SEC Armchair Quarterback: Dog and Cat Fight Edition

We’re five weeks down in the SEC football season, but just four for our beloved Bulldogs. Things are starting to shape up and give us an idea of what each team really is. But before we stack the teams up, let’s take a look at what stood out, both good and bad.

Things that stood out in a good way.

Tennessee’s Resiliency - I’ve mentioned this before, and I don’t know how long Tennessee can continue to play with fire before they get burned. But this team never seems to think it is out of a game.

Texas A&M’s running game - So Texas A&M is doing things differently. Trevor Knight is an adequate passer, but his running ability combined with Treyveon Williams has been one of the biggest surprises in the SEC.

Alabama’s tenacity - The Crimson Tide started off slow, but they eventually pounded Kentucky into submission. Alabama is as scary as they have ever been with an electric playmaker at quarterback in Jalen Hurts.

Coach O’s Debut - LSU responded in a big time way in their first game since Les Miles was fired. Is this a spark that will lead to the Tigers being the team we thought they were in the preseason or just a temporary flame in response to Miles being fired? Time will soon tell.

Things that stood out in a bad way.

Florida and Vanderbilt - Games featuring the Commodores keep pushing football back decades. Neither team is good at offense and we got one of the worst games imaginable.

Missouri’s run defense - The Tigers gave up over 400 rushing yards to LSU and only 12 belonged to Leonard Fournette who continued to nurse his ankle. Not good Mizzou.

Georgia’s Collapse - Georgia looked like they were ready to bounce back and reinsert themselves into the SEC East conversation after being embarrassed by Ole Miss. But letting the Vols put up 20 in the fourth quarter and none of Georgia’s defenders were able to knock down the Hail Mary virtually guaranteed the Bulldogs are eliminated from the division championship.

Kentucky’s Offense - Alabama’s defense is good, but the Wildcats barely scraped together 160 yards of offense. It’s still surprising the Wildcats have a conference win.

SEC Power Rankings

#1 Alabama Crimson Tide (Previous Week, #1: 5-0)

The Tide keeps rolling along. I still think they lose a game because it is simply too hard to play at this level in the SEC every single week, but I don’t know when and where it will happen.

#2 Texas A&M Aggies (Previous Week, #2: 5-0)

Are the Aggies for real? I still don’t know for sure, but we’ll find out very soon. They welcome the Vols to Kyle Field, and they have a date with the Tide in Tuscaloosa after that. If they’re as good as their record, we’ll know after the next two games.

#3 Tennessee Volunteers (Previous Week, #3: 5-0)

Tennessee is in control of the East. They could probably lose both games to Texas A&M and Alabama and they would still probably win the East easily.

#4 Ole Miss Rebels (Previous Week, #4: 3-2)

The Rebels got a little bit of a scare from Memphis. I’m still concerned about the depth of the defense and how much they are on the field. But that offense is as dangerous as they come when they are clicking.

#5 Arkansas Razorbacks (Previous Week, #5: 4-1)

The first good team the Razorbacks played handled them pretty easily in the second half (not sure TCU qualifies as a good team at this point). The Tide come to Tuscaloosa this week and we’ll see how they do against them.

#6 LSU Tigers (Previous Week, #8: 3-2)

I’m trying not to overreact to what LSU did against Missouri. But they showed enough for me to jump them over two teams that won this past week.

#7 Auburn Tigers (Previous Week, #7)

Auburn put up a great performance against ULM, but they haven’t shown anything similar against Power 5 teams. This Saturday could be a defensive struggle of ugly proportions in Starkville.

#8 Florida Gators (Previous Week, #6)

Is dropping a team two spots after a win harsh? Maybe, but I am not certain how much the Gators can actually score which impacts how much they can actually win.

#9 Mississippi St. Bulldogs (Previous Week, #11)

State goes up only because Georgia and Missouri needed to go down.

#10 Georgia Bulldogs (Previous Week, #9)

Georgia could very well win every single game from this point forward. And if they do, they’ll probably move up in this poll and get ranked again. But I don’t know that this team is much better than where they are now.

#11 Missouri Tigers (Previous Week, #10)

I don’t know if the Tigers were just at the wrong place at the wrong time, but it was a bad performance. I believe they’re the better team than the other three in the bottom of the East, but I’ll feel better about that statement once they actually play them.

#12 - #14 Vanderbilt Commodores (2-3), Kentucky Wildcats (2-3), and South Carolina Gamecocks (2-3)

I could make a case for all three of these teams being the worst and for each being better than the others. But it really isn’t worth it, so I’m just going to group them all together.