The weekend that was in the SEC consisted mostly of tune-up games against non-Big Five opponents. The real action this weekend was centered around the dismantling of the “Big 10 myth”, and quality play out West. Regardless, that doesn’t keep folks from over-reacting to single data points. We’ll look at what happened, what people are saying, and what it really means.
Reaction Time: SEC Week Two Analysis
Ole Miss 41, Vanderbilt 3
Conventional Storyline: Confirmation of Ole Miss’ competitiveness and Vandy’s fall.
Verdict: Spot On
In the lone intra-conference match-up this week, Ole Miss went into Nashville and dismantled the Commodores. We talked last week about the fundamental mistakes and shaky quarterback play from Ole Miss in the opening weekend. The Rebels responded well as they only had five penalties this week, Bo Wallace was – at worst – efficient and effective, and the defense turned in another fine performance. Ole Miss clearly made improvement from Week 1. They showed that they will be competitive in the West and will be in the hunt for a bowl bid in December. Vanderbilt, on the other hand, has come off the rails. They completed a total of six passes, had 227 yards of total offense, and gave up 41 points in three quarters. Unless Derek Mason figures something out soon, Vanderbilt will be looking up at the rest of SEC East all season.
Missouri 49, Toledo 24
Conventional Storyline: Ho-hum, Missouri beats up on another non-Big Five school
Verdict: Underreaction
I thought this was the second-most important game in the conference this weekend. Missouri went on the road to a quality opponent in the middle of the easy part of their schedule and took care of business. They continue to get quality quarterback play from Maty Mauk. People still underestimate the Tigers, which is odd since they are the reigning SEC East champs. Yes, they did lose some key pieces on defense. Yes, Georgia and Florida are better this year. But this team has done what it has needed to do early in the season and will certainly contend to defend the East Division title.
South Carolina 33, East Carolina 23
Conventional Storyline: South Carolina is back on track after win against East Carolina
Verdict: Underreaction
South Carolina struggled again against an East Carolina team that was clearly overmatched. Mike Davis barely hit a hundred yards rushing (101), South Carolina couldn’t score touchdowns, had to rely on special teams and defense, and couldn’t put the game away until a sustained drive in the fourth quarter. South Carolina fans should be concerned about the Gamecocks. If they can’t find something this week, they’re in trouble against a Georgia team that is hungry. This weekend will let South Carolina fans know what they really have.
Kentucky 20, Ohio University 3
Conventional Storyline: Solid win builds on last week’s momentum for Kentucky.
Verdict: Overreaction
There was a lot of enthusiasm coming out of Lexington after last week’s big win. I cautioned you then, and I will caution you again. First off, Ohio isn’t as good as many people are purporting them to be. They barely beat Kent State last week and have split time between two quarterbacks this season. The 17-point margin against Ohio is not impressive enough to warrant this optimism. Second, Kentucky got off to a good start with some big plays but struggled to score after that. This was a 6-3 game after the first quarter. If Kentucky wants to be competitive in the SEC, they have to play four full quarters and they have to learn how to sustain drives consistently. The fans in Lexington will see just how good their team is next week when they travel to Gainesville for a match-up with the Gators.
Tennessee 34, Arkansas State 19
Conventional Storyline: Solid win builds on last week’s momentum for Tennessee.
Verdict: Spot On
Arkansas State did to Tennessee what everyone thought Utah State would do. The dual threat quarterback gave Tennessee problems early, but in the end, Tennessee was able to wear down the Red Wolves’ offense and the Volunteer offense had another solid and efficient performance. The playbook seemed a little limited, and Tennessee’s special teams is a definite cause of concern, but the talent and the systems are clearly in place for Tennessee to be competitive in the East and compete for a bowl bid in December. Tennessee will get to see where it’s really at this weekend in Norman against Oklahoma.
Mississippi State 47, Alabama-Birmingham 34
Conventional Storyline: Solid win builds on last week’s momentum for Mississippi State. (See a theme here?)
Verdict: Spot On.
This one is tough to gauge. On the one hand, Dak Prescott has looked sharp this season and the offense is putting up some good numbers. On the other hand, it was 26-20 at the half and Mississippi State gave up 548 yards of offense. They won’t be able to wear down the other teams in the SEC West in the second half like they did the Blazers. Still, UAB is a pretty good team and I think the Bulldogs under Dan Mullen have the ability win some tough games at home this season. Playing in the SEC West, though, makes every game crucial.
Florida 65, Eastern Michigan 0
Conventional Storyline: Florida is back after blow-out win.
Verdict: Overreaction.
Yes, that Eastern Michigan. The team that tried entering their home game last weekend by smashing through a concrete wall with sledgehammers. Kurt Roper’s first game as coordinator was a success and Florida got back to its traditional September non-conference slaughters. But Eastern Michigan not only has trouble with their game entrances, they also aren’t very good on offense or defense. Let’s see how the Gators fare against Kentucky next week and then Alabama. We’ll know more then. It’ll be interesting to see if the missed game against Idaho affects the Gators come December.
Arkansas 73, Nicholls State 3
Conventional Storyline: Arkansas is for real with a 70-point blow-out.
Verdict: Overreaction.
Who knew Nicholls State had two “l”s in their name? Look, 35 first-quarter points is impressive for any team. But with a team like Arkansas, coming off a 3-9 season with no conference wins, you have to earn your way back into contention. Nicholls State, 70-point or not, is not a team you can really build momentum on. As we found out last week, Arkansas still doesn’t have the depth to compete against the SEC powers. Arkansas will get a better gauge of its progress when they play Ole Miss and Mississippi State later in the season.
Texas A&M 73, Lamar 3
Conventional Storyline: Texas A&M is for real with a 70-point blow-out
Verdict: Spot On.
Yes, Texas A&M had a similar performance to Arkansas. Yes, Lamar is a similar opponent to Nicholls State. The difference is that Texas A&M has a track record of competing in the SEC and has already proven themselves this season after going to Columbia and dismantling the Gamecocks. That’s what makes the Aggies’ blow-out over Lamar different from Arkansas’ blow-out. The competition between A&M, Alabama, Auburn and LSU this year will be great football theater.
Alabama 41, Florida Atlantic 0
Conventional Storyline: Ho-hum, Alabama beats up another non-Big Five school.
Verdict: Underreaction.
The only reason this is an under-reaction is because Alabama’s defense gave up big numbers to West Virginia last week and came back with a strong performance on Saturday. Pitching a shutout is always impressive, no matter what kind of directional state opponent you’re playing. Added to the quality quarterback play from both Blake Sims and Jacob Coker, and this win shows us that last week was just the result of a little rust. Alabama is still one of the top teams in the nation.
Auburn 59, San Jose State 13
Conventional Storyline: Ho-hum, Auburn beats up another non-Big Five school
Verdict: Spot On.
This is about to get redundant. Auburn used a lesser opponent to prepare for the upcoming SEC schedule and took care of business with good performance against a decent team. Auburn, already having an SEC win by beating Arkansas, will have another test this week when they travel to Manhattan to play Kansas State.
LSU 56, Sam Houston 0
Conventional Storyline: Ho-hum, LSU beats up another non-Big Five school (see another theme here)
Verdict: Underreaction
This was actually a quality win for LSU. People are overlooking the retooling effort that Les Miles has done over the summer in Baton Rouge. LSU lost a ton of talent to the draft and has some new and young starters in key positions. The Tigers looked good against admittedly lesser talent and used the game to refine their execution of plays. The more LSU can play and build their confidence, the more dangerous they will be in the West Division.
Overall SEC Analysis:
It was a relatively quiet week in the SEC, which is good when you have eleven non-conference games, all against non-Big Five teams. The teams that struggled in Week One (Vanderbilt, South Carolina) continued to struggle in Week Two. With a slate of conference games this week (Georgia-South Carolina and Florida-Kentucky) and some interesting non-conference games (Tennessee-Oklahoma and Auburn-Kansas State), Week Three promises to bring the conference hierarchy into clearer focus.
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