Sapakoff's Week 9 SEC football Best and Worst includes Clowney, A.J. McCarron and more

Top 5
- Jadeveon Clowney (again). Autographed items are a new cottage industry on eBay and did his best to keep the Gamecocks in the game early at The Swamp, all despite playing hurt.

- A.J. McCarron. Alabama's cooly efficient QB is in the Heisman conversation after going 17 of 22 for 306 yards and 4 TDs against Tennessee.

- Nkemdiche. The other Nkemdiche; Clemson recruit Robert's older brother Denzel, an Ole Miss redshirt freshman, is averaging 1.29 tackles for loss per game. Not bad for a Journalism major.

- Zac Stacy. Vanderbilt is only 2-3 in the SEC but has more conference wins than five – count 'em five – other SEC teams (Mizzou, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Auburn). Stacy (169 yards rushing and a TD vs. Auburn) is a big reason why.

- Cordarelle Patterson. Tennessee's wideout/return star could be trouble for South Carolina. A graduate of Rock Hill's Northwestern High School, Patterson is averaging 34.75 yards per kick return – second-best in the nation.

Bottom 5
- Patchwork O-line. South Carolina is giving up 2.67 sacks per SEC game (12th in the league).

- SEC assistant coaches. The four SEC head coaches on the hot seat have sweet buyouts but you feel for staffers such as classy Tennessee running backs coach Jay Graham, late of South Carolina.

- Auburn's offense. Or lack of. Only 60 points in five SEC games. #nowonder

- Johnny Football. Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel ran into an LSU wall (3 interceptions, just 27 yards rushing) in a 24-19 loss.

- Connor Shaw. South Carolina's dual threat QB was so terrific early in the season but made oddly poor decisions at LSU and Florida. Needs one good game to get back on a roll.

Follow Gene Sapakoff on Twitter @sapakoff