SEC Power Rankings, Week 2: Arkansas rises, Georgia survives
By John Buhler
Taking Care of Business
Mississippi State needed a win badly in Week 2 against South Carolina. The Bulldogs dropped their home opener in Week 1 on a missed chip-shot field as time expired to fall to South Alabama, 21-20.
Dan Mullen had his team playing a better brand of football on Saturday against the Gamecocks. Mississippi State got out to a 24-0 lead on South Carolina entering the half and managed to cruise to an easy Week 2 victory over Will Muschamp’s team.
That being said, Mississippi State let South Carolina outscore the Bulldogs 14-3 in the second half. The Bulldogs are starting to look like a team that takes it foot off the gas after halftime. That is a recipe for disaster in SEC play. It ruined Mississippi State in Week 1, but the Bulldogs were able to coast to victory over South Carolina in Week 2 anyway.
Well, what do you know? The LSU Tigers might have found some offensive rhythm from the quarterback position with former Purdue Boilermaker Danny Etling under center instead of Brandon Harris.
Tigers head coach Les Miles put Etling in over Harris in the second quarter. While Etling was only 6-14 passing for 100 yards, a touchdown and an interception, his insertion into the LSU offense helped the Tigers get their first win of the season over Jacksonville State.
LSU decided to hold out superstar running back Leonard Fournette in this one because of a badly bruised ankle suffered in the Tigers’ Week 1 loss to Wisconsin. The Tigers’ offense is still putrid even with Fournette in the backfield. Let’s see how they handle Mississippi State in Death Valley next week. Keep in mind that the Bulldogs beat the Tigers they last time these to SEC West rivals played in Baton Rouge.
The Ole Miss Rebels get their first win of the season over the Wofford Terriers in Week 2, 38-13, after dropping a tough first game to the Florida State Seminoles in Orlando last week. Quarterback Chad Kelly continues to thrive in the Rebels offense. He had 219 passing yards and three touchdowns passes in three quarters of play.
It wasn’t just winning on Saturday that should have the Rebel faithful feeling good about themselves heading into a clash of the titans with Alabama in Week 3. The Rebels actually ran the football well under head coach Hugh Freeze. This has been a sore subject during his tenure in Oxford.
The Rebels gained 174 yards on the ground against the Terriers. A balanced offensive attack gives Ole Miss at least a fighting chance to pull off the upset of No. 1 Alabama on Saturday at 3:30 PM ET on the CBS SEC Game of the Week. Ole Miss has won the last two meeting with the Crimson Tide, so we’ll see.
Is the Alabama Crimson Tide the best team in the NCAA entering Week 3? Of course, they are, but the No. 1 team in the nation didn’t cover the spread against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers this past Saturday.
Alabama was victorious over the Hilltoppers, 38-10, but this is the same Alabama team that obliterated the USC Trojans 52-6 the week before. The Crimson Tide gained a ton of yards on the Western Kentucky defense but had to punt five times against an inferior opponent.
Alabama was good enough to get by on talent alone in this game, but can’t be this nonchalant against Ole Miss this Saturday in Oxford. Western Kentucky should be one of the better Group of 5 teams in the country, but Alabama didn’t kick the Hilltoppers when they were down in this one.
Next: No. 5-3