SEC Power Rankings, Week 1: Alabama dominates, but league is down
By John Buhler
Tough Losses
Mississippi State lost in embarrassing fashion Week 1 to the South Alabama Jaguars at Davis Wade Stadium: Bulldogs kicker Westin Graves doinked a go-ahead field goal off the left upright as time expired to lose to South Alabama, 21-20. That missed chip shot by Graves might end up costing the Bulldogs a trip to a bowl game this holiday season.
Not that South Alabama is a bad program by any means, but this was a game Mississippi State needed to win to ensure at least a 6-6 season. Three SEC wins are still doable for the Bulldogs, but Dan Mullen’s team can’t afford another gaffe to a mid-major program the rest of the way.
One positive takeaway was that quarterback Damian Williams played with poise in his first start for Mississippi State. He has massive shoes to fill in place of Dak Prescott. Williams completed 20-28 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown, as well as rushing for 93 yards on 12 attempts.
Few expected Auburn to hang with the No. 2 team in the country in the Clemson Tigers on Saturday night. Though Auburn lost 19-13 to Clemson at home, Auburn should feel proud of how well they played defensively against the No. 2 team in the country.
Kevin Steele’s unit frustrated Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson all night. Given how awful Auburn’s defense has been in recent years, Saturday night’s performance against Clemson is a huge step in the right direction for the Tigers. Auburn might be closer to an 8-4 team than a 6-6 team thanks to big improvements defensively.
However, head coach Gus Malzahn and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee can’t keep playing musical chairs with its three quarterbacks. Sean White needs to be the guy going forward, but White can’t panic like he has in a collapsing pocket. He’s the most accurate of the three passers, but also the frailest of the three signal callers.
Leonard Fournette can’t do everything for the LSU Tigers offensively. It’s the biggest enigma in the SEC the last 10 years, but why can’t a Les Miles LSU team have any idea what it’s doing at the quarterback position. Fournette is an elite runner, but it will be up to quarterback Brandon Harris to see how far LSU can go this year.
LSU dropped its Week 1 game to the Big Ten’s Wisconsin Badgers at Lambeau Field, 16-14. Wisconsin outplayed LSU in this defensive battle. Neither starting quarterback played well, but Wisconsin’s Bart Houston was able to get the Badgers into field goal range to let kicker Rafael Gaglianone take over. Gaglianone was a perfect 3-3 on Wisconsin field goal attempts Saturday.
Until Harris can improve his 6.9 quarterback rating, LSU’s opponents are going to shamelessly stack the box to try to keep Fournette under 100 yards rushing. Fournette still ran for 138 yards and received an additional 38 in the passing game. If LSU wants to win the SEC, its offense can’t be this grossly one-dimensional.
The Ole Miss Rebels looked the best of the seven SEC teams that lost their Week 1 opener. Ole Miss was fantastic in the first half against the Florida State Seminoles, taking a 28-13 lead into halftime. However, that gigantic lead was short lived.
Florida State erased its deficit in a matter of minutes thanks to great quarterbacking from redshirt freshman Deondre Francois and the best individual defensive effort of the week from defensive end DeMarcus Walker. The Land Shark defense of Ole Miss couldn’t contain Francois and company. Ole Miss’ offensive line didn’t do a great job of protecting star quarterback Chad Kelly when it mattered most.
Kelly did assert himself as the best quarterback in the SEC in this game. Ole Miss can beat any SEC team in a shootout this season. The two biggest questions surrounding the Rebels going forward are 1.) How will its offensive line handle elite SEC front sevens? and 2.) Is this team mentally tough enough to contend in the brutal SEC West? Florida State broke the Rebels in the second half. Alabama and Georgia are only weeks away.
Next: No. 7-4.