After a rough week one, the SEC had a fairly uneventful week in which the teams that were supposed to take care of business did so and the conference scored a couple of high profile wins. Let’s take a look at what we learned last week in the SEC…..
5. The SEC is struggling, but it still won two key non-conference games last week
After a rough first weekend of going 6-6 in non-conference games, the SEC went undefeated in week two. The slate was much easier, but the conference did score two wins in a couple of the highest profile games of the weekend.
Tennessee landed a much needed 45-24 win over Virginia Tech. The Vols still showed a lot of opportunity, but it’s hard to complain about a 21-point victory over a major conference opponent.
Arkansas was the big winner of the week (and we will discuss this more later) as it knocked off the number 15 team in the country, TCU.
In a week where big-time matchups were scarce, the SEC came out on top.
4. The only thing we know about the SEC East is that we don’t know anything about the SEC East
I lied a little bit with that headline. We do know three things. Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina aren’t very good football teams. After those three teams, it gets pretty murky.
The Georgia Bulldogs are still scratching their heads about what happened in Athens early Saturday afternoon. The only good news for Georgia is that they came away with a victory. Sometimes, games like this can be catalysts. Let’s hope for Georgia’s sake that this game was a wake up call and not an omen of things to come.
Tennessee played well enough to beat Virginia Tech by 21. They also won the turnover battle by four turnovers and that’s basically why the Vols won the game. The Hokies finished the game with 70 more yards of total offense, had 5 more first downs and did a much better job of converting third downs. The Vols continue to struggle to advance the ball through the air, as Joshua Dobbs failed to throw for 100 yards despite his team scoring 45 points. The Vols are a complete mystery and that is likely to continue until the 24th when they face Florida.
Right now, the Florida Gators look like the best team in the SEC East. They beat UMass in week one and them steamrolled Kentucky this past weekend. Luke Del Rio threw 4 TDs, Lamical Perine ran for over 100 yards and Antonio Callaway had over 100 yards receiving. The most impressive thing was the Florida defense. The Gators gave up just 9 first downs, 149 total yards and only 55 yards passing. I’m intrigued to see more of this Florida team.
3. LSU made the right move by giving Danny Etling a shot
Les Miles is fighting for his coaching life this season. He has to do everything he can to win. Brandon Harris has shown that he isn’t the guy for LSU. Danny Etling may not be the guy, either, but Miles had to give him a shot to find out.
Etling went just 6 of 14 for 100 yards and had 1 TD and 1 INT. His stats weren’t good, but Etling did get the Tigers offense out of a rut and he led them to three straight scoring drives. If and when Leonard Fournette comes back, we will really see what Etling can deliver for Miles and the Tigers.
2. Arkansas has a ton of heart
Bret Bielema and his Arkansas Razorbacks are far from perfect, but they showed us what they are made of on Saturday night.
The Hogs went down by 8 with just two minutes left in the game, but Austin Allen took his team down the field in just one minute to score a TD, and then completed a two-point conversion to tie the game.
It wasn’t enough to just comeback and tie the game. The Razorbacks took the next step and in double OT they held TCU to a field goal and then came through with a TD.
Arkansas is a gritty team that is going to be very tough to beat this year. They aren’t the best team, but they are going to put up a fight every time they hit the field.
1. It’s still Alabama and everybody else.
Despite all the doomsday talk, there are some pretty good teams in the SEC. Arkansas, Florida, and Texas A&M have all accounted very well for themselves so far this year. Tennessee still has the ability to turn into a good team. Despite Georgia’s lackluster performance, they are still unbeaten. Auburn lost to one of the best teams in college football in week one, but they appear to have taken a step forward this year (at least on defense). Ole Miss had Florida State on the ropes and begging for mercy before they forgot that football has four quarters and not just two.
All that being said, this is Alabama’s conference to lose. Until somebody steps up and punches Nick Saban and the Tide in the mouth (and so far it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen), this is Alabama’s conference.
