It was a breathless, high-octane late September Saturday in the SEC where you could say, “finally.”

Tennessee finally slayed bitter rival Florida.

Alabama finally showed up breathing fire from the beginning.

Kentucky finally stopped someone and won with defense, even if it was only South Carolina.

Ole Miss took a huge first-half lead, again, and finally held onto it.

Auburn finally took down a ranked team at home — barely.

And it took until the fourth quarter, but Texas A&M finally wore down Arkansas.

So where does that leave us on the first day of October, when Week 5 beckons? With only ‘Bama, Tennessee and surging Texas A&M unbeaten in the conference and overall, that’s where, and with the Volunteers and Aggies facing tough road games that will test them mentally and emotionally.

October, here we come. Finally.

Alcorn State at Arkansas, noon: The Hogs had cold water thrown on their perfect record in that fourth-quarter fade last week in primetime against Texas A&M. Alcorn State would seem to be the perfect remedy for those Aggies blues. The Braves have allowed a combined 88 points in losing their past two against in-conference SWAC teams, and Bret Bielema’s crew should be angry enough to put up at least half that.

The Texas A&M loss was a sorry tale of missed opportunities. But Arkansas’ SEC title dreams aren’t dashed after one game, and quarterback Austin Allen showed something last Saturday, sustaining a bruised chest in the second quarter but never missing a snap. Maybe that toughness will really matter down the road.

For now, this game against an FCS foe is a chance for Bielema to get his players’ heads right, with a brutal SEC gauntlet starting next week against Alabama.

Florida at Vanderbilt, noon: Like Arkansas, the Gators suffered a gruesome late fade last Saturday amid that orange-and-white sea in Knoxville. Also like Arkansas, Florida is still alive to fulfill its SEC championship dreams, since it’s so early, and the Gators are in the right division to bounce back, with only Tennessee and Georgia being serious contenders.

Having said that, Vandy is at home and will be all charged up from its pulsating overtime victory at Western Kentucky. And Kyle Shurmur’s confidence is through the roof after his fourth quarter and overtime heroics last week. But all of that was to squeak by a Conference-USA team that still piled up 501 yards of total offense, and here comes an agitated Florida defense anxious to show the Tennessee debacle was an aberration.

Tennessee at Georgia, 3:30 p.m.: The afternoon national TV SEC showcase on the first Saturday in October is the proverbial fork-in-the-road game for two teams that want to get to Atlanta on the first Saturday in December.

The giddy Volunteers are zooming toward that fork after beating hated Florida for the first time since George W. Bush was in his final months of his first term as president. Can Joshua Dobbs and the Vols handle this sudden success, this sudden lofty perch in the SEC East, and take their bravado into Athens against a Georgia team that will be seething coming off its blowout loss at Ole Miss?

The Bulldogs seem to be a mess coming in, but that can change awfully quickly with a showdown home game on the docket, as Georgia just found out in Oxford. Now the Bulldogs step into that role of the wounded home team. Boy, this is a tough spot for the Vols to get up emotionally again, and on the road, even with Jacob Eason going through freshman year growing pains and Nick Chubb’s status uncertain because of a sprained ankle.

Louisiana-Monroe at Auburn, 3:30 p.m.: Where would the Tigers be without kicker Daniel Carlson, who personally outscored LSU last Saturday night? They would still be winless against the big boys, and the Gus Malzahn Hot Seat would be burning out of control. Instead, the Tigers can feel better about themselves now as they face an overmatched Sun Belt team.

But as great as that wild win over LSU was, Auburn needs Carlson kicking extra points, not just field goals, and this would be a good place to start that for Sean White and Co. with a five-game homestand to start the season ending and a tough road ahead.

Texas A&M at South Carolina, 4 p.m.: The Aggies find themselves in a similar position as Tennessee in Week 5, coming off a huge, emotional victory against a division rival to stay unbeaten and now going on the road to face a fuming foe coming off a listless loss.

And because of that the same question follows A&M: Can the Aggies handle the success and can they handle the burden of still being undefeated in October? Texas A&M is 4-0 for the third season in a row. But the past two years the Aggies went a combined 3-6 in the following nine games after those brilliant starts.

This will also be their third game in a row away from College Station, and they’ll face a Gamecocks defense that has allowed fewer than 20 points in three of its four games. The problem is that Trevor Knight is in a groove right now, and even with playmaker Ricky Seals-Jones’ status uncertain because of a left ankle injury, the Aggies should be able to easily outscore the offensively challenged Gamecocks.

Kentucky at Alabama, 7 p.m.: OK, this is about that time for Kentucky fans, understandably joyous after two consecutive wins and being back at .500, to brace themselves for the night encounter in Tuscaloosa. Hey, the Wildcats showed they could slug it out with South Carolina last week and win with only 17 points. Mark Stoops deserves credit after the ugly 0-2 start.

But Bama had its house in order last week against Kent State (which is Nick Saban’s alma mater, by the way), and Jalen Hurts is getting more comfortable with each week. He’ll seek and find more comfort in this one before the Tide faces a four-game gauntlet of Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas A&M and LSU.

Memphis at Ole Miss, 7 p.m.: The Rebels get a breather from the SEC grind, and they’ve earned it, after playing Florida State, Alabama and Georgia early. They came out of that stretch just 2-2 but easily could be 4-0, and their No. 16 ranking proves how the pollsters respect their worth.

Memphis has only proven it can beat bad teams, rolling up a combined 155 points in wins over Southeast Missouri State, Kansas and Bowling Green, who have a combined three victories. A red-hot Chad Kelly should make the Tigers’ major step up in competition a painful one under the lights.

Missouri at LSU, 7:30 p.m.: LSU’s national title dreams are long gone and so — finally — is Les Miles (and Cam Cameron, too). The Tigers have to be a little fragile now. That alone gives surging Drew Lock and Missouri a more realistic shot to win in Death Valley than they could have ever dreamed of only a month ago.

Yes, Lock has put up most of his big numbers against poor, non-SEC teams, but the Bayou Bengals could be there for the taking with their offense struggling (again) and with Ed Orgeron trying to pick up the pieces.