Ranking Best SEC Football Matchups of Week 2
By the looks of Week 1, SEC dominance may have to rely on Alabama in 2016.
Of course, a lot can change between now and the meat of the season, but seven league teams started 0-1.
Wisconsin shocked LSU at Lambeau Field, Kentucky blew a lead against Southern Mississippi, South Carolina rallied against Vanderbilt, Auburn couldn't get past Clemson, West Virginia trounced Missouri, Mississippi State was shocked by South Alabama and Ole Miss ended the weekend with a loss to Florida State.
Tennessee needed overtime to beat Appalachian State, and Arkansas got by Louisiana Tech by a measly point.
So, yeah, it was forgettable.
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Sporting News' Ron Clements wrote.
This should be "back-on-track week." Two big out-of-conference showdowns with the Volunteers facing Virginia Tech and Arkansas traveling to TCU give the league a chance to gain back a little face.
Another pair of conference games will be interesting, too. Let's take a look at Week 2.
6. Jacksonville State at LSU
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If you thought things may be getting a little testy on the bayou after LSU lost to Wisconsin last weekend, just watch if the Tigers struggle against Jacksonville State.
It would be easy to shrug off the Gamecocks as an FCS opponent who will serve as a de facto bye week for an LSU team needing to get things corrected offensively following a 14-point showing in the opener. But that wouldn't be wise.
As if last year's 27-20 overtime loss to Auburn doesn't give enough warning that head coach Les Miles' Tigers can't sleepwalk through this weekend, take into consideration Jax State is ranked third in the FCS and, as 247Sports' Sonny Shipp noted, has several kids who could play in the NFL.
"LSU better play with a sense of urgency that the Tigers certainly did not have when they opened the season against the Badgers," Shipp wrote.
Miles' team continues to struggle mightily at the quarterback position where Brandon Harris scuffled yet again after inconsistency plagued his career in Baton Rouge so far. Until LSU fixes that issue, it will have a hard time.
On the other side, there is no controversy. The Gamecocks boast Ohio Valley Conference player of the year Eli Jenkins under center, a dual-threat signal-caller who finished with 3,949 yards of total offense a season ago to go along with 36 touchdowns.
Former Auburn running back Roc Thomas now plays for JSU, too. So, LSU needs to pick itself up quickly and get ready to play the Gamecocks in Tiger Stadium on Saturday night.
If they don't, LSU may be looking for another coach this time next week.
5. Middle Tennessee at Vanderbilt
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Vanderbilt was oh-so-close to being 1-0, but the Commodores blew a 10-0 lead against South Carolina to lose, and all of a sudden, head coach Derek Mason is taking heat.
Not only did he remove quarterback Kyle Shurmur when he was getting in a groove—and the sophomore never got going again—he also made a few puzzling decisions down the stretch.
Now, VU finds itself in a familiar position—with a losing record heading into a showdown against Middle Tennessee State, a program from nearby Murfreesboro that was on the verge of upsetting Mason's squad last year before a Ralph Webb 39-yard touchdown run with 1:12 left provided a 17-13 win.
Blue Raiders quarterback Brent Stockstill told the Tennessean's Aldo Giovanni Amato they aren't looking for revenge; just keeping things going after a 55-0 season-opening win over Alabama A&M:
"With a new offensive coordinator, we haven't really talked about last year's game much. But I think our guys know in order to win, we have to finish. We turned the ball over in the red zone a couple of times and didn’t run very effectively. We moved it OK. You can move it all you want, but if you don’t put the ball in the end zone, it's not going to matter.
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That's not going to be easy against a vaunted VU defense led by Zach Cunningham and crew. That unit is the reason why the Commodores believe they can go to a bowl game in Mason's third season.
But they've got to stop tinkering too much on offense. If they do, MTSU is a good enough team to make them pay on the scoreboard.
4. Kentucky at Florida
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Saturday's 24-7 win in the Swamp over a lowly UMass team was hardly the start head coach Jim McElwain's Florida Gators wanted.
They were ahead by just three points entering the fourth quarter until they finally opened a little daylight in a final score that looked a lot more lopsided than it was.
It was ugly—that's for sure.
Truth is, the Gators' season opener resembled the team from last year: It was led by a stellar defense, but offensively, it couldn't muster many game-breaking plays. Florida failed to finish long drives by getting in the end zone, and it cost it style points.
While quarterback Luke Del Rio (29-of-44, 256 yards, two touchdowns) had a nice debut, the Gators really sputtered running the ball, finishing with 107 yards on the ground. Thankfully for UF, it had that strong defense to take charge.
"We gave that team a chance, let them hang out for a while," linebacker Jarrad Davis told the Independent Florida Alligator's Ian Cohen. "When it comes to bigger opponents, stronger opponents, we can't do that to ourselves."
It remains to be seen how much stronger this weekend's opponent will be. UF is big-time favorites over a Kentucky team that was stunned by Southern Miss in Week 1, blowing a 25-point lead to lose to the Golden Eagles, who scored 34 unanswered points in a 44-35 win.
Now, UK must travel to Gainesville, where it nearly pulled an upset two years ago before losing in triple overtime. The Wildcats have to get their defense in order to have a chance to be in position again.
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3. South Carolina at Mississippi State
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The look on Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen's face when kicker Westin Graves hit the left upright on a potential game-winning field goal with six seconds remaining said everything words can't.
It told of how life without former star quarterback Dak Prescott isn't going to be easy, and all you need to see to know it is a 21-20 loss to South Alabama to start 2016.
"Losing just stinks," Mullen told the Clarion-Ledger's Michael Bonner after a mistake-laden setback. "I don't like losing. It's probably just as bad as the others."
What's worse is MSU now has to play Will Muschamp's South Carolina team after the Gamecocks rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat Vanderbilt in the opening week. In doing so, they found a star in receiver Bryan Edwards.
The freshman had eight catches for 101 yards, and his debut drew rave reviews.
"They say he plays like Alshon," Carolina receiver Deebo Samuel told SEC Country's Mike Wilson, referring to former Gamecocks star pass-catcher Alshon Jeffery. "He's a big-time playmaker. When the pressure was on, he was there to make the catch."
This is a massive game for both programs. If the Bulldogs can shake off the first-week loss, the only thing that will matter is getting a win in the conference and starting the season fresh. If the Gamecocks win, all of a sudden they're 2-0 in the SEC, and the Muschamp era could get some early momentum.
It isn't expected to be a marquee game, but early ramifications run rampant in this one. So, this game in Starkville is important.
2. Arkansas at TCU
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Mullen's face could have easily been repeated in Arkansas last week as the Razorbacks skimmed by Louisiana Tech by a 21-20 score in an ulcer-inducing opening week.
Now, the Hogs have to travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to renew an old Southwest Conference rivalry and take on a TCU Horned Frogs team that may be ranked 15th but endured its own scare against FCS opponent South Dakota State, pulling away late to win 59-41.
TCU coach Gary Patterson told the Associated Press' Stephen Hawkins how disappointed he was in his team's defense.
"The thing that was probably was the most disappointing, we just didn't tackle very well," he said. "We acted like we were surprised. As I told them on the sidelines, if they went into this ballgame thinking they were going to throw a shutout, they were (wrong). The key is you go into a ballgame trying to win and see how it turns out."
The Frogs could have a welcome mat in the form of Arkansas' offensive line, which was terrible against Louisiana Tech, allowing four sacks of first-year starting quarterback Austin Allen and allowing just 2.7 yards per rush.
Allen wasn't great, either, and he also failed to get huge weapon, tight end Jeremy Sprinkle, involved in the game plan. All those things need to change this weekend if the Hogs top the Frogs.
Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema doesn't seem too worried about his offensive line, according to 247Sports' Andrew Hutchinson.
"I'm excited where they're at and think they'll have huge improvements Game 1 to Game 2," he said.
If they do, Arkansas could get on track and feel good about itself before conference play. If not, it may be a rebuilding campaign in Fayetteville.
1. Tennessee vs. Virginia Tech (Bristol, Tenn.)
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Finally, after decades of discussion and years of publicity once the deal got done, Tennessee and Virginia Tech will play Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The Battle at Bristol is sure to be a spectacle, as game officials are expecting the biggest crowd ever to watch a college football game live. Some 150,000-plus fans could descend on the city that is nearly equidistant between Knoxville, Tennessee, and Blacksburg, Virginia.
In that part of the country, the Vols and Hokies are the schools of choice, and the matchup could mean a massive payday, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel's Grant Ramey:
"The Vols earned a guaranteed payment of $4 million for selling out its allotment of 40,000 tickets for the game against Virginia Tech on Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway. If the event is 'grandstand sellout' both teams will earn an additional $300,000. The number of tickets sold to trigger that bonus is still being discussed, according to BMS executive vice president and general manager Jerry Caldwell.
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More importantly, it's an opportunity for the two teams to win a pivotal early-season game that could help define their respective seasons.
For UT, the Vols and fourth-year head coach Butch Jones need to wipe out the bitter taste following a national-perception crippling overtime win over Appalachian State last Thursday. After starting the season ranked ninth, the Vols fell to No. 17 in the latest Associated Press poll.
Tech beat Liberty in its first game under new head coach Justin Fuente, and the Hokies will turn the page from the Frank Beamer era fully if they can upset the Vols.
In a week without a bunch of elite games, this may be the best showdown in all of college football.
All information gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. All recruiting information gathered from 247Sports unless otherwise noted. All stats gathered at CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted.
Brad Shepard covers ACC and SEC football and is the Tennessee lead writer for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter @Brad_Shepard.
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