SEC power rankings, Week 2: Alabama shines, Texas A&M collapses
By John Buhler
Texas A&M Aggies (0-1)
Last week: Loss at UCLA, 45-44
Last rank: 10th
The Texas A&M Aggies played a game with the UCLA Bruins that might have been the college football version of Super Bowl 51. In this real life reenactment, the Aggies were the Atlanta Falcons and the Bruins were the New England Patriots. Texas A&M led at halftime 38-10 and had a 44-10 lead over UCLA and still lost 45-44.
To be fair, Texas A&M had its starting quarterback Nick Starkel go down with a broken ankle, forcing an overwhelmed true freshman Kellen Mond into action. However, to give up four unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter without turning the ball over is almost impossible to do. It did happen, as Josh Rosen had an unreal fourth quarter for the Bruins. Head coach Kevin Sumlin is certainly feeling the heat down in College Station after than monumental collapse.
Tennessee Volunteers (1-0)
Last week: Win vs. Georgia Tech, 42-41
Last rank: 9th
Somehow, some way, the Tennessee Volunteers were able to overtake the superior Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in double overtime, 42-41. Georgia Tech’s triple-option attack made the Volunteers defense laughable. This did not look like a game Tennessee had any business winning. Once again, Butch Jones’ team was largely bad in terms of on-field execution.
However, special teams miscues by Georgia Tech and a pair of timely Tennessee turnovers have the Volunteers coming out of Atlanta with a win over the Ramblin’ Wreck. That being said, Tennessee cannot play that sloppily and expect to win enough games to get back to Atlanta as the SEC East champion. A win’s a win, so hats off to the Vols for eking this one out in primetime on Labor Day.