What mattered and what’s important from Week 2 of the SEC college football season?
– LSU at Texas, NMSU at Alabama, EMU at Kentucky
– Murray St at Georgia, Charleston Southern at South Carolina
– UTM at Florida, WVU at Missouri, BYU at Tenn, Arkansas at Ole Miss
Purdue 42, Vanderbilt 24
And now there’s a whole lot of concern. After struggling against Georgia, Vanderbilt got bombed on by Purdue passing game that’s great, but was way too much to keep up with. The Commodores gave up over 500 yards through the air and effectively being out of the game in the third quarter. At the very least, Vandy needed to keep up the pace.
13 penalties for 100 yards. It was a sloppy game with too many stalled drives and too many bad positions the team was put in. There wasn’t any rhythm, partially because the secondary couldn’t come up with a big stop.
The passing game at least came up with some deep plays. Riley Neal threw for 378 yards and two scores, but there wasn’t any help from the ground attack. Ke’Shawn Vaughn only ran for 56 yards and a score – the Commodores couldn’t get anything established up front.
Clemson 24, Texas A&M 10
Where was the energy? Where was the spark? Where was the attitude? The tempo was slow by design, but Kellen Mond didn’t show up until it was too late, there were way too many misfires, and there wasn’t enough working when the game mattered. Mond ended up with 236 yards and a score, but he was off when the Aggies had their chances in the first half to make it a game.
The defense held up reasonably well. It was solid against the run – it didn’t get gashed by Travis Etienne – and it was at least able to pressure Trevor Lawrence. Clemson was going to push the ball down the field, and Lawrence is Lawrence, but keeping this amazing attack to 24 points was terrific. The offense didn’t carry its weight.
A&M didn’t have to be perfect, but it needed to be a whole lot sharper. Key penalties at bad times – nine in all – and two turnovers hurt, but overall, the inability to take advantage of opportunities was the biggest issue. Braden Mann helped give the Aggies great field position, and it didn’t matter like it should’ve.
Mississippi State 38, Southern Miss 15
That’s more like that the offense needs to do. It might not have been a thrill-ride with the passing game, but Tommy Stevens hit 9-of-10 throws with two scores before leaving the game hurt. Garrett Shrader was fine in his place, but the Bulldogs need Stevens to be back and healthy. If he’s not …
The offense will work even more around Kylin Hill, who ran for 123 yards and a score. The Bulldogs spread the ball around well and hit enough enough big plays early, and then they were able to coast.
The three takeaways mattered. This isn’t going to be a killer offense that can roll past the better SEC defenses, and the D is nowhere near the one that was so good last year so being +3 in turnover margin and committing one penalty is a must. There’s going to be little margin for error.
NEXT: LSU at Texas, New Mexico State at Alabama, Eastern Michigan at Kentucky
– Vanderbilt at Purdue, Texas A&M at Clemson, USM at Miss St
– Murray St at Georgia, Charleston Southern at South Carolina
– UTM at Florida, WVU at Missouri, BYU at Tenn, Arkansas at Ole Miss
LSU 45, Texas 38
Joe Burrow, 471 yards. The new offensive look worked more than fine as LSU went on the road and rolled when it had to. Burrow was cool, calm, and collected as he made big play after big play, connecting with Justin Jefferson for three touchdowns as part of a receiving corps with three 100-yard targets. If there’s some nitpicking to do …
The defense? For the most part, if the O can do THIS, the D should be able to hold serve enough to take care of the rest. However, it couldn’t handle Sam Ehlinger bombing away – he went for over 400 yards with four scores – against a loaded group of NFL defensive backs. But whatever …
LSU just went on the road and beat a top ten team. As impressive as it looked, now the Tigers have to be considered for the top three in the rankings, if not higher. Again, the defense was just okay, but the Florida game is at home, and if the attack can keep doing this, there shouldn’t be any other issues until going to Alabama. More importantly overall, LSU has a cushion. Now, it can lose once along the way, and even if it doesn’t win the SEC title, it might be in the argument to be considered among the four best teams at the end.
Alabama 62, New Mexico State 10
One play, one 75-yard touchdown from Henry Ruggs. Bama came out sharp against a painfully overmatched team, and it kept on rolling with two TDs from Ruggs, three touchdowns from Jerry Jeudy, and a nice and easy day to get ready for South Carolina.
Tua Tagovailoa wasn’t perfect – he hit 16-of-24 passes with three touchdowns and no picks – but there’s been absolutely no drama in any way so far after the first quarter against Duke. The defense got in some good work, but it took a fluky break – the official got in the way – for the Aggies to set up their only TD.
The preseason isn’t over with the trip to South Carolina at least a potential battle, but the goal now is to not get bored. It’s a long season, and the team has to keep on tuning up without wearing down. Keep it fun, enjoy the process.
Kentucky 38, Eastern Michigan 17
It was a very, very wrong tackle that did it, too. Just when it seemed like Kentucky was going to be ready and tuned for Florida, down goes QB Terry Wilson to a knee injury. He was good before getting hurt, but now it appears to be the Sawyer Smith show going forward. He threw two touchdown passes, but the running game will have to do even more.
They have the offensive balance, but Florida will make it all about Smith. The ground game rolled for 239 yards and three scores, and the passing attack went for 222 yards and two touchdowns, but now things have changed.
The secondary had a few problems with EMU trying to come back, but there wasn’t any concern outside of the Wilson injury. The seven penalties are too many, and now, ball control will really matter – UK had the ball for 33 minutes. They’ll be able to play the underdog role now – just how they like it.
NEXT: Murray State at Georgia, Charleston Southern at South Carolina
– Vanderbilt at Purdue, Texas A&M at Clemson, USM at Miss St
– LSU at Texas, NMSU at Alabama, EMU at Kentucky
– UTM at Florida, WVU at Missouri, BYU at Tenn, Arkansas at Ole Miss
Georgia 63, Murray State 17
It’s like Georgia is bored. It played bored against Vanderbilt, and it didn’t wake up for a quarter against Murray State – it didn’t have to. Now the world will fall in love with LSU and the Bulldogs will probably be pushed out of the No. 3 spot – it doesn’t matter. Arkansas State will be a decent tune-up before Notre Dame, but realistically, there shouldn’t be any issues until dealing with Florida in November.
There’s Jake Fromm. He didn’t do much in the Vanderbilt win, but he hit 10-of-11 passes for 166 yards and a score against Murray State. Once everyone warmed up, it was just a live scrimmage. All of the top backs got in a little work, everyone got to eat, and it was a good change to open it up.
The secondary got hit for 261 yards, but a bulk of it came on a 60-yard pass play for a score. It was one blown gasket – everything else was more than fine defensively. The other touchdown came off a pick six off of Stetson Bennett.
South Carolina 72, Charleston Southern 10
It doesn’t make up for the loss to North Carolina, but for one week, at least this was some fun for the Gamecocks. They got to open up the offense for 775 yards, score a ton of points, and they finished with a cathartic blowout before having to face Alabama. Most importantly …
Ryan Hilinski got his feet wet. He looked and played great, hitting 24-of-30 passes for 282 yards and two scores with a pick. The running game got to do whatever it wanted, averaging 13 yards per carry on the way to almost 500 rushing yards.
The team kept scoring in the fourth. This might not seem like much since it was garbage time, but the team has to learn how to close a whole lot better and play a full four quarters. Scoring 21 in the final frame matters.
Auburn 24, Tulane 6
Don’t get caught up in the final score. This is a good veteran Tulane team with a solid defense and enough talent to be a player in the American Athletic Conference race. The defense didn’t have any sort of a letdown after the Oregon game, stuffing the Green Wave passing game and only allowing two field goals. There weren’t any sacks, but the D did its job.
Bo Nix is a work in progress. He’s still just a true freshman in is second game – it’s going to take a little bit. He completed 19-of-37 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown. Considering how good the D was, all that mattered was not making any big mistakes – he did that.
At some point it would be nice to see an offensive explosion. Again, though, Tulane has a defense, and so does Oregon. If the ground game doesn’t start ripping off big things in chunks against Kent State next week, though, then it’s time to worry.
NEXT: UT Martin at Florida, West Virginia at Missouri, BYU at Tennessee, Arkansas at Ole Miss
– Vanderbilt at Purdue, Texas A&M at Clemson, USM at Miss St
– LSU at Texas, NMSU at Alabama, EMU at Kentucky
– Murray St at Georgia, Charleston Southern at South Carolina
Florida 45, UT Martin 0
Is 25-of-27 good enough? It might have been against the Skyhawks of UT Martin, but Feleipe Franks was fantastic, only missing two passes with 270 yards and two scores. Think of it the other way – if he was 17-of-27, would people be freaking out before the Kentucky game?
With Kentucky QB Terry Wilson hurt, it’ll be all about stopping the run even more than before come next week. The pass rush was there this week, there were plenty of plays in the backfield, and the D allowed one long run to QB John Bachus. It was a suffocating effort a week after stopping Miami without a problem.
What will the coaches like? It was a clean game with few dumb errors. There weren’t any turnovers, just three penalties, and again, Franks was sharp. It would’ve been nice to have this warm-up before Miami, but the Gators are 2-0 anyway.
Missouri 38, West Virginia 7
Exhale now. The Wyoming game really was an aberration, and the defense apparently took that loss very, very hard. The Tigers were all over everything West Virginia tried to do on the ground, finishing with 13 tackles for loss and allowing just 30 rushing yards.
Kelly Bryant didn’t bomb away, mostly because he didn’t have too. He had an effective 150-yard day with three touchdowns, two going to TE Albert Okwuegbunam, and there weren’t any picks. West Virginia has a solid D, but up 31-0 at halftime, there wasn’t any need to take any chances.
Being a +3 in turnover margin helped. The Tigers didn’t give West Virginia anything easy, but the ten penalties for 100 yards were way too excessive. Overall, it was a solid bounceback game. Now they need to use the date with SE Missouri State to start cranking up the home runs.
BYU 29, Tennessee 26 2OT
Ohhhhhh, noooooo. The Vols did a good job of keeping mobile QB Zack Wilson from taking off, but when it was crunch time, the D couldn’t come through. The pass rush was there, the pressure was on, but Wilson was able to make the one big throw needed to keep the game alive. And then in the two overtimes, the UT defense allowed two touchdowns, the offense only managed a field goal in the second OT.
Three points in the second half. Three. That, and just one touchdown over the final 55 minutes of regulation did in the Vols – at least before the big Cougar rally. Jarrett Guarantano was fine, but there was just one big pass play and a whole lot of short-range plays that didn’t go anywhere. Ty Chandler ran for 154 yards, but …
The offense couldn’t come up with the third down plays it desperately needed. The Vols could’ve put this away, but stall after stall left the door open, and BYU kicked it in. Fortunately, UT Chattanooga is up next, and there’s STILL time to get to six wins, but this could go wrong in a big, big hurry if there’s a blowout at Florida in two weeks.
Ole Miss 31, Arkansas 17
It wasn’t perfect, but after last week’s problems against Memphis, Ole Miss will take it. The offense that stalled way too often got a huge day from Scottie Phillips, who had room to move with 143 yards and two scores. Matt Corral found Elijah Moore for two touchdown passes, and the defense did the rest.
Arkansas managed three points until the fourth quarter, and it pulled to within seven – and then Moore came up with his second scoring play to effectively put it away. Nick Starkel was the far sharper quarterback option than Ben Hicks, and the 300 total passing yards between them was a start. But the offense still isn’t close to being smooth enough.
Ole Miss is supposed to have a slew of explosive plays, and they started to come. There were a few turnovers and it took too long to end this when the Hogs were struggling early, but for now, the Rebels will take the win, roll by SE Louisiana next week, and build off this.
