SEC Rundown: Where the league sits heading into Week 3

“It just means more”. That famous slogan created by the SEC Network is ringing true this week as we have some fan base meltdowns and some others creating big expectations after just two conference games have been played.

Throughout the season, we’ll be here to keep you up to speed on the best league in ball. Let’s dive into where the league stands heading into an important Week 3 with some very intriguing matchups on the card.

Don’t panic about Alabama yet

Nick Saban’s Alabama team hit the road and caught an early break when Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers was lost early with a shoulder injury. Despite that advantage, the Crimson Tide found itself in a dogfight in a game that went all the way down to the wire.

In end, the defense produced enough scoring opportunity stops and some clutch play from quarterback Bryce Young was enough for Alabama to get out of Austin with a victory. However, there will be some takes this week.

The wide receiver position struggled against Texas, and there was a boatload of penalties. However, these sluggish performances on the road aren’t new after Alabama needed to squeak by Florida and Auburn last season.

Alabama needs to get healthy and will get that opportunity with consecutive games against ULM and Vanderbilt before going to Arkansas on Oct. 1. Don’t overreact to a close win yet as this team is still a top title contender along with Georgia and Ohio State.

Kentucky, Tennessee emerge as top SEC East contenders

Georgia looks flat-out ridiculous through eight quarters of football. The Bulldogs have yet to allow a touchdown on defense, and Stetson Bennett is averaging 10.3 yards per attempt on a 75.4 percent completion rate. The Bulldogs look very good heading into a big road challenge against South Carolina this weekend.

The race for the No. 2 spot is underway, and two contenders logged big-time road wins against ranked foes on Saturday.

In a non-conference matchup, Tennessee went up to Pittsburgh and squeaked out a one-possession win in overtime as quarterback Hendon Hooker once again played very well. The Vols benefitted from some injury luck as Pitt lost QB1 Kedon Slovis before the half but made just enough plays to get a big road win before facing Florida in a huge SEC opener on Sept. 24.

After many attempted to crown the Gators after a huge Week 1 victory over Utah, Kentucky served a hot shot Florida team some humble pie on Saturday night in The Swamp as the Cats put the clamps on Anthony Richardson and the Florida ground game. Meanwhile, Will Levis made a handful of explosive passes, and the ground game came alive in the second half to give Kentucky a huge 10-point victory despite some huge special teams blunders.

Kentucky and Tennessee won’t face each other until Oct. 29, but right now, these two squads appear to be top-15 caliber. If the Vols can knock off the Gators in a couple of weeks, the winner in Neyland Stadium on Halloween weekend could earn the right to play Georgia for a division title in November.

Arkansas plays bully ball against South Carolina

When you pull up the box score, Spencer Rattler threw for 371 yards on 38 throws averaging 9.8 yards per attempt with five completions of 30-plus yards. The Gamecocks hammered Arkansas with explosives and still got housed in front of 72,437 at Razorback Stadium.

The Hogs bullied Carolina in the trenches.

The FIFTH rushing touchdown today pic.twitter.com/H3rGls23G5

— Arkansas Razorback Football (@RazorbackFB) September 10, 2022

On offense, the Hogs rushed for 312 non-sack yards with Raheim Sanders leading the way with 156 yards on 24 attempts. KJ Jefferson chipped in 91 yards on 17 attempts. The Hogs easily won the time of possession battle (34:37-25:23) and scored six touchdowns in their first 10 possessions as Carolina had no answer.

On the other side, it was dominance for the home team’s defensive front. The Hogs sacked Rattler six times and allowed just 91 non-sack rushing yards on 23 attempts. The Gamecocks did not have a run reach 15 yards and put a ton of pressure on Rattler in his first SEC road start. There were some big-time plays, but they were negated by havoc production from Arkansas.

Arkansas is emerging as a top-15 team after a 14-point win that felt more like 25. Meanwhile, the Gamecocks still have issues and just lost a pair of front seven starters for the season. The Hogs get Alabama for a monster game on Oct. 1 while Carolina will host Georgia next week with some real offensive line issues.

SEC notebook

— Down on the Plains, Auburn is off to a 2-0 start in a very important year for head coach Bryan Harsin. The defense has played well through two weeks, but the Tigers had to squeak out a home win against San Jose State in Week 2. Penn State is rolling into Auburn this weekend and if the Tigers cannot run the football they could be in big trouble.

— Vanderbilt dropped its first game of the year on Saturday as Wake Forest rolled into the West End and cruised to a 20-point victory behind a huge performance from quarterback Sam Hartman. At Vandy, Mike Wright struggled at quarterback and true freshman AJ Swann showed some promise (13.3 yards per attempt and 2 touchdowns on 11 throws). There could be a QB battle brewing as the Commodores head to Northern Illinois this weekend.

— Missouri’s offense is something we need to watch moving forward. The Tigers have some real quarterback issues after striking out in the transfer portal. Against Kansas State, both Jack Abraham and Brady Cook combined to throw four interceptions on 4.1 yards per attempt in a 40-12 romp. Eliah Drinkwitz must fix some issues before a three-game stretch with Auburn, Georgia, and Florida arrives next week.

— Texas A&M only ran 38 plays in their home loss to App State. That is very, very strange but can happen when you get a kickoff return touchdown and go a combined 2 of 8 on third down. Things are not great in College Station, but that was a game that got weird as the road team won with ball control. The Aggies need to bounce back with Miami rolling into town.

— Through two weeks, Mississippi State certainly looks the part. The Bulldogs have throttled Memphis and Arizona in impressive fashion. Will Rogers looks in total control of this Air Raid attack, but we’ll learn a ton about the Bulldogs this week at Tiger Stadium.