It was a weird and wild weekend in the SEC. Georgia and South Carolina played a classic that Georgia finally one (it’s been the opposite direction at Sanford between these two recently), Texas A&M struggled with mighty Sam Houston State in the first half of their game (mainly thanks to some terrible defense), LSU’s Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham were bringing the circus to ‘circus-like catches’ in Death Valley against UAB, and, er, Florida lost at Miami.

Anyway, here are your SEC Power Rankings after Week 2. And yes, we know Alabama isn’t on top.

1) LSU (2-0): Odell Beckham Jr and Jarvis Landry were exceptional, and Zach Mettenberger’s looking comfortable in defense. In the proclaimed ‘run first’ offense, suddenly Cam Cameron’s horses are able to rest a little while the ball flies through the air. And connects. This team’s the strongest in the SEC because it’s played two teams that weren’t complete jokes, and beaten them.

2)  Georgia (1-1): OK, so Mark Richt and Aaron Murray might be able to win a big game, after all. Seriously though, Todd Gurley looked fantastic against South Carolina, running for 134 yards and a TD in Georgia’s victory. Murray passed for 309 and 4 TDs himself. Not a bad effort. They might want to work on their tackling though…..they gave up 454 yards.

3) Alabama (1-0): We wait and see for Texas A&M if this is the best team in the SEC. If they beat A&M, they are (and beat LSU in Tuscaloosa later in the year, we think)

4)  South Carolina (1-1): We’re not dropping them too badly because they lost at Georgia in a rivalry game. The defense once again struggled against the run, and it’s interesting for us to notice that Jadeveon Clowney wasn’t too pleased about not having offenses running straight at him. If Clowney’s frustrated now, imagine him at season-end when OC’s do everything not to go anywhere near him. And the defensive co-ordinators fought amongst each other. The argument was dismissed by SEC fans as ‘the passion of the SEC’. We’re SEC fans, but I would call it unprofessional. Still, Barrett Shaw’s looking better and better week by week.

5=) Florida (1-1): Their defense was GREAT but their offense (five turnovers) was dreadful in the loss to Miami on Saturday. Imagine what might happen if both sides of the ball click at the same time. Oh. Gosh.

5=) Texas A&M (2-0): The offense was GREAT but their defense (28 points) was dreadful in the win over mighty Sam Houston State. Imagine what might happen if both sides of the ball click at the same time. Oh. My. God. The offense against Alabama’s D should be riveting. The defense against Alabama’s offense – and especially their running game – doesn’t bear thinking about.

7) Ole Miss (2-0): No great prizes for beating SE Missouri State. Actually looking forward to seeing what this option offense will do to Texas’ ‘D’, who gave up over 500 yards against BYU on Saturday (laughter). The QB duo of Bo Wallace and Barry Brunetti could have a field day. Ole Miss wants to watch the turnovers – they gave up 3 on Saturday.

8) Vanderbilt (1-1): Beat Austin Peay comfortably (38-3) after their heartbreaking loss to Ole Miss. Nice to see Jordan Matthews rebound, grabbing 6 catches for 111 yards. Bigger tests will comes for the Commodores than Austin Peay, and it’s still making me think: Is this team a 6-6 team or a 7-5 or a 5-7 team? Aargh! It’s driving me nuts. Too early to say.

9) Auburn (2-0): Auburn’s victory over Arkansas State puts them up in the rankings a bit because they dulled the blades of a very sharp offense. I’m impressed. The Gus Malzahn-Nick Marshall ESP thing going on is really cool (Marshall had 147 yards and 2 TDs, We’ll see what this all means in the big, bad SEC West (and we still think they’d struggle with Ole Miss), but this isn’t looking like a bad team. By the way, Tre Mason’s the real deal. By the way, a note to Arkansas State: DO NOT PLAY IN THOSE UNIFORMS AGAIN.

10) Mississippi State (1-1): After seeing their offense choked against Oklahoma State, Cowbell Country once again rang after the Bulldogs stomped Alcorn State 51-7 at home. Dak Prescott on his first start was economical, throwing for 174 yards and 2 TDs. Word to the wise, they were only 5-13 in 3rd down conversions and 2-6 on 4th down conversions. This needs to improve. On another note, Alcorn State’s Golden Girls’ dancing >>> Mississippi State’s cheerleaders dancing. That’s no shame to lose that battle.

11) Tennessee (2-0): After the Vols beat Austin Peay on Opening Day we didn’t give Tennesssee the time of day. After beating Western Kentucky – and showing some opportunistic ‘D’ in the process, causing SEVEN turnovers (go to over 1 minute on the reel if you want to watch some highlights) – we’re giving them a bit more time of day. The offensive line looks good – even if we’re not sold on Justin Worley just yet.

12) Missouri (2-0): We’re definitely more excited about Missouri’s 38-23 win over Toledo that we were against Murray State. The James Franklin-to-Dorial Green-Beckham/L’Damian Washington combos are looking increasingly fun to watch. We’ll see about the O-Line. Henry Posey can do a job in that backfield, too.

13) Arkansas (2-0): Slid down the list because for three quarters, the Razorbacks really, really, really struggled (the highlights won’t show the struggles) with Samford, trailing them 21-17 until the early part of the fourth quarter. Alex Collins’ 172 yards on the ground and a pretty good performance from Brandon Allen’s got a bit of us believing, but can the ‘D’ do its job against better competition than, er, Samford?

14) Kentucky (1-1): Great to see Kentucky get Mark Stoops his first win, even if it was a clueless defensive team in Miami (Ohio). Was Maxwell Smith’s 317 yards for 3 TDs a new dawn for the Neal Brown’s Top Gun ‘Air Raid’ Offense, or is this just a false dawn before the big boys start calling?

Well, there’s no question what the biggest game in the SEC (and perhaps college football) this week is – and it again involves the Georgia Bulldogs.

Last week the Dawgs lost the Game Of The Week at Clemson 38-35, and this week they’ve got to pick themselves off the proverbial tarmac and play South Carolina, home of one of their most hated rivals, one Steve Spurrier.

In other games, there’s a Miami-Florida game, and Western Kentucky go for their second straight SEC victory with a win over Tenneseee.

South Carolina at Georgia

As mentioned, Georgia lost its first game of the season to Clemson 38-35 in a bruising encounter. In the process, it lost its top wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell, who was injured during a touchdown celebration. You could not make it up. Oh, and it would have tied the game up in the third quarter had they not missed an easy field goal. And quarterback Aaron Murray didn’t throw a touchdown – despite throwing for over 300 yards, and had an horrific fumble. South Carolina, on the other hand, ghosted past North Carolina 27-10, despite star defensive end and potential NFL first round pick Jadeveon Clowney looked well below par.

Defensively, Georgia gets Josh Harvey-Clemons back from suspension, which should be a big plus. On the other side, watch out for Carolina’s OTHER pass-rusher, Chaz Sutton. He’s nasty.

Well, it all comes down to this.

This rivalry has been brutal on Georgia in the past three meetings, with South Carolina winning the last three. Carolina’s QB tandem of Connor Shaw and Dylan Thompson are great, and should test Georgia’s secondary, while Mike Davis, the Gamecocks RB, should help to pound the ‘D’. On the other side, Carolina’s going to have to deal with Georgia’s RB tandem of Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall, and if Aaron Murray can get any support from his offensive line, they might be able to get some points on the board.

BOTTOM LINE: Go with South Carolina. Georgia – a 3-point favorite has got too many problems at the moment (including a poor offensive line playing a NASTY Gamecocks pass-rush) 

Florida at Miami

If Miami beats Florida on Saturday, it would be one of the biggest upsets of the season. Yes, we know that Hurricanes coach Al Golden has recruited well, and the team is on the rise after years in the gutter, but can they compete with one of the best defences in college football – Florida’s? Florida choked a very good Toledo offense last week – despite having six players suspended. In other words, they are pretty good. Talented cornerback Loucheiz Purifoy and linebacker Antonio Morrison are back for the Gators after suspension, and running back Matt Jones is going to provide some power.

Listen, we know Miami’s got speed – Duke Johnson shows that, but the Gators play tough. This one will be close.

BOTTOM LINE: Take Florida – favored by just 3 points – for the victory.  We think Florida could win this by much more.  

Western Kentucky at Tennessee

Western Kentucky beat Kentucky comfortably last week, and we look forward to seeing how they will do against a team who’s not the SEC’s worst. Tennessee has a filthy offensive line, and some confidence after its win over Austin Peay – however big you think that is, but can Justin Worley perform well two in a row? With Butch Jones as new coach, we have confidence that he might just. And he’ll get support from RB Rajon Neal, too.

But kids, this is Bobby Petrino’s Hilltoppers team. Bobby Petrino’s an offensive genius and we’d argue that if Arkansas had been under his tutelage last year, they would have been bowl eligible. The Hilltoppers can put up points, and Tennessee’s ‘D’ is still a work in progress.

BOTTOM LINE: Tennessee’s favoured by 13 points, which isn’t a bad bet. We’ll take Tennesssee and the points. 

Miami (Ohio) vs Kentucky

There weren’t a lot of nice things to say about Kentucky’s performance against WKU last week, so we’re not exactly excited about seeing how they play against Miami of Ohio – even though this is a ‘battle for the first win’ game (Miami lost convincingly to Marshall). Kentucky.

There were some good things. Maxwell Smith went 8-for-13 with 125 yards and a TD, although he was sacked twice. We think WKU’s pass-rush is better than Miami’s, and Miami’s defense gave up a 287 yards to Marshall through the air. Look, we still think that Kentucky’s new ‘Air Raid’ offence has a long way to go, but this could be OK.

BOTTOM LINE: Kentucky’s a 17-1/2 point favourite in this one, and we think they’ll beat the spread. But they’d be grateful for ANY victory, wouldn’t they?

Arkansas State at Auburn

Auburn’s win over Washington State ignited hope on the plains, which means that when Arkansas State comes into town, this game looks like less of an upset than it would have done in 2012. Arkansas State can no doubt put up a hell of a lot of points and yards (they put up 672 on Arkansas Pine-Buff on Saturday), and Auburn’s ‘D’ had better be ready to hold ASU’s rushers, who put up over 500 yards – with three players putting up over 100 yards each.

We look forward to seeing how Nick Marshall, the Auburn QB, deals with Arkansas State’s ‘D’, which will include a lot of players formerly coached by Gus Malzahn, who was at ASU last year. We can’t wait.

BOTTOM LINE: This one’s going to be high scoring – of that there’s no doubt. Auburn’s a 10-1/2 point favorite to win this, and we think it’s going to be tighter. Nevertheless, Auburn wins, and the Tigers roar to 2-0.

UAB at LSU

In LSU’s victory over TCU in Dallas, LSU’s Zach Mettenberger looked good, and Jarvis Landry looked like the country’s best wide receiver. Well, this week they face a UAB side who must be feeling a little dispirited after losing 34-31 to Troy in overtime.

LSU won’t face a Blazers defence which is as nasty at TCU’s – they gave up nearly 500 yards in offense last week (almost evenly matched between pass and rush), so expect Les Miles to continue to try and make his point by using pass and rush evenly. Don’t sleep on UAB playmakers QB Austin Brown and WR Jamarcus Nelson by the way. Austin  threw for 309 yards and 3 TDs in the Troy game, and Nelson had 199 yards receiving in 10 catches for two TDs. That’s pretty good.

BOTTOM LINE: LSU’s favored by 34-1/2 points, and we think that they’ll squeeze past the over. The Tigers defense is too good – even if their ‘D’ has an early scare with Brown and Nelson.

Toledo at Missouri

Toledo was predicted to beat Florida by Kirk Herbstreit on Saturday, and they were choked by the Gators en route to a miserable 24-6 loss. They should fine Missouri’s defence somewhat more accommodating – the Tigers struggled early against Murray State before outclassing their opponent.

James Franklin got a lot of plaudits for playing well against Murray State (318 yards, 3 TDs), so we’d be really thrilled to see what he’ll do against a better team who didn’t exactly collapse against the Gators themselves. Oh, and can the rushing duo of Henry Josey and Russell Hansborough repeat their 100-yard games on Saturday? And we’d love to see Dorial Green-Beckham have a good game, because the ‘overrated’ chants are still loud in his ear after a disappointing 2013.

BOTTOM LINE: Mizzou’s a 17-point favorite in this one, but we think it’s going to be tighter. We think Missouri will win though.

Sam Houston State at Texas A&M

Johnny Manziel rescued A&M in the second half of Saturday after a horrible first half performance by the Aggies’ ‘D’ in the first half against Rice, but we don’t think the Aggies are going to have the same problems against Sam Houston State at Kyle Field on Saturday.

The biggest question will be: How long will it be in this game before Texas A&M takes off its starters in preparation for Alabama in Week 3? Aggies fans should be worried if EVERYONE plays in the fourth quarter….

BOTTOM LINE: Texas A&M is a 37-point favorite, which Vegas seems to think should be the third quarter score. We think it’ll be more. A&M to win (obviously) and beat the spread.

Alcorn State at Mississippi State

Despite losing in Week 1 against Oklahoma State, MSU will have less trouble with ‘mighty’ Alcorn State, despite their opponents’ 62 point-fest last week. All eyes will be on MSU QB Dak Prescott in his first SEC start, after a head injury to Tyler Russell  in the Oklahoma game ensured that he won’t play this Saturday.

BOTTOM LINE: Cowbell’s favored by 42-1/2 points. We think Mississippi State wins comfortably, but win by 30 or 35 instead of 42. This is a new QB, remember….

Samford at Arkansas

Arkansas should win this one, unless hell freezes over. Expect a pounding from Bret Bielema’s powerful running game, Samford.

BOTTOM LINE: Arkansas will win this one comfortably. And by this we mean by more than Vegas’ predicted 32-1/2 margin.

SE Missouri State at Ole Miss

Ole Miss won one of the best games of Week 1 on Thursday night against Vanderbilt, but the game against the Redhawks won’t be close at all. Ole Miss has momentum, it’s got Bo Wallace, and it’s got a great wide receiver in Laquan Treadwell. And the Rebs will tread all over the Redhawks.

BOTTOM LINE: Ole Miss wins by more than the 50 points that Vegas expects it to.

Austin Peay at Vanderbilt

Austin Peay was trounced by Tennessee. Vanderbilt lost in a heartbreaker to Ole Miss. There’s only one way this one is going.

BOTTOM LINE: Vanderbilt’s favored by 47-1/2, which we think is easily in reach – especially with Jordan Matthews, the Commodore’s excellent wide receiver.

 

 

There’s no denying that Georgia coach Mark Richt is one of life’s good guys.

He’s a coach who is also just a really good guy.

But Georgia fans don’t want decent guys. If they did, they’d hire a pastor. They want him to get over the hump, and not only win football games, but win BIG football games. And by BIG FOOTBALL GAMES, we mean National Championships – and wins over big time schools. They’re fed up by losing at Clemson, losing SEC Championship Games, and getting trundled at home by Alabama. Oh, and they HATE losing against Steve Spurrier, too.

But wait a minute – Mark Richt’s achievements at Georgia have been admirable.

Here’s the list:

• He’s won two SEC Championships (2002 and 2005) – including Georgia’s first since 1982.
• He’s won six SEC East titles (2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2012).
• He’s 8-4 in bowl games.
• He had a 118-41 record.
• He hasn’t left for the NFL, or a bigger job – something that – despite his success- can’t be said for Nick Saban (he left LSU for the Miami Dolphins, where he was a disaster) or Steve Spurrier (he left Florida for the Washington Redskins, where he was a disaster). And despite all the crap he’s been given, he’s stayed in his job since 2001, making him the longest-serving SEC coach.
• Oh, and he sent EIGHT players to the NFL Draft last year. That’s on top of the tens that he’s sent over the years. Notable players include Matt Stafford, AJ Green, and Ben Watson. He can’t take credit for octagenarian Champ Bailey, who played before he came along.

But the biggest criticism at Mark Richt – and the reason why he’s constantly decried in Georgia, is his failure to take Georgia to the promised land – the National Championship Game. There’s no question the team has talent, but it’s becoming its new verb in terms of screwing things up. See Clemson 2013 for details.

• Recently with Aaron Murray as QB, Georgia is 3-11 against ranked opponents, and 1-6 against Top 10 teams, with the sole victory coming last year against Florida, which was more of a result of Jarvis Jones than Aaron Murray.
• He’s lost out-of-state season openers against Boise State, Oklahoma State, and now Clemson – all of them ‘inferior’ conferences.
• Georgia seems to lose games by their own mishaps more than anything else. Is that bad coaching or simply bad play?
• Under Richt, they have a 4-8 record against Florida and lost three straight times against South Carolina and Steve Spurrier. Oh, and he’s 2-4 against Nick Saban (in his Alabama and LSU days), including an embarrassment in black shirts at home in 2010.
• He’s lost against Georgia Tech. Once, but it’s still a loss.
• 21 Georgia players have been arrested under Mark Richt in the last FIVE years. That’s not exactly keeping control of your players, is it?

THE BOTTOM LINE: If you want to go to the NFL, Georgia’s a pretty good place to start. Mark Richt’s a decent guy, and he’s a winner who’s won the team bowl games and SEC titles – including their first since 1982. He’s made Georgia a perennial contender after some lean years, and he’s a great QB coach. If you doubt me, ask Matt Stafford. Sure, there’s pressure on him, but he’s not worth firing. Who better could you get, apart from the guy coaching at Alabama? 

 

 

The AP Poll’s just come out, and there’s no surprises who is No.1: Alabama.

The Crimson Tide are top of the polls after their win over Virginia Tech, however unconvincing it actually was. Georgia has plunged to 11 after its loss at Clemson, which in turn moved to No.4 in the nation.

South Carolina stayed in 6th, Texas A&M’s 7th, LSU’s 9th, and Florida’s 12th.

 

Here’s the Top 25 for you:

1) Alabama (58)

2) Oregon – Apparently beating Nicholls State convincingly is better than beating Buffalo uncovincingly.

3) Ohio State (1) – See Oregon

4) Clemson (1) – Should be higher after beating Oregon. We’d have them at 1 or 2.

5) Stanford – Stanford! It’s YOUR fault for not playing last Saturday.

6) South Carolina – Stay the same after beating UNC. You know, they are a poorer opponent than Nicholls State or Buffalo.

7) Texas A&M – Not a great win against Rice, but Johnny Football transformed the team in the second half.

8) Louisville – Tedy Football!

9) LSU – Great win over TCU, who might just be a quality opponent. Especially at the end of the year.

10) Florida State – Smashed Pitt. With a redshirt frosh QB and a new coaching team.

11) Georgia – Should be higher. They only lost to Clemson by 3 points, not 33!

12) Florida – Nasty defense, and good players coming back. Our dark horse for a National Championship run.

13) Oklahoma State – 21-3 over Mississippi State. These Cowboys are pretty good.

14) Notre Dame – Not going to sell us after beating Temple. Will sell us if they beat Michigan on the road.

15) Texas – Awful first half against New Mexico State, but a lot better second half. A ton of speed on this team, but is the coaching there?

16) Oklahoma – They’ll be fine.

17) Michigan – Big game on Saturday, huh? A Central Michigan win isn’t going to tell us a lot.

18) UCLA  – A 58-20 over Nevada tells us…. not a lot, to be honest.

19) Northwestern – Struggled against Cal, but came through in the end. We’ll see if they are OK with a new QB.

20) Washington – Smashed Boise State. The Huskies should be higher.

21) Wisconsin – A 45-0 over mighty UMass. I’m surprised College Gameday didn’t come from Mad-town…

22) Nebraska – Wow. They are ranked after beating Wyoming by 3 points? Really?

23) Baylor – Forget the joke victory over Wofford, this team can flat out fly.

24) TCU – Was in the game for three quarters against LSU. This Horned Frogs will be fine, especially with Davonte Fields back.

25) USC – There are a lot of teams that are better and not ranked than this rank USC team.

Right, here are your SEC power rankings.

In this power rankings, we’re not going on who we think are the best teams in the SEC UNTIL THE GAMES ARE PLAYED, so Tennessee’s not going to go to No.1 because they shelled Austin Peay, and nor is Alabama because they beat up on an injured Virginia Tech. And Georgia’s not going to the bottom because they had a ‘L’.

So here we go:

1) LSU: The Tigers put up 448 yards and 37 points on a dangerous TCU side. Zach Mettenberger looked a lot better than last year. And Jarvis Landry – if he continues to catch like he did on Saturday night – should be in the shout for the ‘Best Wide Receiver in College Football’ Award.

2) South Carolina: Despite an underwhelming performance from Jadeveon Clowney (who saw UNC’s offense try and keep him out of the game as much as possible), South Carolina’s defense showed up mightily, giving up 293 yards and 10 points to what is one of the ACC’s more potent offenses. The Connor Shaw/Dylan Thompson tandem is working at QB, too. We wish Shaw would learn to run the ball properly, though.

3) Alabama: Same bone-crushing defense. Offensive line was awful in the win over Virginia Tech. They’ll be fine in the future, but Nick Saban’s been given a lot to work on for the next two weeks before the small game at Kyle Field.

4) Georgia: Oh my gosh! They had a loss! Let’s put this into perspective. They still managed to put up a ton of offense without their best wide receiver, Malcolm Mitchell, who’s out of the year after celebrating Todd Gurley’s TD. Todd Gurley still runs as strongly as a bull. And they lost momentum after screwing up a game-tying field goal. And the defense is still young. This is a good UGA team, folks.

5) Florida: Bone-crushing defense beats an uninteresting offense every time, and twice on Sundays. This defense is scary good, though. And will only get better if everyone behaves themselves. I still can’t believe how underrated the Chompers are. But then again, it was only Toledo.

6) Texas A&M: The good bit was Johnny Manziel’s brilliant second half performance, in which he threw 3 TDs and told a Rice player he couldn’t have his autograph, which actually made me laugh, a lot. The bad bit was that the Aggies don’t look deep. Sure, a bunch of their team was suspended (that’s their fault, by the way), and they REALLY miss Damontre Moore, but Rice ran all over the Aggies. Bettors hate the Aggies too because they didn’t make the spread.

7)  Ole Miss: Great comeback to win the game at Vanderbilt on Thursday night. Laquon Treadwell looks like the real deal at WR. We’re not so sure about the defense, though, which looks young. Robert Ndkemdiche is fantastic, if raw. Watch out Texas, though.

8) Vanderbilt: No disgrace in losing a heartbreaker on Thursday night. Oh, if only Jordan Matthews had caught that ball….Austyn Carta-Samuels is definitely a good sign at QB for the Commodores, though.

9) Mississippi State: Lost to a quality opponent in Oklahoma State, so there’s no worry about that. But there’s now worries about Tyler Russell’s fitness after he sustained a head injury in the third quarter, and Dak Prescott didn’t exactly set the world alight. Still, it’s a loss to a quality opponent, which is why there are so ‘high’ at 9.

10) Auburn: War Eagle won ‘War Shoot-Out’ with Washington State. The ‘D’ picked up 3 interceptions, and Tre Mason looks like being Tre Mason. Nick Marshall was pretty good in his first game – and his improvement could put big smiles on Auburn fans’ faces this year.

11) Arkansas: Bounced a dangerous ULL team by 20 points to put a big smile on Bret Bielma’s face. New QB Brandon Allen was 15-22 for 230 yards and 3 TDs, and the team put up nearly 300 yards rushing. It was ULL, so we’re not going to start giving out Heismans and SEC West trophies yet, Arkansas fans, but it’s enough to make you feel a little happier after last season’s joke of a season.

12) Missouri: Got entangled early with Murray State (I thought they played basketball?) and found themselves down 14-13 in the first quarter. But James Franklin got his act together, Dorial Green-Beckham had four catches for 83 yards, and the team together put up nearly 700 yards of offense. Against Murray State, but at least there’s a bit of hope, people.

13) Tennessee: Rolled over a team that was 2-10 last year. As they should have done. And yes, this was a confidence-boosting victory. Nice to see 97,000 showed up to Neyland Stadium, too – there must be a bit of hope in the air. Next up it’s a dangerous Western Kentucky side, who already have one SEC scalp to their name after Week 1.

14) Kentucky: It wasn’t that they lost to Western Kentucky (who actually is a pretty good team, despite the disrespect given to it in the Sun Belt). But it was the fact that they were outplayed by Bobby Petrino’s side. Their new ‘Air Raid’ offense was out-passed. Their rushing offense ended up totalling 216 yards (level with WKU’s). They had only 15 first downs. It was abysmal. Oh, and they were outscored 35-26, too.

 

The SEC’s first week was a fun week for our conference. The Georgia-Clemson game lived up to predictions. Zach Mettenberger looked like a quarterback. Alabama looked like an Alabama side that needs to blow away some cobwebs. There’s hope again in Auburn and Tennessee. And Kentucky has some work to do.

SO WHAT DO WE KNOW?

• We know that Georgia’s best wide receiver managed to injure himself after celebrating the Bulldogs’ opening touchdown against Clemson. He’s out for the year. Now that’s bad luck, Dawgs.
• We know that Kirk Herbstreit predicted Toledo would beat Florida. He was wrong. Florida’s ‘D’ is still NASTY, folks.
• We know that EVERYONE was talking about a Heisman Trophy-winning performance from Jadeveon Clowney Week 1. He looked gassed and really didn’t do very much. Points to UNC’s offensive minds for containing him so well, though.
• We know LSU can put up yards. They put up nearly 500 of them in the victory against TCU.
• We know Ole Miss and Vandy played the best game of the week, hands down.

GAMES OF THE WEEK (INVOLVING SEC TEAMS)

1. Ole Miss 39, Vanderbilt 35 – This is slowly but surely becoming one of the best rivalries in the SEC. You’re guaranteed great games and heartbreak.
2. Clemson 38, Georgia 35 – UGA heartbreak. Great game though. UGA shouldn’t move out of the Top 10 after this. If they do, someone’s crazy.
3. Auburn 31, Washington State 24 – Over 800 yards of offense between Gus Malzahn and Mike Leach’s offenses this week. Great fun game. War Eagle’s back? We’ll see.
4. LSU 37, TCU 27 – This game had shifted mightily in momentum. Worked out at the end Zach Mettenberger and Jarvis Landry were the difference-makers. LSU fans are still stunned about the Mettenberger bit.
5. The first half of the Rice – Texas A&M game. Rice put up 21 points on A&M’s ‘D’, and they didn’t look great. There was an upset in the making….Until Johnny Manziel came in, and took the Owls apart.

THE AWARD FOR ‘WE STILL KNOW NOTHING’ 

1. Tennessee beats Austin Peay 45-0. Rajon Neal runs for 141 yards. Western Kentucky should be FUN.
2. Missouri beats Murray State 58-14 – Mizzou were down 14-13 at one stage, and rallied.
3. Alabama beats Virginia Tech 35-10 – But the offensive line had its problems. But the special teams and defense did not.
4. Arkansas romped about Louisiana-Lafayette 34-14 – IT WAS ULL, FOLKS!
5. Texas A&M beat Rice 52-31 – And looked terrible.

WE SHOULD BE WORRIED FOR….

1.  Kentucky fans – All the hope, and Western Kentucky pretty much obliterates it. ‘Air Raid’? Not so much.
2. Mississippi State – Two straight losses in neutral venues to quality opponents. They were pretty much shut out by Oklahoma State, which doesn’t have the best ‘D’ in the world. This could be a horrible year in Starkville.
3. Texas A&M – The defense looked brutal against Rice. We don’t think they are going to have any problems against Sam Houston State, but against Alabama and THAT defense? Gulp.
4. Georgia – South Carolina’s next on the schedule,  the top WR’s out, and they must be feeling really dispirited.
5. Vanderbilt – Losing the first game of the season to a ‘Bowl Rival’ is a massive loss, and could be the difference between bowling and non-bowling. And we don’t think Chris Boyd is coming back in a hurry.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

1. Jarvis Landry (LSU) – 109 yards, 8 receptions. Two of those receptions were exceptional.
2. Laquon Treadwell (Ole Miss) – Young wide receiver with nine receptions for 82 yards in his SEC debut. That’s pretty good.
3. Christion Jones (Alabama) – 1 punt return for a TD. One kick-off return for a TD. One recption for a TD. That’s pretty good.
4. Cody Riggs (Florida) – The defensive back had five tackles and an assist in Florida’s victory over Toledo. Everyone else on that D played well, too.
5. Todd Gurley (Florida) – 24 carries, 154 yards, 2 TDs. Newsflash: This kid’s pretty good.

ON THE HOT SEAT

1.  Mark Richt (Georgia) – WAIT A MINUTE? YOU LOST ON THE ROAD TO A NO.8 TEAM? WHAT’S THE WORLD COMING TO, MARK RICHT?
2.  Mark Stoops (Kentucky) – Because no-one expects more from their team than Kentucky fans.
3. Dan Mullen (Mississippi State) – Score could have been a lot worse against Oklahoma State had the Cowboys not dropped the ball so much in the first quarter.
4. Gary Pinkel (Missouri) – If the first quarter’s anything to go by against Murray State, Mizzou’s in trouble. Good adjustments though.
5. Nick Saban (Alabama) – BECAUSE HE’LL NEVER BE SATISFIED. (Just kidding).