By Matt Smith
SouthernPigskin.com

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Matt Smith recaps a wild week in the SEC

Thoughts and Musings

Texas A&M 20 – #1 Alabama 24

-We came six feet away from a second straight Texas A&M upset of a top-ranked Alabama team, but the undefeated Crimson Tide got one final stop to hold off the gritty Aggies, 24-20, in Tuscaloosa. Well get to Alabama in a second, but I want to start by crediting the Texas A&M offense, particularly the receiving corps, for playing a terrific game. True freshman Evan Stewart looked like a 5-star player over the entire game for the first time with 104 yards and one of the catches of the year on the Aggies final drive. Moose Muhammad III was great over the middle, and tight end Donovan Green caught a touchdown. Haynes King is an average quarterback, but he battled all night long despite getting destroyed by the Alabama front, and he nearly pulled off a seismic upset. Theres hope for the Aggies offense going forward now. At 3-3, the season is still going to be a failure without a 6-0 finish, but just displaying a competent offense would be a notable step forward. The line is still a mess, but with Devon Achane, who was held largely in check on Saturday night, and the young receivers, theres plenty of talent to have a successful back half of the season.

-Concerns with Alabama have to be heavily qualified because (a) it won the game and (b) Bryce Young didnt play. Nevertheless, with unbeaten Tennessee on deck, the Crimson Tide look vulnerable. Theres still not a No. 1 receiver. The defense isnt producing many turnovers, still ranked last in the SEC with just three. Will Reichard missed two field goals, including a short attempt that probably would have put the game out of reach. The fumbles were mostly a Jalen Milroe problem, so you can probably chalk that up to Young not playing. They found a way to get to 6-0, but the schedule is about to get really tricky over the next month, starting next week in Knoxville. Young can elevate a receiving corps with a bunch of No. 2s and No.3s, and theres optimism he can play at Tennessee, but no single players absence with a roster like Alabamas should have caused Saturday nights game to come down to the final play. Nick Saban almost always figures it out though, and maybe by seasons end well be praising the coaching job he did with this team much as we did a year ago with a flawed Tide team that still won the SEC and was 15 minutes away from the national title.

#8 Tennessee 40 – #25 LSU 13

-Tennessee played very well at LSU. You can context the heck out of the eighth-ranked Vols 40-13 win over the No. 25 Tigers in Baton Rouge, and we will to an extent, but Tennessee walked into a tough atmosphere with a target on their backs, and the Tigers never really had a chance, as the Volunteers moved to 5-0. Hendon Hooker is playing as well as any quarterback in the country at the moment, producing 328 yards of total offense and three touchdown passes. Short fields aided the Vols’ cause, but limited Hookers total statistics, despite averaging nearly 15 yards per completion.

-What was Brian Kelly doing? He cost his team dearly with two silly fourth-down decisions. The first came in the opening quarter when trailing 10-0, eschewing a chip shot field goal. The second was late in the first half on a 4th and 10 just across midfield. With 10 or 15 seconds left, its worth a shot, but with 28 seconds, thats a huge risk. Jayden Daniels was sacked, and the Vols used one big play to get into field-goal range to take a 23-7 lead at halftime. Prior to that last sequence, Kelly burned two timeouts on the same play prior to a Tennessee field goal attempt. It was a disastrous day for Kelly and longtime assistant Brian Polian, whose special teams unit had two major miscues in the first quarter to help give the Vols a quick 10-0 edge and take the crowd out of the game.

-So, Alabama comes to Knoxville next week. Can Tennessee pull it off? I dont see why not. Alabamas offense has struggled on the road, and this Vols offense can stress the Alabama defense much like Texas did last month prior to Quinn Ewers injury. A lot of thought is still to come this week, but picking Tennessee to win the game, even after 15 straight losses in the series, is not at all crazy.

Arkansas 17 – #23 Mississippi State 40

-No. 23 Mississippi State caught some breaks last week in its blowout win over Texas A&M. The Bulldogs were again fortunate on Saturday, as Arkansas was without quarterback K.J. Jefferson. Mississippi State raced to a 21-0 lead while the Razorbacks offense settled in under quarterbacks Cade Fortin and Malik Hornsby, with Will Rogers breaking the SEC career completions record previously held by Aaron Murray. Rogers set the mark in 25 fewer games than Murrays 53. He finished just five yards shy of 400 for the game and threw three touchdowns. It was 40-17 Bullies when it was all said and done. Like last week, Im not crowning the Bulldogs, as the defense left plenty to be desired in allowing nearly 500 yards, but they took an advantageous situation and capitalized on it. Now, they head into a stretch of three top-15 opponents in four games sitting pretty at 5-1.

-Arkansas also lost three games in a row a year ago and closed very strongly, but this years skid feels different. We saw Florida break down a year ago after blowing a game at Kentucky, and even with the obvious nod to the absence of Jefferson, it feels like the devastating loss to Texas A&M two weeks ago may have sent the Razorbacks into a spiral from which they cant recover. Last years team got Arkansas-Pine Bluff after the losing streak, while this years team has to go all the way to BYU next week. Its not a lost season yet, but its very much teetering at the midpoint.

Missouri 17 – Florida 24

-I didnt think Missouri would have much left after letting games with Auburn and Georgia slip away late, but the Tigers battled in their 24-17 loss at Florida. Jaydon Hill was the difference, as the Florida cornerback had a pick-six and a second interception in the red zone. The Gators couldnt throw the ball with Anthony Richardson fighting an apparent hand injury, but the ground game dominated with 231 yards to get Florida to 4-2 at the turn. Missouris defense is much-improved, but it hasnt quite put it all together. It wasnt a pretty game, but Florida has shown in its last two games of significance that its offense can win in a variety of ways depending on the opponent. A stretch of six home games in seven weeks for the Gators to open the season concludes next Saturday night against LSU, while Missouri gets a much-needed idle week at 2-4.

Auburn 10 – #2 Georgia 42

-The Deep Souths Oldest Rivalry continued to resemble nothing close to a rivalry when played in Athens, as No. 2 Georgia rolled to a 6-0 record with a 42-10 win over Auburn. The passing game was clunky again, but the running game found its footing, cranking out 295 yards against a solid Tigers defense. New faces Branson Robinson and Daijun Edwards produced 98 and 83 yards respectively, and quarterback Stetson Bennett IV contributed as well with a 64-yard touchdown scamper. Bennett was efficient as a passer with just 10 misfires on 32 attempts, but the big plays continue to just not be there for the Bulldogs offense. Facing Vanderbilt next week should help that cause.

-There isnt much left to say about Auburn. Theyre still fighting, but its just not working. Bryan Harsin could be gone by the time youre reading this. Maybe he goes next week with Auburn idle after playing Ole Miss. Its fait accompli for Harsin and the Tigers, and thats a miserable place to be when its still early October.

#9 Ole Miss 52 – Vanderbilt 28

-No. 9 Ole Miss fell behind Vanderbilt by 10 points on multiple occasions, but the unbeaten Rebels dominated the second half to pull away for a 52-28 win. Big plays were the story, as Jaxson Dart had his best game at Ole Miss with 429 yards and three touchdowns on just 30 attempts. Dart did turn the ball over twice, but with the usually dominant running game struggling, he created with his arm and kept any real game pressure off of the Rebels. More than half of those yards came via Jonathan Mingo, who set the Rebels single-game record with 247 yards on the strength of 72 and 71-yard touchdown receptions.

-Vanderbilt continues to show how far it has come in Clark Leas second season. The offense is capable with A.J. Swann under center and a legitimate SEC No. 1 receiver in Will Sheppard. While Georgia and Tennessee will be far too much, all of the other four division games are possible wins for the Commodores, as they hope to finally break a now 23-game SEC losing streak.

South Carolina 24 – #13 Kentucky

-Credit to South Carolina for controlling its 24-14 win over No. 13 Kentucky, but to me, the bigger story is the Wildcats. Mark Stoops has created a winning program in Lexington, but that offense needs to be able to function better with a backup quarterback than the 299 yards it produced against a shaky Gamecocks defense. Kaiya Sheron filled in for an injured Will Levis, but couldnt recreate the explosive plays that highlighted the Kentucky offense over the first five games. The longest Kentucky gain on the night was 27 yards. South Carolina had three plays of more than 30 yards. Losing Levis was a tough break, but that was still a 50-50 game at worst without him, and Kentucky was never really close.

-South Carolina is now on track for a bowl at 4-2. I doubted its postseason chances prior to the season (although I did have them snagging one unfilled bowl slot with a 5-7 record), but I certainly had Saturdays game chalked up as a loss when going through the schedule. Missouri and Vanderbilt wont be easy, but they are all that stand between the Gamecocks and another bowl bid. Shane Beamer has a long way to go in terms of talent acquisition, but thats a program that is on sound footing and seems to be consistently buttoned up on all of the little things that can make or break a football team.

Non-SEC Results that Surprised Me

1. Navy 53, Tulsa 21

2. Utah State 34, Air Force 27

3. Texas State 36, Appalachian State 24

4. Arizona State 45, (21) Washington 38

5. (18) UCLA 42, (11) Utah 32

Matts Top 25

1. Georgia

2. Ohio State

3. Alabama

4. Clemson

5. Tennessee

6. TCU

7. USC

8. Ole Miss

9. UCLA

10. Michigan

11. Penn State

12. Mississippi State

13. Oklahoma State

14. Oregon

15. Wake Forest

16. Kansas

17. Kansas State

18. N.C. State

19. Syracuse

20. Texas

21. Purdue

22. James Madison

23. Florida State

24. Coastal Carolina

25. Notre Dame

Week 7 Order of Preference

1. No. 3 Alabama at No. 6 Tennessee, 3:30 p.m. ET (CBS)

2. No. 16 Mississippi State at No. 22 Kentucky, 7:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network)

3. Arkansas at BYU, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

4. LSU at Florida, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

5. Auburn at No. 9 Ole Miss, Noon ET (ESPN)

6. Vanderbilt at No. 1 Georgia, 3:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network)

Week 7 Non-SEC Games to Watch

1. No. 10 Penn State at No. 5 Michigan, Noon ET (FOX)

2. No. 8 Oklahoma State at No. 13 TCU, 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC)

3. No. 7 USC at No. 20 Utah, 8 p.m. ET (FOX)