Week 1 Recap: What we learned about every SEC West team

With Saturday’s games behind us, we are now able to start figuring out what we’ll see from these teams throughout the season.

The SEC West went undefeated in its out-of-conference match-ups, while Texas A&M defeated South Carolina on Thursday and Auburn beat Arkansas yesterday.

Here’s what we’ve learned so far about each SEC West team.

Alabama Crimson Tide
Week 1 result: Defeated West Virginia, 33-23
What we learned: The Crimson Tide were not nearly as dominant as most expected coming into their game against West Virginia as the Mountaineers were able to hang with Alabama virtually all 60 minutes. However, Nick Saban and his players had a geat game offensively with 538 total yards, including 288 rushing yards. We learned that Blake Sims will be a very capable of leading their offense and that Jacob Coker may have been overhyped in the offseason. He did not attempt a pass in the game.

It was clear Alabama is still a very physical team as they eventually wore down the Mountaineers over the course of the game. For any defense, TJ Yeldon and Derrick Henry will be incredibly tough to stop for an entire 60 minutes. Alabama’s secondary was tested all game and there still is some question marks among that group. They allowed 365 passing yards, after allowing only 180 passing yards per game last season. It makes you wonder how they’ll handle an offense like Texas A&M, especially after the showing the Aggies put on earlier in the week.

This is far from a perfect team, but there’s no reason why Alabama shouldn’t be considered one of the best in the country.

Arkansas Razorbacks
Week 1 result: Lost to Auburn, 45-21
What we learned: Despite the 24-point loss at the hands of the SEC Champions, it was really a tale of two halves for the Razorbacks. In the first half, the Hogs played about as well as they could on offense, matching Auburn point-for-point and they went into the half tied at 21. However, the second half was a completely different story as they were held to only 51 yards of offense and Auburn pulled away.

Based off their showing in Jordan-Hare, it’s obvious this isn’t the same team from 2013. The Hogs have a big, physical offensive line, a capable quarterback in Brandon Allen and a dominant trio of running backs. If the defense can make improvements in the secondary, Arkansas could be a bowl-eligible team by the end of the season.

Auburn Tigers
Week 1 result: Defeated Arkansas, 45-21
What we learned: It took the latter 30 minutes of the game for Auburn to put the Hogs away, but the Tigers were impressive in their season-opener. The offense was clicking all day as Nick Marshall and (mostly) Jeremy Johnson led the offense to 293 yards passing and two touchdowns. JUCO WR transfer Duke Williams shined and emerged as one of the top wide receivers in the conference on Saturday, exploding for nine receptions, 154 yards and one touchdown.

Head coach Gus Malzahn had said in the off-season they wanted more balance on offense. Auburn attempted 22 passes and exposed a weak Arkansas secondary. It looks like with the addition of Williams on the outside and the emergence of Cameron Artis-Payne at running back, the Auburn offense is just as, if not more, explosive than last season.

LSU Tigers
Week 1 result: Defeated Wisconsin, 28-24
What we learned: LSU barely squeaked by Wisconsin last night, storming back from a 24-7 deficit. For the most part, LSU’s offense was nothing special. Quarterback Anthony Jennings struggled early on and running back Leonard Fournette only got 18 yards on eight carries. However, things changed for Jennings in the later portions of the game and he finished with 256 passing yards and two touchdowns. Running back Kenny Hilliard looked strong too with a 110-yard effort.

In what could have very easily been a nightmare start for LSU, Les Miles and his team emerged from the game 1-0 in an important, albeit, unconvincing win. They are expected to get some key players back from suspension soon, which should help in the following weeks.

Ole Miss Rebels
Week 1 result: Defeated Boise State, 35-13
What we learned: It wasn’t pretty for the entire first half. The Rebels managed to score only seven points against an underwhelming Boise State squad. Bo Wallace eventually made some plays in the second half, helping the Rebels to pull ahead in the end, but the senior quarterback was less than impressive. He made questionable decisions all night and was picked off three times.

The story of the game was Ole Miss’ defense. They are very opportunistic and aggressive. Led by safety Cody Prewitt and defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche, the Rebels defense dominated all night. Once again, it’ll be their defense that wins games for them, but with the wealth of talent they have, that could mean a lot of games in 2014.

Mississippi State Bulldogs
Week 1 result: Defeated Southern Miss, 49-0
What we learned: We didn’t learn too much from the Bulldogs this week. They dominated one of the worse teams in college football, as expected. Quarterback Dak Prescott was very impressive, setting carrer-highs with 284 passing yards four touchdowns. Mississippi State also proved to be deep at running back behind Josh Robinson and Nick Griffin.

I really like the depth at Mississippi State. They have a lot of talent across the board and have reliable backup options at several positions. If Prescott can continue to put up big numbers, the Bulldogs can surprise a lot of teams in the SEC this season. They’ll get their first real test in three weeks with a road game against LSU.

Texas A&M Aggies
Week 1 result: Defeated South Carolina, 52-28
What we learned: Kenny Hill for Heisman? Ok, maybe it’s a little early, but the sophomore quarterback had about as great of a debut as one could hope for. He set a school record with 511 passing yards and showed that Texas A&M has multiple weapons at receiver. The offensive line was dominant all game, which only made things easier for Hill.

It’s obvious that South Carolina’s defense was overrated, but you can’t discount the incredible performance by Hill and the offense. Texas A&M’s defense is questionable in the secondary and had trouble with the deep ball, but if the Aggies’ offense continues to play like it did last Thursday, that might not matter too much. The Aggies were easily the most impressive team in college football’s opening weekend and seem to be much better than everyone thought.