SEC Football: Best Performances of Week 1
The first week of the SEC football season is in the books, and with it stars both old and new made their mark on the 2015 college football landscape.
There were the obvious stars, such as Georgia's Nick Chubb and Alabama's Derrick Henry, as well as some new stars who burst onto the scene with strong Week 1 performances.
Who were the stars of Labor Day weekend in the SEC? Our picks based on production and importance to their teams are as follows.
Brandon Allen, QB, Arkansas
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Remember when Arkansas was a run-first, run-second and run-third team?
Well, quarterback Brandon Allen had other ideas on Saturday afternoon against UTEP.
The senior signal-caller for the Razorbacks exploded in his first game with new offensive coordinator Dan Enos, completing 14 of 18 passes for 308 yards, four touchdowns and no picks in the 48-13 win over the Miners.
"I’m very impressed with Brandon," running back Alex Collins said in quotes emailed by Arkansas. "I see him practice every day and he’s come a long way, and he’s become so much better. For him to show everybody else what he can do it just makes me proud for him. He’s a good guy, and he’s the most improved on this team."
That he is, and it's a tremendous sign for the Hogs.
They're going to be able to establish the run with Collins and an offensive line that rivals some you see in the NFL. Allen showed Saturday he can be a downfield force, which will keep opposing defenses honest and open everything up for Collins and fellow running backs Kody Walker and Rawleigh Williams.
Robert Nkemdiche, DT, Ole Miss
2 of 11Ole Miss defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche didn't need an introduction to the college football world. The 6'4", 296-pound monster with catlike quickness had already established himself as a star following his sophomore campaign.
Ole Miss wide receiver Robert Nkemdiche introduced himself to the college football world in a 76-3 win over UT-Martin on Saturday afternoon.
Nkemdiche—who played some running back at Grayson High School in Loganville, Georgia—took a swing pass and sped 31 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. The mere sight of a man that big running that fast is terrifying, and as SEC Network analyst Cole Cubelic said as it transpired on the broadcast, "That's fun."
Oh, and Nkemdiche also had some fun at his normal position, notching three tackles, hurrying the quarterback once and blocking a field goal, according to stats released by Ole Miss.
Monster.
Treon Harris, QB, Florida
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No, the quarterback battle at Florida between sophomore dual-threat Treon Harris and freshman pro-style passer Will Grier is not settled. Yes, it will be an ongoing process for first-year head coach Jim McElwain.
For now, though, let's give a little love to Harris' performance through the air.
Harris completed 14 of his 19 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns in the 61-13 win over New Mexico State. It was a strong performance for Harris, and he demonstrated why he won the starting job coming out of fall camp by proving that he's fully capable of leading the offense with his arm and his legs.
He doesn't have the job etched in stone, and McElwain will likely play both next week when East Carolina comes to town, but at least publicly, Harris isn't letting that committee approach bother him. Harris has to be the front-runner to keep the job permanently, though, after his strong showing in Week 1.
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Skai Moore, LB, South Carolina
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For the majority of last season, South Carolina's defense was the punch line to a bad joke.
On Thursday night against North Carolina, linebacker Skai Moore punched back—twice.
The junior and leading tackler from each of the last two seasons saved the game, picking off Tar Heels quarterback Marquise Williams twice in the end zone—on virtually the same blade of grass—including one on 4th-and-goal from the 8-yard line with 3:48 left to preserve the 17-13 win.
"Skai can pick the ball off; he does it in practice all the time," head coach Steve Spurrier said in quotes released by the university. "He has a knack for watching the quarterback. Those are the plays that won the game."
With the offense struggling, the Gamecocks leaned on the defense to get the job done. For the first time in a long time, it came up big with Moore leading the way.
Derrick Henry, RB, Alabama
5 of 11Alabama's offense? Yeah, it's just fine. Thanks to running back Derrick Henry, of course.
The 6'3", 242-pound behemoth rushed for 147 yards and three touchdowns in the 35-17 win over Wisconsin in the AdvoCare Classic on Saturday night.
"I think he's a fabulous player," head coach Nick Saban said in quotes released by Alabama."He usually plays better as the game goes on in terms of workhorse type guy. And it was good to see him make some good runs out there. We think the guy can be a fantastic player for us."
In the opener with so many questions on the offensive side of the ball, Henry proved that it doesn't matter all that much who plays quarterback. So long as he's lining up in the backfield, all will be well in Tuscaloosa.
Alvin Kamara, RB, Tennessee
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Tennessee junior college transfer running back Alvin Kamara's first game in orange and white worked out well.
In fact, it worked out tremendously.
The 5'10", 215-pounder rushed 15 times for 144 yards and two touchdowns in the 59-30 win over Bowling Green at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. Included was a 56-yard touchdown run in which the Norcross, Georgia, native turned on the jets.
"It started with the O-line. They had a great push up front, great cutoffs," he said in quotes released by Tennessee. "Just bounced it outside. Had a great block outside by Josh Smith I think. I was just stroking down the sideline. I wouldn't say I almost got caught, but I looked up at the and he was kinda close. I had to pick it up."
When you combine Kamara with bruiser Jalen Hurd and dual-threat quarterback Joshua Dobbs, this Tennessee offense can go old-school ground-and-pound out of the spread with tempo, which will make the Vols tough to beat.
Montravius Adams, DT, Auburn
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While most of the focus on Auburn's defensive line on Saturday at the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game versus Louisville was on the return of "Buck" Carl Lawson from an ACL injury that kept him out of action all of last season, a funny thing happened closer to the ball—defensive tackle Montravius Adams established himself as one of the best defensive linemen in college football.
The 6'4", 296-pounder had seven tackles, 1.5 for loss, one sack and one forced fumble. He consistently found himself in the backfield, disrupting Louisville's plays.
"We were harassing the quarterback in the first half, and the defense played outstanding," head coach Gus Malzahn said in the postgame press conference. "The two turnovers—of course you have the first one on the first play of the game in which [Tray Matthews] took it back and set up the touchdown, and then of course we picked up the fumble for a touchdown. Those were great momentum plays."
A quarterback's worst nightmare is pressure up the gut, and not only was Adams doing it on his own, but new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp was getting creative with him, including a few stunts with Lawson lining up over the guard and stunting around the massive Adams.
Hello, Auburn defense.
Adams isn't going to get the notoriety because, let's be honest, defensive tackles rarely do. He's the best player on Auburn's defense, though.
Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia
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"Nick Chubb 2.0" looked a lot like the first version, albeit in a small sample size in the 51-14 rain-shortened win over Louisiana at Monroe.
The sophomore sensation had 16 carries for 120 yards and two touchdowns for the Bulldogs, topping the century mark for the ninth straight game (including last year). Chubb, along with Sony Michel and Keith Marshall, announced the Georgia running game as a force again in 2015.
"I think we all did great," Chubb said in quotes emailed by Georgia. "We all did what we had to do. We all took advantage of the opportunities we had and had a great day today."
The 5'10", 220-pounder showed off his track-star speed and bruiser mentality and picked up right where he left off from last season, when he topped the 1,500-yard mark in essentially a half-season as the starting running back in Athens.
Daeshon Hall, DE, Texas A&M
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That man living in Arizona State's backfield on Saturday night in Houston? It wasn't star defensive end Myles Garrett—although he did hang out there quite a bit.
It was fellow defensive end Daeshon Hall, who established himself as a superstar in Texas A&M's 38-17 win over the Sun Devils. Hall notched four sacks, forced two fumbles and tallied seven tackles, according to stats released by the school, and had as big of an impact on any game in the SEC in Week 1.
Under first-year defensive coordinator John Chavis, Hall proved that he's the perfect bookend to Garrett. Both defensive ends get upfield in a hurry, collapse the pocket and make life miserable for opposing quarterbacks.
It's not going to change.
Teams aren't going to ignore Garrett, so Hall is going to keep getting one-on-one matchups. That seemed to be a mismatch on Saturday night and likely will be for other offensive lines in the future.
Stanley "Boom" Williams, RB, Kentucky
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Take one look at the Kentucky vs. Louisiana-Lafayette score, and you'll probably scratch your head and wonder what happened. After all, a 40-33 win over the Ragin' Cajuns shouldn't exactly inspire confidence in Big Blue Nation.
But running back Stanley "Boom" Williams should.
The 5'9", 196-pounder rushed 10 times for 135 yards and a 75-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.
"I just want to give credit to my O-line and the outside guys, the receivers and the fullbacks that were in on that play," Williams said in quotes emailed by Kentucky. "They did their job so it was my job to get us going. It was good to score and get in the end zone early and get us going."
Kentucky is going even more Air Raid than it has been under head coach Mark Stoops thanks to the arrival of coordinator Shannon Dawson, but that only works if you have a reliable running back to take some pressure off quarterback Patrick Towles. Kentucky has two, actually, when you factor in Jojo Kemp. On opening night, it was Williams shouldering the load and proving he's one of the most electric players in the SEC.
Kentrell Brothers, LB, Missouri
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Missouri has questions up front along the defensive line, but in the middle of that defense, the Tigers will be just fine.
Linebacker Kentrell Brothers is the reason why.
The senior notched a career-high 16 tackles and blocked a punt in the 34-3 win over Southeast Missouri in Columbia.
"I studied a lot of film," Brothers said in quotes released by Missouri. "We knew what to expect from them. Everybody was in their gap and did a good job when they did get loose. I think we did a great job overall for our first game."
Brothers is one of the most underrated players in college football, and accomplishing what he did against a lesser opponent like Southeast Missouri isn't going to do much to change it. If Missouri is going to be in the mix to three-peat as SEC East champs, he'll have to repeat that performance against SEC East foes.
Something tells me he's going to be up for the challenge.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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