SEC Football: Taking a Look Around the Conference in Week Two

SEC football was solid across the conference in week two

Let’s start with Vandy in our SEC Football recap… They were impressive against a Nevada team that is probably a much better team than Middle Tennessee State. Vanderbilt handled them both with their defense allowing only 17 points between the first two weeks. The real tests for Vanderbilt will, of course, come against SEC competition, but even sooner when the Commodores travel to South Bend to play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Week 3. If Vandy pulls that one out, the nation will be talking a lot about the now 2-0 squad. If you’re a Vanderbilt fan, treasure the phrase ‘2-0’ for the next week!

Nick Fitzgerald made his 2018 debut after suffering a horrific leg injury in last year’s Egg Bowl. Fitz was far from perfect in this one, completing 11 of 27 for 154 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception. An improvement in the passing game is desperately needed by Mississippi State if they truly want to contend in the West.

Dropped passes and arid throws plagued the Bulldogs, yet they made up for it by torching the Kansas State defense on the ground as the team racked up 384 rushing yards, and sophomore running back Kylin Hill had a career day with 211 yards on only 17 carries.

Watch out for the name Kylin Hill as the season progresses. Nick Fitzgerald added 159 on the ground as he surpassed Dak Prescott to become MSU’s all-time leading rusher among quarterbacks.

The Bulldogs have 1,156 yards through Week 2 and have only allowed 16 points against them. This Mississippi State team is only getting better, and Fitzgerald has a perfect opportunity against UL-Lafayette next week to settle his nerves and get comfortable behind center ahead of two key tilts against the SEC East.

Georgia is definitely the SEC football team to beat in the East. They steamrolled South Carolina, and they totally dominated physically. Jake Fromm tore up the defense and the Georgia running attack was very spread out and effective as 9 different people carried the ball for the Dawgs. South Carolina is by no measure a bad team, but Georgia outplayed them from the first snap to the last. Don’t be shocked if this loss truly affects the race for the SEC East. South Carolina will likely be vying for second after this one.

Tide rolled. This one was a blowout before Arkansas State even came into Tuscaloosa. Alabama looked unstoppable, as they should have, against a bad Arkansas State squad. Tua Tagovailoa looked amazing and Jalen Hurts added two scores himself in a few appearances throughout the game. This Alabama team is loaded and they’re of course the team to beat in the SEC, and maybe the nation.

Yes, I picked Eastern Tennessee State to win this game. The two teams had never met in a matchup, and I figured that a struggling program like Tennessee, one that went 0-8 in conference play last year, could’ve been upset by an ETSU team that looked halfway decent in Week 1. The Volunteers shocked me and a lot of people, not by the fact that they won, but by how they did it.

The offense was good. The defense showed up and even put up some points to make this game a true blowout. We’ll have to wait until the season moves on to see if Tennessee can show up in their conference games. Impressive stuff for the Volunteers here though. They move to 1-1 ahead of UTEP coming to Neyland Stadium.

This score could be a normal college basketball score… Ole Miss was amazing on offense, but let up a lot of points against Southern Illinois! Ole Miss even trailed at the half before outscoring their opponent 41-3 in the second half.

Arguably the best receiver in the nation, AJ Brown had 8 catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns. And Jordan Ta’amu threw for 448 yards and 5 TDs. This Ole Miss offense looks like it could be one of the best in the SEC, but their defense has questions. We’ll see just how good they stack up next week as the mighty Alabama Crimson Tide head to Oxford for an SEC West showdown.

Wyoming didn’t put a point on the board until the second half, Drew Lock looked impressive as per usual, and the Missouri Tigers moved to 2-0. The Cowboys of Wyoming have struggled a lot since their impressive opening win and performance against New Mexico State. Now, Missouri is better than those Aggies, but Wyoming didn’t show up on offense or defense, and that’s worrying for Cowboy nation. Missouri looked good and they could make some noise in the SEC East race with Drew Lock playing like this.

Honestly, I thought LSU would put up more points against SE Louisiana than they did against Miami, but the win was very impressive still.

The Tigers didn’t exactly shut them down, but they kept them out of the endzone and off the scoreboard completely. That’s what counts. Joe Burrow looks very comfortable running this offense, and these Tigers are a lot better than we thought they were coming into the year. They head to Auburn next week for what should be an incredible matchup that may have massive implications come the end of the season.

This could’ve been a huge upset. The Aggies and the 12th man all showed up with incredible energy to the nighttime non-conference tilt against the No. 2 team in the nation. Texas A&M was very efficient on offense and effective against a loaded Clemson team while on defense.

Trailing 28-13 heading into the 4th quarter, the Aggies staged a comeback that nearly won them the game. It came down to the final seconds and a failed two-point conversion. I’m not sure Clemson should even be that worried after this one… Texas A&M could be a force in the West this year.

Florida was favored to win by 14 points. They lost by almost that many… to Kentucky… who they had beaten 31 years in a row… Woah. Now, this Florida team isn’t bad (yet) and this Kentucky team may be much better than anyone gives them credit for, but I’m not sure any non-Kentucky fans saw this one coming. Benny Snell ran all over the Gators for 175 yards and the Gators’ running game was pretty weak.

Both of these teams are stuck in the middle of a race for second in the division. Kentucky gets Murray State at home Week 3. Florida heads to Tennessee for another SEC East battle.

We don’t really need to discuss this one. Auburn ran wild and destroyed a team they should’ve destroyed. Week 3 features an awesome game when LSU comes to Auburn for a very very important one.

Arkansas should’ve won this one, especially after being up 27-9 and giving up 25 unanswered points. The Razorbacks outgained CSU and collapsed in the second half completely. This wasn’t a good loss for a team in a division where every single win can make you or break you. Arkansas gets North Texas at home in Week 3. Razorback fans should hope that they don’t drop that one as well.