Long live talkin’ season.

Week 1 unmasked false narratives, exposed pretenders hyped as contenders and introduced us to the next wave of playmakers. That’s what happens when talkin’ season gives way to the actual season. How crazy was Week 1? Kentucky became 2020 Florida and Florida became 2020 Kentucky — overnight — and a grad assistant shares the SEC lead for TD passes.

That’s just some of the 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 1 in and around the SEC.

10. Liam Coen: Broyles Award winner

The Broyles Award is given annually to the top assistant coach in college football.

Kentucky offensive coordinator Liam Coen won the award Saturday. Not technically, of course. Kentucky still has 11 games to play. But still…

How much fun will this offense be?

Granted, UL-Monroe didn’t win a game last season, but if Week 1 is any indication, a whole lot.

I haven’t seen a Kentucky offense look that sudden, that versatile since Andre Woodson was slinging it.

The biggest difference between Saturday and the past 5 years? The scheme and timing. Last season, Kentucky threw 2 TD passes on first down. New QB Will Levis matched that total in the first quarter Saturday.

Kentucky completed 1 pass in 2020 that covered 40+ yards. Levis doubled that output in the first half Saturday.

Again, it’s easy to get carried away and it’s worth remembering exactly how bad ULM is, but the point of this exercise is to overreact.

This Kentucky offense will shake up the race for 2nd in the SEC East.

9. Will Levis is better than half of the SEC starting QBs

Admittedly, we didn’t quite know a ton about the Penn State grad transfer, other than the fact he couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity he had last year in Happy Valley. For 3 seasons, James Franklin primarily used Levis as a change-of-pace wildcat QB. He had more rushes than pass attempts.

Heck, Levis only threw 3 TD passes at Penn State.

He matched that total in the first half Saturday. He finished with a career-high 4. He shares the SEC lead for TD passes. That might be the craziest sentence I’ve written in my 6+ years at Saturday Down South.

More than the numbers, Levis looked the part. Sure, apply the standard opponent caveats if you must, but for a guy who supposedly is a run-first QB, he calmly sidestepped rushes and kept his eyes downfield. He demonstrated arm strength and touch, mixing and matching arc and trajectory.

It’s time to adjust all of those preseason power rankings.

8. Wan’Dale Robinson is a bad man

We knew a lot more about Robinson than we did Levis, but I’m not sure anybody was expecting Robinson to look like DeVonta Smith out of the gate.

Crisp routes, pull away speed, all complemented by a nasty streak that he demonstrated at will. He literally hand fought one defender trying to free himself after a long catch, then absorbed a massive shot and fought his way into the end zone on another.

Want a comp? I thought I was watching former NFL great Steve Smith.

Parting thought: Scott Frost, what in the world were you thinking? How could you not have built your offense around this guy?

Robinson set a career-high for receiving yards Saturday — in the first half! And he exceeded his 2020 TD reception total — in the first half!

7. 7 quirky but critical questions

  1. Are we sure Sean Clifford is better than Will Levis? Really sure?
  2. Mark Stoops said he would eat a banana without peeling it if Levis threw for 400 yards. Stoops pulled Levis early in the 4th quarter when Levis had 367 yards. Sus?
  3. Is the Emory Jones era already over at Florida?
  4. Is Florida’s backup QB, Anthony Richardson, going to lead the SEC in rushing?
  5. Wasn’t LSU’s defense supposed to be substantially better this season?
  6. Where has that Bo Nix been hiding?
  7. Can a grad assistant win the Heisman? Asking for Zeb Norland, who shares the SEC lead in TD throws. With a Kentucky QB.

6. Louder for those in the back

Replacing a stud quarterback is the most difficult thing to do in college football.

Alabama makes it look easy. This just in: Nobody is Alabama.

Clearly, Clemson was reminded of that lesson Saturday.

So, too, was Texas A&M. Haynes King was just so-so in his first start. He’s the reason I couldn’t buy into the notion that Texas A&M deserved a top 10 preseason ranking.

A&M couldn’t beat Alabama when it had Kellen Mond. After watching Saturday’s games, do you really think A&M has a chance to beat Nick Saban’s backside when they meet in College Station?

No. Way.

5. The 5 most overrated Top 25 teams are …

5. No. 17 Indiana: People were upset when the upstart Hoosiers were only ranked No. 17. Imagine how angry they’ll be when the Week 2 poll is released.

4. No. 14 Miami: Alabama is going to embarrass a lot of ranked teams, but the Canes didn’t look like the No. 14 team in America.

3. No. 12 Wisconsin: Ten points as a near touchdown home favorite? Graham Mertz simply has to be better. It’s games like this that remind us how large the gap is between the B1G East and B1G West.

2. No. 10 UNC: I don’t need to say it. Mack Brown already did. He’s right, too.

1. No. 2 Oklahoma: I mean, at least they won?

4. The 4 Playoff teams are …

1. Alabama, 2. Georgia. 3. Ohio State 4. The Alliance All-Star team.

3. That was the new-and-improved Oklahoma defense?

Alex Grinch was an offseason darling. Everybody jumped on the assumption that Oklahoma’s defense turned the corner in 2020 and that his unit would boost the Sooners back into the Playoff.

Then Tulane scored 35 points on the Sooners in the opener and had a chance to pull off the biggest upset of the 2021 season. Sure, Tulane forced 2 turnovers that set up shorter fields and led to TDs, but still … they also drove 80 yards to pull within 6 and then recovered an onside kick to worry every Sooners fan still in attendance.

Nothing about Saturday suggested the Sooners are the No. 2 team in the country or any closer to winning a Playoff game.

2. It hasn’t felt this close to 1980 since 1982

Georgia isn’t holding Alabama to 3 points, a’ight? I highly doubt the Dawgs could hold the Tide to 23 points.

But they’ll certainly get the chance. Maybe two of them.

Nobody in the East is going to challenge that defense. And eventually, the offense will regain its collective health and be as dangerous as we thought it would be. Consider Saturday’s output a blip, not a blueprint.

I wasn’t surprised Georgia beat Clemson. I said all offseason the Dawgs would win and repeated that prediction Saturday morning. But I certainly didn’t think they’d essentially pitch a shutout. That defense is even nastier than we thought it would be.

This might actually be the year the jokes end. Except …

1. Nobody plugs and plays like Alabama. Nobody. Ever

All you need to know about Alabama is this:

Bryce Young topped his career numbers in his first career start.

Receiver Jameson Williams totaled 266 yards and 3 TDs in his 2 years at Ohio State. Saturday, the transfer led the Tide with 126 yards, including a perfectly designed 94-yard catch-and-go for a TD.

Cameron Latu caught 2 TD passes Saturday. He was recruited as a defensive end and had never caught a pass until Saturday.

It’s just not fair.