was still quite a ways away.

The then-No. 7 Vols pushed their lead to 65-0, and that gaudy yardage total over 500, by the time the teams trudged to the locker rooms at Neyland Stadium. That is when Tennessee finally pulled back on the reins of coach Josh Heupel’s high-powered offense, content to kick just a couple of second-half field goals and move on to bigger games against better opponents.

Here is the scary thing for all of them, beginning with No. 15 Oklahoma on Saturday: The Vols didn’t even play that well.

At least, that was the assessment of Nico Iamaleava, who threw for 173 yards and a touchdown before his day was done early.

“I think there’s still room for improvement,” the freshman quarterback insisted. “I think that’s every day what we’re working for, it’s to get 1% better. Anything that we can do to get our offense (going), whether that’s a tempo or being set — no pre-snap penalties — everything that goes into play, yeah, there is still a lot of room for improvement.”

Maybe Iamaleava sees what a lot of people are seeing already this season: It’s going to take points to win in the Southeastern Conference.

Mississippi leads the nation through Week 3 in total offense, averaging 692 yards per game, thanks primarily to the nation’s No. 1 passing game. No. 6 Tennessee is right behind, averaging 639.3 yards, a total that could have been much bigger had the Vols not backed off in a 69-3 win over Chattanooga, a 51-10 rout of then-No. 24 NC State and the win over Kent State.

Tennessee still leads the nation in scoring at 63.7 points per game — Ole Miss is second at 56 points — with a bunch of SEC teams close behind. In fact, the SEC has four of the top 10 nationally in total offense and five of the top 11 in scoring offense, a lineup that includes Big 12-turned-SEC heavyweight Texas, the new No. 1 in the AP Top 25.

It makes some sense that the Longhorns would be putting up points, given their background in the Big 12, where the Air Raid offense of Mike Leach helped turn the conference into one in which defense often seemed something of an afterthought.

The SEC has long had a reputation of stout defenses, despite outliers such as Steve Spurrier’s Florida teams and Peyton Manning’s teams at Tennessee. That so many of its teams are scoring at such a high rate this season is starting to raise some eyebrows.

Kent State coach Kenni Burns’ assessment after seeing the Vols up close: “They have weapons all over the place.”

Fifth-ranked Ole Miss scored on its first five possessions last week against Wake Forest, and its 96-yard touchdown drive during the 40-6 rout was the fourth time the Rebels have driven at least 90 yards for a TD this season. That followed a 76-point thrashing of Furman and a 49-point win over Middle Tennessee, a program in a bowl game just two years ago.

SEC teams are piling up yards in different ways, too. Whereas Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart has shredded defenses with his arm, Arkansas has piled up points on the ground, scoring multiple rushing touchdowns in each of its three wins this season.

Like Tennessee, the Rebels and Razorbacks think they are far from polished, too.

“There’s a lot of positives to know that you can have a 34-point road win against and ACC team and not play up to our standards, and leave a lot of points out there,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said. “Like I told them, it’s a good and bad thing. It depends what you make of it. It’s really good if you change those things, take care of the ball and make better decisions.”

It wasn’t so long ago that defense ruled the league. LSU and Georgia had the nation’s top two just 20 years ago, SEC newcomer Oklahoma had the fifth-best and Auburn ranked eighth. By contrast, only three SEC teams averaged at least 31 points.

Of course, some of those gaudy offensive numbers in the SEC are inflated early in the season, the byproduct of soft nonconference schedules. Tennessee’s scoring average almost certainly will take a hit when it plays Oklahoma this weekend, and Georgia and Kentucky just showed they still play defense in the Bulldogs’ 13-12 win on Saturday.

Still, it’s a safe bet it’s going to take a lot more than 13 points to keep winning in the SEC this season.

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This story corrects Tennessee’s opponent to Kent State, not Toledo, in the first paragraph.

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