The SEC took care of business last weekend against a bunch of mid-major opponents (and Ole Miss took care of Vanderbilt, which, to this point, may as well be a mid-major).

This week, many of the SEC’s top teams open conference play, including both Georgia and Florida. Others continue the softer non-conference portion of their respective schedules. One thing is for sure: this weekend’s slate of games is far more fulfilling than last weekend’s garbage.

Like always, some players are poised to have breakout games in the third week of the season; others will surely fall short of expectations. Who will rise to the occasion, and who will come up short?

Here are three candidates to “boom” on Saturday, and three candidates to bust:

Booms

  1. Kenny Hill: Hill is an easy pick to boom this weekend in Texas A&M’s showdown with the Rice Owls. Rice is ranked No. 106 out of 127 teams in the FBS in pass defense, and Hill has helped lead the Aggies to the nation’s No. 2 passing offense, behind only Mike Leach and Washington State. Texas A&M put up 73 points rather effortlessly last week against Lamar, and while Rice, a Conference USA member, is a step up from Lamar in terms of level of competition, it is not built to slow down a passing offense like A&M’s. Hill should be able to throw for as many yards as he pleases in this game, furthering his growing brand as “Kenny Trill.”
  2. T.J. Yeldon: Yeldon and the Crimson Tide will face a Southern Miss defense ranked No. 116 in the nation in run defense when the two teams square-off on Saturday. This should spell disaster for the Golden Eagles, and Yeldon should be the Alabama tailback able to take advantage of a lackluster defense. Yeldon is averaging more than 84 yards per game while sharing time in the Alabama backfield with the likes of Derrick Henry and others, and if offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin establishes the run early in the game, Yeldon should have plenty of opportunities to pad his stats against Southern Miss.
  3. Todd Gurley: This is a risky pick in that Gurley is facing a South Carolina team desperate to keep itself in the SEC East race past this weekend. However, if Gurley is truly a Heisman contender and among the best players at any position in the nation, he’ll have one of his best games of the season against the Gamecocks on Saturday. Transcendent players tend to rise to the occasion in big games, and this game is huge for both teams involved. When Georgia needed a spark against a ranked Clemson team, Gurley returned a kickoff for a touchdown. Why? Because that’s what superstars do. He’ll have one or two plays of that nature against South Carolina, and if Georgia comes away with the win, Gurley will be the biggest reason why.

Busts

  1. Tennessee’s freshmen: The Volunteers have played tons of true freshmen so far this season, and those freshmen have been a pleasant surprise in Tennessee’s 2-0 start to the year. However, Tennessee’s wins over Utah State and Arkansas State could not possibly have prepared the Vols’ rookies for what’s waiting in Norman on Saturday when UT faces-off with No. 4 Oklahoma. Expect Tennessee to make more than a few “freshman mistakes” in the form of penalties, turnovers and missed assignments in what could quickly turn into an ugly game. The Sooners’ fan base will be rabid, and coach Bob Stoops has been waiting for another opportunity to knock the SEC down a peg. That atmosphere could be overwhelming for a group of players unfamiliar with competing at the college level outside of Neyland Stadium, and the Vols could be looking at their first loss of 2014 on Saturday night.
  2. Robb Smith: The Arkansas defensive coordinator will have his hands full Saturday when the Razorbacks travel to Lubbock, Texas, to take on Kliff Kingsbury’s Texas Tech Red Raiders. Arkansas’ defense ranks 91st in the nation in total defense, while Kingsbury’s Red Raider offense is 11th in the country in total offense at more than 570 yards per game through two weeks. Auburn backup quarterback Jeremy Johnson completed 75 percent of his passes in the first half of the Tigers’ week 1 showdown with Arkansas, and Texas Tech starting quarterback Davis Webb has the Red Raiders’ passing offense ranked ninth in the nation at 365 yards per contest. Texas Tech loves to air it out, and this does not bode well for Arkansas’ slow, methodical style of play.
  3. Vanderbilt’s quarterbacks: The Commodores’ quarterbacks have given no indication they can look anything more than completely hopeless so far in 2014. In a 30-point loss in week 1, head coach Derek Mason went with three different quarterbacks, each of whom struggled in his own unique way. Last week, Mason stuck exclusively with graduate student Stephen Rivers, who promptly completed just 6-of-25 passes for 60 yards in a 38-point loss to Ole Miss. A fourth quarterback has now worked his way into the mix on this week’s depth chart in the form of freshman Wade Freebeck, joining Rivers, sophomore Patton Robinette and freshman Johnny McCrary. It is obvious Vanderbilt still does not have a quarterback, and while it may be able to score its first win of 2014 this weekend over UMass, it probably won’t be thanks to anything the quarterback(s) did.