The Good: Well, there was not a whole lot good about the Bulldogs' loss to Oklahoma State. About the only thing Mississippi State fans can take solace in is that the defense played a pretty spectacular game, especially in the first half.
Unfortunately for the defense, the offense could not capitalize on anything they were handed in that half, and when the Cowboys went ahead late in the first half, it had to have a deflating effect on the defense.
All in all, to see the Cowboys held to 21 points was a positive.
The Bad: There were so many injuries to Mississippi State players that one might have had to remove his or her shoes to keep count. In addition, Nick James and Quay Evans (...yes whispers of the "bust" word are starting to circulate for these two..) did not make the trip.
The Ugly: Everything else. The Bulldogs could not capitalize on any opportunities during the game. Mississippi State would force a three and out and nothing would happen. Penalties mounted up during the game. The offensive line looked confused most of the game. The play calling became predictable. In short, this was a woeful performance by Mississippi State.
SEC Recap
No. 6 South Carolina 27, North Carolina 10: The Gamecocks struck early and later lightening struck as well as South Carolina cruised to victory.
Ole Miss 38, Vanderbilt 35: In what as the game of the week, Ole Miss looked to be beaten, but Jeff Scott ran 75 yards to the end zone to give the Rebels a momentum building week one win over Vanderbilt.
Arkansas 34, LA-Lafayette 14: The Razorbacks opened up the Bielema era with an easy victory.
No. 1 Alabama 35, Virginia Tech 10: In what was far from their best effort, the Crimson Tide still cruised past Virginia Tech. Could this be Nick Saban's best team?
Tennessee 45, Austin Peay 0: Butch Jones gave the Volunteer faithful a reason to believe in his opener as a head coach for Tennessee.
Auburn 31, Washington State 24: In what proved to be a close one on The Plains, Auburn starts off the Gus Malzahn Era with a victory to start shaking the bad feeling of 2012.
Missouri 58, Murray State 14: Although they trialed after the first quarter, the Tigers pick up the blowout victory to open their 2013 campaign.
Western Kentucky 35, Kentucky 26: The Wildcats proved they have a way to go, losing to Bobby Petrino's squad.
No. 8 Clemson 38, No. 35 Georgia 35: The Tigers keep their hopes of winning a National Title alive with the win. For Georgia, the path is still there, but they will have to win 12 straight games. A deflating loss for a squad that is a national championship contender.
No. 12 LSU 37, No. 20 TCU 27: The Tigers avenge Mississippi State's loss to the Big 12 with a win over the Horned Frogs in Dallas.
Awards Time:
Offensive Player of the Week: Corey Grant, RB, Auburn: Grant needed only nine carries to pick up 146 yards and a touchdown. He had a nice average of 16.2 yards a carry. Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia: Gurley had12 carries for 154 yards and two touchdowns against Clemson.
Defensive Player of the Week: Robenson Therezie, Auburn: Therezie had two interceptions, with one coming in the end zone with less than five to play to seal the Auburn win.
Special Teams Player of the week: Christion Jones, Alabama: Jones became the first player for Alabama to have two return touchdowns since the 1940s.
SEC Power Rankings:
- Alabama: It is theirs until someone takes it away from them.
- Georgia: Yes they lost, but who all looked better than they did? Maybe South Carolina...
- South Carolina: The Gamecocks came close to the number two spot, but I want to see what they do against better competition than North Carolina.
- LSU: While everyone wanted to write of the Tigers, all they did was show that they will be solid again in 2013.
- Texas A&M: Did the Aggies have their defense suspended for the whole game? While the focus was on Johnny Manziel, JFF does not play defense. Maybe they should let him out there.
- Florida: Just cruising along in Gainesville
- Ole Miss: The Rebels picked up a huge opening win in a great contest against Vanderbilt. Many of their freshman made great plays mixed in with a boneheaded one. How will this team handle all of the injuries from that game.
- Vanderbilt: Even though the Commodores lost, no one showed enough to jump over them at this point in the proceedings.
- Arkansas: Can the Hogs keep it going against better teams?
- Auburn: An impressive debut for Malzhan, but what happens when teams better than Washington State come to town?
- Tennessee: The Volunteers look sharp, but next comes FBS opponents.
- Mississippi State: The Bulldogs looked listless and confused for most of the game. The MSU radio team even called out the offensive line for such a poor performance. I'm not sure what is going on in Starkville, but something is not right.
- Missouri: Missouri has dominated the FCS of late, but they still have yet to find much luck against the SEC.
- Kentucky: Yep, they have a long way to go in Lexington.
Five things I thought about this weekend:
- If the matchups this weekend are indicative of what non-conference games will look like with a playoff, college football fans will be total winners.
- Clemson has to be the class of the ACC, and maybe, one of the few teams that could be deemed a true threat to the SEC title run. Their last two games were wins over LSU (yes, a bowl game..) and Georgia (yes on the road to open the season..), and that cannot be ignored.
- There are few things as fun as watching an FCS school beat an FBS team, unless it is your team (see, Maine, 2004).
- Alabama is going to be scary good. That game was probably far from their best, and they still laid waste to Virginia Tech.
- I've spent all weekend up in the Appalachians and the Smokey Mountains. The Blue Ridge Parkway is amazing. You need to spend time there as well.