First, it was branching out into broadcasting as an ESPN college football analyst. But now, Saban has decided to enter another sports world entirely, albeit in a familiar place for him. Saban, who controls Dream Sports Ventures LLC with Joe Agresti, recently finished the purchase of a minority stake in the NHL’s Nashville Predators.

Yes, the 7-time national championship college football coach who won 6 titles at Alabama and 1 at LSU before that is trying his hand at hockey now. Predators franchise chairman and majority owner Bill Haslam announced Nick Saban‘s newly purchased minority stake in his franchise on Tuesday afternoon. Saban and partner Agresti will become a piece of the Predators’ ownership pie that is made up mostly of team season-ticket holders and residents of the Nashville area.

Saban released this statement on Tuesday proclaiming the excitement surrounding his new sports venture:

Although I am now retired as a coach, I still possess a competitive nature and a great passion for sports. Being involved in a sports team in Nashville has always been a goal and the opportunity to partner in the Predators with a class act like Bill Haslam created the perfect scenario for us. The Preds are a great organization with a fantastic brand, and we are excited to be part of the future success of the franchise.

Saban has partnered with Agresti in many business ventures, including Dream Motor Group, which has turned into 1 of the most successful dealer groups in the southeastern part of the United States.

Now, the legend who made his name in Baton Rouge and Tuscaloosa will have a sports presence in Nashville, yet another SEC city that’s home to Vanderbilt. But this time, that presence won’t involve college football. It’ll be his new world of professional hockey.

The post Nick Saban joins ownership group of NHL franchise appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Lake Mary was down to one final play in the game, trailing by a score of 27-21 with 12 seconds remaining in the game. Quarterback Noah Grubbs threw a pass to the endzone that was deflected, but caught by Barrett Schultz just inside the five-yard line. He gave the ball to teammate Tavarius Brundidge Jr., who was able to do the rest and fight for the touchdown to pull the stunning comeback in the game.

With just over two minutes left, Grubbs threw an interception trailing by eight points. Vero Beach ran a lot of the timeout, but decided to run backward and take a safety to cut the lead to 27-21 with 12 seconds remaining. Lake Mary got the ball back, and ultimately delivered with the Hail Mary.

After the game, Lake Mary coach Scott Parry told reporters that his team never stopped battling, and they did everything to earn that chance.

“I was just hoping and praying like everyone else that he was going to come down with the football and Barrett did,” Perry said, per Treasure Coast Newspapers. “… We were just going to keep fighting and fighting until the final whistle.”

Vero Beach was having a season for the ages, and was undefeated and looking for the first state title since 1981.

The post Florida HS wins state championship on wild Hail Mary appeared first on Saturday Down South.

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First Weekend of MO Sports Betting Arrives

There are no shortage of games to key in on during the first weekend of sports betting in Missouri. A big night of NBA action gets things rolling Friday while attention turns to mega showdowns between Alabama-Georgia, Indiana-Georgia and more on conference championship Saturday in the college football landscape.

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As a result of their biggest win of the season, Texas keeps its slim College Football Playoff chances alive (even if those hopes basically ended with the rankings on Tuesday night) and can only sit back and wait for results from this weekend to see if it will return to the CFP for the third consecutive year. By taking down the Aggies, the Longhorns finished up the home part of their schedule undefeated for the second time in 3 seasons and have now won 20 of their last 21 regular season games at Darrell K. Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium, dating back to 2022.

Here are 3 reasons the Longhorns were able to beat the Aggies for the second consecutive season.

1. Texas’s zone defense, led by Michael Taaffe, delivered

Despite being one of the best units in the nation, the Texas defense has also been its Achilles heel at times this fall as it has struggled multiple times on big stages. In the 4 games heading into its showdown with A&M, Texas had given up 15 explosive plays of 20 yards or more despite going 3-1 in the same stretch.

As result, many national analysts expected Texas to have hard time containing Marcel Reed and the explosive passing attack of A&M.

Enter Texas senior defensive back Michael Taaffe, who despite struggling at times since returning from a thumb injury, was able to make the defensive play of the night. With 3 minutes left in the game and counting and A&M trying to make the game a 1-score game, Taaffe, while in zone coverage was able to come over the top of A&M star wideout Mario Carver to pick off Reed to all but end the Aggies’ realistic chances of making their first-ever SEC Championship Game.

The pick was the former walk-on senior’s second of the season and the second-consecutive year Taaffe was able to pick off Reed in the Lone Star Showdown. With Taaffe as its unquestioned leader, the much-maligned Texas secondary was able to hold Reed and the A&M passing game to its lowest passing total of the season as Reed was only able to muster 180 yards in the Aggies’ biggest game of the season.

Thanks to Taaffe being the over-the-top safety valve in Texas’s Cover 2 zone scheme along with its pressure up front, Reed was picked off again on the final play of Taaffe’s career at DKR to secure his legacy as a Texas Lone Star Showdown hero.

2. Quintrevion Wisner and the Texas run game produced their best game of the season

No matter if you blamed the offensive line, which has been in a constant shuffle all season, or the running backs themselves, Texas’s running game has been abysmal all season long. The Longhorns’ running game has been so bad they entered the Lone Star Showdown averaging 3.8 yards per attempt and no player on the roster had been over 100 yards the entire season.

Unfortunately for A&M, Quintrevion Wisner changed all that, as the man who many felt would be the lead back for Texas in the preseason produced his best game of the season and third-best of his career against the Aggies.

With Texas in sputter mode on the heels of another underwhelming offensive half, Wisner broke a 48-yard run on his first carry of the second half and the Longhorns’ first offensive play from scrimmage. The run was Wisner’s longest this season and jump-started Texas’s offensive explosion in the half as it outscored A&M 24-7.

When the dust settled, Wisner averaged 8.6 yards a carry on 19 carries with 108 of his season-high 155 yards coming in the second half. Like Taaffe, this is the second consecutive year Wisner has victimized the Aggies as he rushed for a career-high 186 yards on 33 carries in last season’s Lone Star Showdown victory.

3. Texas produced more explosive plays than A&M

A big hallmark of A&M’s offense this season has been the explosive plays it consistently creates. The Aggies came into the game averaging 4.4 explosive plays a game having produced 44 total explosive plays through 10 games. Unfortunately for A&M, Texas’s defense was able to rise to the challenge as it held A&M to a season-low 2 explosive plays. Texas’s offense produced 4 explosives in the second half alone.

The Longhorns simply made more big game-breaking plays than the Aggies for the second consecutive season. Regardless of if they make the CFP or not, 2025 has not been a complete disaster for the Longhorns like some might think.

Nobody can take away this victory that ended A&M’s perfect season, or the fact Texas is the first team since LSU ran the table in 2019 to win 3 games against teams ranked in the top 10. Texas is now 6-0 in its SEC rivalries over the last 2 seasons, which is nothing to downplay in the SEC.

The post 3 reasons Texas took down Texas A&M appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Elle Duncan is leaving the network for a new role with Netflix, according to a report from Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. Duncan, who has been with ESPN since 2016 and currently anchors the 6 p.m. SportsCenter with Kevin Negandhi, will not continue in her roles on the WNBA or women’s college basketball as she makes the move.

Per the report, the decision is tied to Netflix’s growing push into live sports, where Duncan is expected to become one of the faces of the platform’s expanding coverage.

There’s no bad blood on the way out. Duncan has long been considered a network favorite — she’s hosted WNBA Countdown, led ESPN’s women’s college basketball College GameDay, and fronted studio coverage for the 2024 NCAA Women’s Tournament, which pulled one of the biggest pregame audiences in women’s hoops history. She’s also been a fixture at ESPN’s Upfronts and corporate events.

But Netflix offered two major things: a significant raise and a lighter workload. The streaming giant already holds rights to Christmas Day NFL games, select MLB matchups including Opening Day, and the 2027 Women’s World Cup, with more expected to follow. Duncan could also take on non-sports projects as part of her deal.

Her ESPN contract runs through the end of the year, so she may still appear on the network in the coming weeks unless Netflix negotiates an early release to debut her during its Christmas NFL broadcast.

The post ESPN personality Elle Duncan leaving network for new opportunity, per report appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The Texas Longhorns must regroup this offseason after going from a squad which started off the 2025 season ranked No. 1 in most polls to finishing the season in extremely disappointing fashion by not making the College Football Playoff for the first time in 2 seasons. Despite beating 2 teams ranked in the top 10 when it played them, mustering up 4 consecutive wins in the SEC and watching Arch Manning constantly improve, Texas was never able to reach the level of consistency it has played at for the majority of the last 2 seasons.

Here are 3 reasons Texas now has 3 losses on its record heading into its 2 remaining rivalry games against Arkansas and Texas A&M.

1. Couldn’t overcome tough road environments

Thanks to having an 11-game road winning streak and not losing on the road in the regular season since October 2022, Texas entered this season confident it could master its road games despite its difficult road slate. Unlike in years past, Texas couldn’t run the ball or protect Arch Manning consistently enough to win difficult road games in some of the toughest environments in the nation.

With losses at the “The Horseshoe” in Columbus, “The Swamp” in Gainesville and “Between The Hedges” in Athens, the Longhorns played in 3 of the hardest venues in the nation to win at this season and lost at every one of them. According to EA Sports and its iconic College Football video game series, Ohio Stadium and Sanford Stadium are the third and fourth hardest places to visit while Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is the seventh.

Even in victory Texas struggled on the road, as it needed to go to overtime to beat lowly Kentucky and Mississippi State in consecutive games the Longhorns were double-digit favorites to win. A consistent huge problem for Texas was the fact its offensive line was a no-show in these big environment games.

In their 3 road losses, the Longhorns allowed 10 total sacks and ran the ball for 241 total yards while rushing for under 55 yards in losses to Florida and Georgia. When you have a young quarterback like Manning who thrives on the play-action fake game, a nonexistent running game, combined with weak offensive-line play in tough road environments, you have a recipe for disaster. That’s something Texas couldn’t run away from this season.

2. Got burned by the big play in losses

Another major common theme which doomed Texas on the road this season was the lack of consistency from its talented defense which, for whatever reason, didn’t travel well this season. In 4 SEC road games, Texas gave up 29.5 points per game and had only 1 game where it gave up 29 points or less.

Texas’s inability to consistently get off the field on third down or prevent explosive plays in the pass game has been a constant problem it couldn’t overcome all season. In all 3 losses, Texas had a disturbing trend of giving up a touchdown of 30+ yards.

Allowing big plays to consistently happen is not conducive for winning big games in the toughest environments in college football.

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3. Never learned to play from behind against elite teams

A characteristic most elite teams have is the ability to come from behind in some games where they trail.

For whatever reason this was a huge problem for the Longhorns this season especially on the road. Yes, the Longhorns came back to beat the aforementioned Kentucky and Mississippi State. But in all 3 of their losses, they couldn’t muster up any late heroics. If you plan on beating teams like Ohio State and Georgia in their buildings you must make them uncomfortable.

The fact Texas never scored first or took a lead in their road losses will be something coach Steve Sarkisian and company must evaluate this offseason as it’s a trait you must have to win in the SEC. Fortunately for Longhorn Nation, they have the Mississippi State game to build upon, where Manning showed some growth and maturity by bringing them back from 21 points down on the road to win in overtime.

In the big picture, Texas had one of the toughest road schedules in the nation and simply wasn’t good enough to overcome it. How Manning and company grow from these road failures will determine how successful Texas is going into 2026 and beyond.

The post Why does Texas have 3 losses? The 3 biggest reasons for Longhorns’ struggles appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Should he stay or should he go? If he stays, there will be trouble in Baton Rouge and Gainesville. Both programs have been heavily linked to Kiffin since firing their respective coaches. Whiffing on the man who has turned into the biggest fish in this year’s coaching market would be tough to swallow for either school.

But someone is going to be left disappointed when it’s all said and done. Kiffin can only coach at 1 school. During an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up Wednesday morning, Paul Finebaum was asked what he believes the ideal landing spot is for Kiffin.

“I think it’s Florida. He’s always been a Florida fan. He grew up idolizing Steve Spurrier. I think it comes down to Florida or LSU,” Finebaum said. “It seems like he has already left Ole Miss. You just don’t leave them hanging like he has if you’re going to stay there. … I think he’s trying to decide between LSU and Florida, and Florida seems like a slightly better choice.”

Earlier this week, it was reported that Ole Miss had given Kiffin a deadline to decide on his future with the school. Kiffin went on The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday to deny any such ultimatum had been given.

Kiffin’s family members reportedly took trips to Gainesville and Baton Rouge on Sunday and Monday.

As Ole Miss readies for its regular-season finale in Starkville, it seems as though the Kiffin sweepstakes are coming to a head. With Ole Miss on a bye week, Kiffin has some extra time he wouldn’t otherwise have. Maybe that means nothing, but LSU and Florida are both likely seeking an answer sooner rather than later.

The Early Signing Period is approaching. Either program will want its coaching search wrapped up with enough time for the new leader to salvage a recruiting class and prepare for the opening of the transfer portal.

The post Paul Finebaum names best landing spot for Lane Kiffin appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The Aggies have been at their best in SEC play as they have won 4 of their 6 games by 17 points or more and just beat Arkansas, LSU and Missouri in consecutive road games to rise up the conference standings. As a result, A&M is 6-0 during conference play for the first time since 1998 when it was part of the Big 12 and winning the program’s last conference title.

With the bulk of their schedule behind them, here is a breakdown of the Aggies’ 3 remaining opponents. A&M will not leave the Lone Star State the rest of the 2025 regular season as its remaining schedule is considered “favorable” by many:

1. South Carolina

The Aggies have won 9 of 11 meetings against South Carolina all-time, but the Gamecocks have won 2 of the last 3 meetings between the programs. Last season, despite coming into Columbia on a nice 7-game winning streak, A&M laid an egg in the second half and was outscored 24-0 while losing 44-20 to record the worst loss of the Mike Elko era.

Fast forward to this season and A&M will be a heavy favorite, as South Carolina comes into the matchup at College Station this weekend with the worst offense in the SEC. The Gamecocks are the only team in the conference who are not averaging over 300 total yards a game. The Gamecocks head into their matchup with the Aggies losers of 4 consecutive SEC games in a row and have scored only 20+ points once during their tough stretch.

A&M must contain South Carolina’s talented sophomore quarterback LaNorris Sellers if it wants to get its revenge on the Gamecocks. Sellers is the key to the engine of South Carolina’s offense; his big-play ability is a threat to any South Carolina opponent.

In their matchup last fall, Sellers racked up 350 total yards while producing 3 total touchdowns to register the best statistical game to this point of his young career. The Aggies’ defense, which has been pretty consistent most of the year, should be up for the challenge, as it is the best third-down defense in the SEC led by SEC sack leader Cashius Howell.

2. Samford

In what is nothing but a glorified scrimmage, AKA a payday game for Samford, A&M will be a heavy 3-touchdown plus favorite in its tune up game for its showdown with Texas.

This season Samford has allowed 26 or more points in every game but one and has scored 22 points or less in every game but one to rack up a dismal 1-9 record. A&M must simply stay sharp; get backups some burn and stay healthy to win this one as Samford has no realistic chance of beating the Aggies in College Station.

3. Texas

Depending on what happens in Athens this weekend, the Lone Star Showdown could have extremely huge ramifications. Texas could be fighting for a College Football Playoff berth, while the Aggies should be playing for a perfect regular season and SEC title berth. If A&M is able to finish the regular season undefeated, it will be the first time the program has accomplished the feat since 1992 when it ran the table in the now defunct Southwest Conference before losing to Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl, 28-3.

If A&M is going to beat Texas, it must keep Arch Manning under fire all day long, stop the Longhorns’ run game to make them 1-dimensional and be efficient on offense, as playing behind the sticks is a recipe for disaster against Texas’s talented defense. Also, Heisman Trophy candidate Marcel Reed must play at high level and have a big game if he wants to have any realistic chance of winning the Heisman this season. Playing against Texas gives him a big stage to showcase his talents.

Beyond bragging rights, finishing an undefeated regular season will give Elko and A&M a huge boost on the recruiting trail, as many kids from Texas grow up dreaming of playing in this rivalry game.

In the big picture, A&M is all but officially in the College Football Playoff and a loss to its bitter in-state rival is not the end of the world, but a win will put an exclamation point on a dream season while making its future even brighter.

The post The biggest key for every remaining game on Texas A&M schedule appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Anybody who has lived in the south understands how massive high school football is to the region, and they also know that players and coaches are willing to do just about anything to bring back a state title to their hometown.

For one Mississippi private school head coach, that means purposely losing his team’s final game of the regular season in order to get a more favorable draw in the state tournament.

According to Football Scoop’s Doug Samuels, Marshall Academy, based in Holly Springs, Mississippi, entered their final game of the regular season at 8-1 and needed a win over the Washington School, which was also 8-1, to secure a district title.

A win in this game would also secure the victor a slot in the much harder half of the Mississippi private school playoff bracket, while the loser would find themselves with a far more favorable path to a state title.

Given this reality, Marshall Academy head coach Chris Burino decided to purposely lose the final game of the regular season to secure the more favorable draw in the state tournament, sitting at least 13 starters and taking multiple delay of game penalties while already down by over 40 points, among other questionable in-game decisions.

The Mississippi high school athletic association naturally caught on to what Burino was trying to do, and they fined him $1,000 and gave him an indefinite suspension. They also fined the school and banned it from hosting any home playoff games.

The post Mississippi high school coach fined and suspended for intentionally throwing game appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Fast forward to today after an undefeated 9-0 start to the season and a high seed in the College Football Playoff well within his team’s grasp, Elko is now a major candidate for multiple Coach of the Year awards, in line for a big extension and rumored to be a top target on Penn State’s wish list for its current head coach opening.

Although his stock is white hot in coaching circles, here are 3 reasons the Aggies head man should stay in College Station and not worry about the Penn State job, or any other job for that matter.

1. Winning at Texas A&M in the SEC will make Elko a legend

To say Texas A&M is in the middle of a dream season would be a huge understatement, as the Aggies have a realistic chance to win the program’s first conference title since 1998. If Elko can get Texas A&M a berth in its first-ever SEC title game, along with garnering the programs first-ever berth in the College Football Playoff, he would have accomplished in 2 seasons what no Aggie coach before him was able to get done.

For an example of how revered Elko would be in College Station if he was able to win an SEC title and make noise in the playoff all one must do is look at R.C Slocum and Johnny Manziel.

Despite not winning a national championship, many people in Aggie circles view Slocum as an Aggie legend as the former coach won 4 conference championships, including A&M’s only Big 12 championship. Slocum never had a losing record in 14 seasons at the helm, and his 72% overall winning percentage is one of the best in program history.

If Elko keeps his current pace, he’ll be the first A&M head coach to win over 70% of his games since Slocum.

In Manziel’s case, just by having the best individual season in program history while making A&M relevant in the SEC, he will be revered by every Aggie fan for the rest of his life.

With A&M having not won anything of note since joining the SEC in 2012 (and along with rival Texas now being in the conference), Elko has a huge opportunity to not only completely change the narrative in College Station, but win at a level which no coach in A&M history has been able to reach while creating his own legacy.

This is something he can’t do in Happy Valley, as anything he does there will be following in the legendary footsteps of Joe Paterno.

2. Recruiting at A&M is easier than at Penn State

The adage if you can’t recruit at a high level you can’t win at a high level in college sports is at a premium today as we live in the NIL era.

With A&M consistently having one of the top 3 endowments given to its athletic programs on a yearly basis, Elko would be walking away from one of the biggest recruiting advantages in the nation if he left. Thanks to A&M’s yearly impressive budgets, Elko currently can consistently grab big time high school recruits and high-level transfers through the portal every year, unlike many of his competitors.

Just this past offseason, Elko was able to hit big in the portal, as transfers Mario Craver, KC Concepcion, Nate Boerkircher on offense and Dayon Hayes and Tyler Onyedim on defense have all played key roles in the Aggies’ 8-0 start this season. Let’s also not forget that game-wrecker Cashius Howell was a member of Elko’s 2024 portal class.

Having some of the biggest financial backing in the nation, combined with Elko’s ability to recruit at a high level, has A&M on pace to have a top 10 recruiting class in the 2026, 27 and 28 recruiting cycles.

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3. A&M is the better job long term

The type of foundation Elko has been built in just 2 years in College Station would be extremely hard for him to duplicate in Happy Valley in even a decade.

Fundamentally it’s a gap which will never close, as Penn State simply can’t compete with the resources at his disposal in Aggie Land no matter how much money it throws at him. With an extremely strong foundation in place that could make him a legend in the college football world in the future, Elko doesn’t have any logical reason to leave College Station at this point in his tenure.

If he’s fortunate enough to win a national championship or consistently have A&M in the SEC title race, Elko’s reputation moves from people wondering who he is to being viewed as one of top coaches in college football very quickly. In the end, Texas A&M might have finally found its man and Penn State should look elsewhere for its next head coach.

The post 3 biggest reasons Mike Elko should stay at Texas A&M appeared first on Saturday Down South.

First, the setup. Indiana’s hopes of an undefeated season were under serious threat at Beaver Stadium on Saturday. The Hoosiers trailed Penn State, 24-20, with less than two minutes to go as they got the ball back after a Nittany Lions punt.

Fernando Mendoza was sacked on the first play of the drive. But he calmly worked the ball down the field after that, with one of his throws being pulled in near the sideline by Charlie Becker to put the Hoosiers at the Penn State 7.

Becker’s catch was clutch. But Cooper’s catch was sensational.

With 36 seconds left and the Hoosiers facing a 3rd-and-goal, Mendoza fired to the very back of the end zone. Cooper went up for the ball and, incredibly, was able to get a foot down in bounds to give Indiana the lead.

Here’s the video. This was simply jaw-dropping, with Gus Johnson going apoplectic in the FOX booth:

Here’s a closer look. As you can see, Cooper’s right foot was clearly down, just inches from the back of the end zone:

It’s hard to think of a more incredible catch this year. Regardless of how the Hoosiers’ season ends, this will go down as an iconic moment in program history.

Social media exploded after Cooper’s catch:

The post Catch of the year? Fans, media react to Indiana’s insane game-winning TD catch vs. Penn State  appeared first on Saturday Down South.

ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) gives Texas A&M the edge with a 56.5% chance of victory, compared to Missouri’s 43.5% likelihood of handing the Aggies their first loss.

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Both teams enter Week 11 well-rested after bye weeks. In their last outing, Texas A&M decisively defeated LSU with a score of 49-25. Meanwhile, Missouri seeks redemption following a narrow loss to then-No. 10 Vanderbilt, where they fell short by just one touchdown, losing 17-10.

Despite slim chances of reaching the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff, the Tigers still have significant stakes in this matchup. However, they will be without quarterback Beau Pribula, placing additional pressure on freshman Matt Zollers as he makes his first start. MU possesses several playmakers who can contribute offensively but will face a stern test against Texas A&M’s robust defense. A critical factor will be whether Missouri’s defense can contain Marcel Reed and the dynamic Aggie offense; defensive end Zion Young will play a pivotal role in creating disruption.

Texas A&M continues its ascent in college football; few anticipated its sustained success this season. Quarterback Marcel Reed has made substantial strides in leading the Aggie offense while the defense consistently excels week after week, positioning them as strong contenders for a National Championship appearance. With three regular-season games remaining—against South Carolina and Samford before concluding with their storied rivalry against Texas—the focus now shifts to facing a surprise challenger in Missouri.

This matchup marks another chapter in the history between these former Big 12 foes; they have met only 17 times previously, with Texas A&M holding a narrow lead in the all-time series at 10-7, having won their last two encounters.

Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET from Columbia.

The post ESPN’s FPI predicts the outcome of Texas A&M at Mizzou  appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Before all that, though, the 2015 Heisman Trophy winner made a name for himself at Yulee High School in Florida, where he rushed for a national high school record 12,124 yards. The rest, of course, is history.

But that high school rushing mark might be in jeopardy. That’s because Myles McLaughlin, a senior at Knox Community High School in Indiana, needs 1,121 yards in his final four games to break the record.

Henry, who saw highlights of McLaughlin on Instagram, gave the youngster some words of encouragement on Tuesday.

“(He’s) running tough, breaking tackles. He’s a beast,” Henry said, during an interview on Kay Adams’ “Up and Adams” show on FanDuel TV. “Go break it, man. (Records are) meant to be broken. I’ve had it for 10-plus years. Go get it. Go break the record, man. I hope you win a state championship with it.”

McLaughlin ran for just under 1,600 yards as a freshman in 2022, according to MaxPreps. After surpassing 2,500 yards as a sophomore and 2,800 yards as a junior, he’s over 4,000 yards as a senior. He’s also scored an eye-popping 61 touchdowns.

There’s one other key detail Henry noticed about McLaughlin, too.

“He got that No. 2 on,” Henry, who wore the same number in college before donning No. 22 in the pros, said. “Go break that record. Go get it.”

The post Derrick Henry sends message to high school player who is closing in on his all-time rushing record appeared first on Saturday Down South.

And since we’re getting to the season where most of the country is going to be coated with snow, it’s only appropriate that we kick off the Week 10 Awards column with a man whose last name is “Freeze.”

Biggest Loser of the Weekend: Hugh Freeze

First it was Billy Napier, then it was Brian Kelly, and now, for the third-straight week, a traditional SEC powerhouse has decided to move on from their head coach, as the Auburn Tigers put an end to the tenure of head coach Hugh Freeze following an absolutely gross 10-3 home loss at the hands of the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday night. Frankly, following that loss to Kentucky, this was the right time to say “Don’t let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya” to Freeze, who had accumulated just a 15-19 record since becoming the head coach of the Tigers in 2023.

It continues a downward spiral for the Auburn Tigers, who haven’t had a winning season since the COVID year… the last year of of Gus Malzahn’s run with the school, in which the Tigers finished with a winning record in each of those seasons.

Auburn is now the latest Power 4 program to have a head coaching vacancy heading into the 2026 offseason, joining Florida, LSU, Penn State, UCLA, Arkansas, Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech.

Biggest Winner of the Weekend: Arch Manning

Now that was the Arch Manning we’ve been waiting for 2 months to see! In a 34-31 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores — a game that the Texas Longhorns needed in order to stay alive in the College Football Playoff race — Manning became the first player in program history to throw for 300 yards, 3 touchdowns and complete 75% of his passes against a top-10 opponent. That’s right. Vince Young never did it. Colt McCoy didn’t either. And neither did Quinn Ewers, Sam Ehlinger, Chris Simms or anyone else who has ever suited up for the Longhorns.

I’m not going to sit here and suggest that Arch Manning is suddenly the can’t-miss prospect he was considered to be before the season began. We need to see this over a bigger sample size before I’m ready to have that conversation again. Hell, if Manning does this at Georgia in 2 weeks, then maybe we could get that conversation rolling again. But at the very least, this was a solid sign of growth compared to where Arch was at the start of the year.

“I think he’s grown up,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said after the win, per Dave Wilson of ESPN.com. “He just looks so much more mature. He looks so much more poised. He looks so much more confident, and he’s got a lot more trust in those guys around him.”

SEC Player of the Year Ballot

1. Ty Simpson (QB, Alabama) – 2,184 passing yards, 20 passing touchdowns, 1 interception, 67.8% completion, 2 rushing yards
2. Marcel Reed (QB, Texas A&M) – 1,972 passing yards, 17 passing touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 61.4% completion, 349 rushing yards, 6 rushing touchdowns
3. Diego Pavia (QB, Vanderbilt) – 2,063 passing yards, 18 passing touchdowns, 5 interceptions, 69.2% completion, 501 rushing yards, 6 rushing touchdowns
4. Trinidad Chambliss (QB, Ole Miss) – 2,023 passing yards, 10 passing touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 60.6% completion, 435 rushing yards, 6 rushing touchdowns
5. Arch Manning (QB, Texas) – 2,123 passing yards, 18 passing touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 62.7% completion, 203 rushing yards, 6 rushing touchdowns

SEC Power Poll

I have 2 major shake-ups to announce for this week’s SEC Power Poll. First, the Tennessee Volunteers have been knocked out of the Power Poll, because remember, we’re talking about championship equity here, and with 3 losses, there’s really no scenario where the Vols can make the field. With that said, I made a mistake dropping the Missouri Tigers out of consideration. I did so because quarterback Beau Pribula suffered an ankle dislocation and it’s unlikely he’ll be returning any time soon, but mathematically, Missouri isn’t out of the field.

Therefore, I’d like to amend that mistake by reintroducing the 2-loss Tigers to the Power Poll this week, because if Mizzou runs the table — which would include wins over Texas A&M and Oklahoma — it could absolutely make the 12-team Playoff field.

1. Texas A&M Aggies
2. Alabama Crimson Tide
3. Ole Miss Rebels
4. Georgia Bulldogs
5. Texas Longhorns
6. Oklahoma Sooners
7. Vanderbilt Commodores
8. Missouri Tigers

Play of the Weekend: Chauncey Bowens puts Georgia ahead for good against Florida

The Gators gave the Bulldogs are much tougher test than I expected they would, but the end result was the same… Georgia came away with the win at the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, thanks in large part to a late-4th quarter scamper from Chauncey Bowens, a redshirt freshman who originally committed to stay in-state and play for the Florida Gators before flipping his commitment to Georgia.

Biggest News Outside of the SEC

• A pair of unbeatens suffer their first defeat, as unranked Navy took a 31-17 L at the hands of North Texas, and Georgia Tech – like the Miami Hurricanes did on Saturday afternoon – found out how difficult it can be to win on the road in conference play. We’re now down to 4 undefeated teams… Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M and BYU, and looking ahead to Week 11, all 4 of these teams will be on the road this Saturday. 
• At this point, what else can we say about the Miami Hurricanes? After a loss on the road to SMU, it’s feeling like Mario Cristobal is on the fast-track to become the James Franklin of the South, only games in November are his kryptonite, not top-5 opponents. And boy, imagine my embarrassment, because it was only 3 weeks ago when I advised y’all to bet the over on 11.5 wins for the Hurricanes this season.
• Staying in the ACC, now the Virginia Cavaliers, not a misprint, are the only remaining program with a perfect record in conference games, and then there’s a logjam of 5 schools — Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Louisville, SMU and Duke — that are either 5-1 or 4-1 in ACC play, which sets us up for a truly wild final month of action in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
• That aforementioned road test for BYU this Saturday? It’s in Lubbock against Texas Tech, and thanks to the Cougars and Red Raiders, the Big 12 has 2 teams ranked in the top 10 for the first time in 2 years.
• I’d like to send a special congratulations to the Kennesaw State Owls, who currently sit atop Conference USA and have earned a berth to a bowl game in the program’s first season of bowl eligibility.

One Big Question Heading Into Week 11: What is the first CFP Top 12 going to look like?

Personally, I’m not a fan of the College Football Playoff committee announcing their current field a month ahead of time, just as I’m not a fan of the College Basketball’s Selection Committee doing the same early in February. I prefer the mystery, but with that said, I’m obligated to make my own set of predictions for the first rankings of the season, so here goes:

1. Ohio State Buckeyes 

2. Indiana Hoosiers 

3. Texas A&M Aggies 

4. Alabama Crimson Tide 

5. Georgia Bulldogs 

6. Ole Miss Rebels 

7. BYU Cougars 

8. Oregon Ducks 

9. Texas Tech Red Raiders 

10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 

11. Virginia Cavaliers 

12. Memphis Tigers 

__________________________

13. Texas Longhorns

14. Oklahoma Sooners

15. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

16. Vanderbilt Commodores

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With 3 games remaining and a realistic path to the College Football Playoff still available, Texas is resembling the team it was projected to be in August. Here are 3 reasons why the Longhorns are finally living up to the preseason hype which surrounded them entering the season.

1. Arch Manning is finally playing consistently

After struggling most of the first 5 weeks of the season, Arch Manning has put together strong performances in 3 of the Longhorns 4 consecutive wins in SEC play. Since beating Oklahoma in his first Red River Rivalry start, Manning has passed for 972 yards, 7 touchdowns while throwing only 1 pick.

If Manning’s last 2 games are any indication of what lies ahead for future Texas opponent,s there will be lot of people around the nation looking silly and taking down posts on social media. Manning has thrown for 674 yards and 6 touchdowns against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt while going over 300 yards passing in back-to-back games for the first time in his young career.

A big beneficiary of Manning’s hot streak has been star sophomore wide receiver Ryan Wingo, who is also starting to live up to the preseason hype as a result. After not going over 80 receiving yards but once the entire season, Wingo has gone for 184 and 89 yards in consecutive weeks highlighted, by back-breaking catches of 62 and 75 yards each week.

Against Vandy this past weekend, Wingo’s 75-yard catch and run occurred on the first play of the game from scrimmage to get Texas on the board first. If it wasn’t for an apparent hand injury which forced him to leave the game early, Wingo would most likely have produced consecutive games of 100 plus receiving yards for the first time in his career.

2. Previously unheralded players keep producing

Coming into the season, every publication talked about Texas’s dominant defensive trio of Athony Hill, Colin Simmons and Michael Taaffe, while mentioning Manning, Wingo and Quintrevion Wisner on offense when talking about the Longhorns. Although all have had made some big plays and been major contributors throughout the season, a big reason Texas is starting to reach preseason expectations is because of the outstanding supporting cast that doesn’t get talked about enough.

Players like junior defensive back Jelani McDonald and sophomore wide receiver Emmett Mosley V continue coming up big for the Longhorns despite lacking the attention and fanfare of others.

McDonald has been so consistent he has recorded 8 tackles or more in every SEC game except for one and is second on the team in tackles overall behind Hill. On offense, Mosley V has had an explosive reception in 3 games in SEC play and has racked up 3 touchdowns in his last 2 outings.

Both were at their best when Texas needed them the most in Week 9’s come-from-behind victory over Mississippi State. McDonald led the team with 14 tackles, while Mosley V caught the game-winning touchdown to save Texas’s season in overtime, which held up after going under review for a few minutes.

To get to the College Football Playoff to even win a national championship, every team needs unsung players to step up on occasion and, luckily for Texas, McDonald and Mosley V have answered the call and performed big when called upon for the Longhorns.

3. The Longhorns’ pass rush is elite

Despite losing a lot of defensive talent to the NFL in the spring, the Texas defensive unit came into the season expected to be a force and give a lot of quarterback and offensive coordinators nightmares. Unfortunately for opponents, Texas’s defense has been elite most of the season, highlighted by an aggressive pass rush that continues to get better each week.

Currently, the Longhorns lead the nation with 34 sacks, led by Simmons who is starting to live up to his All-American billing with a team-high 8 sacks on the season. Besides the overall sack total, the big reason Texas is starting to live up to the hype is the timing and consistency of the sacks.

Since Texas began its 4-game conference winning streak against Oklahoma, the pash rush has generated 5 sacks or more in every one of the 4 victories. The unit was at its apex against Vandy, as it sacked Commodores star quarterback Diego Pavia 7 times despite the fact Pavia entered the game having only been sacked 7 times all season long.

If Texas can continue to generating this type of elite pressure, combined with an offense finally executing at a consistent high level, it has a legit chance to do the unthinkable and beat Georgia and Texas A&M to finish the regular season. What seemed like a bad prediction is starting to become a reality as Texas is starting to figure things out across the board and winning games in the SEC.

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Regardless if you rock with them or not, last week’s 17-point dramatic come from behind road win was a huge culture-building win and Manning’s first big step towards being the player many projected he will eventually become, even if he missed the bulk of overtime after suffering a concussion. Most people around the nation might say it’s only Mississippi State, but that sentiment fails to realize just how tough it is to win on road in the SEC (and just how much the Bulldogs have improved from last year).

The win gets a little extra mustard when you add in the fact it was Texas’s second win in back-to-back road games, which is hard for any team in SEC. Here are 3 reasons Texas’s comeback win over Mississippi State was huge for the Longhorns’ culture in the big picture.

1. Big step forward for Arch Manning

After struggling mightily against Kentucky a week ago and most of the season when he’s had an ineffective run game, Manning had the best all-around performance of his young career against Mississippi State.

Despite Texas’s leading rushers Quintrevion Wisner and C.J. Baxter rushing for only 41 and 27 yards, respectively, Manning was able to go 29-of-46 for 346 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception while also adding a rushing touchdown. Unlike in recent games, Manning was able to manage Mississippi State’s blitz storm effectively by navigating being hit 10+ times and sacked 5 times while setting a new career-high in passing yards.

With Texas down by 17 and its season on the line, the redshirt sophomore signal caller put together his most dominant stretch of the season. Manning started the dominant stretch off by hitting Ryan Wingo on a 62-yard strike to set Texas up inside the Mississippi State 5-yard line. Manning would go on to connect on 12-of-20 passes in the quarter for 169 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Although Manning couldn’t fully complete the comeback due to sustaining a concussion in overtime, he showed the nation he has the skill, heart and ability to play well when the Longhorns’ backs are against the wall. This performance gives many people in Austin hope that the most famous player on their roster is legitimately good enough to live up to the hype when everything is said and done.

2. Steve Sarkisian moves culture forward through adversity

In a season where some of the top coaches in the game have gotten fired for not meeting expectations, Sarkisian continues to build a strong culture in Austin despite Texas not meeting most people’s preseason expectations.

At the end of the day, Texas has 2 losses at 2 of the hardest venues to win at in the nation on its ledger. The Longhorns have given the best team in the nation its closest game of the season, and somehow found a way to win a big rivalry game (Oklahoma) and 2 games in overtime on the road in SEC play in consecutive weeks. Regardless of the opponent or the circumstances, winning back-to-back road games in overtime and a neutral-site game in SEC play is impressive.

Texas must continue its “let’s find a way to win on Saturday” mentality if it wants to continue running the table to have a possible shot of making the College Football Playoff.

3. The Longhorns are built for the long haul

This might be the Longhorns’ second season in the SEC, but it’s starting to look like, even in a down season by their standards, they’ll still be a consistent threat in the SEC. Through 13 total games, Texas has produced a solid 10-3 record against SEC opponents.

Being able to get ugly gritty wins against Vanderbilt and Texas A&M last season and Kentucky and Mississippi State this season are part of the reason the last 2 weekends have been huge in the big picture for the Longhorns. Because if it was that easy to find ways to consistently win in the SEC, more people besides Alabama and Georgia would being winning throughout the conference on a yearly basis.

Texas might not be playing up to its lofty standards this year, but being able to win any type of game no matter the situation or opponent is huge for any program. As a result, Texas is raising the bar for its program even in a down season and in today’s era of college football, that’s all you can ask for from your coaching staff.

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This week’s victims were the Bayou Bengals from Baton Rouge, as A&M beat LSU at Death Valley for the first since joining the SEC in 2012. More importantly, it moves to 8-0 for the first time since 1992, a step closer to its first SEC title game appearance and 1 win closer to clinching its first College Football Playoff berth.

While many people are surprised by the Aggies’ 49-25 beatdown of the Tigers at their house, don’t count second-year head coach Mike Elko among them. As the Aggies head man is not about the past at all and firmly focused on the present 2025 version of the Aggies.

“We got to stop worrying about the past, thinking about the past and talking about the past. I’m excited about what this team is doing right now,” a frustrated Elko said in his postgame press conference.

“This team is doing some really special things. I think we should enjoy it, and I think we should stop focusing on last year.”

As A&M rides off into its bye week undefeated and ranked No. 3 in the nation, here’s a list of 3 players who have consistently produced and help shape the Aggies’ magical season so far.

1. Marcel Reed

It’s no secret that since Johnny Manziel was doing his thing in College Station over a decade ago, it has been hard for the Aggies to get a signal caller who can consistently deliver on the biggest stages when needed.

Enter Marcel Reed.

The redshirt sophomore has been consistent all season and his impact can only be measured by moments not stats. In A&M’s 2 biggest wins of the season, Reed has made a big play to give his team the lead for good or win while producing a nice stat line.

In A&M’s biggest win of the season against Notre Dame, Reed threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Nate Boerkircher while being heavily pressured with 13 seconds left to give the Aggies a huge 41-40 win in South Bend. The  pass capped off the biggest night of Reed’s young career as he threw for a career-high 360 yards.

On Saturday night against LSU, Reed converted a third-and-4 early in the third quarter by running for a 5-yard touchdown to give A&M a lead it would never relinquish. Reed finished the game with 4 total touchdowns while throwing for 202 yards and rushing for 108 yards.

Unfortunately for Aggie opponents, big-play performances from Reed have been consistent all season long and are one of the many reasons he’s one of the faces who have helped turn things around at Aggie Land.

2. Cashius Howell

After sitting behind NFL first-round pick Shemar Stewart and NFL second-round picks Nic Scourton and Shemar Turner last season, Cashius Howell has been a force to reckon with in 2025. Howell has at least 1 sack in 6 of the Aggies 8 games and currently leads the SEC with 9.5 total sacks on the season.

Howell has been at his best in SEC play, as the elite edge rusher has a sack in every one of A&M’s conference games and multi-sack games in 2 of the Aggies’ 4 conference wins. With 2 3-sack games on his résumé while being a constant terror to opposing offenses, Howell’s name is surging up NFL Draft boards as he now might be a potential first-round pick based on how he ends his season.

In meantime, he must settle for getting big-time sacks to close games for the Aggies like he did against Auburn, all while being one of the faces of a program which is changing its trajectory every week.

3. KC Concepcion

Although he probably won’t break any of Josh Reynolds’ or Christian Kirk’s single-season receiving records this fall, KC Concepcion is the most consistent and explosive receiver A&M has had in a decade. The NC State transfer has caught a touchdown in 5 of the A&M’s 8 games and has 2 games this season where he has caught and returned a touchdown of 70+ yards.

Despite only 36 catches this season, Concepcion has an outside shot of 1,000 yards this as he’s averaging a productive 15.1 yards per reception while grabbing 7 touchdowns. Concepcion’s most explosive and biggest play of the season occurred against LSU in Week 9, as his 79-yard game-breaking punt return all but ended the game and the Tigers’ season all at once.

He may have come into the season as a question mark, but  Concepcion has morphed into one of the biggest reasons the Aggies are changing the narrative and in the middle of a dream season.

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Thanks to its win over Arkansas last weekend, A&M moved to 7-0 for the first time since the 1994 season and is ranked No. 3 in the nation for the first time since 1995 when it held the No. 3 ranking for the first 5 weeks of the season. As a result, A&M is in the best spot its ever been in since joining the SEC, as it is the highest ranked team in the conference and controls its destiny for the SEC title game and a College Football Playoff berth with just 5 games remaining.

Here are 3 reasons why this is the best Texas A&M squad in 14 seasons of being a member of the SEC:

1. A&M’s well-rounded offense has consistently produced

A lot of people in Aggie Land are starting to feel the 2025 season is the Year of the Aggies due to them consistently winning close games and beating teams they have historically struggled with. This theory will be put to the test this week as A&M travels to Baton Rouge, where the Aggies haven’t won since joining the SEC, to play the LSU under the lights in Death Valley.

A big reason why this is A&M’s best team in its SEC era and why it should beat LSU Saturday is because of the offense, which is one of the most efficient and consistent offensive units in the nation.

Through 7 games, A&M has produced at least 1 explosive play in the passing and running game every game while scoring 31 points or more in 6 of its wins this season. The lone exception was the 16-10 slugfest win over Auburn. Currently the Aggies are averaging 12 explosive plays a game, which is 11th in the nation.

2. The Aggies are finding ways to win no matter who or where they play

Since Johnny Manziel, Mike Evans and company shocked the world by beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa during the 2012 season, A&M has consistently come up short in big games and big situations.

In their upset win over Notre Dame earlier this season, A&M won by making big plays down the stretch, highlighted by Reed’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Nate Boerkircher with 13 seconds left to seal a 41-40 win. Currently this is the biggest win on the Aggies’ résumé this season, but it’s also very significant because it was the first time they beat a Top 25 team on the road since knocking off then-No. 3 Auburn on Nov. 8, 2014.

Wins like this highlight why this year’s team is the best the Aggies have had since joining the SEC, as the program had lost 13-straight road games to ranked opponents before upsetting the Fighting Irish in Week 3. Until recently and all through the Jimbo Fisher era at A&M the saying around the state of Texas was “Texas A&M is going to do Texas A&M things when adversity hits and things get tough.”

To Mike Elko’s credit, the tough-minded coach has gotten his Aggies to produce and consistently make plays when the chips are down and the game is in the balance. Whether it be star edge rusher Cashius Howell’s big sack to seal its big win over Auburn, or Rueben Owens II’s 12-yard touchdown run to cap off a 10-play drive to close out a shootout win over Arkansas, this year’s A&M team is consistently making winning plays and that’s why the Aggies are undefeated.

3. The Aggies defense has flipped the script

Unlike in recent years, A&M’s defense is viewed as a strength and not a liability, which has constantly been one of its major problems since joining the SEC. Although they have had 2 rough performances on the road against Notre Dame and Arkansas, A&M’s defense has been solid at stopping the run, getting to the quarterback, and getting stops on third downs.

When you have an offense that has shown it’s almost guaranteed to put up at least 30 points a game, it allows your defense to be more aggressive and thrive.

Despite having several future NFL players its front 7 last season, A&M only produced 25 sacks the entire season. This year, it has 25 going into this weekend, which is good for the third most in the SEC.

Where the Aggies have really excelled and what completely separates them from teams in recent memory is their ability to get offenses off the field on third down. Currently the Aggies have the best third-down defense in the SEC, having only allowed 22 first downs in 87 chances for the entire season. Add in the fact A&M held Auburn, Mississippi State and Florida to a combined 2-for-33 on third downs in its wins over them and it’s easy to see why A&M is playing at an elite level defensively.

If A&M can win 2 of its 3 games against upcoming ranked opponents LSU, Mizzou and Texas, their dream season could become a historic season for the program.

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The TMZ report contained sources that said the former Today co-host was transported from his Manhattan apartment building to a hospital on Monday night just after 9 p.m. ET. The report said Gumbel remained in the hospital, as of Tuesday afternoon.

TMZ said it was unclear what exactly happened to Gumbel, who is 77, other than that he was still getting treatment at the New York City hospital. There was no response as of yet from Gumbel’s representatives, according to the report. TMZ did speak to 1 of Gumbel’s family members, who said that Gumbel was doing “OK”. No further details were given by the family member on Gumbel’s condition.

In addition to his longtime role on the Today show, Gumbel has an extensive sports broadcasting background. He hosted the highly acclaimed investigative series, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO. Gumbel was hired by NBC Sports in 1975 and co-hosted its NFL pregame show. From 1975-82, when he left to do the Today show, Gumbel hosted Major League Baseball, college basketball and NFL sporting events.

Gumbel also hosted the primetime coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics and broadcasted some PGA Tour events in 1990.

Gumbel comes from a sports broadcasting family, with older brother Greg being a legend himself, mostly with college basketball. Greg Gumbel died last year at 78.

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After its narrow overtime victory over Kentucky on the road in Lexington this past weekend, this is exactly the case for Texas as it improves to (5-2) overall and (2-1) in the SEC. Despite the excitement surrounding their thrilling overtime victory in a game they could have easily lost, there is a lot to be concerned about going forward if you support the Longhorns.

Here are 3 troublesome signs from the Longhorns’ narrow escape over the Wildcats.

1. The offense is still not fixed this late into the season

After showing signs of promise last week against Oklahoma, Texas’s offense looked just as bad, if not worse, than it did against Florida 2 weeks ago. Despite Kentucky being the second-worst defense in the entire SEC, Texas punted the ball on 4 of its first 5 drives of the game. This continues to be a disturbing trend for the Longhorns, who have punted 6 times or more in 2 of their 3 SEC games despite having one of the most talented offenses (on paper) in the nation.

A major culprit behind the Longhorns’ offensive problems is the lack of a consistent run game and their inability to generate explosive plays to make defenses pay for how they are defending them. After rushing for 94 yards on 22 carries against Oklahoma, Quintrevion Wisner was a no-show against Kentucky, rushing for a measly 37 yards while averaging 3.1 yards per carry.

This trend must be stopped ASAP, as Texas is 7-1 when Wisner rushes for 79 yards or more and he can single-handedly open up Arch Manning’s play-action and RPO game, which is when Texas is at its best. But, when you average 1.7 yards per a carry and can’t convert on third-and-inches in the fourth quarter, not even a great play caller like Steve Sarkisian can consistently overcome it.

At the end of the day, this must get fixed immediately if Texas wants a realistic chance to run the table.

2. Arch Manning and the entire passing game must start producing

After generating 4 explosive plays in the Red River Rivalry, with 2 coming on the ground and 2 from the passing game, Texas was only able to generate 2 explosive plays via the air against Kentucky’s low-rated defense. As a result, Manning was hit 8 times and sacked 3 times by a defense that came in with only 7 total sacks on the season.

Texas’s star signal caller simply must be more accurate and get his talented receivers more involved, as he has completed less than 60% of his passes in 2 of the Longhorns’ 3 SEC games. As a result, star wide out Ryan Wingo has only 1 explosive catch on his résumé while tallying less than 75 yards receiving in every SEC game this season.

Combine this with Manning’s early season go-to guy Parker Livingstone having only 76 total receiving yards in SEC play and it easy to see why Texas will not win too many games in the SEC, let alone on the road, without drastic improved production in the overall passing game.

3. Texas must play better on the road

For the third time this season, Texas had a horrendous performance on the road. The only difference this trip is it was able to escape with a victory unlike its trips to The Horseshoe and The Swamp. Through 3 road games this season, Texas is only averaging 14.6 points per game, 285 total yards per game and a pedestrian 188.3 passing yards a game.

This road formula must be fixed immediately by Sark and his staff as it’s due to rear its ugly head with trips to Starkville and Between the Hedges in Athens left on the schedule. The Longhorns must find a way to bring their offense on the road as they won’t be able to beat Georgia and will struggle mightily against Mississippi State if they continuously try to win on the road by only playing great defense and special teams.

It might sound simple or cliché but it’s true — Texas must find ways to run the ball and stop the run while staying ahead of the chains consistently if it wants to win its remaining 2 road games. Unfortunately for Longhorn Nation, things are trending in the wrong direction for Manning and the boys as they simply haven’t been good or consistent enough to be a participant in the College Football Playoff this season.

The post 3 most troublesome signs from Texas narrow escape at Kentucky appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The bell tolls for Billy

Certain coaches linger on the hot seat so long that finally pulling plug becomes an act of mercy, and few have lingered longer than Billy Napier. Florida put the Napier era out of its misery on Sunday, firing him less than 24 hours after a tenuous, 23-21 win over Mississippi State, and a little more than a year after the first obituaries to his tenure. Not much has changed in the meantime except the particulars.

Altogether, Napier’s Gators finished 22-23 overall, 12-16 in SEC play, 4-16 vs. ranked opponents, and 2-8 vs. annual rivals Georgia, LSU and Florida State. They never spent more than 3 consecutive weeks in the polls, or moved the needle in any discernible way except as spoilers. His swan song on Saturday — again, a conference win in which Florida led for the final 3 quarters — was punctuated by chants of “FI-RE BIL-LY” and a chorus of boos as he jogged off the field for the last time.

In that sense, Napier’s run in Gainesville was arguably an even bigger flop than the decade-long succession of flops that preceded it. The previous 3 guys in the job before him, Will Muschamp (2011-14), Jim McElwain (2015-17), and Dan Mullen (2018-21), also failed to make it to the end of their 4th season before their respective administrations unraveled. But at least they all managed go out with winning records. At least there were moments in each of their tenures, however fleeting, when Florida seemed relevant. The Gators won 11 games under Muschamp in 2012; played in back-to-back SEC Championship Games under McElwain in 2015 and ’16; and spent most of Mullen’s first 3 seasons ranked in the AP top 10 before the bottom fell out in Year 4. If the 12-team Playoff had existed in those years, they would have made the cut a handful of times as an at-large. Under Napier, the project never really got off the ground, topping out with an 8-5 record last year as the result of an improbable 4-game win streak to end the year. Aside from a round of residual (and quickly deflated) preseason hype coming into this season, it never came close.

Zoom out, though, and in the long run the Napier era is merely a continuation of the extended period of frustration since the literal and figurative collapse of the Urban Meyer regime. In many ways it was all too familiar. Like McElwain, Napier arrived in December 2022 as a former Nick Saban assistant with little profile of his own, the Saban connection counting for at least as much as far as Florida was concerned as his brief but successful run as head coach at UL-Lafayette. Like Mullen, he was often dismissed as a second-rate recruiter whose developmental mindset was better suited to an off-brand underdog than to a program that expects to compete with the Bamas, LSUs and Georgias of the world for 5-star specimens. And like Muschamp, his teams were characterized by turgid offenses, combustible defenses, and stupid penalties at conspicuous moments. (Come to think of it, that was occasionally a Mullen thing, too.) The Gators had their moments on Napier’s watch; unlike his doomed predecessors, they also had a couple of potentially transformative talents at quarterback, Anthony Richardson and DJ Lagway, the crown jewel of Napier’s 3 full recruiting classes. But they never had anything resembling a coherent identity.

Therein lies the challenge for whoever comes next: What is Florida football? It’s been awhile since there was a satisfying answer to that question. For a long time, Florida perennially checked in at or near the top of the list of “Best Jobs in College Football” as a result of its resources, a championship track record under multiple coaches, and privileged geography in recruiting. In the NIL/portal era, none of those advantages really holds true anymore, and frankly hasn’t for a while.

After watching 4 consecutive administrations crash and burn over a span of 15 years, it’s past time to ask whether the malaise says as much about the job itself as it does the overwhelmed busts who have held it. For one thing, the resource gap between the sport’s Haves and Have Nots has narrowed significantly since the Gators’ most recent hey day — at least within the power conferences — and is only going to continue to shrink as a result of revenue sharing and an accompanying cap on player salaries. If anything, Florida has been notoriously slower to adapt to the realities of the arms race than the programs it considers its peers. Meanwhile, as the cycle churns on, Gainesville looks less and less like a place where an ambitious coach can win championships and more like a place where coaches go to be buried under outdated expectations. After all, just about every major program east of the Mississippi has made inroads in Florida recruiting, and no prospect with options is making his decision anymore based on which school is within the shortest driving distance. Most of the highest-rated players in Florida have been opting to leave the state for years; the Gators rarely sign more than 1 or 2 of the top 10.

Of course, that could always change with an infusion of NIL money. Based on the recruiting sites, Florida’s 2024 and ’25 classes were its best since the pandemic, with last year’s class in particular coming together only after athletic director Scott Stricklin convinced boosters to invest the money they were prepared to put toward buying out Napier’s contract toward shoring up efforts on the trail instead. But then, these days the same thing can be said for almost anywhere else, too. Suddenly, Indiana or Texas Tech can now go out and buy itself a Playoff-caliber roster, and still afford to pay a Playoff-caliber coach an insane amount of money to stick around to build the next one. So too, for that matter, can Ole Miss, where Lane Kiffin — the candidate who has loomed at the top of Florida’s wish list since speculation began over Napier’s future last year — has built a program that has proven it can compete at a high level and reload on a regular basis even following massive attrition.

Is there anything a coach like Kiffin — or Eli Driknwitz, or Rhett Lashlee, or whatever name you want to toss in the mix — can accomplish at Florida that he can’t at a place like Ole Miss, or Missouri, or SMU, where he’s already done most of the heavy lifting and enjoys some job security? As recently as a couple years ago, that would have been a no-brainer, a question not even worth asking. Everybody knew the 12 or 15 or so jobs in which it was always possible to win big, and Florida was 1 of them, regardless of how far the Gators might have fallen at any given point in time.

Today? Who knows Kiffin or Drinkwitz or any other would-be Florida target is thinking, but the landscape is considerably flatter. Horizons are expanding and ceilings are being raised across the country. In any given year now, there are likely to be a dozen teams in the SEC thinking big.

Presumably Florida is always going to do what it takes to be among them. But if it’s going to re-establish itself as a destination, rather than just another aspiring outfit whose trophy case is increasingly irrelevant to a generation of players who couldn’t even begin to tell you what the letters “BCS” stand for, it cannot afford to keep hitting reset every 3 1/2 years. The next guy needs to be in it for the long haul.

Bottom’s up

If it seems like every other game this year is a nail-biter, it’s not just in your head: Per Associated Press reporter Josh Dubow, the average margin of victory in SEC games so far this season is just 10 points, down nearly a full touchdown per game compared to conference play from 2010-23. In fact, if it holds up, Dubow reports that 10 ppg is on pace to be the narrowest margin of victory in any conference since at least the turn of the century. From top to bottom, the league is as competitive week-in, week-out as it has been in a long time.

That’s obvious enough at the top, where the days of Alabama and/or Georgia cruising through the regular season without having to so much as tap their brakes are over. Not that the Tide and Dawgs can’t still go all the way. But the path so far has been anything but smooth or inevitable — especially for Georgia, which has trailed in the second half in 3 of its 4 conference wins. Saturday’s wild, 43-35 marathon against Ole Miss featured 6 lead changes and a 17-0 4th-quarter rally by the Bulldogs to erase a 9-point deficit at the end of the 3rd. Par for the course these days. Altogether, 10 SEC teams are ranked in the updated AP poll, 8 of whom still have at least a 30% chance of making the Playoff according to ESPN’s Football Power Index. The race for those tickets over the next 6 weeks is going to be a battle of attrition.

But I would argue the case for parity across the conference is just as compelling at the bottom, if not more so. For now, anyway, regression to the mean in the portal/NIL era is working in both directions. Consider the 4 teams that have yet to win a conference game: Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky and Mississippi State, which are a combined 0-14 in SEC play. Depressing stuff. Contrary to the standings, though, the actual gap between the bottom tier and the broad middle class on the field has been razor-thin. Nine of those 14 losses have come by a touchdown or less, including down-to-the-wire efforts by all 4 teams on Saturday.

Auburn remained snake-bitten, missing 3 field goals in a double–overtime loss against Missouri. Kentucky, which began the day as the conference’s only double-digit underdog, stuffed Texas’ entire offense into a locker only to lose a 16-13 heartbreaker in overtime. Mississippi State was within range of a game-winning field goal at Florida before serving up a gut-wrenching interception to clinch a 2-point loss in The Swamp. And Arkansas — poor, exhausted Arkansas — hung 527 yards and 42 points on undefeated Texas A&M in yet another shootout loss in Fayetteville, the Razorbacks’ 4th loss already with at least 31 points in defeat. For the year, the Hogs rank No. 2 nationally in total offense vs. FBS opponents at 507.3 yards per game, with 5 consecutive losses in said games.

That’s not to pass out moral victories when actual victory was there for the taking in every one of those games. Arkansas has already fired its coach, Auburn and Kentucky are on the verge of following suit, and Mississippi State is still gritting its teeth over a 15-game SEC losing streak spanning 2 calendar years; these are all teams absolutely going through it. It’s just to make the point that when the entire bottom quartile of the league is capable of pushing Playoff hopefuls to the brink, it’s no wonder every Saturday feels like a dog fight. If we learned anything from last year’s chaotic stretch run, it’s just how much can change in 6 weeks. Weird stuff is in the air. Actually, as thin as the margins are right now, it might be more surprising if things don’t get a little weird. Put it this way: Among the would-be SEC title contenders, is there an outfit you really trust to not get its season randomly blown off the tracks by an underdog rallying under an interim head coach? If and when it happens, they can’t say they weren’t warned.

This week in Arch: U-G-L-Y

Another week, another inscrutable performance from Arch Manning, who cannot even get out of a routine road trip to Kentucky without alerting the Bust Police to his presence. Coming off his most reassuring outing of the year against Oklahoma, Manning regressed to struggle mode in Lexington, completing just 12-of-27 passes for 4.9 yards per attempt on a rock-bottom night for the Texas offense as a whole. The Longhorns finished with their fewest yards (179) and first downs (8) in more than a decade, and only reached the end zone as a result of a punt return that set up the offense at the Wildcats’ 5-yard line. (Another big return into UK territory set up a go-ahead field goal on Texas’ final possession of regulation.) Manning turned in season-lows for passer rating (85.5) and Total QBR (25.0) in what was very nearly a season-derailing disaster.

As always, it is not all about Arch. His offensive line remains a safety hazard, particularly true freshman guard Nick Brooks, who continues to look like … well, like a true freshman thrust unexpectedly into the starting lineup in SEC play. Pro Football Focus charged Brooks with 6 pressures allowed against Kentucky, including all 3 of the Wildcats’ sacks. That brings him up to an alarming 19 pressures allowed in the past 3 games. But let’s spare the rookie the brunt for the entire unit. PFF also cited center Connor Robertson, a career backup filling in due to injury, with 5 pressures, and regular tackles Brandon Baker and Trevor Goosby with 3 apiece — red flags across the board. (The only Texas lineman who wasn’t charged with a pressure on Saturday was senior DJ Campbell, who remains a pillar at right guard while the rest of the front threatens to collapse around him.) Manning never established a rhythm under constant duress, and the inability (or unwillingness) to establish the ground game didn’t help.

But whatever plays were there to be made, Manning was rarely making them. He was 8-for-16 for 70 yards on clean drop-backs, including a heavy diet of screens that fell behind the line of scrimmage; he was just 6-for-16 throwing beyond the line, where he didn’t bother to challenge Kentucky downfield and continued to routinely miss open receivers. And with a number like 6-for-16, there’s no need to cherry-pick to get the point across: Accuracy is plainly a recurring issue.

In his previous road trips, losses at Ohio State and Florida, Manning managed to offset some of his erratic tendencies and salvage some respectability on the stat sheet by connecting on a handful of downfield shots in both games. There wasn’t so much as a glimpse of that aspect of his game on Saturday night, for whatever reason. The defense was holding up its end up of the bargain, his protection wasn’t, and (by the way) Kentucky succeeded in its effort to shorten the game by racking up a nearly 2-to-1 advantage in time of possession in regulation. Texas ran just 55 offensive plays, including setting up the game-winning field goal in overtime after the defense stuffed Kentucky on 3 straight plays from the 1-yard line on the Wildcats’ turn with the ball. By that point, though, ‘Horns fans had seen enough to know they got away with one in a game they were favored to win comfortably, and that if the situation doesn’t improve ASAP it might be the last.

Stone-Cold Gunner

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Gunner Stockton could not have done much more to raise his stock in Georgia’s high-octane win over Ole Miss. The tit-for-tat pace left him with little margin for error, and he didn’t need it, finishing a near-flawless 26/31 passing for 289 yards, 4 touchdowns, and season-highs for passer rating (204.8), Total QBR (96.9) and overall PFF grade (91.0) in a reputation-making performance. His Heisman odds shortened, too. On 5 different occasions, Ole Miss scored to take or extend the lead; on all 5 occasions, the Bulldogs responded with a scoring drive of their own, managing to stay close on the Rebels’ heels through 3 quarters before pulling away decisively in the 4th.

Previously I’ve compared Stockton to a slightly bigger version of Stetson Bennett IV (complimentary), but that might be selling his skill set short. Pressed into a situation in which the offense was literally forced to score every time it touched the ball, he was up to the moment. Stockton was sharp downfield, connecting on 8-of-10 attempts of 10+ air yards; made a difference as a runner, weaving his way to a 22-yard touchdown run in the 2nd quarter; and never put the ball at risk on an afternoon when a turnover in either direction almost certainly would have spelled doom for the team that committed it. His last incomplete pass came just before halftime; in the second half, he finished 12-for-12 while leading 4 consecutive scoring drives to ice the game.

None of that would have possible without the surrounding cast, which also turned in its best game of the season. The o-line, fully intact for the first time this season, kept Stockton clean on all but 7 of his 35 drop-backs, per PFF, and didn’t allow a hit or sack. The receivers, collectively known as a butterfinger-y group, hauled in 4-of-5 contested catch attempts without a drop. Running backs Nate Frazier and Chauncey Bowens piled up 133 yards on 4.9 per carry. The tight ends finally got involved; Zachariah Branch did Dillon Bell things after the catch. When all the pieces come together, the Bulldogs still have the makings of a championship attack. And Stockton is emerging as the most important piece, by far.

The question is just how often the defense is going to continue to leave the offense with zero margin for error in a shootout. Georgia has trailed by 2 scores now at some point in 4 of its 5 SEC wins this season, an ongoing trend that started last year, which is a hard way to make a living no matter how many times you manage to pull it off. The Dawgs successfully rallied in the second half against Tennessee, Auburn and Ole Miss, getting just enough defense to take the Vols to overtime in Knoxville and to make the Rebels doubt whether they’d actually have a chance after a lopsided 4th quarter. On the other hand, they didn’t have quite enough juice to pull off the comeback against Alabama despite shutting the Tide out after halftime. Nobody should expect a revival of a vintage UGA defense circa 2022, which the current D is not by a long shot. If it can just give the offense a little breathing room, that would be worth a sigh of relief.

Dude of the Week: Alabama Edge Yhonzae Pierre

The Tide brought Pierre along slowly at first coming off a nagging preseason injury, but it didn’t take him long to play his way onto breakout watch over the first half of the season, and Bama’s 37-20 win over Tennessee was the moment the Tide have been waiting for. Pierre was borderline unblockable against the Vols: His 6 QB pressures yielded 2 sacks, as well as the most physically dominant rep of the evening — a bull rush that relocated the opposing right tackle directly into the lap of QB Joey Aguilar, forcing Aguilar to commit a panicked intentional grounding penalty in his own end zone.

The offense scored on the ensuing possession to extend the lead to 16-7 and never looked back.

Pierre has a long way to go before he’s mentioned in the same breath as some of the Bama edge rushers, but he’s off to a good start since breaking into the starting lineup following the Tide’s open date in Week 4. In 4 games since, he has generated 16 pressures and 2 forced fumbles (both against Missouri) in the past 3 games. A former 5-star, the shy is the limit.

Dud of the Week: Auburn’s Kicking Game

Auburn’s overtime loss to Missouri was littered with missed opportunities, from dropped passes to turnovers. But for a team that was counting on veteran kicker Alex McPherson to solve its field-goal woes, McPherson’s 3 misses against Mizzou — 2 from inside of 40 yards, the 3rd falling well short from 50 yards out in overtime — were especially deflating. McPherson is still working his way back to 100% from the intestinal issue that caused him to miss nearly all of last season, when the Tigers finished a dreadful 11-for-20 on field-goal attempts in his absence.

Notebook

1.) If you’re a coach on the hot seat, beating Mississippi State is the last straw. Billy Napier is the 3rd head coach in the past 5 years to get the axe immediately following a win over the Bulldogs, following Gus Malzahn and Jimbo Fisher.

2.) Alabama fans got their wish when the the Tide opened the game against Tennessee with 5-star freshman Michael Carroll in the starting lineup at right tackle. He didn’t last long: After allowing a couple of pressures, he was yanked for the guy he replaced, Wilkin Formby, who ultimately played 39 snaps to Carroll’s 25. Bama is still giving significant reps to backups at both guard spots, as well.

3.) Alabama’s game-changing pick-6at the end of the first half was play-calling malpractice by Tennessee. The Vols had the ball at Bama’s 1-yard line with no timeouts and 9 seconds left in the half — an obvious passing situation, given that an incomplete pass that left time for one more snap would be vastly preferable to a failed run that ended the half. Call your best 2-point pass! Instead, the offense lined up in an old-school goal-line formation featuring 3 tight ends, a fullback and zero receivers in a bid to get Bama to overcommit to defending a power run that almost certainly was not in the cards. No dice: Neither the personnel nor the ensuing play-action fake fooled a soul on the defense, and a lazy, badly underthrown pass by Aguilar was ripe for the picking by Zabien Brown.

The throw itself was worse than the call, but not by much. The look on the Tennessee coaches’ faces said it all: We just blew our best chance to get back in the game on a play that stood no chance.

4.) Arkansas’ season in a nutshell: Trailing 38-35 against Texas A&M, the Razorbacks lined up to stop a crucial 4th-and-1 attempt by the A&M offense from its own 34-yard line in the 4th quarter. Initially, it looked like they’d succeeded in penetrating the backfield and stuffing RB EJ Smith for a big loss — except that the defender in the best position to make the play, Justus Boone, apparently lost track of which Aggie had the ball and, in the confusion, attempted to wrap up one of Smith’s lead blockers instead. Smith, who’d been knocked off balance a full 4 yards behind the line to gain, managed to reset his feet and plunge ahead for the conversion. A&M went on to score (of course), extending its cushion to 45-35 en route to an eventual 45-42 win.

5.) I don’t have the bandwidth here to take on the full scope of hot-seat speculation surrounding virtually every coach who lost this weekend, but if Shane Beamer wasn’t thinking seriously about the possibility of filling the vacancy at his alma mater, Virginia Tech, maybe he should be. He’s fond of calling South Carolina his “dream job,” but after Saturday’s 26-7 flop against Oklahoma the Gamecocks are 1-4 in SEC play with no light at the end of the tunnel. Beamer is not generally considered a candidate for the chopping block in 2025. At the rate it’s going, though, that assumption changes with every loss; either way, he’ll certainly be feeling the heat if he returns in ’26. A reset in Blacksburg might be the best-case scenario for all parties. Just a thought.

Moment of Zen of the Week

The post Monday Down South: Billy Napier is the latest Florida coach to exit early. Will the Gators ever get it right? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Fast forward to today, Elko has more than answered the bell as the Aggies are 6-0 for the first time since 2016 and for only the second time in the past 30 years following their win over Florida last weekend. If Elko and his Aggies can navigate an upcoming tough stretch of their schedule where they have consecutive road trips to Arkansas, LSU and Missouri, their dreams of grabbing the program’s inaugural College Football Playoff berth could become a reality in December.

As a result, here are 3 reasons the head man of Aggie Land is the current frontrunner to win the SEC Coach of the Year award this season.

1. Elko fixed A&M’s broken defense

Last season, Elko watched his Aggies give up an eye-popping 34.2 points per game in their final stretch of the season to end his first season in Aggie Land on a sour note. As a result, Elko has been way more hands-on with the defense this season and the results have been the foundation of the Aggies’ successful start.

Since blowing up and looking identical to the way it did last season in its 41-40 upset road win over Notre Dame, A&M has morphed into a new-school version of its 90s “Wrecking Crew” in SEC action. With Elko more active in defensive meetings during the week than he was last season, A&M has given up 17 points or less in its 3 SEC wins against Auburn, Mississippi State and Florida.

A big reason for A&M’s defensive success has been its domination on third down as it became the first Power 4 program in the past 20 years to hold 3 straight teams to 1 or fewer conversions on third down. If the Aggies can get their defense to travel over the next month and continue this trend, Elko’s chances of landing his first SEC Coach of The Year award will grow even higher.

2. Maximizing the transfer portal

Thanks to an up and down first season in College Station, Elko and his staff rebuilt their talented roster, which featured 28 players from the transfer portal, and made it even better by hitting the portal hard again last spring. After adding 13 through the portal to this season’s roster, A&M has morphed from a team who was a big question mark to a team viewed as a dark horse to win its first national championship since 1939.

By acquiring Cashius Howell through the portal last season and the productive receiving duo of Mario Craver and KC Concepcion this season, Elko has hit multiple bullseyes on the transfer market as the trio makes up some of the most productive players on A&M’s roster.

On offense, QB Marcel Reed has put himself in the conversation as a dark horse Heisman candidate with 1,490 passing yards and 12 touchdowns, many of which have gone to Craver and Concepcion, who have combined to grab 60 receptions for 1,081 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns. Craver has been so dominant, the Mississippi State transfer leads the SEC with 634 receiving yards and ranks third nationally while morphing into a potential early round NFL Draft pick.

On the defensive side of the ball, Howell leads the SEC with 8 sacks, which is tied for third nationally, while leading a defensive unit ranked fifth in the nation and third in the SEC in sacks. By Elko hitting on his targets in the portal, A&M’s roster has massively improved from top to bottom while giving it the foundation to potentially reach its first SEC title game.

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3. Coming up big on the biggest stages

After routinely falling flat on its face in big games last season, A&M has been able to come up big this season by making huge plays down the stretch to grab important victories over Notre Dame and Auburn.

If Elko can continue working his magic and lead the Aggies to a couple of big road wins over the next month, you can probably go ahead and hand him this year’s SEC Coach of the Year trophy.

The post Why Mike Elko is the frontrunner to win the SEC Coach of the Year appeared first on Saturday Down South.

This year is no different, as most of the top teams in the conference have at least 2 talented wideouts consistently making explosive plays for their teams to win games. With SEC action in full effect, here’s a breakdown of the top receiver duos in the conference who have been the most productive and consistent in 2025:

1. Mario Craver and KC Concepcion, Texas A&M

Thanks to struggling in the passing game mightily last season, Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko and his staff hit the transfer portal this spring and brought in Craver and Concepcion from Mississippi State and NC State, respectively, to help out star QB Marcel Reed.

Fortunately for Elko and company, they hit double jackpot, as Craver and Concepcion have been Reed’s top 2 targets since spring ball and have morphed into the best receiving duo in SEC and quite possibly the nation in just a few games.

Through 6 games, Craver leads the SEC in receiving yards with 634 and has reeled in 77 yards or more in 5 of A&M’s 6 games. Not to be outdone, Concepcion is fourth in the SEC with 447 receiving yards and is tied for fourth in the conference with 5 touchdown receptions. Both have a chance to join the SEC’s 1,000-yard receiving club.

More importantly than their gaudy stats, the duo has come up big for the Aggies when they have needed them most.

Against Notre Dame, with A&M struggling on offense, Craver took a swing pass and made 3 Fighting Irish defenders miss while going 86 yards to the house to jump start the Aggies’ offense. So far this season, Craver’s touchdown reception is the longest receiving or rushing touchdown by an SEC player.

Concepcion came through for the Aggies recently by catching touchdowns in back-to-back quarters to springboard them to a victory over the Mississippi State after being on upset alert most of the game. Despite this being their first season together, Craver and Concepcion have proven to be a dynamic duo as no A&M opponent has been able to keep them both under control the entire game.

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2. Chris Brazzell II and Mike Matthews, Tennessee

The duo of Brazzell and Matthews is so good they are a big reason why the Tennessee Volunteers are 3 points away from being undefeated this season. Brazzell and Matthews have consistently been able to beat defenses to make big catches on third downs and extend drives, which has allowed the Vols’ offense to be one of the steadiest in the nation.

Although both are very talented and future NFL receivers, Brazzell’s success this season is somewhat out of the blue, as the redshirt junior has recorded a 100-yard receiving game in 3 of his last 5 contests after coming into the season with only 2 100-yard outings in his career.

Currently, Brazell leads the SEC with 7 receiving touchdowns and is second in the conference in receiving yards with 536. The Vols’ dominant duo has been a consistent problem for its opponents all season, as both Brazzell and Matthews have recorded at least one explosive play in every game but one this season.

3. Germie Bernard and Ryan Williams, Alabama

Coming into the season, many felt the Alabama wideout duo of Bernard and Williams was the best receiving tandem in the conference due to Williams being viewed as the best in SEC and Bernard expected to have a breakout season.

So far half of that equation is right. A big reason why the Tide tandem is the third-best receiving duo in the SEC, Bernard is the Tide’s leading receiver and in the middle of a career year with 5 touchdown receptions.

His ability to consistently beat press coverage and deliver whenever his number is called is a big reason some view him as Alabama’s No. 1 receiver despite all the hype surrounding Williams. Together Bernard and Williams are a big problem for Tide opponents because they balance Alabama’s offense out as either one can make the big play to beat you.

The post Ranking the SEC’s top 3 wide receiver duos appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Vibes Check

Seven Saturdays down, 7 more to go in the 2025 regular season. How y’all feeling? It’s your semiannual Monday Down South Vibes Index, where we classify all 16 teams’ auras from grooviest to grimmest:

Cruising: Texas A&M

A&M might not be the most convincing SEC or national championship frontrunner, especially considering its reputation for late-season fadeouts. At the midway point, though, it is the only team that has hit its mark every time out. The Aggies passed their big nonconference road test at Notre Dame, won their first 3 SEC games convincingly, and are off to a 6-0 start for just the 2nd time in the past 30 years. Mike Elko, a relatively nondescript pick to sweep up after the Jimbo Fisher administration, is shaping up as one of the decade’s shrewdest hires. 

Now comes the hard part. So far, all 3 of A&M’s conference wins have come at home, over opponents (Auburn, Mississippi State and Florida) with a combined 1-7 record in SEC play. The next 3 are all on the road, at Arkansas, LSU and Mizzou as is the regular-season finale at Texas. So far, the Aggies look like arguably the league’s most complete team. But they were riding high around this time last year, too, in the midst of a 7-game win streak that vaulted them into the top 10 entering November; from there, they crashed out in a 1-4 finish. (Aggies fans have felt that pain more than any team in the country; See: No. 5.) Even when the light is green, this is a fan base that has learned the hard way to look both ways before crossing.

On course: Alabama , Ole Miss ⬌

Last year, Bama and Ole Miss shared the distinction of beating the best teams on their schedule while dropping multiple games to unranked underdogs, blowing their shot at the Playoff. This year, they’re still earning back some of the trust they lost in the process. 

The Crimson Tide have been steady since their Week 1 flop at Florida State, though hardly inevitable, outlasting Georgia, Vanderbilt and Missouri the past 3 weeks in mostly unspectacular fashion. The days of Bama taking a 3-game streak over ranked opponents for granted are long gone – in fact, after the intense rebuke that followed the FSU debacle, there’s a lot to be said for the way this group has risen to the occasion in a series of close, hard-fought games. If it wasn’t, you know, Alabama, it might almost be endearing.

On that note, if I were giving an award for midseason MVP, it would go to Heisman favorite Ty Simpson, who continues to keep Bama’s season afloat. The running game is mediocre, pass protection is inconsistent (to put it kindly), and the defense ain’t what it used to be. Simpson just continues to make plays that move the sticks and keep the defense off the field. In their wins over UGA, Vandy and Mizzou, the Tide had 31 3rd- and 4th-down conversions, most of them via Simpson’s arm, while racking up lopsided advantages in time of possession in all 3 games. When not getting beaten to a pulp in Saturday’s 27-24 win at Missouri, he was orchestrating sustained drives; on the most crucial, with Alabama clinging to a 3-point lead late in the 4th quarter, he connected on a pair of 4th-down daggers – one to extend the drive on the most ice-cold, NFL-ready throw of his young career to date, the other to extend the lead to double digits on his 3rd touchdown pass of the afternoon.

That’s the kind of throw that elevates you from the “Heisman hopeful” pack to the shortlist with a bullet. Based on the past few weeks, it’s also the kind of throw Alabama is counting on him to continue making in a pinch to stay one step ahead of the reaper. Doubts are receding by the week.

As for Ole Miss, the Rebels are right where they want to be at 6-0 with a top-5 ranking, a rising star in QB Trinidad Chambliss, and a win over LSU on the books. But Saturday’s 24-21 escape against 32.5-point underdog Washington State was a little too close to the kind of random flop that derailed last year’s Playoff push for comfort. Back-to-back road trips to Georgia and Oklahoma the next 2 weeks will make or break the Rebels’ season.

Can’t complain: Missouri ⬌, Vanderbilt ⬌

OK, maybe Missouri can complain a little bit. The Tigers matched Bama physically and statistically but couldn’t make enough plays to pull off what would have been a program-defining upset. Still, they made a convincing enough case that they belong in the Playoff discussion at 5-1, albeit with a significantly reduced margin for error. They’re as close to a breakthrough as they’ve been in the CFP era.

Vandy is 5-1, ranked, and on currently on pace for its best season since 1948 according to Sports-Reference.com’s Simple Rating System. The ‘Dores actually opened as 2.5-point favorites at home against LSU after giving Alabama a 4-quarter game in Tuscaloosa in Week 6. We’ll see what they make of the opportunity in front of them, but the fact that it exists at all already cements this this as one of the most memorable campaigns in living memory. 

Proceeding with caution: Georgia ⬌, LSU ⬌, Tennessee ⬌

In the standings, the Dawgs, Tigers and Vols all remain on the Playoff track at 5-1. On the field, they’re all making it look a lot harder than it should.

Georgia keeps digging holes to climb out of, often steep ones. Saturday’s come-from-behind, 20-10 win at Auburn was typical: The Bulldogs have faced a double-digit deficit in the first half in 7 of their past 10 games vs. Power 4 opponents (including last year’s Playoff loss to Notre Dame), and trailed at halftime in 8 of them. Already this season, they’ve fallen behind 21-7 at Tennessee; 14-0 and 21-7 against Alabama; and 10-0 at Auburn in a shockingly one-sided first half. (Auburn fans, of course, will go to their grave insisting it should have been 17-0.) Over the past calendar year, it has been one close shave after another.

Needless to say, that bears little resemblance to the dominant 2021-23 machine that spent essentially 3 consecutive seasons entrenched at No. 1, which rarely failed put games to bed before halftime. In 36 regular-season wins in that span, Georgia trailed in the second half just once, in a 2022 scare at Missouri. Those teams guaranteed a stress-free experience or your money back. This one doesn’t get out of bed for less than a 10-point hole.

LSU breathed a momentary sigh of relief on Saturday night after a 20-10 win over South Carolina, a slightly less harrowing result in real time than Georgia’s identical final score at Auburn. But the Tigers are still waiting for their first complete outing on offense. Despite finishing with a season-high 420 yards against Carolina, they committed 3 turnovers, managed a single touchdown on 5 trips inside the red zone, and failed to top 20 points for the 4th time in as many games vs. a Power 4 opponent. 

If the opening line for this weekend’s trip to Nashville holds, LSU will be the underdog in each of their next 3 games against Vandy, Alabama and Texas A&M. With no ranked wins currently under their belt, the Tigers almost certainly can’t afford to lose more than 1 of them.

Tennessee’s issue is on the other side of the ball: Despite boasting the SEC’s highest-scoring offense, the defense leaves the Vols with a vanishing margin for error. They’ve allowed 31+ points in all 3 SEC games, 2 of which – a loss to Georgia and a win at Mississippi State – were decided in overtime. Saturday’s 34-31 win over Arkansas in Knoxville was yet another shootout in which the lame-duck Razorbacks rang up 497 yards, 29 first downs, and a nearly 10-minute advantage in time of possession. An SEC win is an SEC win, but nothing about that inspires confidence going into Tuscaloosa. 

Not dead yet: Texas

Arch Madness lives! Well, for at least a week or 2, anyway. And it’s not so much madness as a massive sigh of relief following a 23-6 romp over Oklahoma, which owed much more to a sweltering effort by Texas’ defense than it did to the Longhorns’ overexposed (in every sense of the word) young quarterback. Arch was fine, accounting for 200 total yards and a touchdown while under steady assault from the opposing pass rush for the second week in a row. Unlike the Week 6 loss at Florida, the defense gave him plenty of cushion against the Sooners, including 3 takeaways. For the first time this year, he didn’t return the favor.

Regardless of the circumstances, the look of relief on Manning’s face post-game was palpable. Beating a rival is a milestone; restoring his confidence in the wake of an outpouring of negativity only added to it. Whether he’s actually turned a corner, TBD. But the schedule sets up in his favor, giving him a full month until the next above-the-fold collision at Georgia with tune-ups against Mississippi State, Kentucky and Vanderbilt in between. The Longhorns are still Playoff longshots is concerned, but for now just salvaging any shot at all will do.

Bracing for impact: Oklahoma

OU’s first loss of the season was a bitter pill, and not only because it came in the game the Sooners most want to win. The outlook for the rest of the season also got much darker. September star John Mateer turned into a pumpkin, rushing back from surgery on his throwing hand only to serve up 3 interceptions and a dismal 42.8 QBR rating, worst of the weekend among SEC starters. The offense as a whole was out of sync, and the previously elite defense gradually gave way in the second half. Looking ahead, the schedule only gets steeper, with a road trip to South Carolina on deck followed by a gauntlet of 5 consecutive opponents currently ranked in the top 20. If the team that took the field in the Cotton Bowl is the one Sooners fans can expect down the stretch, the Playoff math gets grim in a hurry. 

Unburdened: Arkansas ⬌

For their own sake, I sincerely hope Hogs fans have give themselves permission to take the rest of the season off. Bowl eligibility is a pipe dream and they’ve already fired the head coach. Nothing that happens between now and the arrival of the new coach in December matters in the slightest. At best, the Razorbacks manage to keep it interesting as perennial underdogs, like they did Saturday at Tennessee. At worst, they actually spring a couple of upsets and wind up with full-time head coach Bobby Petrino by default. Feel free to spend the rest of your lovely fall Saturdays between now and December thinking about literally anything else.

Adrift: Mississippi State ⬌, South Carolina

Neither Jeff Lebby nor Shane Beamer is likely to be going anywhere soon, but neither are their respective teams. The Bulldogs and Gamecocks are a combined 1-5 in conference play and both project as underdogs in every remaining SEC games, give or take Mississippi State’s Nov. 1 trip to Arkansas. At least State has some motivation to end the longest active conference losing streak, currently at 14 games dating to 2023. Carolina, which opened the season with its highest expectations in a decade, has nothing in particular left to play for and the meat of the schedule still ahead. If the locals do start to sour on Beamer, don’t be surprised if the vacancy at Virginia Tech he insists he has no interest in suddenly start to look a little more interesting. 

The end is nigh: Auburn , Florida , Kentucky

The Tigers, Gators and Wildcats are a combined 1-8 in SEC play, and the odds of Hugh Freeze, Billy Napier or Mark Stoops remaining employed on Dec. 1 are dwindling by the week. Buyouts? Bygones. Napier and Stoops, especially, are widely understood to be dead men walking after narrowly avoiding the chopping block in 2024. Nothing has changed in the meantime except what little patience remained in both Gainesville and Lexington has grown even thinner. Barring a dramatic turn of events in the next few weeks, it’s not a question of if, but when, and who’s next. 

Freeze’s situation at Auburn is more complex. The Tigers are struggling, especially on offense. Their big-ticket investments in upgrading the talent level in the passing game have not paid off, yielding an attack that ranks dead last in the SEC in yards per attempt and next-to-last in efficiency. But they are not hopeless. The defense has held up its end of the bargain in all 3 SEC losses. Two of those games involved controversial calls that resulted in big, momentum-changing swings on the scoreboard. And the next 5 games are all winnable, giving them an opportunity to generate some wind in their sails heading into the season-defining Iron Bowl date with Alabama.

Whether “season-defining” equals “win or else” depends on what happens between now and then. But at least a gettable version of Bama in Jordan-Hare is something to look forward to. (Remember, even the Saban-era Tide routinely struggled in odd-year visits to Auburn, going 5-4 in those games and trailing late in the 4th quarter in 3 of the 5 wins.) Even in the worst-case scenario, the Iron Bowl is Freeze’s chance to draw the professional equivalent of a Get Out Of Jail Free card. At the rate it’s going, though, it’s looking more and more likely he’s going to need it.

Dude of the Week: LSU TE/WR Trey’Dez Green

Before Saturday, the 6-7, 240-pound Green had been a nonentity this season due to a lingering knee injury. With the Tigers’ best receiver, Aaron Anderson, on ice against South Carolina, Green picked an opportune moment to break out in a big way. Towering over Gamecocks DBs, he finished with career highs for targets (11), receptions (8) and receiving yards (136), including 3 contested catches, per PFF.

A fully operational Green is a potential game-changer on an offense in desperate need of them.

Dud of the Week: South Carolina’s Offensive Line

Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers was under duress on 26 of his 40 drop-backs in the Gamecocks’ loss at LSU, per PFF, an appalling pressure rate of 65.0% — the highest rate any SEC quarterback has faced in any game this season. PFF singled out 5 different USC linemen for multiple pressures allowed. Under the circumstances, Sellers did a respectable job taking just 3 sacks and avoiding turnovers in the crosshairs. (His lone interception came from a clean pocket.) But the offense has been a massive disappointment across the board in Carolina’s 3-3 start, with scoring down by more than 10 points per game compared to last year in SEC play.

Notebook

1.) Am I the only person in America other than the officiating crew itself who thought the refs in Auburn-Georgia got the call right on Jackson Arnold‘s crucial goal line fumble just before halftime? Or at least, as right as they could under Rorschach test conditions?

Besides being a critical moment in the game, this play is a very good example of the futility of the idea that there is some objective Eye in the Sky capable of replacing good old-fashioned human judgment on each and every call. They spent 6 minutes poring over every frame of this play from multiple directions, syncing up the angles, slowing them down to the smallest allowable fraction of a second, and still did not come close to offering a conclusive point of view. Arnold lost control the ball at literally the exact nanosecond he crossed the imaginary plane extending up from the front end of the stripe. (My editor found the broadcast crew’s certainty that the ball crossed the plane mystifying, and so did I.) Georgia had arguably just as compelling a case that it should have been awarded a touchdown, given that defender Kyron Jones recovered the loose ball — as called on the field and upheld on review — and was never down. Choose your own adventure.

I don’t have the time or space here to get into the full spiel about why replay needs to be dramatically curtailed. But if the point is to eliminate or simply minimize controversy, the actual result is closer the opposite. In a way, it’s a victim of its own success: The expectation that deferring to the video means getting every call “right” only makes people more enraged when it turns out no one can discern or agree on what the “right” call even is.

Auburn has now been on the wrong end of 2 massive swing plays in a matter of weeks that could have just as easily gone the other way based on the video evidence, which was anything but conclusive in either case. Sometimes the folks in charge just have to make a call and the rest of us have to live with it.

At any rate, Auburn has little room to complain given the way the offense’s second-half collapse. The Tigers had thoroughly dominated the game up to that point, and despite blowing a prime opportunity to extend the margin were still in the driver’s seat with a 10-0 lead and UGA’s offense backup up inside its own 5-yard line with less than 2 minutes to go in the half. From that point on, they stunk up the joint, allowing the Bulldogs to score 20 unanswered points without a flicker of a response from Auburn’s deflated offense. If a call at the end of the first half in a game in which they held a score-score lead actually made a difference in the final outcome, that’s on the Tigers.

2.) Count the blocks in the back by Texas on the game-changing punt return by Ryan Niblett in the 4th quarter:

I’ve got 2 without a doubt: One comes just after Niblett gathers the punt, a plain shove in the back by No. 24 around the 30 yard-line; the other comes around the 50-yard line, where a Texas blocker left his feet to take out the last remaining Oklahoma defender with a chance to make the tackle as Niblett breaks into the open field. Hit him squarely in the numbers. In between, there were also a couple of blindside blocks that took OU players off their feet; I will generously classify those as “debatable,” given that the blockers managed to engage at the shoulders rather than in the back, but on both they still arrived from outside of the defender’s field of vision. Look, I’m not a stickler for each and every possible flag that could potentially be thrown, but you gotta call 1 of those. The block at midfield — directly in the path of the runner! — was egregious enough on its own.

3.) In my preview of the Alabama-Missouri game last week I pointed out that time of possession would be a key indicator: Mizzou led the nation in TOP entering the game at more than 37 minutes per game, and Bama finished with a big edge in TOP in its previous 2 wins over Georgia and Vanderbilt. So it was: The Crimson Tide held the ball for a whopping 38:33 on Saturday, a 17-minute advantage that kept Mizzou’s offense sidelined and resigned to playing from behind most of the afternoon.

4.) Beau Pribula’s game-clinching INT on Mizzou’s last-gasp drive against Bama was a missed opportunity on multiple levels. Besides being a poor throw that sailed well over the head of his intended receiver, Pribula missed a wide-open Marquis Johnson, who let his quarterback, the entire stadium, and everyone watching at home know it.

5.) Texas A&M’s defense continues to dominate on 3rd downs. In 3 conference games, the Aggies have held opposing offenses from Auburn, Mississippi State and Florida to a grand total of 2 3rd-down conversions on 33 attempts, a microscopic success rate of 6.1%.

Moment of Zen of the Week

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Texas was able to dominate Oklahoma on offense, defense and special teams to get its biggest win of the season, as a loss to the Sooners would have officially ended any realistic chance the Longhorns had of making the College Football Playoff. Now that the dust has settled on their second-consecutive Red River Rivalry victory and a realistic winning formula has been established, here are 3 things coach Steve Sarkisian and company must continue doing if they plan on running the table the rest of the season:

1. Consistently get Quintrevion Wisner and the run game going

Unlike their upset loss to Florida a week ago, the Longhorns were able to consistently convert third downs on the ground and dictate the pace of the game thanks to their productive rushing attack. After only gaining 20 total yards on 14 plays on its first 3 possessions of the game, Texas was able to convert 7 consecutive third downs to keep Oklahoma on the field while scoring on drives of 75 and 65 yards in the second half.

After missing a lot of time due to serious hamstring issues, Wisner led the attack with 94 yards on 22 carries as the shifty junior running back was a problem for Oklahoma’s talented defensive unit all game long. The running back was so impressive, Arch Manning went out his way to give Wisner a game ball after the final whistle.

“It’s always hard knowing what’s at stake and that the defense knows you are going to run the ball, but we executed at a high level,” Wisner said during his on field interview with ESPN.

Going forward, Wisner and the Longhorns must continue to use the run to open up passing windows for Arch Manning and the receivers. Games like this are what led to Wisner rushing for more than 1,000 yards in 2024. Texas is an eye-popping 7-0 when out-rushing its opponents in SEC action since last season.

2. Defense must continue playing at a high level and being more physical

A week after putting together its worst performance of the season at The Swamp, the Texas defense was at its best against its bitter border rival at the State Fair of Texas.

Texas was able to hold Oklahoma to a season-low 258 yards of total offense while becoming the first defensive unit to hold the Sooners under 300 total yards all season long. The Longhorns’ defense was able to match the Sooners’ physicality while consistently pestering OU star quarterback John Mateer into a 20-of-38 passing day highlighted by 3 big interceptions.

This type of defensive dominance must continue if Texas is going to continue winning games in the SEC. The Longhorns are undefeated in conference action since the start of last season when holding SEC opponents under 20 points. With every game basically a Playoff game for the Longhorns going forward, being able to lean on one of the best defensive units in the nation has to give the boys from Austin confidence performances like this can be the norm going forward.

3. Arch Manning must continue improving

Despite being a game manager by most people’s standards in his first Red River Rivalry game, Manning took a big step forward by producing his most efficient game of the season. Although going 21-of-27 for 161 yards and a touchdown is nice, Manning’s assertive, efficient decision making while helping Texas convert 10-of-17 third downs is even more impressive.

The talented single caller’s ability to stay calm and make big throws when needed must continue improving for Texas to run the table the rest of the season. After being bashed for his dismal performance against Florida last week, Manning gave the world a glimpse of what can be when he has a efficient running game this week against Oklahoma on the big stage.

Manning must continue improving weekly for Texas to do the unthinkable and turn a season once on the brink into a College Football Playoff berth.

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Despite losing 2 games by 8 points or less at 2 of the toughest stadiums in the country, most pundits and college football fans in America officially put dirt on the Longhorns’ grave and have ruled their 2025 season all but over this past weekend. Although it’s not dead, Texas is officially on life support just 1 game into its SEC slate.

With their Red River Rivalry game upon them this week and big games with Vanderbilt, Georgia and Texas A&M on the horizon, here are 3 things the Longhorns must dramatically improve upon if they want any chance of running the table the rest of the season.

1. Texas must develop a consistent run game

Through 5 games, it is preposterous that Arch Manning and his 160 rushing yards and 5 rushing touchdowns lead the Longhorns on the season. To highlight how bad things are even more for Texas, Manning is the only player on the roster who has rushed for more than 1 touchdown on the season.

If Texas plans on turning things around or even having a positive season in SEC play, it must get the running back trio of CJ Baxter, Quintrevion Wisner and Jerrick Gibson healthy and going. Someone from this trio or even talented true freshman running back James Simon must emerge as the lead back if Texas wants to have any shot of beating Oklahoma this weekend or A&M and Georgia in November. On the season, the Longhorns have failed to have anyone rush for over 100 yards in a game, with Wisner coming the closest by running for 80 yards against Ohio State.

If coach Steve Sarkisian and company plan on righting the ship, this must change immediately. After rushing for over 1,000 yards last season, Wisner was expected to be the man the Longhorns needed this season, but has been limited to just 2 games due to a recurring hamstring injury that kept him out of games early in the season.

With Manning struggling mightily without a consistent run game, Wisner’s reemergence is a necessity for the Longhorns to have any success in SEC play. The fact that the Longhorns sport a 4-0 record when Wisner goes for over 100 yards in a game in his career and are 6-1 when he rushes for 79 yards or more highlights why Wisner is the key to getting Texas’s nonexistent ground game going.

2. The Longhorns’ offensive line must dramatically improve

The Texas offensive line came into the season as the Longhorns’ biggest question mark and is now one of their biggest problems.

So far this season, Manning has been sacked 9 times, hit 22 times and hurried 67 times. Last week against Florida alone, he was sacked 6 times and hurried 10 times all behind a struggling O-line that simply got bullied by the Gators all game long.

This can’t happen any more the rest of the season as Sarkisian and his staff must find a way to make what was a strength for Texas last season at least adequate in 2025. Most want to blame Manning as the biggest culprit for Texas’s offensive struggles this season when the bigger problem has been the subpar play of the guys up front.

If Texas wants any shot of getting things back on track, its offensive line must protect Manning more consistently and it must improve its run blocking to balance things out while allowing Sark to get deep into his play-calling bag.

3. Stars must play like stars

No matter if its Manning or Ryan Wingo on offense or preseason All-Americans Colin Simmons, Michael Taaffe and Anthony Hill Jr. on defense, none of the faces of the Longhorns program have lived up to their preseason billing. This must change beginning this weekend for Texas to have any remote dreams of returning to the College Football Playoff.

 On offense, Wingo must become more consistent and make his presence known as the talented wideout has failed to catch more than 4 passes in a game or record a 100-yard receiving game this season despite leading the Longhorns with 4 touchdowns. On defense, Simmons must majorly improve his disappointing 1.5-sack total on the season while Taaffe and Hill must become more consistent to stabilize a Longhorn defense coming of its worst performance of the season.

It’s a difficult task, but all these thing need to happen for Texas to have a remote chance of turning around its disappointing 2025 season.

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Despite being ranked No. 9 in the latest AP Poll and viewed as one of the best teams in the nation, Texas has a few things it must correct sooner than later. Here is a list of 3 things the Longhorns must do if they plan on kicking off the SEC part of their schedule with a win over Florida on Saturday.

1. Texas must find a consistent run game

It’s well known that Arch Manning is the undisputed QB1 of the Longhorns and his 9 passing touchdowns leads the team. What isn’t as well known is the fact that Manning’s 5 rushing touchdowns this season leads Texas by far, as he’s the only player to score more than 1 touchdown on the ground.

This is a huge problem for Steve Sarkisian and company that must get fixed ASAP.

Half of the problem could be solved thanks to the bye week, as Quintrevion Wisner and CJ Baxter, who combined to rush for 120 yards in Texas’s season-opening loss at Ohio State, will be returning from injuries against Florida this week. Coming into the season Wisner and Baxter were listed as co-starters, but have only been able to play the Ohio State game together.

Texas needs one or both to take the lead of the running back room as the Longhorns have not produced a 100-yard rusher through 4 games this season. In Texas’s blowout of Sam Houston State, the Longhorns ran for a season-high 264 yards, which played a big role in Manning’s play-action pass success.

With the running game in full effect, Manning was able to produce his best game of the season, leading Texas’s offense to a season-high 607 yards of total offense. The Longhorns must build upon this effort to beat Florida, as the Gators are ranked No. 8 in the SEC against the run.

If Texas plans on navigating through the torrential SEC waters, it must find a consistent run game. What better way to do that than starting against a Florida squad that isn’t elite against the run?

2. Let the defense hunt

Behind a quick, free-flowing, aggressive defensive unit, Texas has produced one of the best defenses in the nation so far in 2025. Despite only being challenged by Ohio State, it’s easy to see why the Longhorns defense will be a problem for any offensive unit it sees this season.

Through 4 games, Texas’s defense has produced 11 sacks and 7 turnovers while only allowing an eye popping 7.7 points per game. The Longhorns must attack and get to Florida sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway early and often if they want to walk out of The Swamp with a win this weekend.

Lagway, who some considered a Heisman Trophy threat before the season, has looked like a shell of himself after throwing 6 interceptions through the Gators’ first 4 games. A big reason for Lagway’s problems has been his decision making under pressure.

With Texas’s defense clicking on all cylinders, expect Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski to unleash his talented Longhorn unit and let Colin Simmons and company go hunting as Lagway has shown a propensity to consistently fold under pressure this season.

3. Arch must be Arch

With his best overall game in the books, the job for Manning against Florida is simple — keep improving and eliminate turnovers, much like he did in his first SEC start against Mississippi State last season. Despite the overall struggles on defense, Florida is decent against the pass and still has a talented secondary that is capable of making game-changing plays.

If Manning can complete basic throws like he did in his last outing and hit on a couple of deep plays down the field in big moments, Texas should be able to grab a big road win to kick off its SEC schedule. At end of the day, Arch needs to simply be Arch and take the same mindset he took into his first-ever SEC start last season into his first SEC road start this weekend for the Texas to win for the first time ever in Gainesville.

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With the win, the Aggies improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2016 and head into their game next week against Mississippi State with a ton of momentum. After getting carved up to the tune of 429 yards in its 41-40 upset victory over Notre Dame 2 weeks ago, Texas A&M’s defense rose to the occasion and produced its best performance of the season by holding Auburn to its lowest point total of the season.

Here are 3 takeaways from the Aggies’ big win:

1. Texas A&M does not look like a top-10 team

Despite the win and its lofty top-10 ranking in the polls, Texas A&M doesn’t look like a legitimate top-10 team in the nation as currently constructed due to its inability to dominate on both sides of the ball at the same time to produce a complete game. In what could be deemed a very choppy game at best, A&M consistently self-destructed offensively due to never getting into a rhythm and committing multiple costly penalties forcing it to lean on its highly motivated defense.

For the best example of how fortunate the guys in maroon and white were to win this game all one must do is look at their performance in crunch time.

With A&M driving early in the fourth to close out the game, Marcel Reed’s pass was tipped and intercepted by Auburn’s Xavier Atkins, who ran 73 yards before running out of gas at the 2. After Auburn scored to cut the lead to 13-10, A&M was flagged for an ineligible player downfield to take a Reed touchdown pass to team leading receiver Mario Craver touchdown off the board.

As a result, A&M settled for a field goal before leaning on its defense 1 more time to close out the win. Although sloppy play, turnovers and bad penalties didn’t prevent A&M from winning this week, it sure could when the Aggies go on the road to play fellow top 10 teams at Death Valley and Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium later this season.

2. The A&M defense got its redemption

The Texas A&M defense, which almost kept the Aggies from upsetting Notre Dame last time out, showed it can play big-boy SEC football with the best of them.

When the dust settled on Saturday afternoon in College Station, Texas A&M had sacked Auburn QB Jackson Arnold 5 times while holding the Tigers to a season-low 177 yards of total offense. Although this current defense won’t get mistaken for one of A&M’s famous “Wrecking Crew” defensive units from the 90s, it was very dominant all game long.

The Aggies’ defense was at its best on the money downs, forcing Auburn to go 0-for-13 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth down. With money on the table on Auburn’s final drive, A&M’s defense was able to produce a Dayon Hayes sack on fourth down to close the show.

Although this isn’t the Cam Newton-led Auburn team from a decade ago, holding Auburn under 20 points and under 200 total yards is nothing to dismiss and something the Aggies can build upon going forward.

3. Keep riding Le’Veon Moss

Despite getting banged up in the second quarter of the game, Texas A&M’s star running back Le’Veon Moss was the Aggies’ most consistent offensive player on the day. Moss ran for 64 yards and 1 touchdown before the injury and finished with a season-high 139 yards on 21 carries.

If A&M wants to continue winning big games at a high clip, it must utilize Moss going forward, as his physical style and intensity set the tone against Auburn. This was Moss’s fifth time going over 100 yards rushing in his career and the Aggies are 5-0 in such games.

In a league where every game and every yard counts, Texas A&M would be wise to ride the big shoulders of Moss going forward, as his physical running style will help stabilize the Aggies’ inconsistent offense. With Reed still figuring things out, Moss’s production and energy should help get A&M’s offense get back on track and be more consistent in the future.

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Each SEC team will have 3 annual rivalry opponents while facing every other SEC program once every 2 years. Every school still must schedule at least 1 nonconference opponent from the ACC, Big Ten or Big 12 conference or Notre Dame each season, as everything is part of a formula to give SEC schools the best chances to make the College Football Playoff.

With Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Arkansas as its built-in rivals, Texas is set up nicely in the SEC mix, which should bode well for the Longhorns over the next 4 seasons. Combined this with the fact Texas has some talented recruiting classes on the horizon coming to Austin and it’s easy to see why the Longhorns can be viewed as a realistic perennial threat to make the Playoff for the next few years.

Here are 3 reasons why Texas is a winner of the new SEC scheduling format:

1. Familiarity breeds comfortability

With Texas still being one of the new kids on the SEC block, it could have easily been given a rival combination with schools it doesn’t historically play often. That would make things more difficult than currently constructed. By being given the trio of Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Arkansas, Texas has 3 teams it has played 80 times or more in school history and the Longhorns keep their 2 biggest rivals consistently on their schedule.

With its game against Oklahoma always a neutral-site game in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl, Texas gets the underrated benefit of never having to play on the road at more than 1 rival school a year. Although the home-field advantages of Kyle Field and Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium aren’t what they were about a decade ago, you won’t find many SEC teams voluntarily signing up to play at both places in the same season.

2. Texas Can Keep Recruiting At A High Level

Since Steve Sarkisian arrived on “The Forty Acres” 4 years ago, Texas has produced a top-10 recruiting class every cycle. Sarkisian has been so dominant on the recruiting trail, Texas is in the mix to have the top overall recruiting class for the 2025 and 2026 cycles.

By having the SEC trio of rivals they got — specifically Oklahoma and A&M — Sarkisian and company will have another pitch to get recruits’ attention while on the recruiting trail.

It’s a very well-known fact in recruiting circles in the South, and specifically in Texas, that many kids come to Texas to be part of the Texas-OU and the Texas-Texas A&M rivalries. Thanks to the SEC’s decision makers, this remains the case and indirectly gives the Longhorns a small advantage when it comes to recruiting because Texas will get future talented players to stay in the Lone Star State and come to Austin just to play in these 2 big rivalry games each season.

3. Texas Dodges The SEC Big Boys

Before Texas entered the SEC, many people across the Lone Star State questioned out loud if the Longhorns could consistently compete with Alabama, Georgia and LSU on a yearly basis. Thanks to this new scheduling format, Texas will not have more than 2 of the 3 powerhouse programs who have won the last 11 SEC championships on its schedule in a calendar year.

In 2026 and 2028, the Longhorns play LSU, with only 1 trip to Death Valley in 2026 and play Alabama and Georgia in 2027 and 2029, but get 1 game in Austin each year and a trip to Tuscaloosa and Athens in 2027 and 2029, respectively. One of the best things about the SEC is you can’t hide from anyone, and have to see everyone, as the best plays the best no matter what the sport.

In the big picture, despite Texas being the new kid on the block, the Longhorns are more than ready to take on the SEC gauntlet of talented teams year after year thanks to their NIL resources, high-level recruiting and the school’s commitment to making Texas the national powerhouse. The scheduling just let Sark and company know which difficult path they must travel each season to get in the Playoff in efforts to end their current national championship drought.

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And LSU is off to a nice start in achieving that ranking. But it’s going to take more than a nice performance for the Tigers (4-0 overall, 1-0 in SEC) to beat No. 13 Ole Miss on Saturday in Oxford and prove worthy of their status.

They may well prove to be worthy of that ranking, but looking back on the first third of the schedule, the hype about LSU isn’t based on a whole lot.

If we remove name recognition, reputation and history and look strictly at the numbers, here’s what the Tigers have:

• A victory over a 1-3 team (Clemson)
• A victory over a 3-1 team from Conference USA (Louisiana Tech)
• A victory over another 1-3 team (Florida)
• A victory over a 2-2 FCS team (Southeastern Louisiana)

LSU has yet to score more than 23 points against an FBS opponent.

A win over the Rebels (4-0, 2-0) would be the Tigers’ most significant outcome of the season, and there are a few things they can do along the way that would be especially significant.

They can finally show that they have a championship-caliber running game as they face the No. 120 run defense in the country.

Head coach Brian Kelly said before the season that he was hoping that someone would emerge as the “bell cow” among the running backs. The most likely candidate to do so was Caden Durham, who broke out in Week 3 last season as a freshman, rushing for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns to spur a 36-33 victory at South Carolina.

Durham surged to the head of a running back committee and wound up leading the team with 753 rushing yards and tying for the team lead with 6 rushing touchdowns.

Through 4 games this season, Durham as been the closest thing to a bell cow, leading the team with 52 attempts, but he is listed as questionable for Saturday’s game because of an ankle injury he suffered during the 56-10 home victory against Southeastern Louisiana last Saturday.

Ju’Juan Johnson is second with 16 carries and Harlem Berry has 15. Last week Johnson had a team-high 8 carries (featuring 2 touchdowns), followed by 7 each for Berry and Durham.

Whether Durham or someone else becomes a bell cow, or Kelly never finds one and uses a committee instead, this game should be a turning point for the running game – if a turning point is going to happen.

The Tigers had their most productive game on the ground last week, accumulating a still unimpressive 135 yards, though they did have 4 rushing touchdowns, 2 more than they had in the first 3 games combined.

On average Ole Miss is giving up 190.5 rushing yards per game. An average performance by the Rebels’ run defense would mean a season-best by far for the Tigers’ rush offense.

LSU could also vindicate its ranking if quarterback Garrett Nussmeier plays like the leading candidate for national awards that he is purported to be. He’s a very good player, but he has not been at his best for much of the first 4 weeks.

He ranks No. 74 in the country in passing efficiency, behind both Rebels quarterbacks (Austin Simmons and Trinidad Chambliss). Kelly revealed last week that Nussmeier has been playing through a torso injury, though the coach downplayed its effect on Nussmeier’s play.

Though the opposition was last week was weak, Nussmeier had season-highs in completion percentage (80.6%, 25-for-31), passing yards (273) and touchdown passes (3) and ran for his first touchdown of the season.

One of the areas in which the Tigers have performed to the level of their ranking is on defense, where they rank No. 9 in the country in scoring (9.25 points per game) and No. 17 in total yards (246.2 yards per game).

They will be tested much more this week than they have been previously. Ole Miss is No. 9 in the country in total offense (543 yards per game) and No. 12 in scoring (44.8).

LSU might well be an elite team that will be a serious national championship contender.

We’ll have a better idea after Saturday.

The post How LSU can prove it deserves the hype against Ole Miss appeared first on Saturday Down South.

I hope, and I fully expect, that Mike Bobo and the Georgia offense will chin-check Alabama’s front 7 early, forcing them to prove that they can slow the Bulldogs’ power run game, which Georgia used to control much of the second half (namely, by keeping Joey Aguilar and the Vols’ offense off the field) of its wild win in Knoxville. Georgia’s going to hit them with inside zone, it’s going to hit them with Duo — both interior run concepts designed more to create an immediate push and keep an offense ahead of schedule than to break big plays — and it’s going to test Alabama’s manhood to see if this Tide team is up for a 4-quarter, physical war.

If Georgia’s able to establish those base run plays early and then open up the playbook from there, this one could play out in a similar manner as Bama’s loss in Tallahassee, where quarterback Ty Simpson was forced to play from behind in a low-possession game where Alabama’s defense was often unable to get off the field.

Alabama’s ticket to hanging in this one is showing a completely different version of itself in run defense. The Tide need to fight Georgia’s run game to at least a stalemate of 2- and 3-yard, dog-pile runs — as opposed to 5- and 6-yard drive-starters — and they need to force quarterback Gunner Stockton to do it again and stack another big-time performance in another big-game environment.

(Curiously, Stockton’s actually been better away from Sanford Stadium than he has between the hedges early on in his Georgia career. Interesting trend to monitor.)

Alabama’s winning formula also includes testing — and winning against — talented but relatively young Georgia defensive backs that were victimized downfield by Tennessee.

Georgia’s ticket? Be itself. Lean on a deep, talented stable of running backs, use Stockton’s legs in intelligent spots (Bobo did this oh so deftly in Knoxville), get the ball out quickly to playmakers like Zach Branch and Dillon Bell, and utilize an improving downfield passing game to punish Alabama’s safeties for crashing down to combat a (hopefully) bruising run game.

Brass tacks: I love Georgia in this game… but damn, how many times have we, as Georgia fans, said that in this series? The deciding factors are that I think Georgia’s the more physical team, and that this one’s between the damn hedges, at night.

I’ll cop to it: Sanford can be a bit sleepy at noon. It ain’t sleepy at night.

If the Dawgs establish an effective run game early and Stockton can settle in behind it, Ty Simpson and the Bama offense are going to have to play a whale (an elephant?) of a game to get it done in Athens and extend the Tide’s run of dominance in this series.

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Greene, a 6-foot-4, 320-pound lineman, is currently classified as a redshirt junior on Georgia’s roster. In prior seasons, he has been a key player for the Bulldogs. In 2024, he appeared in 11 games and made 9 starts. In 2023, he started at left tackle in all 14 games, helping Georgia’s offensive line achieve one of the lowest sack rates in the SEC (0.93 sacks allowed per game, according to the teams website).

With an impactful player like Greene likely out, this is a potentially huge loss for the Bulldogs ahead of a top 25 matchup against Alabama, who currently leads Georgia in the all-time series (44-26-4). If Greene is unable to play, Georgia will have to reshuffle its offensive front against a formidable Alabama defensive front–a matchup that already promises to be physical – especially considering the right side of Georgia’s offensive line has already struggle this season.

Since the 2024 season, SEC football teams release four availability reports per week leading up to a conference game. This schedule is mandatory only for conference matchups. The reporting schedule for a Saturday SEC football game is as follows: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 90 minutes before kickoff.

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Although the Longhorns have a lot of work to do to become the team many people thought they could be in the preseason, it is way too early to count Texas out of the College Football Playoff at this point. Here are 3 big reasons Texas will make the Playoff for the third-consecutive season.

1. A Championship-Level Defense

As much criticism as Texas’s offense has faced, the defense should get just as much, if not more, praise as they’ve played at an elite level in every game this season, including their season-opening loss to Ohio State. Through 4 games, the Longhorns’ defense is only allowing 7.7 points per game while holding opponents to a very respectable 212 total yards a game.

Thanks to their consistent play, the Longhorns defense is ranked second overall in the SEC, behind only Oklahoma, and ranks in the top 4 for total yards allowed per game, sacks and interceptions. In the big picture, all these stats might be meaningless due to the level of competition, but they do set the tone for SEC play, which starts in Week 6 at Florida.

No matter if you are Florida, Oklahoma, Georgia, Texas A&M or any other future opponent of Texas, you know coming in you must keep the Longhorns under 20 points just to compete with them. If you think that’s an exaggeration, all one must look at is this key fact — since joining the SEC in 2024, Texas has scored 20 or more points in 16 games and has won all 16 games.

With every SEC opponent on the schedule except Vanderbilt and Texas A&M, who both come to Austin, bringing suspect offenses to the party, Texas can easily ride its championship-caliber defense back to the Playoff promised land.

2. Everybody Texas needs to beat is on the schedule

A blessing and a curse of playing in the SEC is that, every Saturday, odds are you’re going to play against a Top 25 opponent. For Texas, this is exactly what the doctor ordered as their schedule allows them to realistically stay in the college football playoff hunt just like they did last season.

Currently 4 of the Longhorns’ 8 SEC opponents are ranked in the Top 20, with Oklahoma, Georgia and Texas A&M each ranked in the Top 10, ahead of them. Thanks to this difficult schedule, the path for Texas to get into the Playoff is very direct and simple.

They must run the gauntlet of games against opponents outside of the Top 10 and find a way to sweep their rivalry games against Oklahoma and A&M or split their rivalry series and find a way to take down Georgia in Athens for the first time in program history. No matter if your are a Texas supporter or hater, the Longhorns still control their destiny. Will it be easy? No. But the path is certainly still there.

3. Steve Sarkisian is a good bet to get the offense back on track

To date, Texas has only played in 9 SEC games and has won every one of them except the 2 losses to Georgia last season. The offense is struggling this year, sure, but Steve Sarkisian‘s track record of play-calling prowess must still be taken into account.

After learning under the great Nick Saban in 2019 and 2020, Sark has a knack for staying a step or 2 ahead of most of the SEC’s talented defensive coordinators. In big road wins against Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Texas A&M last season, Sark’s play calling directly led to victories as he kept all 3 teams off balance most of the game which led to Texas being able to pull through and grab its 3 biggest road wins in SEC action.

With Manning improving while developing his dynamic skill set, Sark’s knack for calling great games which turn into big wins will play a role in whether or not the Longhorns grab their third-consecutive Playoff berth.

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As a result, many people in Austin and Longhorn Nation have major concerns about the redshirt sophomore as Texas starts the heart of its SEC schedule in just 2 weeks with a big game on the road at The Swamp in Gainesville. The reason fans and pundits alike are on red alert about the Manning situation is simple — if he doesn’t figure it out and play better, the team who entered the season ranked No. 1 in the nation will miss the College Football Playoff for the first time in the last 3 years.

With 1 more nonconference tune up game left on the schedule against Sam Houston on Saturday, here are a couple of things Manning must improve upon to change the trajectory of his season and legacy:

Keeping It Simple While Improving Accuracy

After completing 67% of passes in spot duty last season and coming into the Texas program highly touted for being one of most accurate high school quarterbacks in recent memory, it’s been very odd to see Manning be so inaccurate. Currently, Manning has completed a head scratching 55% of his passes while only completing 47 of his 85 pass attempts through 3 games.

No matter if the throws are short or deep, Manning has consistently been high and away or high and long on a chunk of his passing attempts this season. Just last week against UTEP, things got so bad he threw 10 consecutive incompletions while getting booed loudly by the Austin faithful.

A big way to fix this problem would be to give Manning dink and dunk passes where he can find a rhythm early and, if things aren’t available, he can take off running freely so that he’s playing football and not thinking football. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has an impeccable reputation of getting quarterbacks straightened out and his process is to be trusted, but this current Arch Manning situation must be handled differently than how coach Sark has done things in the past.

Instead of calling more shot plays and go balls to try to get Manning in rhythm, Sark should scrap almost everything and call simple drag and crossing routes until Manning proves he comfortable enough to take the 50-yard shot passes down the field he’s more than capable of completing.

The “Keep It Simple” method must be put on full display if Manning is going to have any chance of reclaiming his accuracy this season.

Arch must get his swag back

Despite saying all the right (and cliché) things, owning up and taking full responsibility for his lackluster play so far this season, Manning’s body language on the field is not displaying the confidence needed to be great. This must be addressed ASAP if Texas is going to have any realistic chance to come out of the SEC as champion this season.

Unlike last year, we haven’t seen the choreographed gestures and dances with teammates which defined Manning’s sophomore year in his abbreviated role. Many times, he comes to the sidelines with a perplexed look on his face while looking like an athlete who is uncomfortable rather than a player who is the star of the show.

Having swag doesn’t determine if a player is going to be great or not, but for some players, it’s a part of their athletic DNA and Manning proved last year it’s a part of his. Nobody has fun while struggling, but a loose, more carefree approach by Manning should help him slow down and turn things around instead of being sped up and consistently rushing his delivery, which is playing a big role in his current struggles.

In the big picture, Arch Manning is too talented and prepared to struggle this way all season long. My advice to Texas fans and people around the nation who keep Manning under the microscope is simple. To quote Aaron Rodgers from his time with the Packers: “R-E-L-A-X” and give the kid a realistic timeline to figure things out before forming concrete conclusions.

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The win ended A&M’s 13-game road losing streak against ranked opponents, was its first win over Notre Dame since 2001 and, more importantly, improved the Aggies to 3-0 and to the No. 10 spot in the AP rankings. With very winnable back-to-back home games coming up against Mississippi State and Florida, the Aggies have the foundation and potential to have their best season since joining the SEC.

Here’s a list of the 3 most dangerous games left on Texas A&M’s schedule, as the Aggies must find a way to win in Baton Rouge and Austin, where they haven’t won since 1994 and 2010, respectively if they want to play in their first ever College Football Playoff.

1. Must Deal With Death Valley Demons

With in-state rival Texas a huge question mark, A&M’s biggest game left on the schedule might be a road game against LSU, who currently is ranked No. 3 in the AP Poll. Despite beating LSU last year 38-23 in College Station, odds are A&M will head into the game as major underdogs due to its horrendous play at Tiger Stadium in recent seasons.

Since joining the SEC in 2013, the Aggies have never beaten the Tigers in “Death Valley” and have been outscored by an average of 19.6 points per game in 6 visits to Baton Rouge. If the Aggies want a legit chance at a College Football Playoff berth and proof they are officially back on the national scene they must conquer their Tiger Stadium demons and beat a talented LSU team.

Despite making the throw of the game in the big win over Notre Dame, quarterback Marcel Reed must play better and be more consistent in big road games going forward if Texas A&M plans on repeating the feat. On Oct. 25 he will have his biggest opportunity to prove he’s legitimately the guy to return to A&M the promised land, because a win over LSU would springboard A&M up the polls while quite possibly solidifying Reed as a Heisman candidate.

2. The Lone Star Showdown Is A Must Win

After renewing its rivalry with Texas after a 13-year hiatus last season, A&M produced one of its most disappointing games of the 2024 season while losing to its bitter rival 17-7 in College Station last November. This season, redemption is a must for the Aggies.

No matter what craziness might be going on in Austin come November, the Aggies must find a way to beat the Longhorns on the road just like they did Notre Dame if they want a realistic chance to play in the SEC Championship Game and College Football Playoff. Even if Texas is struggling at that time, a win over a rival like the Longhorns should solidify one of A&M’s best seasons since joining the SEC, put on stamp on the Aggies as the best football team in Texas and give them a direct shot to win the school’s first national title since 1939.

With “The Lone Star Showdown” being the last regular season game of the season and with A&M off to a perfect start with a relatively soft schedule ahead of it, this could be the program-defining win the Aggies have desperately been searching for. A road win over Texas would prove A&M is a program to be reckoned with now and going forward while giving concrete proof Mike Elko is right man for Aggie Land after a rough finish following a promising start in 2024.

3. Beware Of The Gamecocks

Although South Carolina is one of the few SEC teams A&M has owned since joining the conference, the Aggies need to be on upset alert when the Gamecocks come to College Station in November.

Currently the Aggies have a 9-2 series advantage over the Gamecocks since 2014 and have won every matchup at Kyle Field. Despite history being on their side, they must be prepared for the challenges South Carolina will give them this season, as their aggressive defense led by All-American Dylan Stewart and the dynamic quarterback play of sophomore sensation LaNorris Sellers will be a problem.

A&M must find a way to beat a quality at home when it’s expected, which is something it has struggled with mightily since Johnny Manziel and Mike Evans left in 2013.

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Game of the Week: Auburn at Oklahoma (-6.5)

The stakes: Who gets to keep their job? The conference opener is always a tone-setter for the rest of the season, but in this case the tone is a bell tolling for the losing coach.

Hugh Freeze and Brent Venables share more than just the hot seat. After presiding over losing records in 2024 — including identical 2-6 finishes in the SEC standings — both coaches found themselves facing steep schedules in ’25 with rosters that rank a notch or two below the league’s elite and rapidly shrinking margins for error. Responding to dismal returns on offense, both staked their future on a wild-card quarterback transfer with intriguing selling points and just as many question marks.

Heisman favorite John Mateer arrived at Oklahoma last winter fresh off a prolific but obscure campaign at Washington State, where he put up eye-opening numbers against mostly marginal competition. Venables bet the farm on Mateer and his former Wazzu offensive coordinator, Ben Arbuckle-, and got out of the way. The guy Mateer replaced in Norman, Jackson Arnold, entered the portal from the opposite direction — a bust by any measure as OU’s starter, but still a 5-star talent whose best performance by far in 2024 spoiled Alabama’s Playoff push in late November. Who better for Freeze to ride or die with in a do-or-die year than a dual-threat with a verified ambush of Bama?

From the moment he landed at Auburn, this date was destined to be billed as the Jackson Arnold Grudge Match, whether Arnold actually feels that way about it or not. (For now, he says not. If Auburn wins in the stadium where he was unceremoniously benched exactly 1 year ago, I’d bet by Saturday evening he’ll be saying something else.) Beyond the personal stakes, though, both sides have a lot riding on getting off on the right foot in conference play. The winners will emerge 4-0, with Playoff hopes intact and a significant cushion against the negativity that quickly descended on both programs last year. The losers will be on their heels with a difficult schedule looming — a brutal schedule, in Oklahoma’s case — and the murmur of torches and pitchforks in the distance. It’s a long year, but the team that starts off in the wrong direction risks finding it very difficult to reverse course.

The stat: 17.1%

That’s the 3rd-down conversion rate of opposing offenses against Oklahoma’s defense, the lowest rate in the SEC and 4th-best nationally. The Sooners have allowed just 7 conversions on 41 attempts, including holding Michigan to 3-for-14 on 3rd down in their Week 2 win over the Wolverines.

In fact, for all the attention on Oklahoma’s revamped offense, the defense is off to a dominant start across the board. Through 3 weeks, the Sooners also lead the SEC in total defense, scoring defense, passing defense, pass efficiency defense, yards per play allowed, available yards allowed and red-zone defense, having yet to allow a touchdown on 3 red-zone opportunities. (So far, the only touchdown OU has allowed in any context was the 75-yard run by Michigan’s Justice Haynes on the first play of the second half.) The only column they haven’t dominated: Takeaways. Unusually for a Brent Venables unit, Oklahoma is the only SEC defense that has yet to record a turnover.

The big question: Does Oklahoma have a functional offensive line?

This time last year, the Sooners made the trip to Auburn with a single healthy wide receiver remaining from the preseason 2-deep. This year, the plague has struck the o-line.

The opening-day starter at center, 5th-year senior Troy Everett, is out for the season with a knee injury. His backup, Stanford transfer Jake Maikkula, is listed as “questionable.” The opening-day starter at left tackle, senior Jacob Sexton, has missed the past 2 games and remains out indefinitely; his backup, true freshman Michael Fasusi, is listed as questionable (ankle) after sitting out last week’s trip to Temple. Senior guard Febechi Nwaiwu, the most experienced OL on the roster and the only one who has started all three games, is questionable. Third-string center Owen Hollenbeck, a true freshman in line for his first career start in place of Maikkula, is banged up himself (listed as probable). Veteran tackle Jake Taylor is out indefinitely.

The upshot: All 5 stations could be manned on Saturday by a different starter than in the opener, a remarkable rate of attrition in just a few weeks. Despite an abundance of experienced options coming into the season, the starting 5 could plausibly feature 3 true freshmen: Fasusi at left tackle, Hollenbeck at center (pending the status of Maikkula), and Ryan Fodje at right guard (pending the status of Nwaiwu). The initial outlook this week was optimistic for Fasusi, a 5-star rated as the No. 1 incoming tackle in the 2025 class. He’ll be a fixture on the blind side soon enough. But for now, opposite Keldric Faulk and the rest of a fully stocked Auburn d-line, that is where the optimism ends.

The key matchup: Auburn WR Cam Coleman vs. Oklahoma CB Courtland Guillory

Coleman, one of the most coveted recruits at Auburn in the online rankings era, needs no introduction after breaking out late last year as a freshman. If he’s off to a relatively quiet start in Year 2 (10 catches for 149 yards over the first 3 games), it’s only because the Tigers haven’t been in the market for downfield fireworks in games they’ve largely controlled in the trenches. When they have dialed Coleman’s number, he’s answered, including a 32-yard touchdown in last week’s win over South Alabama with a defender’s hand literally in his face.

With last year’s bout of the dropsies apparently behind him, the only question about Coleman is whether he’s being targeted enough. And with fellow wideout Eric Singleton Jr. nursing a hip pointer, this is the weekend that question figures to be answered early and often.

Guillory, a true freshman rated in the bottom half of Oklahoma’s incoming class, is an unknown by comparison. But maybe not for long. Three games into his OU career, he’s already on the breakout track, replacing injured sophomore Eli Bowen in the starting lineup with no apparent drop-off. Per PFF, 10 attempts in Guillory’s direction this season have yielded just two receptions for 12 yards; against Michigan, he shut out the Wolverines’ top wideout, Donaven McCulley, holding him without a catch on four head-to-head targets. Coleman is a significant step up in degree of difficulty, but based on the early returns Guillory is prepared to give as good as he gets.

The verdict …

It would be nice to know before venturing a pick exactly how many teenage o-linemen are going to be standing between John Mateer and Auburn’s defensive front. But Mateer himself has all the makings of a star. He looked the part in Oklahoma’s Week 2 win over Michigan — that is, like Sooner fans expected Jackson Arnold to look in the same role last year — and is currently accounting for nearly 80% of the team’s total offense as a rusher and passer. The real wild card is Arnold. He impressed with his mobility in Auburn’s Week 1 win at Baylor, and hasn’t set off any alarms in subsequent wins over Ball State and South Alabama. Beating his old team would be a milestone in what could still wind up being a long and productive career. Either way, we’re going to find out exactly how far along he is on that journey.

Prediction: • Oklahoma 28, Auburn 19

Florida at Miami (-9.5)

The Gators are in panic mode over DJ Lagway‘s 5-interception meltdown at LSU, as they should be. In a game the defense did everything it could to give Florida a chance to win, Lagway suddenly looked like a guy on the fast track to Bust City. If he reaches his destination, Billy Napier is toast. The open date on the other side of the trip to Miami already feels ominous.

But the other quarterback in this game, former Georgia QB Carson Beck, has experience singing the INT Blues, too. The last time he faced Florida, he memorably served up 3 interceptions in a game almost no one though would be close, giving the Gators life even after Lagway exited the game in the first half due to injury; Georgia didn’t pull away in the Cocktail Party until late, tacking 2 touchdowns in the final 5 minutes to win 34-20. That was part of an alarming midseason stretch in which Beck was picked a dozen times in a span of 5 games, including losses at Alabama and Ole Miss. He got the giveaways under control down the stretch, but the offense never really found its rhythm again. You can point to many reasons Beck ultimately portaled out of Athens, but in retrospect, the seeds were planted in the Cocktail Party.

Of course, that was last year. This year, Beck is off to a sizzling start as a ‘Cane, with a pair of ranked wins already under his belt over Notre Dame and South Florida — the same South Florida that sent the Gators into their latest tailspin on a walk-off field goal in Week 2. Miami annihilated the Bulls in Week 3, 49-12, with Beck throwing for 340 yards and 3 touchdowns (and, yes, 2 interceptions, his first of the year). Florida’s defense isn’t nearly that flammable, but if Lagway can’t get his worst tendencies under control, it won’t matter.

Prediction: • Miami 30, Florida 17

South Carolina at Missouri (-9.5)

South Carolina upgraded LaNorris Sellers‘ status on Thursday to “probable,” clearing the way for him to play after he was knocked out of last week’s 31-7 loss to Vanderbilt with an apparent concussion. The Gamecocks didn’t score again after Sellers’ exit against Vandy, and it was difficult to see how they were going to manage at Mizzou with Sellers on ice. Assuming he’s back to looking more or less like his usual self, Sellers gives them a chance in the Mayor’s Cup. The update to his status immediately knocked a point off the spread.

Now, the question is how Carolina will hold up against a surging Missouri ground game. The Tigers have finished with multiple 100-yard rushers in each of their past 2 games, with 3 different backs — Ahmad Hardy, Jamal Roberts and Marquise Davis — sharing the honors. Hardy, a sophomore transfer from UL-Monroe, has exceeded very high offseason expectations, piling up 462 yards and 5 touchdowns on 8.1 yards per carry over the first 3 games; the lion’s share of that total came last week in a 250-yard bonanza against Louisiana, the only individual 200-yard rushing by an FBS back so far this season. South Carolina, obviously, represents a stiffer challenge than the Ragin’ Cajuns. But between Hardy, QB Beau Pribula and WR Kevin Coleman Jr., Mizzou’s big-ticket portal additions are already paying off in spades.

Prediction: • Missouri 31, South Carolina 20

Tulane at Ole Miss (-13.5)

Somebody’s got to claim the automatic Playoff slot reserved for the Group of 5. Why not the Green Wave?

The ticket is wide open for the taking. Following USF’s wipeout loss at Miami, only 6 unbeaten teams remain in the G5 ranks, 4 of them from the American Athletic Conference. Out of that group, the clear frontrunners are the usual suspects, Tulane and Memphis, both of which face their stiffest tests of the season this weekend against SEC opponents. (Crucially, they’ll also face off in Memphis on Nov. 7, and potentially again in the AAC Championship Game.) The Wave made a statement in Week 3 in a 34-27 win over Duke, which paid an exorbitant sum to make Tulane’s starting quarterback in 2024, Darian Mensah, a Blue Devil in ’25. That investment did not pay off against his former team.

An upset in Oxford would secure Tulane’s status as a CFP contender with a bullet; if that’s too much to ask, a competitive outing will suffice to keep them in the mix.

Prediction: Ole Miss 35, • Tulane 23

Arkansas (-7.5) at Memphis

Arkansas’ 41-35 loss at Ole Miss in Week 3 felt like a preview of the rest of the Hogs’ season: A gonzo statistical effort by quarterback Taylen Green, signifying nothing opposite a flammable Razorbacks defense. Eight of Arkansas’ 9 offensive possessions in Oxford ended inside the Ole Miss 35-yard line, resulting in 5 touchdowns,2 missed field goals (equaling the final margin in a 6-point loss), and a killer fumble to end the night. For his part, Green accounted for 305 yards passing, 115 more on the ground, 2 touchdowns, and a 96.0 QBR rating, best among SEC starters in Week 3. According to ESPN’s Win Probability metric, the Razorbacks’ chances peaked just before halftime at 37.5%.

It’s just going to be that kind of year. Through 3 weeks, Green ranks No. 1 or No. 2 nationally in total offense, total touchdowns, Total QBR and EPA, as well as rushing yards by a quarterback. Even at that pace, though, at this point the best the Hogs can hope for is that it’s enough juice to put them on the right side of enough shootouts to eke out a trip to a bowl game — likely with an interim head coach at the helm.

Prediction: • Arkansas 36, Memphis 24

UAB at Tennessee (-38.5)

Fewer championship-winning quarterbacks go on to become successful coaches than you might assume. This game features two exceptions: Tennessee’s Josh Heupel is 1 of only 2 active head coaches (along with UCF’s Scott Frost) whose résumé includes a national championship as a starting quarterback, and UAB’s Trent Dilfer is the only active head coach who has even taken a snap in a Super Bowl. In fact, Heupel and Dilfer won their respective rings in the same month, January 2001, in championship games hosted by the same state: Florida, which was also then at the center of a national imbroglio over hanging chads. If you’re too young to get that reference, might I recommend some light garbage time reading that I guarantee will be more enlightening than anything happening in Neyland Stadium.

Prediction: • Tennessee 52, UAB 10

Sam Houston at Texas (-39.5)

Texas would like to put the Arch Manning Discourse to bed (or at least down for a nap) heading into an open date in Week 5. One way to accomplish that would be to defy the haters, let Arch cook against an outmanned opponent, and hold your breath he doesn’t set off the smoke alarms for the second week in a row. Another would be to put him in oven mitts and call 55 handoffs in an effort to limit the potential for scrutiny for the next couple weeks. Or they could just, like, run a normal game plan that balances run and pass as usual and doesn’t acknowledge outside expectations at all. But where is the narrative potential in that?

Prediction: Texas 41, • Sam Houston 7

Georgia State at Vanderbilt (-27.5)

Georgia State dealt Vandy its only nonconference loss in 2024, a wild, 36-32 decision featuring 5 4th-quarter touchdowns and 2 lead changes in the final minute-and-a-half. At that point, the Commodores were still at the beginning of their ascent from the basement, and losing to a rando outfit from the Sun Belt merely set them back a step or two before they finally barged their way into the kitchen a few weeks later against Alabama. A year later, the ‘Dores are ranked, coming off back-to-back blowouts over Virginia Tech and South Carolina, and looking forward to a Week 6 rematch at Bama with actual stakes. If they’re not 5-0 going into Tuscaloosa, this time it will be a sincere disappointment.

Prediction: Vanderbilt 34, • Georgia State 13

Northern Illinois at Mississippi State (-21.5)

When the Bulldogs put Northern Illinois on the schedule, they were signing up for an easy win over a nondescript MAC doormat. Lately, though, NIU hasn’t made anything easy: Dating back to last season, the Huskies’ past 14 games have all been decided by 14 points or less, with their largest margin of defeat in that span coming by just 11 points. That run includes their historic, 16-14 win at Notre Dame last September; a competitive, 24-17 loss at NC State a few weeks later; a 20-9 loss at Maryland in Week 2 of this year; and 4 others games in the meantime decided by 3 points or less or in overtime. Mississippi State, still basking in its dramatic Week 2 upset over Arizona State, is feeling pretty good about itself and its prospects for bowl eligibility as it wraps up the nonconference slate. But before they take 4-0 for granted, the Bulldogs had better strap in for a 4-quarter fight.

Prediction: Mississippi State 31, • Northern Illinois 14

SE Louisiana at LSU (n/a)

LSU’s wins over Clemson and Florida were arguably its 2 best defensive performances since the pandemic. Now the problem is the offense. Not that hanging a fat number on an FCS patsy will solve any of the Tigers’ problems, but if Brian Kelly can get through a postgame press conference without feeling compelled to challenge a reporter to step inside the octagon, he’ll take it.

Prediction: LSU 48, SE Louisiana 3

Scoreboard

Week 3 record: 10-2 straight-up | 6-5 vs. spread
Season record: 35-8 straight-up | 19-20 vs. spread

The post Week 4 SEC Primer: Auburn-Oklahoma sets the tone for 2 coaches (and 1 QB) squarely on the hot seat appeared first on Saturday Down South.

(Can we admit that Stockton throws a nice deep ball? The kid throws a damn beautiful deep ball.)

That’s intelligent, if not exactly earth-shattering, game planning, and that early haymaker, and a series of other early shots down the field, allowed the Bulldogs’ offense to immediately answer Tennessee’s explosiveness with some explosiveness of its own. Just showing that gear got Tennessee’s defense on its heels, and that allowed the Bulldogs to do what they do best for much of the second half — maul your ass in the run game.

The Bulldogs’ balanced attack, and — if we’re being honest — the stellar play-calling of Mike Bobo, from deft oscillations between shot plays down the field and a 90s-looking power run game to perfectly-timed quarterback run calls, allowed Georgia to fight its way back and ultimately win an all-time thriller in Neyland.

Big-time credit to Tennessee as well. That’s a good team, with a dangerous quarterback, a talented game-planner and play caller, a defense that has warts (partially due to injury, partially because they may just be a little light up front…) but that can also get after you in pass-rushing situations and will make plays this season.

The Vols are going to be a tough out in the SEC.

I’ll cop to it: I expected Tennessee to take a step back this season. The Vols lost a ton of production off last year’s 10-win Playoff team. But Heupel has this program on steady ground for the first time in what feels like decades, and the folks up in Knoxville have to be thrilled about that.

For Georgia, the Dawgs head into their pre-Alabama bye week at 3-0 and undoubtedly in a much better mood than they were following rather uninspiring tune-ups against Marshall and Austin Peay…but if I know one thing about Kirby Smart, it’s that he’s not about to pat these boys on the back and tell them they’re doing swell. He’ll look to use this success as a springboard to demand more, to dangle it as an example of what this team could accomplish if it continues to work, to learn, and to strain.

It’ll be a tough film review for young defensive backs like Ellis Robinson and Daniel Harris, and there’s plenty to clean up in pass protection, particularly on an unsettled right side where veteran starter Earnest Greene tried to give it a go in Knoxville but ultimately had to leave. On top of all that, the reality is this was one (admittedly great) performance from Stockton and the offense. The Dawgs will need to prove capable of stringing several of these performances together in order to accomplish what they want to accomplish this season, and Kirby and defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann aren’t the types to accept that their side of the ball looked like this team’s liability in its first big test of the season.

Alabama also gets a bye this week as the Tide prepare to defend their uniquely stellar record against Smart’s Bulldogs, and they’ve looked considerably better since getting bloodied in Tallahassee in Week 1. Quarterback Ty Simpson, emerging star Germie Bernard, and former 17-year-old Ryan Williams are going to love some of the tape they see from the Tennessee game.

But Smart will be looking for some blood of his own this week — the Dawgs go good-on-good in high-level, physical, “Bloody Tuesday” practices during game weeks, and in this case, they’ll do it on a bye week — and you can bet he’ll be looking to shore up his defensive backs’ understanding of their pattern-match principles, as well as their technique and confidence in playing deep balls in 1-on-1 situations down the field, as the Dawgs prepare to meet their nemesis (well, one of their nemeses…) from that state to the West.

Georgia bagged itself a massive road win against a dangerous team last week, but the hallmark of Smart’s Bulldogs has been a tenacious mentality that sees them improve throughout the season. We’ll see next Saturday if this team is built the same way.

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1. John Mateer, Oklahoma

In 3 games as a Sooner, Mateer has accounted for roughly 78% of OU’s total offense, easily the highest individual share in the conference and among the highest in the nation. That’s slightly higher even than his 2024 share at Washington State, which came in at 75% in the regular season. (He didn’t play in the Cougars’ bowl game.) I would say it’s unsustainably high, especially over the course of a fully loaded SEC schedule. But then, it’s early still to be imposing limits on what the Heisman betting favorite might be capable of.

Last week: 1

2. Taylen Green, Arkansas

Arkansas’ 41-35 loss at Ole Miss felt like a preview of the rest of Green’s season: A gonzo statistical effort signifying nothing opposite a flammable Razorbacks defense. All but 1 of the Hogs’ 9 offensive possessions in Oxford ended inside the Ole Miss 35-yard line, resulting in 5 touchdowns, 2 missed field goals (equaling the final margin in a 6-point loss), and a killer fumble to end the night. For his part, Green accounted for 305 yards passing, 115 more on the ground, 2 touchdowns and a 96.0 QBR rating, best among SEC starters in Week 3. According to ESPN’s Win Probability metric, Arkansas’ chances peaked just before halftime at 37.5%.

Looks like it’s just gonna be that kind of year. Through 3 weeks, Green ranks No. 1 or 2 nationally in total offense, total touchdowns, Total QBR and EPA, as well as rushing yards by a quarterback. Even at that pace, though, at this point the best the Hogs can hope for is that it’s enough juice to put them on the right side of enough shootouts to eke out a trip to a bowl game — likely with an interim head coach at the helm.

Last week: 5

3. Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt

Pavia is never going to break the bank statistically, or suddenly wake up one morning as a first-round prospect. He just keeps getting the job done. Saturday’s 31-7 romp at South Carolina was his 7th win at Vandy in a game the ‘Dores were tabbed as underdogs, and the most convincing. It was Vanderbilt’s first win by 20+ points over an SEC opponent since 2018; first win in an SEC opener since 2011; and first road win over a ranked opponent since 2007. On Sunday, Vandy debuted at No. 20 in the AP poll, its highest ranking at any point since the 2008 team climbed to No. 13 on the strength of a 5-0 start.

The ’08 team turned out to be a forgettable outfit that went on to finish unranked after losing 6 of its last 8 . This team? TBD. But the outlook is certainly better than “forgettable.” If nothing else, after outscoring Virginia Tech and South Carolina by a combined 65-7 over the last 6 quarters — both on the road — the underdog narrative is giving way to straight-up respect. ESPN’s Football Power Index gives Vandy a 27.8% chance to make the Playoff! (ESPNBet lists Vandy’s odds to make the Playoff at +1100.) And that number is only going to keep going up over the next few weeks, with presumptive wins over Georgia State and Utah State clearing the way to 5-0 heading into a Week 6 grudge match at Alabama. As it is, just getting the Commodores to the point where they can look forward to a meaningful October game at Bama as anything other than spoilers might have already clinched Pavia’s case for the title of best quarterback in school history.

Last week: 4

4. Garrett Nussmeier, LSU

Brian Kelly made a point of dressing down a reporter on Saturday night for leading off the postgame press conference with a question about the Tigers’ struggles on offense. Which, fine: A 10-point win over Florida is worth defending on its own terms. (Again, that margin covered the point spread.) LSU’s defense is vastly improved and has held all 3 opponents to date to a single touchdown. Harold Perkins Jr.’s return from a torn ACL in 2024 along with key portal additions in the secondary have had the intended effect so far.

But Kelly protests too much, probably because on some level he recognizes that, for a team with championship ambitions, the offense is a red flag. LSU ranks last or next-to-last in the SEC in total offense, scoring offense, rushing offense, pass efficiency, yards per play and red-zone touchdown percentage. Nussmeier, a would-be Heisman candidate, has attempted more passes than any other SEC quarterback, but ranks at or near the bottom of the conference in touchdowns (3), yards per attempt (6.5), and passer rating (125.3). Confounding, considering last season he easily became the latest Tiger to throw for 3,000 yards and just the 2nd to top 4,000. His lowlight reel on Saturday night was nothing compared to, say, DJ Lagway’s (see below), but it did include an egregious interception that snuffed out a potential scoring drive in the 4th quarter. For a fi5thfth-year senior, it was inexcusable.

Seventeen points in a defensively driven win at Clemson? No complaints. But the opener remains the Tigers’ best outing. In Week 2, they settled for 23 points against a 37.5-point underdog, Louisiana Tech. In Week 3, LSU managed just 10 first downs against Florida, didn’t score after halftime, and had no ground game to speak of until sophomore RB Caden Durham popped a 51-yard gain on what was effectively the last snap of the game. That run alone doubled LSU’s rushing total for the night up to that point.

One thing the offense has going for it: Plenty of options at wideout, even if they’ve yet to make much impact as a group. Another thing: They’ve kept Nussmeier relatively clean. Per PFF, he’s faced the lowest pressure rate to date of any SEC starter despite the departure of both of last year’s starting tackles for the NFL Draft. Eventually — like, say a Week 5 trip to Ole Miss — they’re going to need their supposed strengths to start generating actual results.

Last week: 2

5. Gunner Stockton, Georgia

Lots of movement in the rankings this week as speculation yields to actual results. The biggest riser: Stockton, on the strength of a breakout afternoon in Georgia’s instant-classic, 44-41 win at Tennessee in his first road start. Stockton’s only previous entry against an above-the-fold opponent, a 23-10 loss to Notre Dame in last year’s Playoff quarterfinals, was a dud. With the game on the line in Knoxville, he was a revelation:

Besides the high drama of that moment – a clutch, game-saving dime on 4th-and-6 in defiance of 100,000 braying partisans summoning every ounce of psychic energy they could muster to prevent it – the throw itself was as pure as they come. Up to that point, it wasn’t clear that Stockton had it in him. As usual, much of Georgia’s passing game was an extension of its running game: Altogether, 13 of his 23 completions came on attempts aimed behind the line of scrimmage, including his only other touchdown pass, a quick screen that Zachariah Branch and his perimeter blockers turned into a 36-yard TD. Per PFF, output on screens alone accounted for more than a third of Stockton’s 304 passing yards; no wonder his mediocre PFF grade (66.1) came in much lower than his stellar numbers in terms of passer rating (177.9) and QBR (93.1).

So, arm-wise, Stockton obviously has a lot more in common with Stetson Bennett than with Matt Stafford. Nothing wrong with that. As long as he’s capable of pulling out the dagger when he needs it, Bennett-worthy results are on the table.

Last week: 13

6. Marcel Reed, Texas A&M

If the ending had gone just a little differently – if, say, Notre Dame hadn’t botched a late PAT that prevented a 6-point lead from becoming 7, or a crucial defensive holding penalty against the Irish on 3rd-and-16 hadn’t extended Texas A&M’s final drive, or the Aggies’ last-gasp, do-or-die lob into the end zone had fallen incomplete – Reed’s performance at Notre Dame might just as easily have been noted for its inconsistency: He finished just 17-for-37 overall, and 2-for-9 on attempts of 20+ air yards, with a costly interception in the mix. PFF charged him with 4 “turnover-worthy” plays and a career-low 51.8 overall grade.

For once, though, the big swings did go A&M’s way, and instead of the latest in a long series of what-ifs the Aggies earned their most satisfying road win since Heisman winner Johnny Manziel beat Bama. When Reed did connect, it counted: His 17 completions netted 21.2 yards a pop, including big-play strikes on all 5 of A&M’s touchdown drives. (Only one of which came after halftime: The 13-play, 74-yard march to win.) His upgraded wide receivers had a lot to do with that, especially Mississippi State transfer Mario Craver, who generated 137 yards’ worth of YAC alone. But any lingering doubts about whether Mike Elko made the right choice last winter in sticking with Reed over former 5-star Conner Weigman or a big-ticket transfer are receding fast.
– – –
Last week: 8

7. Joey Aguilar, Tennessee

The final score didn’t go his way, but Vols fans who bought low on Aguilar’s stock prior to Saturday’s 371-yard, 4-touchdown performance against Georgia were vindicated. He was on fire in the early going, connecting on his first 14 passes in a 21-point opening quarter. After Georgia rallied to take the lead, he responded in tit-for-tat fashion with go-ahead touchdown passes on consecutive drives in the 3rd and 4th. And after the Dawgs tied the game late in a moment of high drama (see above), Aguilar cooly oversaw the 14-play, 50-yard drive that put Tennessee in position to win with a walk-off field goal. If the ensuing kick had sailed through the uprights, they’d be stamping his face on license plates. 

It wasn’t all good: The lowlight reel included 2 interceptions amid a sustained drought in the middle quarters. But as for the big question – can an obscure, 24-year-old journeyman from the G5 ranks whom no one in the state of Tennessee had ever heard of 6 months ago be a viable starter for a team thinking Playoff? – the initial answer is yes. Aguilar looked the part. He was comfortable on the big stage, across from the most talented roster in the college game. The Vols were comfortable putting one of the defining games of their season in his hands. He was at his best throwing downfield (5-for-6 on attempts of 20+ air yards, per PFF) and under pressure (all 4 touchdown passes came at the expense of a UGA blitz). He came in as a wild cards, and left as a future pro.

Just as important as far as the locals were concerned, Aguilar’s emergence allowed the Vols to ring the victory bell in the offseason breakup that resulted in their ex, Nico Iamaleava, forcing Aguilar out as QB1 at UCLA. Even before Saturday, much of the enthusiasm for Aguilar’s fast start in Knoxville was plainly a jilted response to Iamaleava’s departure by a fan base that – despite their financial and emotional investment in him over the previous 2 years, and despite his 11-3 record as a starter – is eager to prove they’re better off without him. 

They might actutally be, and as a bonus they’ve enjoyed more than their fair share of schadenfreude over Iamaleava’s miserable start as a Bruin. Three weeks in, UCLA has yet to win a game or come particularly close, getting outscored by a combined 108-43 over the course of an 0-3 start. Iamaleava still hasn’t taken a snap with a lead. A nationally televised, 35-10 debacle against New Mexico in a mostly empty Rose Bowl last Friday night was the end of the road for head coach DeShaun Foster, who officially walked the plank Monday with a 5-10 record and a $7 million buyout to show for it. The program is at a dead stop with no identity, dwindling support, and not much to offer the next coach except a vague pitch about living/recruiting in L.A. 

It’s not out of the question that the Bruins will finish the season winless, especially if players (including possibly Iamaleava) take Foster’s exit as a cue to shut it down ahead of the 4-game deadline for preserving a redshirt. The 30-day window for portaling out following a coaching change is wide open. Even if Iamaleava plays out the string, the odds that Nico remains in the fold in 2026 are somewhere between slim and none. Wherever he winds up next, it certainly won’t be with his people dictating the terms of a big payday. 

Could Aguilar have singlehandedly saved the day if he’d remained a Bruin? Hardly. He’d be going down with the ship out there, coming and going while barely leaving a trace. But is there anyone in Tennessee who spent 2024 waiting for the light to come on for Iamaleava – and waiting, and waiting, all the way through the excruciating Playoff exit at Ohio State – who still regrets how things turned out? After Saturday, not a chance. Aguilar has a long way to go to get the Vols back to the CFP, especially if there are more games ahead where 38 points in regulation isn’t enough. He also just supplied more juice against the best team on the schedule than Iamaleava did all of last season. If they’d watched exactly the same performance by Nico, they’d be saying it was the one they’d been waiting for all along.

Last week: 12

8. Beau Pribula, Missouri

Pribula continues to look right at home at Mizzou, but Saturday’s 52-10 win over Louisiana was the kind of massacre where the quarterback was merely an accessory to the crime. Offensively, the Tigers racked up 427 rushing on 62 carries, their largest single-game total on the ground since 2017. Defensively, they held the short-handed Ragin’ Cajuns to 4 first downs, 2 completed passes and 121 total yards – 84 of which came on this play.

Last week: 9

9. Ty Simpson, Alabama

I’m not prepared to declare amnesty for Bama’s opening-day disaster at Florida State just yet. But Saturday’s thorough, 38-14 beatdown of Wisconsin was a giant step toward restoring confidence across the board, and in Simpson, in particular. Coming off a perfect 17-for-17 outing in Week 2 against UL-Monroe, Simpson was merely close to perfect against the Badgers, finishing 24-for-29 for 382 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 turnovers. And 2 of those 5 incompletions were drops.

Not for nothing, the biggest difference between the past 2 weeks and the opener arguably has less to do with Simpson than with his protection. Against FSU, he was under constant duress, especially after falling behind by 2 scores. Against Wisconsin, he and his next-level wideouts seemed to have all the time in the world to run what often amounted to 7-on-7 drills against an outgunned secondary. Per PFF, Simpson was 9-for-11 for 208 yards on attempts of 10+ air yards, and all 4 of his touchdown passes came from a clean pocket.

Of course, the question where the Tide are concerned has never been about their ceiling when things are clicking. It’s about their consistency — especially on the road, where they’ve lost 5 of their past 6 since last October outside of Tuscaloosa. Their next big test on that front comes in 2 weeks in the SEC opener at Georgia. But they’re in a significantly better place heading into Athens now than they were 2 weeks ago.

Last week: 11

10. Jackson Arnold, Auburn

Arnold is off to a fine start in Hugh Freeze’s offense and yadda yadda yadda bring on the Sooners. Auburn’s trip to Oklahoma is 1 of only a small handful of FBS games this season pitting a transfer quarterback against his former team, and the most high-profile, by far. Given the bitter disappointment of Arnold’s OU tenure, a win in Norman would be about as satisfying as it gets.

Last week: 10⬌

11. LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina

South Carolina scored a touchdown on its opening series against Vanderbilt, then didn’t score again after Sellers was knocked out of the game with an apparent concussion.

In Sellers’ absence, the Gamecocks turned to 6th-year utility man Luke Doty, a former quarterback-turned-receiver who saw his first extended action behind center since 2021. Doty looked like a guy shaking off nearly 4 years’ worth of rust, committing 2 turnovers (1 interception, 1 fumble) and generally failing to move the needle in a lopsided loss. That snapped a 16-game winning streak against Vandy dating to 2008, knocking Carolina out of the AP Top 25 in the process. 

Shane Beamer told reporters on Sunday that he’s “optimistic” Sellers will be available for this weekend’s trip to 3-0 Missouri, an absolute must-win for the Gamecocks to salvage any sliver of a chance of pulling off another dark-horse Playoff run. Vanderbilt at home was supposed to be the most winnable game on the conference schedule. An 0-1 start in conference play FPI now puts South Carolina chances of crashing the CFP against a stacked remaining schedule at just 1.2%. If Sellers isn’t back looking like himself at Mizzou, that number effectively drops to zero just 2 games into the conference slate.

Last week: 3

12. Blake Shapen, Mississippi State

Mississippi State’s 63-0 win over Alcorn State was brisk work: The Bulldogs scored 9 touchdowns on just 53 offensive snaps, including 4 TD “drives” of 3 plays or less. Given that much of the damage came on the ground, that didn’t leave many opportunities for Shaken to pad his stats, or for his backups to get in much work in garbage time at all. Next up: One more nonconference layup against Northern Illinois before the SEC slate arrives in full force.

Last week: 14

13. Austin Simmons, Ole Miss

Is Simmons looking over his shoulder? Lane Kiffin says no, but given the chance backup Trinidad Chambliss isn’t going to make it that easy. Chambliss, a dual-threat transfer from the D-II ranks, looked like an emerging folk hero in the Rebels’ shootout win over rival Arkansas, accounting for 415 total yards and 3 touchdowns (1 passing, 2 rushing) while Simmons nursed a sore ankle. Simmons’ only appearance against the Hogs came late in the 2nd quarter, when he replaced Chambliss for a handful of plays in the red zone; he promptly re-aggravated the ankle injury, but still managed to throw a short touchdown pass to a wide-open receiver before returning to the bench for the rest of the night.

Impressive as it was, 1 big game by Chambliss against a sketchy Arkansas defense only counts for so much. As of Monday, Simmons was “doing good,” per Kiffin, and on track to return to the starting lineup this weekend against Tulane. He and his coaches would love to put any lingering doubts about his status to bed. Regardless of whether they’re willing to admit it, though, the margin for error just got a little slimmer.

Last week: 15

14. Arch Manning, Texas

Well, let’s start with the good news: Texas won comfortably against UTEP, 27-10, with Manning accounting for all 3 of the Longhorns’ touchdowns (1 passing, 2 rushing). The bad news: Pretty much every other aspect of his performance against a 6-touchdown underdog that should have been ripe for the picking.

Short of a full-blown, multi-interception meltdown, it was about as unsettling as it could be. On paper, Manning finished 11-for-25, averaged a meager 4.6 yards per attempt, and turned in the worst numbers of any SEC starter in Week 3 in terms of both efficiency (87.5) and QBR (26.5). He was 1-for-7 under pressure, per Pro Football Focus, and a dismal 2/9 on attempts of 10+ air yards, with the majority of his 114 passing yards coming on passes completed behind the line of scrimmage.

The real-time experience was worse — a parade of inaccuracy and bizarre decision-making that made his season-opening flop at Ohio State look crisp by comparison. He missed long, wide and late. His mechanics were a mess, devolving into a sketchy sidearm release that led to inaccuracy and tipped balls. Some viewers continued to wonder if he’s secretly nursing some kind of injury. (If he is, it remains an extremely well-kept secret.) He ignored or just didn’t recognize open receivers, and at one point attempted to improvise a wild, Manziel-esque scramble-drill that ended with a slow-motion disaster of a throw that seemed to hang in the air long enough for a UTEP defender to plot its exact coordinates.

By the end of the first half, the home crowd had seen enough to briefly boo him off the field following 1 of the Longhorns’ 11 failed 3rd-down conversions. The second half was better only in that it was too vanilla for anything to go haywire.

The thing is, as with DJ Lagway at Florida, the locals’ frustration stems from the fact that they’ve seen glimpses of what Manning is capable of, and it ain’t this. In his cameos last September in place of an injured Quinn Ewers, Arch looked confident, accurate and generally like a massively touted prospect with the world at his feet is supposed to look. It’s not like we don’t know the guy can throw the heck out of a football. But aside from a too-little, too-late rally in the 4th quarter at Ohio State, as the undisputed QB1 he has looked tentative and tight under pressure to live up to the hype.

Unlike Lagway, Arch is in a stable situation on a top-10 team with Playoff experience and everything to play for. Texas has 1 more nonconference tune-up against Sam Houston before the SEC opener at Florida. In this case, patience really is a virtue. But so is recalibrating expectations that were clearly too much, too soon.

Last week: 6

15. DJ Lagway, Florida

There are forgettable nights. Then there are nights you only wish you could forget, that threaten to follow you around like a ghost until they’re all anyone can remember. For Lagway, Florida’s 20-10 loss at LSU was the latter. A perfunctory final score obscured a historic meltdown. Making his 10th career start in a must-win game that Florida’s defense gave him every opportunity to win, he melted down: 5 interceptions, each one arguably worse than the last.

The first pick, coming with Florida leading 3-0 midway through the opening quarter, was an ill-advised sideline shot left well short of its target — a bad throw, but ultimately not costly thanks to the defense. That would be the only mulligan. The 2nd pick, coming in a tie game just before halftime, was a laser directly into the hands of a waiting centerfield safety who’d sized it up from a mile away; LSU capitalized with a go-ahead field goal on the last play of the half. Pick No. 3, coming in a 13-10 game midway through the 3rd quarter, was the dagger: A badly telegraphed slant that might as well have arrived with postage paid and a GPS map to the end zone. The ensuing pick-6 extended the Tigers’ lead (and eventual winning margin) to double digits. Pick No. 4, coming midway through the 4th, was a hopeless lob into triple coverage that effectively ended any chance of a comeback. As for No. 5, well, see above. By that point, he was merely letting go of the wheel on a performance that was already nose-down in a ditch.

Excluding the slapstick heave in garbage time, Lagway’s first 4 INTs all had one thing in common: They all came on 3rd-and-long, obvious passing downs. But the scoreboard never dictated forcing throws until the very end, and only then because of the throws he’d forced when the game was there for the taking. Nor can he chalk up the miscues to pressure, at least from LSU’s defense — although the Tigers got in their fair share of harassment over the course of the game, all but the last of Lagway’s interceptions launched from a clean pocket. If he was feeling the heat, it was coming from inside the house.

Now, the usual move at this stage of the proceedings would be to appeal for patience. It’s 1 bad game, right? Lagway is young, obviously gifted, and still has plenty of time to grow into the enormous potential he flashed as a freshman, right? His beleaguered head coach, however, definitely does not have time to be patient. The trip to LSU was the first of a month-long, 4-game gauntlet against opponents ranked in the top 10 in the updated polls, with Miami (in Coral Gables), Texas and Texas A&M (in College Station) on deck. Forget about the November stretch against Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Florida State: Barring a dramatic turn of events in the meantime, the odds of Billy Napier making it to November are plummeting by the week. Especially with 2 open dates between this weekend’s trip to Miami — which just demolished the same USF outfit that stunned the Gators in Week 2, for the record — and the Cocktail Party on Nov. 1. A week off is an invitation for heads to roll.

So while Lagway can still salvage a future that lives up to the hype, with each loss it gets a little likelier that it will be a different coach reaping the benefits. And if it comes to that, it might be time to consider whether that future will be unfolding somewhere else. The locals are beyond ready to move on from the Napier administration, whatever the cost. If that cost includes moving on from the quarterback who was supposed to save it, as well, suddenly it’s beginning to look like one they’ll be willing and able to afford.

Last week: 7

16. Cutter Boley, Kentucky

Officially, Kentucky benched Zach Calzada in Week 3 due to injury. But the Wildcats were also in desperate need of some downfield pop, and Boley supplied it: Half of his dozen completions in a 48-23 win over Eastern Michigan gained 20+ yards, a column Calzada barely managed to tick in Weeks 1 and 2. Audition passed, it’ll be Boley’s job to lose on the other side of an open date, beginning with a Week 5 trip to South Carolina.

Last week: 16⬌

The post SEC QB Rankings, Week 4: Joey Aguilar is the guy Tennessee was waiting for Nico Iamaleava to become appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Autumn Alarms

Is it too soon to draw any definitive conclusions about how the rest of the season is going to unfold after the second Saturday of September? Of course. Is it too soon to be stricken with angst over your team’s outlook? Never.

Here’s your regularly scheduled Monday Down South September Panic Index:

DEFCON 1: Florida

There’s nothing new to write about the doomed trajectory of Billy Napier‘s tenure in Gainesville that hasn’t been written, retracted and written again (with exclamation points this time!) over the past 12 months. There was nothing remotely surprising about the final score of Saturday night’s 20-10 loss at LSU, a game Florida entered as a 7.5-point underdog. The Gators held their own in the box score, where the defense allowed a single touchdown for the second week in a row. And yet. Somehow, they still found a way to hit what felt like a new low.

When Napier’s future teetered on the brink in 2024, the silver lining was the presence and promise of DJ Lagway. If nothing else, at least here was something to look forward to. When Napier was granted a public reprieve last November, it was with the implicit understanding that Lagway, 5-star freshman with a golden arm, represented a light at the end of the tunnel. When the Gators surged into the offseason on a 4-game winning streak, it was hailed as proof of concept — the Lagway Era had achieved liftoff, right on schedule. (Even if the defense and ground game had as much to do with the abrupt u-turn as the precocious quarterback. He’s not the Face of the Program for nothing.) When they opened this season with their highest preseason ranking since the pandemic, it was with visions of a more-or-less fully-formed Lagway in voters’ minds. And when they choked away what should have been a routine win over South Florida in Week 2, it was still possible to imagine that Lagway, the least of the team’s problems against USF, gave them a glimmer of hope entering a brutal stretch of games over the coming month.

Then came Saturday night in Baton Rouge, where glimmers go to die.

There are forgettable nights. Then there are nights you only wish you could forget, that threaten to follow you around like a ghost until they’re all anyone can remember. For Lagway, this was the latter. Making his 10th career start in a must-win game that Florida’s defense gave him every opportunity to win, he melted down: 5 interceptions, each one arguably worse than the last.

The first pick, coming with Florida leading 3-0 midway through the first quarter, was an ill-advised sideline shot left well short of its target — a bad throw, but ultimately not costly thanks to the defense. That would be the only mulligan. The second pick, coming in a tie game just before halftime, was a laser directly into the hands of a waiting centerfield safety who’d sized it up from a mile away; LSU capitalized with a go-ahead field goal on the last play of the half. Pick No. 3, coming in a 13-10 game midway through the 3rd quarter, was the dagger: A badly telegraphed slant that may as well have arrived with postage paid and a GPS map to the end zone. The ensuing pick-6 extended the Tigers’ lead (and eventual winning margin) to double digits. Pick No. 4, coming midway through the 4th, was a hopeless lob into triple coverage that effectively ended any chance of a comeback. As for No. 5, well, see above. By that point, he was merely letting go of the wheel on a performance that was already nose-down in a ditch.

Excluding the slapstick heave in garbage time, Lagway’s first 4 INTs all had one thing in common: They all came on 3rd-and-long, obvious passing downs. But the scoreboard never dictated forcing throws until the very end, and only then because of the throws he’d forced when the game was there for the taking. Nor can he chalk up the miscues to pressure, at least from LSU’s defense — although the Tigers got in their fair share of harassment over the course of the game, all but the last of Lagway’s interceptions launched from a clean pocket. If he was feeling the heat, it was coming from inside the house.

Now, the usual move at this stage of the proceedings would be to appeal for patience. It’s 1 bad game, right? Lagway is young, obviously gifted, and still has plenty of time to grow into the enormous potential he flashed as a freshman, right? The theme here is panic, but sure, let’s go ahead and grant that he does have time to grow. His beleaguered head coach, however, definitely does not. The trip to LSU was the first of a month-long, 4-game gauntlet against opponents ranked in the top 10 in the updated polls, with Miami (in Coral Gables), Texas and Texas A&M (in College Station) on deck. Forget about the November stretch against Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Florida State: Barring a dramatic turn of events in the meantime, the odds of Napier making it to November are plummeting by the week. Especially with 2 open dates between this weekend’s trip to Miami — which just demolished the same USF outfit that stunned the Gators in Week 2, for the record — and the Cocktail Party on Nov. 1. A week off is an invitation for heads to roll.

So while Lagway can still salvage a future that lives up to the hype, with each loss it gets a little likelier that it will be a different coach reaping the benefits. And if it comes to that, it might be time to consider whether that future will be unfolding somewhere else. The locals are beyond ready to move on from the Napier administration, whatever the cost. If that cost includes moving on from the quarterback who was supposed to save it, as well, suddenly it’s beginning to look like one they’ll be willing and able to afford.

On alert: Arch Manning

The good news: Texas won comfortably against UTEP, 27-10, with Manning accounting for all 3 of the Longhorns’ touchdowns (1 passing, 2 rushing). The bad news: Pretty much every other aspect of his performance against a 6-touchdown underdog that should have been ripe for the picking.

Short of a full-blown 5-interception meltdown, it was about as unsettling as it could be. On paper, Manning finished 11-for-25, averaged a meager 4.6 yards per attempt, and turned in the worst numbers of any SEC starter in Week 3 in terms of both efficiency (87.5) and Total QBR (26.5). He was 1-for-7 under pressure, per Pro Football Focus, and a dismal 2-for-9 on attempts of 10+ air yards, with the majority of his 114 passing yards coming on passes completed behind the line of scrimmage.

The real-time experience was worse — a parade of inaccuracy and bizarre decision-making that made his season-opening flop at Ohio State look crisp by comparison. He missed long, wide and late. His mechanics were a mess, devolving into a sketchy sidearm release that led to inaccuracy and tipped balls. Some viewers continued to wonder if he’s secretly nursing some kind of injury. (If he is, it remains an extremely well-kept secret.) He ignored or just didn’t recognize open receivers, and at one point attempted to improvise a wild, Manziel-esque scramble-drill that ended with a slow-motion disaster of a throw that seemed to hang in the air long enough for a UTEP defender to plot its exact coordinates.

By the end of the first half, the home crowd had seen enough to briefly boo him off the field following 1 of the Longhorns’ 11 failed 3rd-down conversions. The second half was better only in that it was too vanilla for anything to go haywire.

The thing is, as with Lagway, the locals’ frustration stems from the fact that they’ve seen what Manning is capable of, and it ain’t this. In his cameos last September in place of an injured Quinn Ewers, Arch looked confident, accurate and generally like a massively touted prospect with the world at his feet is supposed to look. It’s not like we don’t know the guy can throw the heck out of a football. But aside from a too-little, too-late rally in the 4thquarter at Ohio State, as the undisputed QB1 he has looked tentative and tight under pressure to live up to the hype.

Unlike Lagway, Arch is in a stable situation on a top-10 team with Playoff experience and everything to play for. Texas has one more nonconference tune-up against Sam Houston before the SEC opener at Florida. In the case, patience really is a virtue. But so is recalibrating expectations that were clearly too much, too soon.

Elevated: LSU’s Offense

Brian Kelly made a point of dressing down a reporter on Saturday night for leading off the postgame press conference with a question about the Tigers’ struggles on offense. Which, fine: A 10-point win over rival Florida is worth defending on its own terms. (Again, that margin covered the point spread.) LSU’s defense is vastly improved and has held all 3 opponents to date to a single touchdown. Harold Perkins Jr.’s return from a torn ACL in 2024 along with key portal additions in the secondary have had the intended effect so far.

But Kelly protests too much, probably because on some level he recognizes that, for a team with championship ambitions, the offense is a red flag. LSU ranks last or next-to-last in the SEC in total offense, scoring offense, rushing offense, pass efficiency, yards per play, and red-zone touchdown percentage. Would-be Heisman candidate Garrett Nussmeier has attempted more passes than any other SEC quarterback, but ranks at or near the bottom of the conference in touchdowns (3), yards per attempt (6.5) and passer rating (125.3). Nussmeier’s lowlight reel on Saturday night was nothing compared to DJ Lagway’s, obviously, but it did include an egregious interception that snuffed out a potential scoring drive in the 4th quarter. For a 5th-year senior, it was inexcusable.

Now, 17 points in a defensively driven win at Clemson? No complaints. But the opener remains LSU’s best outing. In Week 2, they settled for 23 points against a 37.5-point underdog, Louisiana Tech. In Week 3, managed just 10 first downs against Florida, didn’t score after halftime, and had no ground game to speak of until sophomore RB Caden Durham popped a 51-yard gain on what was effectively the last snap of the game. That run alone doubled LSU’s rushing total for the night up to that point.

One thing the offense has going for it: Plenty of options at wideout, even if they’ve yet to make much impact as a group. Another thing: They’ve kept Nussmeier relatively clean. Per PFF, he’s faced the lowest pressure rate to date of any SEC starter despite the departure of both of last year’s starting tackles for the NFL Draft. Eventually — like, say a Week 5 trip to Ole Miss — they’re going to need their supposed strengths to start generating actual results.

Monitoring: Georgia’s Secondary

Georgia is getting accustomed to nail-biters: The Dogs’ wild, 44-41 win at Tennessee was their 3rd overtime win in their past 4 games vs. power-conference opponents, following on the heels of last year’s razor-thin wins over Georgia Tech and Texas to close the regular season. Watching their blue-chip secondary get repeatedly torched in the process, on the other hand, was new.

Granted, Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar did much of his damage for the afternoon in a fast and furious first quarter in which he finished 14-for-14 for 213 and 2 touchdowns and ran for a 3rd. Early on, the Vols went after sophomore Georgia DB Ellis Robinson IV, victimizing him on a 72-yard bomb (on which a flailing Robinson appeared to intentionally commit pass interference, to no avail) and drawing a 2nd DPI flag at his expense later in the quarter to set up another score.

Robinson was yanked from the lineup posthaste, after which Aguilar cooled down considerably and Georgia’s offense methodically closed the gap. Eventually, though, the big plays and breakdowns resumed. The Vols closed the 3rd quarter by retaking the lead on another bomb from Aguilar to Chris Brazzell II, this one well played by cornerback Daniel Harris right up to the moment it came time to make a play on the ball.

I sympathized on that one with Harris, who did all he could realistically be asked to do all the way up to deflecting the ball at the highest point, yet still found himself on the wrong end of a massive, momentum-swinging play by Brazzell. The Vols’ next big play, on the other hand, was an easy one, covering 32 yards from Aguilar to a wide-open Braylon Staley.

Altogether, Aguilar was 5-for-6 on attempts of 20+ air yards for 195 yards — accounting for the lion’s share of his 371 passing yards on the day — and 4 touchdowns, joining CJ Stroud (2022), Mac Jones (2020), Joe Burrow (2019) and Drew Lock (2017) as the only opposing QBs to drop 4 TD passes on the Dawgs in Kirby Smart’s tenure. Either Aguilar is a sneaky first-round prospect, or Georgia has some significant work to do on the back end.

Stabilizing: Alabama

I’m not prepared to declare amnesty for Bama’s opening-day disaster at Florida State just yet, but Saturday’s thorough, 38-14 beatdown of Wisconsin was a giant step toward restoring confidence in an outfit that has done its best under Kalen DeBoer to squander it. Everything that went wrong in the opener went very, very right against the Badgers, right from the start. QB Ty Simpson was well-protected an on-point, finishing a near-perfect 24-for-29 for 13.2 yards per attempt and 4 touchdowns. (That coming one week after he actually was perfect, hitting all 17 of his passes against UL-Monroe before calling it a night at halftime.) The defense looked like an Alabama defense, forcing 2 turnovers (both interceptions by emerging junior DB Bray Hubbard) and holding Wisconsin to 209 total yards, much of that total coming in garbage time. Ryan Williams, one of the goats of the loss to FSU, was back to doing Ryan Williams Things.

Of course, the question where the Tide are concerned has never been about their ceiling when things are clicking. It’s about their consistency — especially on the road, where they’ve lost 5 of their past 6 since last October outside of Tuscaloosa. Their next big test on that front comes in 2 weeks in the SEC opener at rival Georgia. But they’re in a significantly better place heading into Athens now than they were 2 weeks ago.

Pending: LaNorris Sellers

South Carolina scored a touchdown on its opening series against Vanderbilt, and didn’t score again after Sellers was knocked out of the game with an apparent concussion.

In Sellers’ absence, the Gamecocks turned to 6th-year utility man Luke Doty, a former quarterback-turned-receiver who saw his first extended action behind center since 2021. Doty looked like a guy shaking off nearly 4 years’ worth of rust, committing 2 turnovers (1 interception, 1 fumble) and generally failing to move the needle in a deflating, 31-7 loss. That snapped a 16-game winning streak against Vandy dating to 2008, knocking Carolina out of the AP Top 25 in the process. 

Shane Beamer told reporters on Sunday that he’s “optimistic” Sellers will be available for this weekend’s trip to 3-0 Missouri, an absolute must-win for the Gamecocks to salvage any sliver of a chance of pulling off another dark-horse Playoff run. Vanderbilt at home was supposed to be the most winnable game on the conference schedule. An 0-1 start in conference play ESPN’s Football Power Index now puts South Carolina chances of crashing the CFP against a stacked remaining schedule at just 1.2 percent. If Sellers isn’t back looking like himself at rival Mizzou, that number effectively drops to zero just 2 games into the conference slate. The Gamecocks’ national championship odds already are falling.

Dude of the Week: Mario Craver

Texas A&M invested heavily over the offseason to upgrade the talent level at wide receiver, adding Craver (Mississippi State) and KC Concepcion (NC State) to a rotation that lost its top 4 wideouts from 2024. Both have been hits in the early going, with Concepcion supplying some extra juice in the return game, for good measure. But it was Craver – all 5-9, 165 pounds of him – who leapt off the screen and into the national consciousness in the Aggies’ 41-40 triumph at Notre Dame: 7 receptions, 207 yards, 1 TD and a fresh set of blisters for one of the most respected secondaries in America.

Through 3 games, Craver is the FBS leader with 443 receiving yards and 9 catches of 20+ yards – 2 more than any A&M receiver managed last year over the entire season. Craver (4) and Concepcion (3) have combined for 7 TD catches already.

Goat(s) of the Week: Max Gilbert and Tommy Buchner

What’s worse than missing the game-winning field goal in regulation, only to watch your team lose in overtime?

How about botching the hold on a routine PAT that would have extended the lead to 7 points late in the game, only to watch your team ultimately lose by 1?

Sorry guys. At least you don’t have to endure the infamy alone.

Notebook

1.) Virginia Tech fired head coach Brent Pry on Sunday on the heels of an 0-3 start. The first name on the wishlist to replace him, according to the media hive mind: Shane Beamer. For now, it’s probably safe to say the thought process there begins and ends with the fact that his last name is “Beamer.” (If you’re under 30, Shane’s dad is the guy from the meme. Also he’s the guy who put Virginia Tech football on the map, before it fell off again in the decade since his retirement.) Beamer appears content at South Carolina and has repeatedly said he’s in it there for the long haul; the feeling in Carolina generally seems mutual. But then, based on Saturday night’s flop against Vandy, there’s a chance that goodwill is about to be put to the test. Just something to keep in mind as the season unfolds.

2.) Tennessee was concerned about the absence of both of its starting cornerbacks against Georgia, and it was right to be. One of the fill-ins, Colorado transfer Colton Hood, held up fine, allowing just 1 reception for 5 yards, per PFF. (Hood was also flagged once for holding, negating an apparent interception in the first half.) The other, true freshman Ty Redmond, was a target: UGA completed 6 of attempts in Redmond’s direction for 113 yards, including a 45-yard gain on the Bulldogs’ first play of the game and the clutch, game-tying touchdown from Gunner Stockton to London Humphreys at the end of regulation. 

Not that the corner deserves too much blame on a throw that good – it was perfect because it had to be, and the catch might have been even better. The kid’s gonna be OK. But he didn’t do anything to make the Vols any less eager to get Jermod McCoy on the field ASAP.

3.) He wasn’t missed, but the targeting penalty that got LSU linebacker Whit Weeks ejected barely 2 minutes into the game against Florida was the weakest of sauces.

Yeah, I know, what else is new? A whole generation of players and fans have come of age now with this rule. Still, give me a break, man. If you gotta throw a flag for helmet-to-helmet contact, even the obviously incidental variety, whatever. I get it. The NCAA is terrified of being exposed to legal liability for the long-term effects of head injuries and needs to be able to point to the targeting penalty as an effective deterrent in a hypothetical lawsuit. Fine. If the lawyers say that’s what it takes to make “player safety” hold up in court, that’s what they get paid for.

But at long last, can we please stop kicking guys out of the dang game for what is by all rights basic football stuff?

The obvious solution — splitting targeting calls into Targeting I (15-yard penalty) for routine collisions and Targeting II (penalty + ejection) for more egregious ones involving launching, etc. — has been on the table for a decade. It’s a decade overdue.

4.) Veteran Notre Dame reporter Pete Sampson of The Athletic looked into rumors that Irish QB CJ Carr was tipping off plays against Texas A&M and came away convinced: Per Sampson, when Carr’s feet were parallel to the line of scrimmage, it signaled a run; when his feet were staggered, it tipped off a pass. Considering the Irish put up 429 yards and 40 points anyway, maybe A&M’s defense just wasn’t that quick on the uptake.

5.) How seriously are we prepared to take Vanderbilt? The Commodores’ 31–7 win at South Carolina was a milestone win for Vandy several times over: First win by 20+ points over an SEC opponent since 2018; first win in an SEC opener since 2011; first road win over a ranked opponent since 2007. They debuted at No. 20 in the updated AP poll, their highest ranking at any point since the 2008 team climbed to No. 13 on the strength of a 5-0 start. That team went on to finish unranked after losing 6 of its last 8. This team? TBD. But after outscoring Virginia Tech and South Carolina by a combined 65-7 over the last 6 quarters — both on the road — they’re only getting harder to dismiss. Routine wins over Georgia State and Utah State the next 2 weeks will make the ‘Dores 5-0 heading into a grudge match at Alabama.

6.) If you missed Ole Miss’ 41-35 win over Arkansas on Saturday night, you missed … well, a typical Ole Miss-Arkansas rivalry game: The Hogs and Rebels combined for 1,001 yards of total offense, 54 first downs, 17 3rd-down conversions and a grand total of 3 punts. The winning quarterback, D-II transfer Trinidad Chambliss, accounted for 405 total yards and 3 touchdowns in place of an injured Austin Simmons.

Moment of Zen of the Week

The post Monday Down South: DJ Lagway, Arch Manning, set off sirens in the September Panic Index  appeared first on Saturday Down South.

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I’ll end on a positive note: I’ve actually liked the way Georgia’s offensive line has run-blocked in the first 2 weeks (in spite of the constant shuffling and re-shuffling necessitated by early-season injuries); it sounds like veteran tackle Earnest Greene and mammoth freshman guard Juan Gaston may return this weekend; starting tailback Nate Frazier was putting his foot in the ground and getting vertical after an unfortunate early fumble last week (and is being productively pushed by the thunder and lightning combo of Chauncey Bowens and Dwight “Peanut” Phillips); and Georgia’s pass catchers look ready to make plays provided they’re given the opportunity. The ingredients are there to make a meal, particularly if the Dawgs get some good news on Greene and/or Gaston.

It doesn’t take a football savant to boldly predict that Tennessee will look to neutralize Georgia’s run game early and force Stockton to make big-boy throws in a hostile, ‘shined-up Neyland Stadium. Tennessee will also likely sit on the hitch routes, stop routes, and running back flairs the Dawgs have so heavily relied upon in Weeks 1 and 2. What is offensive coordinator Mike Bobo — and more importantly, what is Gunner Stockton — willing to do early to open things up and get those Tennessee safeties out of the box? Opportunities should be there to at least try. Is Georgia’s first-year starting quarterback ready to let it rip?

He’s going to need to be, because this Tennessee team looks explosive — it hung 72 on East Tennessee State this past weekend and 45 on a Power 4 foe in Week 1 — and frankly may have done some addition by subtraction in replacing Nico Iamaleava with former Appalachian State star Joey Aguilar. The Vols are hungry to get over the hump in this series, one they dominated throughout the 90s, but one in which they’ve now lost 8 in a row and 13 of the last 15. (In fact, Georgia hasn’t won any of the last 8 by fewer than two scores.) I trust Kirby Smart’s and defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann’s record against Josh Heupel’s offense. But Georgia won’t win this game without a vertical passing threat. Now’s the time for Stockton to let his receiving talent eat. If he does, the Vols may stay hungry — and dangerously drunk on moonshine — this Saturday.

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According to Bama247’s Mike Rodak, DeBoer provided an update on Miller’s injury status during his weekly ‘Hey Coach’ radio show.

DeBoer tabbed Miller as a game-time decision, adding: “He’s been right on the cusp, so we’ll see. He’s been out there working and practicing, but it’s just a matter of if we can take him to that next step.

Miller entered the season as one of the Crimson Tide’s team leaders following a 2024 campaign in which he accounted for 668 yards and 7 touchdowns on 145 carries, which was good for 4.6 yards per touch. The Tyler, Texas native also added 155 receiving yards and a touchdown onto that total, and he was expected to be a focal point of the Alabama offense this year.

Miller’s return would be a welcomed sign for a Crimson Tide ground game that generated just 87 rush yards on 3.0 yards per carry in its 31-17 loss against Florida State to open the season.

Hosting Louisiana-Monroe last Saturday, the ground game got into a rhythm behind a stable of backs, racking up 212 yards on 5.9 yards per touch.

Wisconsin will provide a tougher test for both the Alabama O-line and the younger tailbacks, but the real challenge will be faced in Athens on Sept. 27. DeBoer & Co. may be eyeing that as a return date for Miller given that he appears to be close to getting back on the field already.

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1. John Mateer, Oklahoma

It’s not quite right to describe Mateer as a revelation, considering his prolific 2024 output at Washington State is the entire reason Oklahoma invested in him and his former Wazzu offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle in the first place. But given how few people actually saw anything he did at Washington State, Saturday’s 24-13 win over Michigan was his introduction to the vast majority of the country, and he aced the test. His dual-threat skillset on full display, Mateer accounted for 77% of the Sooners’ total offense and all 3 OU touchdowns. He served as a workhorse runner; he made plays under pressure; he completed passes to every area of the field. There’s a reason he now has the 2nd-lowest odds to win the Heisman.

He was not perfect — see some scattershot accuracy, including an air-mail interception that might or night not have been his fault. But he was essentially the guy Oklahoma thought it was getting when it bet the farm on Mateer (and the system that developed him) over the offseason: A full-service, high-volume operator who can win in multiple ways. That’s a huge upgrade over last year, and if nothing else gives the Sooners a fighting chance every time out against a nightmare of a schedule that, on the other side of this weekend’s trip to Temple, features 8 currently ranked teams in the last 9 games. There’s a long way to go, but Step 1 could not have gone much better.
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Last week: 3

2. Garrett Nussmeier, LSU

LSU’s 27-16 loss at Florida last November was a low point for the Tigers, punctuating a 3-game losing streak that briefly looked like it might tank Brian Kelly‘s administration. For his part part, Nussmeier was arguably at his worst in The Swamp, finishing with season-lows for total offense (207 yards) and yards per attempt (5.5) and a season-high for sacks (7) in the loss. This weekend’s return date in Baton Rouge arrives with the Tigers riding significantly higher, sitting pretty in the polls on the strength of their Week 1 win at Clemson. (Florida, on the other hand … well, see below.) The opener was more of a triumph for LSU’s defense than it was for Nussmeier, who hit his marks while the D turned in its best big-game performance in ages. But at some point, if LSU’s going to pull off the season it hopes, it’s going to need him to return the favor.
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Last week: 1

3. LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina

Sellers kept it close to the vest in Week 2 in a sluggish, rain-delayed win over South Carolina State, finishing 11-for-19 for 128 yards and a touchdown. Coulda been better, as certain scouts detailed at length. Sorry, the rankings are not grinding tape of a perfunctory outing against South Carolina State! Next up: A actual test in the SEC opener against Vanderbilt.
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Last week: 2

4. Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt

We’ll see how it plays out in conference play, but Saturday night’s 44-20 romp at Virginia Tech felt like to me like the moment Vanderbilt graduated from plucky overachiever to just a straight-up solid football team. The ‘Dores thoroughly dominated the second half, rallying from a 20-10 deficit to outscore Tech 34-0 after halftime. It was every bit as lopsided as that score implies: The offense scored touchdowns on all 5 second-half possessions, while the defense held the Hokies without so much as a first down until the dying minutes of garbage time. By then, the home crowd in Blacksburg had largely abandoned the premises in disgust.

Besides emptying out what used to be one of the most hostile stadiums in the country, one of the reasons the performance resonated was the fact that it was not the latest episode of We Turnt With Diego Pavia. Pavia was just his usual, efficient self, finishing 12-for-18 passing with 2 touchdowns, 254 total yards and a stellar 88.7 QBR – an eerily similar stat line to the one he put up in last year’s overtime win over Virginia Tech in Nashville. The difference between a nail-biter at home and a blowout on the road was the rest of the team rising to the Pavia’s level. The ‘Dores outgained Tech by 242 yards overall and nearly 4.5 yards per play, with a majority of their output on offense coming on the ground – easily the most complete Vandy outing since the pandemic, and arguably long before that.

Pavia is now 7-5 in his career as a starter against power-conference opponents, including New Mexico State’s memorable upset at Auburn in November 2023, probably the biggest reason Vanderbilt took a chance on him in the first place. His team was not favored to win one of those games – in fact, he’s been a double-digit underdog in 5 of the 7 wins. This is still an outfit that’s going to have to pull a series of upsets to get anywhere in the SEC standings. (And let’s be real, this edition of Virginia Tech would be the undisputed doormat of the SEC.) But we’re talking about plausible upsets now, not monumental stunners to snap a historic losing streak. And the more we see, the more plausible they get.
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Last week: 7

5. Taylen Green, Arkansas

Green is off to a great start statistically: No. 1 in the SEC in touchdowns, pass efficiency, Total QBR and EPA; No. 2 in total offense. He still looks like prime Kaepernick on the hoof, capable of going the distance or hurdling a dude on any given play at 6-6, 224 pounds. It’s tempting to imagine him finally putting it all together in conference play and turning the Razorbacks into dark-horse Playoff contenders. But we still do have to imagine it, because running up the score on the likes of Alabama A&M and Arkansas State only counts for so much. It gets real this weekend at Ole Miss, in one of the SEC’s sneaky good rivalries.
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Last week: 6

6. Arch Manning, Texas

After a week of relentless scrutiny, Texas got off to a nervous start against San José State. A big gain on the first play of the game was wiped out by a holding penalty; Manning’s first attempt was a badly overthrown deep ball; the Longhorns’ next series ended with a flat-out drop on 3rd down. The home crowd in Austin was palpably on edge. It didn’t last: Manning hit paydirt on the 3rd series on an 83-yard touchdown pass to his new favorite target, a wide-open Parker Livingstone, and the entire state collectively exhaled. (I live in Texas, a huge whoosh rattled my windows about the moment Livingstone crossed the goal line.) Meanwhile, the defense made the offense’s life as easy as possible by forcing turnovers on each of SJSU’s next 3 possessions. The ‘Horns turned all 3 takeaways into short-field touchdowns — a net of 28 points in a little under 5 minutes.
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Last week: 5

7. DJ Lagway, Florida

Once you tally up the untimely penalties, multiple drops, costly bloopers, dubious clock management and outright stupidity in Florida’s 18-16 loss to USF, Lagway looks like the least of the Gators’ problems. So many discreet events had to go wrong to arrive at that result that his worst play – an air-mail interception in the 3rd quarter that effectively served as a punt, and which USF didn’t come close to converting into points – barely even makes the list.

But if Lagway wasn’t the source of the Gators’ angst, he wasn’t the solution, either. All things considered, conditions were about as favorable on Saturday as they’re likely to be for the rest of the season. He was exceedingly well-protected, facing pressure on just 3 of his 38 drop-backs, per PFF. He had run support courtesy sophomore workhorse Jaden Baugh (93 yards on 5.2 per carry), yielding a significant advantage in time of possession. The defense allowed 1 touchdown. Florida never trailed at any point before the clock hit triple zeroes. 

And yet: 16 points vs. a 17-point underdog from the AAC. Three extended drives in the first half all ended in field goals. The offense bogged down in the second half, going 3-and-out 3 times and never advancing beyond the USF 45-yard line; Florida’s only touchdown came as a result of a short field after a long punt return (made longer by a personal foul penalty against the Bulls) set up the offense at the USF 20. One one of those 3-and-outs was their last possession, on which Lagway threw 2 incomplete passes that stopped the clock when a first down might have iced the game. The Gators took over with a 2-point lead and 2:52 remaining, drained just 13 seconds before punting the ball away, and didn’t touch it again.

Even at the end, there were plenty of other targets for the locals’ wrath – freshman WR Vernell Brown III, who let a would-be dagger slip through his fingers on what turned out to be Florida’s last offensive snap; DL Brendan Bett, who singlehandedly extended the subsequent game-winning drive by hocking a loogie at a USF lineman with an official standing inches away; the defense in general for allowing the Bulls to march to the 2-yard line before lining up the decisive field goal, by that point a glorified PAT; and, of course, coach Billy Napier, who waited too long before futilely expending all 3 timeouts in the dying seconds.

Still, if this team has any chance of surviving a brutal stretch of games over the coming month, it needs more from its 5-star, face-of-the-program quarterback. Not counting the drop on his last attempt, Lagway was a pedestrian 3-for-10 on passes of 10+ air yards, generating none of the downfield sizzle that was the best part of his game in 2024 as a freshman. That version of Lagway gave Gators fans something to look forward to in the midst of a what was, until the end, a grim slog of a season. The version they saw on Saturday night looked ankle-deep in the murk. He might as well have been the guy they spent much of last year longing for him to replace, Graham Mertz.

That won’t cut it against the murderer’s row on deck, starting Saturday night in Death Valley. The margin for growing pains has run out. No more grading on a curve. It’s time for Napier’s prized prospect to start delivering on his promise – or else it’s going to be some other coach getting the credit when he finally does.
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Last week: 4

8. Marcel Reed, Texas A&M

A&M’s wideouts underwhelmed in 2024. So the Aggies went out and got a couple new ones, adding Mario Craver (Mississippi State) and KC Concepcion (NC State) via the portal. So far, so good: Through 2 games against UT-San Antonio and Utah State, Reed and backup Miles O’Neill have targeted Craver and Concepcion a combined 29 times, completing 22 of them for 381 yards and 6 touchdowns. Craver, a true sophomore, already has 5 receptions of 20+ yards, just 2 fewer than A&M’s team leader in that category last year. (Current Georgia Bulldog Noah Thomas, with 7.) The degree of difficulty ramps up starting with this weekend’s trip to Notre Dame, but the Aggies could not have asked for a more encouraging start.
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Last week: 8⬌

9. Beau Pribula, Missouri

Pribula is the biggest riser in this week’s rankings after lighting up the box score in a wild 42-31 win over “Border War” rival Kansas. In his first start against FBS competition, the Penn State transfer was dealing throughout, finishing 30/39 for 334 yards, 3 touchdowns and a viral reel full of dimes to show for it. Concerns that Pribula is more athlete than passer are rapidly receding.

Now, let’s be clear: The Jayhawks are more competitive these days than they were a few years ago, but mainly because of their offense; the defense allowed 28.6 points per game last year vs. Power 5 opponents and ranked 114th in pass efficiency defense. The secondary remains a fire hazard. Pribula’s first SEC start, against South Carolina, is still 2 weeks away following this weekend’s date against Louisiana. In the meantime, all lights are (tentatively) green.
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Last week: 14

10. Jackson Arnold, Auburn

After impressing with his legs in the opener, Arnold won with his arm in Week 2, connecting on 24-of-28 passes for 252 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 42-3 thumping of Ball State. The Tigers are ranked this week (24th) for the first time since blowing a 28-3 lead to Mississippi State in November 2021 – the beginning of the end of the Bryan Harsin administration. They should be next week, too, following another nonconference tune-up against South Alabama. Arnold’s return to Oklahoma on Sept. 20 is already blinking red on the calendar.
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Last week: 10⬌

11. Ty Simpson, Alabama

Simpson was flawless in Bama’s 73-0 massacre of UL-Monroe, which it bears pointing out — and I cannot stress this enough — is UL-Monroe. Still: No matter who’s on the other side of the line, 17-for-17 passing for 226 yards and 3 touchdowns is a gold-star performance. In Simpson’s case, it was also a convincing rebound from his dismal debut as a starter at Florida State. (Credit to his o-line, as well, which earned even worse reviews in Tallahassee but kept Simpson completely clean on Saturday. Amazing the revelations that come from a consistently clean pocket.) He called it a night at halftime with the Crimson Tide leading 42-0, after which backups Austin Mack and Keelon Russell combined to go 12-for-16 with 4 touchdowns in garbage time. All of the above is dust in the wind as of opening kickoff against Wisconsin.
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Last week: 13

12. Joey Aguilar, Tennessee

Vols fans are enjoying a nice round of schadenfreude at the expense of their ex, Nico Iamaleava, who has presided over an 0-2 start at UCLA in which the Bruins have been outscored by a combined 30 points in losses to Utah and UNLV. Meanwhile, Aguilar — who transferred to UCLA from Appalachian State over the winter with the intention of starting for the Bruins before Iamaleava’s unexpected arrival over the summer bumped him from the top of the depth chart — is loving life in Knoxville following comfortable wins over Syracuse and East Tennessee State. It’s all wine and roses when the new guy is 2-0.

Of course, if the situations were reversed, Tennessee would still be a perfectly content 2-0 right now with Iamaleava, and UCLA would very likely still be a deflated 0-2 with Aguilar. (For what it’s worth, while Aguilar is predictably faring better in the conventional stats, the one accessible QB metric that adjusts for strength of schedule, ESPN’s Total QBR, currently has them separated by a rounding error; Aguilar ranks 45th nationally, while Iamaleava comes in at 48th.) Certainly nobody in Knoxville was ever going to grade Nico by whether he was good enough to win comfortably against Syracuse and ETSU. Let’s check back in with the locals’ thoughts on Aguilar after this weekend’s SEC opener against rival Georgia.
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Last week: 11

13. Gunner Stockton, Georgia

Stockton is every bit the wild card going into Week 3 as Aguilar. I tried to read the box score of Georgia’s 28-3 win over Austin Peay, but the numbers evaporated from the screen before my brain could register them. We’ll have a much firmer impression after Saturday.
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Last week: 9

14. Blake Shapen, Mississippi State

I’m not sure what if anything else Shapen is going to accomplish as the Bulldogs’ starter before yielding the job to one of his touted backups, but I think it’s safe to say it’s not going to top the high drama of Saturday’s 24-20 upset over the defending Big 12 champ, Arizona State.

If there’s more where that came from, the nearest cardiac ward better be on standby like that one episode of The Pitt.
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Last week: 15

15. Austin Simmons, Ole Miss

Simmons is a keeper, clearly, but his first season as QB1 is shaping up as a walk on the wild side. The good, so far: Explosive plays. He’s averaging 17.5 yards per completion, 3rd-best nationally and nearly 3 full yards better than any other SEC starter. The not-so-good: Accuracy and ball security, especially under pressure. Simmons’ 60% completion rate is well below the curve, and he’s served up multiple picks in both of Ole Miss’ wins over Georgia State and Kentucky. (He fumbled in both games, as well, although he’s yet to lose one.) That’s a lot of sophomore to work out of his system.

In fairness, part of the blame for both of Simmons’ interceptions in the Rebels’ 30-23 win at Kentucky also falls on his center, Brycen Sanders. On the first pick, Sanders dribbled the snap at his quarterback’s feet, forcing Simmons to drop his eyes, gather the ball off the turf, and lose track of UK safety Ty Bryant in the process.

On the 2nd pick — an obvious passing down, tellingly — Sanders was beaten instantly at the snap by Kentucky DT David Gusta, whose arrival in Simmons’ lap forced the equivalent of a pop fly to centerfield.

Both INTs came in the opening quarter; Kentucky capitalized on both to put Ole Miss in a 10-0 hole early in the 2nd. Simmons settled down after that, finishing 10-for-15 for 118 yards the rest of the way and running for the go-ahead (ultimately winning) touchdown late in the 3rd. Though even the positives could be a little hair-raising. Like the crucial 4th-and-1 completion that followed the 2nd pick, on which Simmons checked off an open receiver streaking down the hash marks in favor of a No! No! Yes! ball to the sideline.

That play gained 55 yards, set up Ole Miss’ first touchdown, and turned the tide of the game. Here’s guessing Lane Kiffin could live with his young QB never making that particular decision again.
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Last week: 12

16. Zach Calzada, Kentucky

Calzada is day-to-day this week nursing a sore shoulder. (Right there with you, Zach.) Even at full health, though, his status for Week 3 against Eastern Michigan would still be TBD. Through 2 games, he’s averaging a limp 4.4 yards per attempt without a touchdown. In particular, he’s posed little threat throwing beyond the sticks, connecting on just 3-of-22 attempts of 10+ air yards. Before his injury against Ole Miss, it was borderline inexcusable that the Wildcats called on Calzada to put the ball in the air 30 times with RBs Seth McGowan and Dante Dowdell averaging north of 5 yards per carry in a competitive game.

Either way, then, his days as QB1 might be numbered. Next man up is Cutter Boley, a redshirt freshman who can only be described at this stage of his career as “tall.” He did get some meaningful reps at the tail end of 2024 in losses to Texas and Louisville (his first career start), and Mark Stoops told reporters this week that Boley will play in some capacity against EMU whether Calzada does or not. The writing is on the wall.
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Last week: 16⬌

• • •

The post SEC QB Rankings, Week 3: Can DJ Lagway rescue Billy Napier and Florida … again? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

After struggling against Ohio State at “The Horseshoe” in the biggest spot of his college career, Manning displayed a bounce-back trait all elite quarterbacks must possess. When the dust finally settled, Manning completed 19 of his 30 passes for 295 yards and 4 touchdowns while adding a highlight-reel rushing touchdown where he tiptoed the sideline from 20 yards out this week against San Jose State.

Stats aside, what’s more encouraging if you’re a long-term Manning stockholder was how he overcame a pedestrian start to ultimately put together a heck of a game.

Unlike last week when he seemed timid and perplexed at times by the exotic looks Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia was dialing up, Manning remained very aggressive while having full command of the offense which led to multiple big plays in the second quarter.

“I thought offensively Arch played a really good game. We were able to create explosive pass plays and we are at our best as a football team when we can run it and create those explosive pass plays,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said in his postgame press conference. “I think with Arch, the competitor in him is like I wish I could have that one back from a week ago because there’s probably some plays in there where he’s like I wish I would have cut that lose and did this a little differently. But, I thought today was a by product of the week of work as he played aggressive throughout the week and studied the game plan and I thought today he played more of his style.”

For a 5-minute stretch, Manning put his greatness on full display when he found freshman wideout Parker Livingstone along the left sideline. Livingstone did the rest, turning up the field and racing down the sideline for an 83-yard touchdown. The touchdown was the longest passing touchdown by Texas since 2017 and more importantly was the biggest play of a Manning’s highlight reel stretch where he went 5-for-5 for 142 yards and 4 touchdowns..

The talented redshirt sophomore got so hot he connected for TDs on 3 consecutive passing attempts, which included another touchdown to Livingstone from 3 yards out and 2 to tight end Jack Endries from 36 and 16 yards out, respectively.

Here’s where it’s worth noting that the opponent in Week 2 was San Jose State, so much like Week 1 against Ohio State, we should be patient with making overarching (pun intended) statements either way after facing a pair of diametrically opposite opponents. But, for 1 week, at least, Manning was able to take the game over and give some hope to the Mel Kipers, Paul Finebaums and NFL scouts of the world who were drooling over Arch and his talent all offseason long.

“I thought I went out there and made a few more plays, but once again wasn’t very efficient and a little sloppy as there were too many penalties,” Manning said during his postgame press conference. “I thought I made plays when it was there and got my guys involved a little bit more. I play to a certain standard and sometimes you have to just let go of the past and move on and keep playing rather it’s a bad play or a bad game just move on.”

To be perfectly honest, no matter if you ride with Arch and think he’s one of the best QBs in the nation, or if you think he’s a bum who can’t get it done; he must be allowed to play out this season (or at least get an SEC start or 3 under his belt) before anyone can make an accurate assessment of him as a quarterback. Please let the kid at least play a full SEC schedule before coming to any definite conclusions on whether he can play at a high level or not.

He hasn’t even made a start on the road in SEC play and yet there are some people who think he’s all show and no go. In just 2 weeks we’ve seen the good and bad out of Manning, which is to be expected. In the meantime, can we sit back and enjoy watching the “Arch Manning Show” uninterrupted from now until December so we can make accurate assessments on how good or bad of a QB he actually is?

The post Arch Manning bounced back against San Jose State, but let’s wait until SEC play to fairly assess him appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Despite another big loss on the national stage all is not doom and gloom for the Longhorns, as the new version of the College Football playoffs has already shown us thanks to the Buckeyes that you can lose at least 2 games and still bring home a natty. The Longhorns bounced back in Week 2 with a 38-7 win over San Jose State. They host UTEP in Week 3, but let’s be real — the real danger lies ahead in SEC play.

Here’s a list of the 3 most dangerous games left on Texas’s schedule, as 2 more losses would all but end the Longhorns dream of ending their 20-year national championship drought.

Texas first trip ever “Between the Hedges” in Athens

After losing to Georgia in Austin by 15 and then again in the SEC championship game by 3 in overtime, Texas must find a way to beat the defending conference champions in their backyard. Fortunately for Texas, the formula for victory over the Bulldogs is very simpl,e although it will be very difficult to execute.

For Texas to avoid the Georgia landmine and win in its inaugural trip to Athens to keep its national championship hopes alive, it must run the ball and stop the run. In last season’s matchups, Texas was only able to muster 29 and 31 total rushing yards while allowing Georgia to rumble for 108 and 141 yards on the ground. That pretty much sums up why Georgia went 2-0.

If Arch Manning and company are going to get what would be the best victory of his young career, Texas’s young offensive line must improve and learn from the lessons given to it by Ohio State. Also, Sarkisian must exhibit patient play calling against Georgia and let the Longhorns’ talented running back duo of Quintrevion Wisner and C.J. Baxter cook.

Despite going against an NFL-like defense in Ohio State in Week 1, both backs averaged 4 yards or more a carry and could have impacted the game more if Texas did not abandon the run game so early. This mistake must be corrected if Texas’s inaugural trip “Between the Hedges” is going to be successful.

Dodging Gator revenge in “The Swamp”

In college football, revenge is a prevalent thing when playing in a Power 4 conference full of very powerful and prideful programs. With the revenge factor extremely in play, Texas’s most-dangerous game behind the trip to Athens will be their trip to “The Swamp” in Gainesville, where Florida will be looking to avenge a 49-17 loss to Texas in Austin last season.

A key to beating Florida in one of the toughest venues in college football will be how good Texas can play defense in a must-win SEC game. If the Week 1 game against Ohio State is any indication, Texas’s defense is more than capable of controlling a game in a hostile environment as it gave the Buckeyes’ offense all it wanted despite the loss.

The trip to “The Swamp” will be Manning’s first road start in SEC play. Yes, the Gators just fell at home to USF, but if anything, that actually might make Billy Napier‘s squad more dangerous. A Gator with its back against the wall is a scary thing, indeed.

The Longhorns would be smart to lean on Colin Simmons, Anthony Hill Jr. and company in this one against a tough and talented Florida squad. Although Texas dominated Florida’s offense in last year’s matchup, this season will be a lot different and harder as Florida sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway will test the Longhorns’ talented defense on every level.

The Red River Rivalry Is a Must Win

Like most big-time rivalry games any and everything can and has happened over the years in “The Red River Rivalry” game against Oklahoma.

Once you peel back the layers and take the emotions out of the game, this season’s matchup is a must-win for both teams. For Texas, a win would be a statement in Dallas in SEC action and set up the Longhorns to be in great position going through the second half of the season despite their slip up against Ohio State last week.

On the other hand, a loss would put the Longhorns’ championship aspirations on life support as Texas would have lost against top 15 opponents twice and might be forced to run the table the rest of the way just for a shot at a Playoff berth. A common theme in all of the Texas potential roadblock games will be how good will Manning be on these different big stages.

Because if he’s the guy we’ve heard about for over the last year, then we will see improved quarterback play and Manning making big plays in key situations to win games consistently. If Manning turns into a bust, Texas will morph into the most disappointing team in the nation and there will be a lot of questions to be answered by Sark and company.

Against Oklahoma, he’ll need to out-duel John Mateer, who has garnered some early season Heisman buzz thanks to his strong play. Crazy things happen in Dallas, so make sure to have that one circled on your calendars.

The post Texas Football: The 3 most dangerous games remaining on the Longhorns’ schedule appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Him Mateer-ial

It was early in the 3rd quarter. Oklahoma ball at midfield. OU led, 14-7, but the momentum had shifted to Michigan following a 75-yard touchdown run by the Wolverines’ Justice Haynes on the first play after halftime. The Sooners faced 3rd-and-8, seeking to avoid their second consecutive 3-and-out to start the half. The capacity crowd in Memorial Stadium was on its feet, as it had been since well before kickoff, and uneasy. John Mateer received the snap, and before he could even finish his initial drop, the play was a disaster in the making: Fooled by Michigan’s pressure look, Oklahoma’s protection (in particular running back Jovantae Barnes) failed to shore up its right flank, leaving blitzing safety Brandyn Hillman with a free run at the quarterback.

Untouched, Hillman closed in for what by all rights should be a drive-killing sack. Instead, Mateer deftly glided out of the bullseye, into the pocket — the rest of which had held up, to his o-line’s credit — and out of Hillman’s grasp, not only managing to break his attempt at an arm tackle but using it as a kind of slingshot into open grass. Harried but alert, Mateer reoriented himself on the fly, scanned downfield, and casually let rip his first wow throw as a Sooner, an ad-libbed, 40-yard dime down the Oklahoma sideline to a streaking Isaiah Sategna.

Two plays later, Mateer was in the end zone on his 2nd rushing touchdown of the night to extend OU’s lead to 21-7, after which the outcome was never seriously in doubt again. The Sooners survived a muffed punt and a missed field goal down the stretch to win comfortably, 24-13, in a game they desperately had to have to set the tone for their season — that is, to distinguish it as early and emphatically as possible from the last one.

For the locals, the moment was a long time coming. Murmurs about the 2025 quarterback situation began as early as last October, amid a wholesale offensive collapse. Oklahoma had bet the farm on prized recruit Jackson Arnold, a former 5-star in the 2023 class alongside Arch Manning and Nico Iamaleava, going so far as to let incumbent starter Dillon Gabriel walk with a year of eligibility remaining in order to clear Arnold’s path to the top of the depth chart as a sophomore. But Arnold crashed and burned as QB1, quickly playing his way onto the bench in his first high-profile home start against Tennessee; by the time he was reinstated a month later, the Sooners were on a historically miserable pace under an interim offensive coordinator, the toughest part of the schedule still in front of them. Arnold, who ended the season ranked dead last among SEC starters in pass efficiency and Total QBR, played out the stretch with one foot out the door.

When Mateer emerged from the portal last winter, as far as Sooners fans were concerned, he was little more than a name orbited by a constellation of statistics. If the name was unfamiliar, at least the numbers were good. At Washington State, Mateer spent his first 2 years on campus biding his time behind future No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. In his only season as a starter at Wazzu, he filled the void left by Ward’s transfer to Miami and reshaped it around his own game, finishing in the top 10 nationally in total touchdowns (1st), total offense (4th), pass efficiency (8th) and EPA (7th). He was the only FBS player in 2024 with 3,000 yards passing and 1,000 rushing (excluding sacks). He arrived in Oklahoma in January as part of a package deal with his precocious Wazzu offensive coordinator, 29-year-old Ben Arbuckle, and with an NIL package that reportedly matched Arbuckle’s salary. Dark-horse Heisman buzz followed from outlets whose criteria for filling out the preseason leaderboard begin and end with “starting quarterback at Oklahoma.”

That’s the version of Mateer Sooners fans were sold for the previous 9 months — one that existed more or less entirely on paper. Even for the ones willing to buy the hype sight unseen, they had no way of knowing exactly what they were getting IRL. After all, the last guy had no shortage of preseason hype himself. By comparison, Mateer was a relatively marginal recruit with only 2 FBS scholarship offers out of high school, and he’d faced mostly marginal competition in his lone season in the saddle at Washington State. The Cougars played essentially an independent schedule in 2024 after being abandoned by the rest of the Pac-12 in the last round of conference realignment. Oklahoma in 2025 was starting down arguably the most brutal schedule in the country, beginning with Michigan.

Not only the season is riding on this guy, but the fate of the Brent Venables administration after overseeing 2 losing seasons in Venables’ first 3 years as head coach. Does his size translate to the SEC crucible? His arm strength? His mobility? On a field full of 4- and 5-star specimen, is he an athlete, or an overachieving gym rat out of his weight class? Can he keep his composure and make plays under duress from a blue-chip pass rush?

As of Saturday night, all of those boxes have been checked and all lights are green as the SEC gauntlet looms. Already, Mateer accounted for more total yards (344) and touchdowns (3) against Michigan than Oklahoma’s offense as a whole managed in any SEC game in 2024 in either category.

He accounted for 84% of the team’s total output, serving as a workhorse runner whose 19 carries matched OU’s three-man running back rotation combined. (Notably, all of those carries were designed runs, per Pro Football Focus; Mateer scrambled to buy time, not to tuck and run.) He passed the eye test under pressure. He was productive throwing to every level of the field, including 3-for-5 passing on attempts of 20+ air yards. He wasn’t perfect, by a long shot — see his lone interception, on which he air-mailed an open receiver from a clean pocket at the end of the first quarter — but in a game the defense had well in hand, he was who the Sooners were banking on him to be.

Meanwhile, the oddsmakers have dropped the “dark horse” part from Mateer’s burgeoning Heisman campaign, capitalizing on his primetime profile boost to bump his name onto the shortlist of Heisman favorites, for whatever it’s worth in early September. (Next to nothing, especially in a wide open year for the award, but ESPNBet lists his Heisman odds at +900 as of Monday, Sept. 8, if you’re so inclined.)

Personally, before I even start thinking about the H-word, I’d like to see him in less friendly confines; Oklahoma doesn’t leave him in SEC play until mid-October, for its annual rivalry date against Texas. The first true road game falls a week later, at South Carolina, followed by November trips to Tennessee and Alabama. There’s a long way to go, and no rest for the weary after midseason. Until then, the Sooners can rest a little easier knowing their big-ticket offseason investment is one big, reassuring step closer to paying off.

Florida: Hello, Hot Seat, my old friend

Do we really have to do this again?

Scrutinizing Billy Napier’s rapidly shrinking job security after each and every Florida loss was already tedious when we were doing it at this time last year — so much so that his boss had to go out of his way last November to affirm that Napier would be back in 2025 just to get everybody to shut up about it. From that point on, the Gators pulled off a pair of season-saving upsets over LSU and Ole Miss, whipped the ghost of Florida State, and won their bowl game to cap a stunning 4-game winning streak. This was a team with “momentum.” They returned face-of-the-program QB DJ Lagway and opened at No. 15 in the preseason AP poll. No one was talking about the hot seat! And now here we are again? Already?

It is possible to argue, in an of itself, that a 2-point loss to South Florida is not a job-killing catastrophe. The Bulls have a legit quarterback in Byrum Brown, beat the tar out of G5 standard-bearer Boise State on opening day, and now look like the clear frontrunners to claim the automatic G5 Playoff slot themselves. Are Florida fans buying any of that? They are not. They watched the game, and what they saw was not a talented upstart whose time has come. What they saw was their team repeatedly shooting itself in the foot.

Penalties plagued the Gators on Saturday — 11 for 103 yards in all, before we even get into the timing. In the first half, 2 apparent Florida touchdowns were wiped out by penalties on the same drive. Later, back-to-back penalties kick-started USF’s eventual game-winning drive in the closing minutes, including a brain-dead personal foul for spitting in a USF player’s face with an official just steps away. Elsewhere, miscues piled up. A high snap on a punt resulted in a safety (ultimately the difference in the final margin). Lagway struggled to connect downfield, no thanks to multiple drops by his receivers. The offense had some success moving the ball against USF, but its only touchdown came as a result of a short field following a punt return.

It’s no wonder that the prevailing emotion on Saturday was disgust. It’s also no wonder that, looking at the rest of the schedule, the prevailing emotion is futility. Florida’s next 3 games are against opponents currently ranked in the top 10 (LSU, Miami, Texas), the first 2 on the road. That stretch is followed by a trip to Texas A&M, the annual neutral-site date against Georgia, and a closing run against Ole Miss (in Oxford), Tennessee, and a resurgent Florida State. That’s 8 ranked opponents in the last 10 games that, if kickoff was this weekend, would almost certainly be favored over the Gators. And that’s assuming a couple of perfunctory wins over Mississippi State (in Gainesville) and Kentucky (in Lexington), which as the locals know are hardly automatic.

Sound familiar? It’s verbatim the outlook after Florida’s depressing, 1-2 start in 2024, only with the order and locations of the upcoming games switched and no quarterback controversy to distract from the rest of the team. If you’re feeling generous, you might point out that Napier survived that gauntlet once already with his job intact, and there’s no reason the same team can’t do it again. On the other hand, you might point out that Napier dodged a bullet with his name on it last year, and he can’t keep dodging them forever. A month from now, the Gators could very easily be staring down the barrel of a 1-5 start. If it comes to that, there won’t be much left to argue.

Hail State (of chaos)

For obvious reasons, the defining highlight of Mississippi State’s wild, 24-20 upset over Arizona State was the game-winning, 58-yard touchdown heave from MSU QB Blake Shapen to WR Brenen Thompson with less than a minute to play. They’ll be replaying that one on the hype video in Davis Wade Stadium for years to come. But the turning point was the goal line stand by Mississippi State’s defense — a unit that stank out loud in 2024 — that immediately preceded it.

Earlier in the second half, Arizona State had already marched down the field on an 8-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that didn’t feature a single pass. Midway through the 4th quarter, score tied 17-17, the Sun Devils embarked on an even more epic march, this one ultimately covering 95 yards in 17 plays — again, all but 1 of them runs. This time, though, the Bulldogs held when they had to, stuffing the Devils on 3 consecutive runs inside the MSU 3-yard line with less than 2 minutes to play. Facing 4th-and-goal at the 1, ASU coach Kenny Dillingham blinked and sent out his kicker. An easy field goal put Arizona State in front, 20-17, but left 1:38 for Mississippi State to do … well, you know. The 4 points Dillingham left on the field with his decision to kick instead of going for it (or pinning MSU’s offense at its own half-yard line if the 4th-down attempt failed) turned out to be the difference in a loss that will potentially haunt the Devils if they wind up on the CFP bubble.

Now, is it worth making hay over the fact that the reigning Big 12 champs bit the dust against an outfit still riding a 12-game SEC losing streak? If you’re a committed SEC supremacist, sure, go ahead. Me, I’m chalking this one up to good old randomness. Given the strangeness of the game and Starkville’s reputation as a kind of Bermuda Triangle, the only thing I’m taking away from the Bulldogs’ big win is this: Mississippi State is a live chaos agent that is going to ruin another ranked team’s season sooner rather than later. They’re going to have plenty of chances.

Enter Sandman? Vandy opens a can

The first half of Vanderbilt’s 44-20 win at Virginia Tech was standard Vandy: The defense allowed multiple extended scoring drives; the offense committed multiple turnovers; the ‘Dores trailed at halftime, 20-10. The second half must rank among the most straight-up dominant half-hours of Vandy football in … well, let’s just say a long time. If you were some unfortunate old-timer who has somehow endured the futility of the past, say, 50 years, you’d be well-acquainted with being on the business end of some truly ghastly box scores. You probably wouldn’t be able to recall many, or perhaps any against an ostensibly competitive opponent, that looked like this:

Thirty-four unanswered points. Five possessions on offense, 5 touchdowns. (The last one overseen by the backup quarterback while the starter chilled on the sideline.) Five possessions on defense yielded 3 consecutive 3-and-outs, a 4-and-out, and a turnover following Virginia Tech’s lone first down of the half, in the final minute of garbage time. By that point, Lane Stadium was mostly empty, the home crowd having already streamed out en masse in disgust. Our hypothetical ‘Dores diehard has witnessed his fair share of upsets over the years, sure, including much more dramatic ones than this. (Vanderbilt was a mere 1.5-point underdog on Saturday, effectively a toss-up.) But when is the last time he watched Vandy literally run the other team out of its own stadium?

The hater economy dictates that, if this wasn’t a devoted SEC space, no doubt I’d be writing an obituary for Hokies’ head coach Brent Pry, now 16-23 in Year 4 with no light at the end of the tunnel. Granted, the forecast in Blacksburg is as bleak as ever. On the other side of the coin, though, Vanderbilt’s trajectory since Clark Lea‘s narrow escape from the gallows a year ago is all the more remarkable by comparison. Last year’s opening-day win over over Virginia Tech in Nashville was a legitimate stunner decided in overtime, a plucky, feel-good effort by an outfit with a 3-33 record vs. Power 5 opponents over the previous 5 years. A year later, essentially the same team administered an across-the-board beatdown for its 6th win over a power conference opponent in its past 11 tries.

Nor was it one reducible to QB Diego Pavia getting excessively turnt. Pavia was his usual efficient self on Saturday, accounting for 254 total yards, 2 touchdowns and a stellar 88.7 QBR. But the difference between another forgettable win over a mediocre opponent and an emphatic one was a team effort in all phases. The o-line kept Pavia clean, allowing 2 pressures on 19 drop-backs; running backs Makhilyn Young and Sedrick Alexander went off for a combined 168 yards on 9.3 per carry; the wideouts made plays; the defense as a whole turned in easily its best performance of Lea’s tenure. Even including the competitive first half, the Commodores outgained the Hokies by a nearly 2-to-1 margin overall (490 yards to 248) and by nearly 4.5 yards per play — on paper, their best outing on both sides of the ball since well before the pandemic. The 24-point margin of victory was Vandy’s largest in a true road game since a 55-21 thumping of Wake Forest in November 2012, under coach James Franklin.

One sign of just how far Lea’s rebuilding effort has come is that, as far as the rest of the country was concerned, turning a raucous road environment into a graveyard in the span of a few minutes wasn’t worth getting too worked up about. No one bothered with the patronizing “good for you Vandy!” routine. Frankly, no one seemed to notice: Vanderbilt earned a single vote in the updated AP poll, in keeping with the consensus that the second-half rout said more about the side getting routed than it did about the one doing the routing. (It didn’t help that, for voters just glancing at the result, the final score obscured just how lopsided it was in the end.) Maybe the hive mind is right; maybe this is just an example of the 13th or 14th-best team in the SEC just being that much better than the 13th or 14th-best team in the ACC. We’ll find out this weekend in the conference opener at South Carolina, where the Gamecocks opened as 5.5-point favorites at ESPNBet. Beyond that, with the possible exception of a November visit from Kentucky, Vandy still projects as an underdog in every game.

But then, that distinction keeps counting for less and less. If nothing else, the ‘Dores have every reason to expect to be competitive on a weekly basis, and you can see in the narrow point spread at South Carolina that the oddsmakers are starting to expect it, too. And if it wasn’t already, it’s officially safe to say they’re done with doormat duty until further notice.

Dude of the Week: Cashius Howell

Howell played just 29 snaps in Texas A&M’s 44-22 win over Utah State, and rushed the passer on just 15 of them. But he only needed 3 to accomplish a full day’s work:

There’s an old saying in journalism: 2 is a coincidence, 3 is a trend. Cashius Howell wrecking opposing backfields is most definitely a trend.

Goat of the Week: Brendan Bett

Dan Mullen’s demise at Florida was set into motion by a player who picked the worst possible moment to throw a shoe. For Billy Napier, the beginning of the end could be Bett’s decision to hock a loogie in the face of a USF lineman within literal spitting distance of an official.

Egregious as it was, it’s hard to argue that the Bulls’ game-winning drive hinged on this penalty or likely would have unfolded differently otherwise. (Unlike the infamous shoe toss, which pointlessly gave LSU a fresh set of downs following a 3rd-down stop, Bett’s gaffe came on first down. And a free 15 yards ultimately did not mean much when it came down to a chip-shot field goal snapped from the UF 2-yard line.) But as a symbol of the Gators’ larger dysfunction and lack of discipline with the game on the line, its role in the outcome was unmistakable.

Notebook

1.) Coming off a week of scrutiny following its opening-day loss at Ohio State, Texas got off to another nervous start offensively against San José State: A big gain on the first play of the game was wiped out by a holding penalty; Arch Manning‘s first attempt was a badly overthrown deep ball; the Longhorns’ next series ended with a flat-out drop on 3rd down. The home crowd in Austin was palpably on edge. Of course, the nerves didn’t last. Manning got untracked on an 83-yard touchdown pass to his new favorite target, Parker Livingstone, while the defense made the offense’s life as easy as possible by forcing turnovers on each of SJSU’s next 3 possessions. The ‘Horns turned all 3 takeaways into short-field touchdowns — a net of 28 points in a little under 5 minutes.

2.) This week’s Catch of the Year of the Week goes to San José State’s Leland Smith, whose high-rising effort at the expense of Texas’ Kobe Black was not respected by the officials upon further review but certainly is here at MDS on principle. One of our highest principles, in fact: Too Cool to Overturn.

The decision to rule the pass incomplete on a technicality (Smith didn’t fully possess the ball until part of his torso had skidded across the chalk) had no effect on the outcome, only of robbing Smith of what was rightfully his. The only thing wrong with this catch and ones like it is that every time a dude comes down with one people keep defaulting to David Tyree in the Super Bowl as their point of reference. Real ones remember the true originator of the modern helmet catch: Tyrone Prothro.

3.) Ole Miss has a keeper in talented sophomore QB Austin Simmons, but he’s got a lot of sophomore to work out. He air-mailed a pair of interceptions in the Rebels’ 30-23 win at Kentucky, and even one of his biggest plays — a crucial 4th-down completion that set up Ole Miss’ first touchdown — was accompanied by a chorus of the entire fan base shouting No! No! Yes!

4.) Every aspect of Missouri’s offense was firing on all cylinders in a wild, 42-31 win over Kansas, but a special nod is order for the Tigers’ thunder-and-lightning running back combo of Ahmad Hardy and Jamal Roberts. Hardy, a much-anticipated transfer from UL-Monroe, did most of the dirty work, grinding out 111 yards on 4.4 per carry; his 12 missed tackles forced against the Jayhawks tied for the most of any FBS back in Week 2, per PFF. Roberts got less work, logging 13 carries, but made the most of them, averaging 11.0 yards per pop with a 63-yard dagger in the 4th quarter to put the win on ice.

Moment of Zen

The post Monday Down South: Oklahoma bought the hype. John Mateer’s first magic trick as a Sooner made it real appeared first on Saturday Down South.

ESPN analyst Bill Connelly recently sat down and ranked every signal caller in the SEC through the first two weeks of the season, and he had some surprising placements to say the least.

The first guy on Connelly’s list is Missouri‘s new budding star in Penn State transfer Beau Pribula, who has quickly proven to be the elite gunslinger that the Tigers have been looking for the last couple of years.

Here’s some analysis from Connelly on Pribula’s start to the season:

He left Penn State in search of a starring role. And his first two performances have been outstanding. Pribula is fifth nationally in completion rate (79.1%) and 25th in yards per dropback, and he has more non-sack rushing yards than LaNorris Sellers. And in his first Border Showdown against Kansas on Saturday, he threw for 334 yards and led a 15-point comeback.

Here’s Connelly’s full ranking of the SEC’s passers after Week 2:

• 1. Beau Pribula, Missouri Tigers
• 2. John Mateer, Oklahoma Sooners
• 3. Taylen Green, Arkansas
• 4. Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt
• 5. Joey Aguilar, Tennessee
• 6. Garrett Nussmeier, LSU
• 7. Arch Manning, Texas
• 8. Gunner Stockton, Georgia
• 9. Ty Simpson, Alabama
• 10. Marcel Reed, Texas A&M
• 11. Auston Simmons, Ole Miss
• 12. LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina
• 13. Blake Shapen, Mississippi State
• 14. Jackson Arnold, Auburn
• 15. DJ Lagway, Florida
• 16. Zach Calzada, Kentucky

There’s still a very long ways to go in the season, so it will be interesting to see how Connelly’s list ends up changing as the year rolls along.

The post ESPN analyst ranks all 16 SEC quarterbacks through 2 weeks of the 2025 season appeared first on Saturday Down South.

During the Week 2 edition of ESPN’s College GameDay, McAfee was breaking down tape of Castellanos’s alongside Saban. As the segment ended, McAfee hit the legendary coach with some good ol’ fashioned trolling.

“Kalen DeBoer is wondering, this guy ain’t supposed to talk [expletive] to us and then come in and steamroll us!” McAfee said. “And Nick, you weren’t there to save them buddy.”

During the offseason, Castellanos warned that Saban couldn’t save Alabama and that proved to be true. Saban is still riding with DeBoer despite the stunning loss. However, DeBoer is getting plenty of criticism and boosters feeling restless, to the extent he had to release a message.

It’s a new world for Alabama since Saban’s retirement and the playing field is certainly leveled.

Alabama will aim to get its first victory of the season when it hosts UL Monroe in Week 2 in its home opener. UL Monroe vs. Alabama is set to kick off at 7:45 p.m. ET and will be televised on the SEC Network.

The post Pat McAfee trolls Alabama, Nick Saban over FSU game appeared first on Saturday Down South.

1. Garrett Nussmeier, LSU

Everyone loves a winner, and Nussmeier’s eye-of-the-beholder outing at Clemson looked a heck of a lot better in a 17-10 win than the exact same performance would have in another deflating opening-night loss. (See, for example, last year’s Week 1 heartbreaker against USC, where he was more productive to much worse reviews.) The real difference in Death Valley East was LSU’s defense, which had its best night in a game that matters in ages. For his part, Nussmeier was well-protected, went 7-for-10 for 95 yards on a pair of second-half touchdown drives, and otherwise didn’t do anything to screw it up. Under the circumstances — top-5 opponent, on the road, the defense finally holding up its end of the bargain — that’ll do.

As a result, Nussmeier shot to the top of the Heisman odds entering Week 2, though, in fairness, that had a lot to do with preseason Heisman betting favorite Arch Manning’s performance at Ohio State. More on that in a moment.

While we’re on the subject of eye test vs. box score, it’s worth pointing out that the latter would have been gotten a significant boost if Nussmeier’s best throw, a 29-yard, over-the-shoulder dime for an apparent go-ahead touchdown in the 3rd quarter, hadn’t been wiped out by the latest entry in America’s favorite ongoing metaphysical saga, Catch or Not a Catch?

Not a catch, somehow. Instead of a TD, the possession ended in a missed field goal. Even by the letter of the law, the verdict on that play ultimately boiled down to a judgment call as to whether WR Barion Brown “completed the act” on his way to the ground. The “rules analyst” on the live broadcast openly disagreed with the ruling overturning the catch, which almost never happens; during the review itself, the conversation never even broached the possibility of overturning the catch, only whether Brown had scored or drifted out of bounds at the half-yard line. Why does the sport continue to do this to itself? All borderline reviews that fail to achieve consensus should automatically default to the doctrine of “too cool to overturn.”
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Last week: 3

2. LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina

South Carolina’s opening drive against Virginia Tech featured Sellers going 3-for-3 passing for 54 yards and gratuitously trucking a defender at the end of a 15-yard touchdown run, at which point you had to at least consider the possibility that this kid might never be stopped again. The feeling was short-lived: Carolina didn’t find the end zone again on offense until well into the 4th quarter, on a 64-yard heave from Sellers to extraterrestrial wideout Nyck Harbor that instantly erased the 2 uneasy hours between the opening possession and the dagger in a 24-11 win.

That was Sellers’ only attempt of 20+ air yards. Notably, he also had an apparent touchdown pass overturned on review earlier in the game due to Harbor bobbling the ball as he landed sprawling out of bounds, forcing the Gamecocks to settle for a field goal. Frankly, the fact that Harbor was prominently involved at all after being MIA far too often the past 2 years was as encouraging as whether he technically held onto the ball or not.
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Last week: 2⬌

3. John Mateer | Oklahoma

They don’t pay me the big bucks to wax rhapsodic about a routine pantsing of Illinois State. Suffice to say, Mateer’s debut as a Sooner was all the locals could have asked for: 30-for-37 passing, 389 yards, 3 touchdowns, plus a 4th TD rushing. Based on his 2024 output at Washington State, that’s about par for the course against a bantamweight opponent. Next up: A prove-it date against Michigan that will tell us a whole lot more about what to expect the rest of the season.
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Last week: 4

4. DJ Lagway | Florida

Lagway’s night against Long Island U. ended at halftime with Florida leading 38-0 and LIU’s offense having gained a single first down. (The fist play after the Sharks moved the sticks, they coughed up a fumble that the Gators returned for their first touchdown in an eventual 55-0 massacre.) Other than an absurd 1-handed catch by freshman Vernell Brown, there’s no reason to acknowledge any of the above ever happened. Next up: A real opponent, South Florida, coming off an emphatic upset of Boise State.
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Last week: 5

5. Arch Manning | Texas

Manning’s first pass at Ohio State skipped off the turf well short of his intended receiver. His second pass was a minimal completion to a tight end, who was swarmed short of the sticks on third down. His third pass was a scramble-drill dump-off to a running back, who was also stopped short of the sticks on third down. Run that sequence on repeat, mix in a goal-line stand and an interception on one of Manning’s rare ventures downfield, and you’ve seen pretty much all there was to see over the first 3 quarters — the most anticlimactic debut since the Segway.

To Manning’s credit, that wasn’t the end of the story. At the start of the 4th quarter, he was a juiceless 9-for-15 passing for 38 yards and a single first down. His longest gain up to that point was courtesy of his legs, on a 15-yard scramble, besting his longest completion by 6 yards. He’d just followed up the failed goal-line series by serving up the aforementioned INT on his final attempt of the 3rd; by the time he got the ball back, Texas trailed 14-0 with zero momentum and time running out. Manning’s 4th-quarter highlight reel salvaged a scrap or two of dignity. After failing utterly to challenge the Buckeyes downfield for the majority of the afternoon, he connected on 3 completions of 25+ yards in comeback mode, including a gotta-have-it, 32-yard touchdown strike on 3rd-and-10 that briefly revived the Longhorns’ fortunes in the closing minutes, as well as a beauty of a throw from deep in his own territory that split the cornerback and safety in a Cover 2 look. If nothing else, at least in those moments it was possible to see what scouts who anointed him the No. 1 recruit in his class and a future No. 1 overall saw beyond his last name.

For almost any other redshirt sophomore making his first career road start in Ohio Stadium, checking the “flashes potential” box in a competitive loss against the defending champs would count for something. Not much, maybe. But something.

For Arch? Not a chance. For a player as wildly hyped as Manning, who has been hyped for as long as Manning, the idea of chalking up a rocky debut as QB1 to Normal Sophomore Stuff is almost an insult — not to him, but to an audience that was asked to buy him as a fully-formed prospect and literal Heisman frontrunner before he’d even thrown his first touchdown pass against a serious opponent. You (by which I mean “we,” the media hive mind at large) can’t anoint a kid the second coming of his famous uncles and the face of the No. 1 team in the preseason polls and then plead for patience when he comes out looking like just another kid who needs reps the first time he sets foot on a big stage. Real patience means demonstrating restraint before it becomes painfully obvious that it’s in order. (Whoops, too late.)

None of which, to be clear, is directed at Arch himself, who never asked to be anointed anything. If anyone is equipped to survive being monitored by the Bust Police at such a fledgling stage of his career, it’s Manning, who has been in the spotlight to some extent since he was in the 9th grade and has handled it with a minimum of drama or inflated ego. Texas’ larger goals haven’t changed; barring disaster, a competitive road loss against a fellow contender in Week 1 isn’t likely to affect the Longhorns’ Playoff chances very much, if at all. Texas still has the 3rd-lowest odds to win the national championship. And if it serves to keep expectations tethered to reality, a round of initial skepticism could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

But then, that’s assuming that Manning remains on track to be the guy he was supposed to be sooner to later — preferably sooner. Speaking of which, Texas’ upcoming schedule (San Jose State, UTEP, Sam Houston, all in Austin) ahead of the SEC slate is an opportunity to get right before the next big road test at Florida. Flying under the radar for a few weeks while he settles into the job and restores his confidence is exactly what he needs before the glare falls on him again.
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Last week: 1

6. Taylen Green | Arkansas

Green played 8 series against Alabama A&M, threw 6 touchdown passes, and called it a day. Next up: A marginally stiffer test against Arkansas State that might even see him take a snap in the 4th quarter.
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Last week: 7

7. Diego Pavia | Vanderbilt

Pavia kicked off his bonus year in Nashville by throwing 3 first-half touchdown passes in a 45-3 rout of Charleston Southern — business as usual at Vandy these days. Meanwhile, his 2 older brothers were arrested outside the stadium and charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest — hopefully an isolated event.
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Last week: 8

8. Marcel Reed | Texas A&M

Reed still has a reputation as an “athlete,” as opposed to a guy who’s going to beat a worthy opponent with his arm. But that’s not entirely fair to his production last year as a redshirt freshman, and his stat line in Texas A&M’s 42-24 win over UT-San Antonio was the best yet of his young career: 22-for-34 passing, 289 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs, 0 sacks. Notably, the guys who were on the receiving end of most of that output, Mario Craver and KC Concepcion, are both portal additions whom the Aggies are counting on to electrify what was a forgettable WR rotation in 2024. So far, so good. Next up: Another round of target practice against Utah State, ahead of their first significant test at Notre Dame.
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Last week: 9

9. Gunner Stockton | Georgia

Stockton aced his Sanford Stadium debut, posting an FBS-best 99.1 QBR rating while accounting for 4 total touchdowns (2 passing, 2 rushing) and giving off unmistakable Stetson Bennett vibes in a 45-7 romp over Marshall. The only thing not to like: His resemblance to a young Kirby Smart is frankly unsettling.
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Last week: 10

10. Jackson Arnold | Auburn

The jury is very much out on his arm, but Auburn is already getting its money’s worth from Arnold’s mobility. He was a borderline workhorse in Week 1, running 16 times for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns in a hard-nosed, 38-24 win win at Baylor; that total included 11 missed tackles forced (per PFF), 9 runs for first downs and 3 gains of 20+ yards, highlighted by his game-clinching TD from 26 yards out on a crucial 4th down late in the game.

In the process, the Tigers got a glimpse of the blueprint they hope will elevate them into the top half of the conference, which — not coincidentally — looks a lot like the blueprint from Oklahoma’s 24-3 upset over Alabama last November, Arnold’s only 100-yard rushing effort during his ill-fated stint as a Sooner. That game was arguably the biggest reason Auburn saw him as a viable portal addition last winter, despite the nightmare of a season that preceded it. If his first time out in Hugh Freeze‘s scheme is any indication, that bet has a chance to pay off.
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Last week: 12

11. Joey Aguilar | Tennessee

Aguilar was a little scattershot in his Tennessee debut, but only a little, throwing 3 touchdown passes in a 45-26 win over Syracuse. Whatever doubts Vols fans had about the downfield arm strength of a G5 transfer were quickly disabused when he uncorked a 75-yard touchdown pass to a streaking Braylon Stanley that traveled 55 yards in the air. Just as reassuring, on the heels of an FBS-worst 14 interceptions in 2024 at Appalachian State: No picks — although Aguilar did lose a fumble.
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Last week: 11⬌

12. Austin Simmons | Ole Miss

One of the few things Lane Kiffin has never been accused of is letting a stat-padding opportunity go to waste. Simmons, a redshirt sophomore making his debut as QB1, took full advantage of the green light against Georgia State, finishing with a very Jaxson Dart-like 341 yards and 3 TDs on 31 attempts; the Rebels kept on scoring all the way to end of a 63-7 massacre. Notably, Simmons was also picked twice in the competitive portion of the proceedings, with both INTs coming on consecutive possessions in the first half — a footnote against Georgia State, but much costlier if the giveaways continue in SEC play, beginning this weekend at Kentucky.
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Last week: 13

13. Ty Simpson | Alabama

The best thing you can about Simpson’s dismal afternoon at Florida State is that it wasn’t all his fault. The running game was nonexistent. Ryan Williams, his most gifted wideout, had more drops (3) than first downs (2) before exiting with a concussion. Bama’s entrenched, blue-chip left tackle, Kadyn Proctor, was a wreck in arguably the worst game of his career. The defense gave up points on 4 of FSU’s first 5 full possessions, forcing the offense to shift into comeback mode for essentially the entire second half. The indelible image of the afternoon was of Simpson, under duress, scrambling wildly out of one would-be disaster and frequently into another.

If you were looking for evidence of a 5-star talent capable of singlehandedly transcending the dysfunction around him in his first career start, forget it. If you lower the bar a little, you can see the outline of a guy who, if nothing else, is capable of functioning in rhythm from a clean pocket:

First of all, when your quarterback is dropping back 51 times in a conventional, non-Air Raid offense, something has already gone very wrong. In Simpson’s case, about two-thirds of those attempts came after halftime, after any threat of a ground game had receded and FSU pass rushers were able to pin their ears back. The way forward begins with doing whatever is necessary to ensure as few snaps fall into the right-hand column as possible.
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Last week: 6

14. Beau Pribula | Missouri

Again, nobody’s moving the needle here against Central Arkansas. Competition notwithstanding, though, Pribula’s Mizzou debut could hardly have gone any better: 23-for-28 passing, 9-for-10 on attempts of 10+ air yards, a couple of long TD bombs, 2 more TDs as a runner, and an impressive sizzle reel to back it up. The Tigers scored on every possession with the Penn State transfer behind center, including 2 — 2! — 99-yard touchdown drives en route to a 61-6 romp. What little intrigue there was about his status as QB1 in the preseason was resolved, both by Pribula’s performance and by the other guy in the competition, Sam Horn, suffering a leg injury on his only snap of the game that will sideline him indefinitely.

That’s a tough break for Horn. A pitcher who was drafted by the L.A. Dodgers in the 17th round of July’s MLB Draft, he already missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery. A second major injury in as many years could put his football future in doubt — especially after Eli Drinkwitz declared Pribula’s new understudy, 4-star freshman Matt Zollers, “the future for us at the quarterback position.”
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Last week: 14⬌

15. Blake Shapen | Mississippi State

Given the grim outlook in Starkville, it’s tempting to sim to the end of the Shapen era and directly to the competition between his touted freshman backups, FSU transfer Luke Kromenhoek and Kamario Taylor. Not so fast my friend! Shapen, coming off a season-ending shoulder injury in 2024, shook off the rust in the opener, looking comfortable and accurate in a 34-17 win at Southern Miss. His adjusted completion percentage (90.3%, counting drops as on-target attempts) led the conference, per PFF. The competition gets steeper in Week 2 against No. 12 Arizona State, but as long as the Bulldogs have something to play for, there’s no indication he’s due to begin looking over shoulder anytime soon.
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Last week: 15⬌

16. Zach Calzada | Kentucky

All of Kentucky’s offseason moves implied an offense hellbent on running the dang ball. The opener, 24-16 slugfest against Toledo, confirmed it: Transfer RBs Dante Dowdell and Seth McGowan ground out 207 yards on 32 carries, while Calzada, a 7th-year journeyman on his 4th school, struggled to complete passes beyond the line of scrimmage. Calzada was a dismal 1-for-11 on attempts of 10+ air yards — the lone completion going for a gain of 11 — while 72 of the Wildcats’ 85 receiving yards (84.7%) came after the catch.
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Last week: 16⬌

The post SEC QB Power Rankings, Week 2: Arch Manning’s debut was a bust. Arch Manning is not appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Takeaways, trends, and technicalities from Week 1 in the SEC.
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DeBoer on the Floor

One of the cardinal rules in this business this time of year: Don’t overreact to the first game. It’s 1 game. It’s a long year. Remember all the other times you’ve overreacted over the years, and how those takes aged like a half-eaten avocado. Look at the calendar. Take a breath. Sleep on it.

And then, after you’ve done all that, revisit Alabama’s torpid, 31-17 loss at Florida State with fresh eyes, and you’ll see exactly the same thing you saw the first time: A team in ongoing, undeniable decline.

Because, let’s be real here, the collective reaction to watching Bama getting bullied, again, by yet another unranked, double-digit underdog with no juice whatsoever prior to kickoff, was not just about 1 game. Bama fans were not gritting their teeth, rending their garments and flipping off cameras over a disappointing nonconference loss, or its implications on the Tide’s Playoff odds in 2025, or for Ty Simpson’s outlook as QB1, or whatever. They were staring reality in the face. Post-Saban, this is just … who they are now under Kalen DeBoer.

It’s a testament to the residual aura of the Bama brand that there was still any shred of plausible deniability left covering what should have already been obvious. Doomed Playoff push notwithstanding, this is who they were last year, too. Dating back to last November, Saturday’s flop in Tallahassee was the Crimson Tide’s 3rd loss to an unranked, double-digit underdog in its past 4 games, unfolding in more or less the same lopsided fashion as the previous Ls against Oklahoma and Michigan. Add on last year’s October lapses at Vanderbilt (a monumental event in SEC history about which nothing more needs to be said) and Tennessee, and they’ve lost 5 of their 6 outside of Tuscaloosa – a trend line now spanning a full offseason, each one arguably a little bit worse than the last. 

The anomaly in Year 1 A.N. (After Nick) was not the upsets. The anomaly was the the sense of continuity that linked one era to the next, and allowed the pundits, polls and true believers to imagine that as long as there were still a bunch of blue-chip Saban recruits on one of the sport’s gold-standard rosters, the program remained on the same orbit. One game into Year 2, the haters had it right. 

In fact, one of the most sobering things about the flop at FSU was the fact that so much of the flopping could be chalked up directly to the most bold-faced names on the field. QB Ty Simpson, a former 5-star finally earning his first career start in his 4th year in the program, was a mess – indecisive, inaccurate and generally uncomfortable after a scripted touchdown drive to open the game. He finished 23-for-43 passing, 3-for-14 under pressure and 1-for-5 on attempts of 20+ air yards, good for an abysmal ratings in pass efficiency, EPA and Total QBR. The indelible image of the afternoon was of Simpson, under duress, scrambling wildly out of one would-be disaster and into another.

His supporting cast did him no favors. Bama’s massive and massively touted left tackle Kadyn Proctor – a fixture at the top of every “way too early” 2026 mock draft – was a mess, giving up 6 QB pressures and 1 sack to an undistinguished rotation of FSU edge rushers. The most hyped target, sophomore Ryan Williams, was a mess, recording more drops (3 ) than first downs (2) while averaging 3.0 yards per target, per Pro Football Focus. Senior LB Deontae Lawson, making his 27th career start, was victimized for a 64-yard gain in coverage. Including Lawson, PFF rang up the starting linebackers and safeties alone for a dozen missed tackles.

The headliners set the tone for a sloppy, un-Bama-like performance across the board. The ground game, left shorthanded by an injury to starting RB Jamarion Miller, was a nonentity. The front seven, left shorthanded by an injury to mammoth DT Tim Keenan, was pushed around to the tune of 230 rushing yards by an offense that ranked dead last in the ACC in rushing offense in 2024. (That number was nearly triple the ‘Noles’ ’24 average vs. FBS opponents.) Edge defenders repeatedly lost containment. Linebackers got knocked backward by the ball carrier in short yardage. FSU quarterback Tommy Castellanos, a fun-sized retread last seen riding the bench at Boston College, ran so wild that within 24 hours he was selling commemorative t-shirts on his personal website emblazoned with his 10-cent offseason trash talk, now worth $45 a pop. 

The thing is, Castellanos was right: The GOAT isn’t coming to save them. (Although he’s never very far away, his constant presence on TV a constant reminder of his absence on the sideline.) And it’s becoming increasingly obvious they might really need to be saved. Saban’s teams famously never biffed it vs. inferior competition, dropping a single game to an unranked opponent in his final 16 years. The new administration has dropped 4 games to unranked opponents in 10 months. And with each loss, the notion of an “un-Bama-like” performance is getting a little harder to sustain. If all you knew about the Crimson Tide was what they’d done in their 14 games to date under DeBoer, a wipeout road loss as a 2-touchdown favorite would probably strike you as a very Bama-like performance, actually. How many times do they have to show us who they are now before we believe them?

Of course, as Bama fans are usually happy to remind you, they’ve been reading some variation on the “Dynasty In Decline?” column following every regular-season loss for the past decade, and keeping most of them on file for future reference. In the era of the expanded Playoff, especially, a nonconference loss can be relegated to a footnote more quickly than ever. There’s always a chance: A 14.6% chance to make the CFP, a 2.2% chance to win the SEC, and a 0.8% chance to win it all, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index, which prior to Saturday’s loss gave Alabama the third-best Playoff odds in the country behind only Georgia and Texas. After Saturday’s loss, those odds plummeted to 11th in the SEC.

If you like those odds, you can still bet on the Tide running the SEC gauntlet — including trips to Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina and Auburn — as long as it remains a mathematical possibility. The sports books will take your money, believe me. The difference now is that, for the first time in a generation, the gauntlet itself suddenly sounds less like an opportunity than a threat. If it can get better, against the odds, it can get a lot worse, too. After all, it’s only Week 1. It’s a long year. Look at the calendar. There’s a looong way to go.

Panning Manning

Arch Manning’s first pass at Ohio State skipped off the turf well short of his intended receiver. His second pass was a minimal completion to a tight end, who was swarmed short of the sticks on third down. His third pass was a scramble-drill dump-off to a running back, who was also stopped short of the sticks on third down. Run that sequence on repeat, mix in a goal-line stand and an interception on one of Manning’s rare ventures downfield, and you’ve seen pretty much all there was to see over the first 3 quarters — the most anticlimactic debut since the Segway.

To Manning’s credit, that wasn’t the end of the story. At the start of the 4th quarter, he was a juiceless 9-for-15 passing for 38 yards and a single first down. His longest gain up to that point was a 15-yard scramble, besting his longest completion by 6 yards. He’d just followed up the failed goal-line series by serving up the aforementioned INT on his final attempt of the third; by the time he got the ball back, Texas trailed 14-0 with zero momentum and time running out. Manning’s 4th-quarter highlight reel salvaged a scrap or two of dignity. After failing utterly to challenge the Buckeyes downfield for the majority of the afternoon, he connected on 3 completions of 25+ yards in comeback mode, including a gotta-have-it, 32-yard touchdown strike on 3rd-and-10 that briefly revived the Longhorns’ fortunes and a beauty of a throw from deep in his own territory that split the cornerback and safety in a Cover 2 look. If nothing else, at least in those moments it was possible to see what scouts who anointed him the No. 1 recruit in his class and a future No. 1 overall saw beyond his last name.

For almost any other redshirt sophomore making his first career road start in Ohio Stadium, checking the “flashes potential” box in a competitive loss against the defending champs would count for something. Not much, maybe. But something.

For Arch? Not a chance. For a player as wildly hyped as Manning, who has been hyped for as long as Manning, the idea of chalking up a rocky debut as QB1 to Normal Sophomore Stuff is almost an insult — not to him, but to a public that was asked to buy him as a fully-formed prospect and literal Heisman frontrunner before he’d even thrown his first touchdown pass against a serious opponent. You (by which I mean “we,” the media hive mind at large) can’t anoint a kid the second coming of his famous uncles and the face of the No. 1 team in the preseason polls and then plead for patience when he comes out looking like just another guy who needs reps the first time he sets foot on a big stage. Real patience means demonstrating restraint before it becomes painfully obvious that he needs it. (Whoops, too late.)

None of which, to be clear, is directed at Arch himself, who never asked to be anointed anything. If anyone is equipped to handle being monitored by the Bust Police at such a fledgling stage of his career, it’s Manning, who has been in the spotlight to some extent since he was in the 9th grade and has handled it without a hint of drama or inflated ego. Texas’ larger goals haven’t changed; barring disaster, a competitive road loss against a fellow contender isn’t likely to affect the Longhorns’ Playoff chances very much, if at all. And if it serves to keep expectations tethered to reality, a bout of skepticism could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

But then, that’s assuming that Manning remains on track to be the guy he was supposed to be sooner to later — preferably sooner. Speaking of which, Texas’ upcoming schedule (San Jose State, UTEP, Sam Houston, all in Austin) ahead of the conference slate is an opportunity to right before the next big road test at Florida. Flying under the radar for a few weeks while he settles into the job and restores his confidence is exactly what he needs before the glare falls on his again,

LSU: New D Rising?

Quick: Prior to Saturday’s 17-10 win at Clemson, when was the last time you remember LSU’s defense carrying its offense in a really big win?

Now, who was the head coach of the team you have in mind? Was he eating grass or wearing an oddly shaped hat?

It’s been a minute, is what I’m saying. Adjusted for competition, the win in Death Valley East represented LSU’s best performance on defense since … well, let’s see, they just held a top-5 opponent to 10 points on the road. The last time LSU held any ranked opponent to 10 points or less, in any context: The 2019 SEC Championship Game, a 37-10 win over Georgia en route to the national title. That team, of course, was known for its historic offense, not its much-less-accomplished defense. More recently, the Tigers’ only chance of beating anybody worth beating under Brian Kelly has consistently meant outscoring them:

Seventeen points by the offense would not have gotten LSU over on any other game on that list, and in most of them, it wouldn’t have come close. Clemson, it’s worth noting, returned the vast majority of a unit that ranked in the top 20 nationally last year in both total and scoring offense, including senior face-of-the-program quarterback Cade Klubnik and his top 3 receivers. (One of whom, Antonio Williams, exited in the opening quarter Saturday with an apparent hamstring injury and didn’t return.) The Tigers managed 1 sustained scoring drive, a 13-play, 75-yard march in the 2nd quarter; on their other 9possessions, they went 3-and-out 5 times while breaching the red zone just once, on a last-gasp drive that effectively ended the game on a turnover on downs.

Specifically, it ended on about as encouraging a note as possible, with Harold Perkins Jr. — playing in his first game in nearly a full calendar year coming off a torn ACL — effortlessly stalking Klubnik into a 4th-down throwaway on his surgically repaired knee.

As predicted, Perkins spent much of his night dropping into coverage in a hybrid linebacker/nickel role, rarely manning his former station on the edge. Still, on the handful of snaps when he got the green light to chase Klubnik, he flashed glimpses of his younger self, generating 3 QB pressures and a sack as both a blitzer and a spy. He also initiated LSU’s only takeaway, flying untouched around the edge to force Klubnik into a high throw that was subsequently picked off by Mansoor Delane. (About whom more below.) Between Perkins and the Weeks brothers, Whit and West, LSU’s linebackers were inescapable, collectively hounding Klubnik into his worst passer rating (95.6) and QBR score (31.4) since his sophomore year in 2022. If it’s sustainable, the Tigers will enjoy their widest margin for error on offense — that is, any margin for error on offense — in a very long time.

Dude of the Week: LSU CB Mansoor Delane

Delane was hardly an unknown in Baton Rouge, having arrived last winter with 29 career starts at Virginia Tech and plenty of interest from both the portal and the next level. Still, his first game as a Tiger was a revelation: Targeted 8 times by Klubnik, Delane allowed a single reception in coverage while picking off a pass in return and breaking up 2 more. He was in the hip pocket of Clemson receivers from start to finish.

Nationally televised debuts don’t get much more encouraging than that — a welcome development for a secondary that hasn’t had a corner drafted in the first 3 rounds since Derek Stingley Jr. in 2022. A few of the high-profile wideouts still to come on LSU’s schedule: South Carolina’s Nyck Harbor, Texas A&M’s KC Concepcion and Alabama’s Ryan Williams.

Goat of the Week: Alabama OL Kadyn Proctor

Proctor has had his struggles at Bama, particularly as a freshman in 2023, when he allowed an FBS-worst 36 pressures and 12 sacks, per PFF. It’s easy to sympathize with a freshman, even one as hyped as Proctor — that season was difficult enough (on and off the field) that he opted to transfer home to Iowa following Nick Saban’s retirement, before reversing course and returning to Tuscaloosa in the spring. He improved significantly in Year 2, resetting his upward trajectory, and was hailed entering Year 3 as a no-brainer All-American, first-class freak, and projected top-10 pick in 2026.

Instead, he came out against Florida State on Saturday looking sluggish and overmatched by the Seminoles’ speed off the edge in what, in context, must have been the worst outing of his career.

That was 1 of 6 Seminoles pressures at Proctor’s expense, per PFF, including 2 other QB hits — a full-blown regression for a veteran who was supposed to be NFL-ready as a 3rd-year starter. For most left tackles who get drafted where Proctor is (or was) projected to get drafted, giving up 6 pressures with multiple hits should take at least a month, ideally two. No amount of sheer mass or feats of heroic weight-room strength can compensate for that kind of tape on a single afternoon. In any context, it’s untenable. Both his reputation and his job security are on the line if the light doesn’t come on ASAP.

Best Performance In Someone Else’s Highlight: Auburn DE Keldric Faulk

Baylor WR Ashtyn Hawkins is listed at 5-10, 168 pounds. Faulk is listed at 6-6, 285. At one point on Friday night, Hawkins was out the gate on a screen pass with what appeared to be a clear path to the end zone … until Faulk, on his horse from the d-line, tracked him down from behind more than 30 yards downfield.

A wider angle of the play shows Faulk matching Hawkins’ speed for the majority of his pursuit, eventually topping out at 17.6 mph at the moment he leaves his feet to trip up Hawkins just as he was about to pull away. His hustle only postponed the payoff — Baylor finished the drive with a touchdown anyway — but almost certainly made himself some money either way.

“You Don’t See That In the NFL” Play of the Week

Notebook

• One of South Carolina’s top priorities this season is getting extraterrestrial wideout Nyck Harbor more involved coming off a couple of statistically forgettable campaigns in his first 2 years on campus. Consider him involved:

See, that’s what they’ve been waiting for. The game-clinching bomb against Virginia Tech was just the 5th of Harbor’s career to date, and exceeded his previous long gain by 20 yards.

•. Auburn’s 38-24 win at Baylor featured the ideal version of QB Jackson Arnold, who had more yards rushing (137) than passing (108) as well as 2 rushing touchdowns. Arnold’s 93.7 QBR score in Waco was easily the best of his career coming off a dismal season at Oklahoma and the 2nd-best among SEC starters in Week 1.

•. The only quarterback who turned in a higher score: Georgia’s Gunner Stockton, who posted an FBS-best 99.1 QBR while accounting for 4 total touchdowns (2 passing, 2 rushing) and giving off unmistakable Stetson Bennett vibes in a 45-7 romp over Marshall. The only thing not to like: Stockton’s resemblance to a younger Kirby Smart is unsettling.

• The silver lining in Alabama’s debacle at Florida State was Ty Simpson’s connection with WR Germie Bernard, who accounted for 146 of Simpson’s 254 passing yards on 8 receptions. Bernard, a former Washington transfer who followed Kalen DeBoer from Seattle, is not as hyped as sophomore phenom Ryan Williams, but he made a much stronger impression in Week 1 in his bid to become a go-to target. For Williams’ part, his best plays weren’t receptions, but a pair of flags drawn for pass interference. Whatever other question marks follow him from one week to the next, he’s still a potential magnet for DPI.

• One of the more impressive debuts by a freshman belonged to Texas CB Graceson Littleton, who was only on the field for 19 snaps at Ohio State but held his own against the likes of Jeremiah Smith and Brandon Inniss in his first college game. Per PFF, Littleton limited Smith and Inniss to a combined 14 yards on 3 catches in coverage while also forcing 2 incompletions (one of which was wiped out by an unrelated penalty). His 83.3 overall PFF grade was 2nd-best among Texas defenders.

• The most notable injury absence of the weekend: Tennessee CB Jermod McCoy, who missed the first of what’s expected to be multiple games as he continues his recovery from an offseason knee injury. He was hardly missed in a 45-26 win over Syracuse. That won’t be the case if McCoy is still on ice when Georgia comes to Knoxville in Week 3.

Moment of Zen

The post Monday Down South: Kalen DeBoer’s Crimson Tide keep showing us who they are. It’s time to believe them appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Each and every week during the 2025 college football season, I’ll be here to deliver to you what I believe is a money-making parlay looking only at games featuring the SEC, because hey, it just means more, right?

Let’s dive in!

All betting lines courtesy of BetMGM.

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Leg 1: Toledo +10 (-110) vs. Kentucky

This probably isn’t the best way to endear myself to what figures to be a pro-SEC readership here at Saturday Down South, but I’m living smack dab in the middle of MAC Country, baby! I’m riding with the Rockets to cover on the road down in Lexington against Kentucky on Saturday afternoon. We’ve already seen 3 MAC teams – Buffalo, Ohio and Miami (OH) – cover against Power 4 opponents on the road this week, and to me, that’s a good sign. 

Toledo is returning 63% of its production from a 2024 squad that went 8-5 and finished the season with a 6OT bowl win. There is a total of 177 starts on the Rockets’ roster, including 15 from sixth-year senior quarterback Tucker Gleason, who grew up down south in Tampa, Florida, and started his college career at Georgia Tech before transferring to Toledo after just 1 season. 

Since Jason Candle became the head coach at Toledo in 2016, he’s led his team to outright upset victories over Iowa State, BYU, Arkansas, Pittsburgh and Mississippi State, the last 2 of which came during the 2024 season. In those 2 wins, Gleason threw for 636 yards, 5 touchdowns and just 1 interception while adding 74 yards and a touchdown on the ground. I think he’s got the chops to perform in a hostile environment. 

Meanwhile, Mark Stoops is only 4 games over .500 in his 12 seasons in Lexington, and it’s not unconceivable that the Wildcats may be looking beyond Toledo to Ole Miss in Week 2. Now I hear you — Kentucky is a perfect 11-0 against the MAC in Stoops’ tenure, and the Wildcats have won those games by an average of 21 points. But this particular Toledo team could be the best of that bunch that the Wildcats have faced, and there’s not much to be excited about another Kentucky team that relied heavily on the transfer portal to bolster an otherwise so-so roster. 

By the way… this line opened at 12.5 and has been bet down to as low as 9.5 in some markets. This tells me I’m on the right track here. 

Leg 2: Alabama -13.5 (-115) vs. Florida State

Both the Tide and the Seminoles failed to meet expectations last year, though Alabama did have a case to make the College Football Playoff at season’s end, while Florida State stumbled to a 2-10 record — its worst season in 50 years.

I don’t think the stink of 2024 will linger at Alabama. I believe in Kalen DeBoer, even if there are quite a few frenzied fans in Tuscaloosa already calling for his head. I can’t say the same about Florida State, and while I’m aware that new Noles offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn got the best of Bama on numerous occasions back when he was coaching at Auburn, there isn’t a single returning starter from last season on his roster. Sure, this isn’t necessarily unheard of in the transfer portal/NIL era, but still, it feels like it will take time for the offense to jell with so many new faces in the picture.

Meanwhile, Alabama returns 13 starters from last season, including 7 on a defense that includes possible All-SEC performers such as Domani Jackson, LT Overton, Deontae Lawson and Bray Hubbard.

Even as Bama finished 2024 with its first sub-10 win season since 2007, the Tide still predictably put up a ton of points in DeBoer’s first year at the helm. With some offensive continuity and a promising young quarterback in Ty Simpson, it wouldn’t surprise me if Alabama’s CFP hiatus ended this year.

And it would surprise me if Florida State managed to keep this game within 2 scores.

Leg 3: Over 60.5 points in Ole Miss vs. Georgia State (-110)

Admittedly, getting to 61 points in a game that should stop being competitive by the 8 minute mark of the 1st quarter is potentially ambitious ask, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get there. And in recent history, Lane Kiffin‘s teams have gotten there.

In their last 10 matchups against non-power conference teams in the month of September, the Rebels have been running over their opponents at a ridiculous rate. In those 10 games, Ole Miss has scored an average of 52.7 points per game, clearing 60 points on its own 3 times. Round up and say Ole Miss scores 53 points on Saturday… all we need is Georgia State to put 8 points on the board and we’re golden.

Call me optimistic, but I think it’s possible. Coach Dell McGee’s squad hung 36 on Vanderbilt in a win over the Commodores last year, and it has a returning senior quarterback (Christian Veilleux) who attended the Manning Passing Academy over the summer.

Looks like a recipe for a game that could get to 70 points without much of an issue.

Leg 4: South Carolina Moneyline (-300) vs. Virginia Tech

Who doesn’t love some Beamer Ball? On Sunday afternoon in Atlanta, Shane Beamer‘s Gamecocks will be facing the Hokies, a program that he played for as a walk-on once upon a time and was coached by his father, Frank Beamer, from 1987 to 2015. It should be an interesting litmus test for a pair of teams that have hopes of being in the mix for a conference title in 2025.

Virginia Tech isn’t as talented of a team as South Carolina is, but there is a path to the ACC title game thanks to a relatively soft conference schedule that avoids the likes of Clemson and SMU, and sees both Miami and Louisville coming to Blacksburg. The Gamecocks’ path to the College Football Playoff will be treacherous, but it’s easy to see, and it starts with handling business in a neutral-site game against a team that has underperformed in 3 seasons under head coach Brent Pry.

My somewhat hot take is that LaNorris Sellers may be the best player in the country, and he’ll somehow find a way to lead this team through a gauntlet in October and November that includes matchups with LSU, Oklahoma, Alabama, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Clemson. But there’s something about this opening week matchup that has me a little weary of taking South Carolina -7.5. Maybe it’s the fact that the Gamecocks nearly stumbled in their home opener last year, defeating Old Dominion by just 4 points, or maybe it’s just the heightened emotions that come with coaching against your alma mater.

I think the Gamecocks win this one, but in honor of the legendary Lee Corso, who will be calling it a career this weekend, it might end up being a little bit closer than the experts think.

Total odds: +800

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