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Don’t call it a snoozer slate or a sleepy Saturday. It’s not kind.
Instead, let’s acknowledge that of the 13 SEC games in Week 3, only 2 have single-digit spreads (as of Monday morning). One of them is Texas A&M-Florida (the Aggies are 3.5-point road favorites) and LSU-South Carolina (the Tigers are 7-point road favorites) is the other, which will also play host to College GameDay.
Just 7 days after struggling vs. Old Dominion, Columbia will welcome the ESPN pregame show for the first time in a decade. Is that a byproduct of a national slate that only includes 2 matchups of AP Top 25 foes on Saturday — No. 20 Arizona vs. No. 14 Kansas State is a Friday night game — or is it an acknowledgment that South Carolina has one of the most underrated environments in the sport and hosting LSU with momentum is worth shining a light on? Both things can be true.
Let’s dig into all 13 SEC matchups with an early thought on each:
No. 4 Alabama at Wisconsin — Alabama needs to figure out that OL
It was alarming how much the Tide struggled up front against USF. That wasn’t just a byproduct of Kadyn Proctor’s absence, either. The right side of that offensive line was a walking pressure allowed/holding penalty, which wasn’t ideal for Jalen Milroe as he continues to learn this offense. In a hostile atmosphere like Camp Randall, the Tide offensive line has to communicate better or else Milroe and the Tide will play behind the sticks and find itself in a 60-minute game as a 2-touchdown favorite.
No. 16 LSU at South Carolina — Suddenly, the Gamecocks pass-rush vs. LSU’s offensive tackles is a major strength-on-strength matchup
For the first time in the Shane Beamer era, South Carolina has a true defensive identity. Georgia Tech transfer Kyle Kennard and true freshman sensation Dylan Stewart will be a headliner matchup for those decorated LSU offensive tackles, Will Campbell and Emery Jones Jr., both of whom are considered first-round prospects. One would think LSU’s ability to establish the run will determine whether Brian Kelly can avoid a 1-2 start. That might be easier said than done after the Tigers lost John Emery to another season-ending knee injury. Either way, LSU will look to become the first team to slow down Stewart and that loaded South Carolina defensive front.
No. 24 Boston College at No. 6 Mizzou — Is Marcus Carroll really the backup?
I didn’t want to discount Nate Noel’s potential impact in the Mizzou offense after the former 1,000-yard rusher transferred from Appalachian State, but I believed that Marcus Carroll left Georgia State after leading FBS in carries/game because he would have a massive workload in the Tigers’ backfield. So far, that hasn’t been the case. Noel has a 23-18 carries advantage, as well as an 87-42 snaps advantage. The latter feels more important for the “RB1 discussion,” which doesn’t matter at a lot of schools, but in an offense that has typically favored one true feature back, that’ll be worth keeping an eye on. They should both be needed in a top-25 matchup.
Tulane at No. 15 Oklahoma — Will Nic Anderson return? He better
Anderson has been held out of the first 2 games of the year as he works his way back from injury. His absence has been felt by an Oklahoma offense that has lacked an identity so far. As great as Deion Burks looks after transferring from Purdue, the Sooners desperately need a downfield threat like Anderson, especially after Jalil Farooq went down in the opener. Anderson can open up things for an offense that already dealt with continuity issues on the offensive line. If he can return against Tulane and even establish a presence on a limited snap count, it would bode well before the Tennessee showdown.
Texas A&M at Florida — Just give us 1 more DJ Lagway game, Billy.
I know, I know. Graham Mertz will be the starter once he’s healthy enough to return. I say this as someone fully aware of Napier’s allegiance to the veteran quarterback. But man, even if Mertz is at 99%, can we just see Lagway spin it against an SEC defense? It’d be fascinating to see Lagway battle an A&M team that recruited him aggressively. The Texas native could face a massive challenge with the Aggies’ defensive line. That is, if he gets the opportunity. There’s also a chance that Napier acknowledges that potential mismatch and he opts to avoid a Lagway start at all costs. Seeing more of the true freshman would be a welcome sight, even if he struggles.
UAB at Arkansas — Don’t dismiss the Arkansas run defense
Through 3 quarters, Arkansas held the Doak Walker Award winner without a run longer than 5 yards. By day’s end, Ollie Gordon II was held to 2.9 yards per carry in Stillwater. That’s a credit to Travis Williams and this Arkansas defense, which has allowed 66 rushing yards on 49 carries through 2 weeks. Eric Gregory and Landon Jackson have been phenomenal so far. Against UAB, I’d expect that to continue after Trent Dilfer’s squad was blown out by Louisiana-Monroe. There’s a decent chance that the Hogs will go into Auburn with the nation’s top run defense.
No. 5 Ole Miss at Wake Forest — Tre Harris’ video game start will continue
More people need to be talking about Harris. Period. To be clear, that’s not just because he ranks No. 3 in FBS with 307 receiving yards through 2 weeks. Harris was one of the 5 best returning receivers in America, yet you wouldn’t have known based on the way he was talked about nationally after the Louisiana Tech transfer narrowly missed out on a 1,000-yard season in 2023. Mind you, he only started and finished 10 games. In 12 full games at Ole Miss since the start of 2023, he hit the century mark 7 times. Something tells me that his 8th 100-yard game will be in the bag early against a Wake Forest defense that ranks No. 105 in FBS against the pass.
UTSA at No. 2 Texas — The Trey Moore Bowl!
The man who owns UTSA’s single-season record for sacks (14) and tackles for loss (18) will face his former team. Welcome to the portal era, wherein a guy like Moore can get poached by a bigger program instead of leaving for the NFL. For a Texas defensive line that had major holes to fill after losing coach Bo Davis to LSU and standouts T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy to the NFL, Moore already looks like a key part of the solution. He was a big reason why that Michigan offense was held without a touchdown for the first 58 minutes. If he repeats that effort against his former team, nobody should be surprised. Least of all, UTSA.
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Vandy at Georgia State — More Diego Pavia fireworks feel imminent
Should I just copy and paste that sentence for the rest of the season? Pavia was again so good that Vandy ran out of fireworks during a 55-0 beatdown of Alcorn State. Fortunately, Vandy can get a week to buy more fireworks while the Pavia show hits the road. Against a new-look Georgia State team, Pavia should be poised to have another big day. He currently ranks No. 2 among all FBS quarterbacks in rushing attempts (39). One would think that Vandy would ideally like to preserve those opportunities a touch, but then again, a win on Saturday would give the Dores the “over” on 2.5 regular-season wins. That’s fireworks-worthy.
No. 1 Georgia at Kentucky — The Brock Vandagriff-UGA reunion isn’t setting up like UK hoped it would
I spent some time with Vandagriff in February. One of the things we discussed was what that Week 3 matchup against Georgia would be like after spending 3 years there. I can guarantee you that at no point this offseason Vandagriff thought he’d be trying to recover from probably his worst game of organized football that he’s ever played. While the UK offensive line deserved blame, Vandagriff wasn’t seeing the field with any level of success, which we saw on that late-pick 6. That’s a troubling thought as he’s set to face his former team, which is loaded with 5-stars in the front-7 and ball-hawks in the secondary like Malaki Starks who are ready to capitalize on mistakes. Nobody will need to tell Vandagriff about the challenge he’s up against.
New Mexico at Auburn — Hugh Freeze has a no-win scenario at QB
Absolutely none. Why? Because in the likely event that Payton Thorne bounces back after his dreadful showing against Cal, it’ll give Freeze some misplaced faith that better days are ahead. If Thorne struggles and Freeze turns to one of his younger options early, what would that say about the state of that quarterback room? Whether it’s Hank Brown or Holden Geriner, putting up points against New Mexico won’t suddenly quiet the notion that Auburn still has major passing-game issues. If anything, it could give the fanbase some extra anti-Thorne ammo, which could create even more friction for Freeze after he doubled down on the veteran signal-caller.
Toledo at Mississippi State — At home, that run defense just has to get better
Woof. The run defense was horrendous at Arizona State. I don’t think you can pin that all on the desert heat. Mississippi State had a ton of turnover on the defensive side of the ball with the new regime, so it wasn’t stunning to see that group struggle to stop the run against a Core-4 squad, though it wasn’t the best sign that it came against an Arizona State team that was picked to finish last in the Big 12. At home against Toledo, who ranked No. 122 in FBS in percentage of returning production, it would be ideal for Jeff Lebby’s squad to find some answers for those issues before SEC play.
Kent State at Tennessee — Has Josh Heupel’s mind already shifted to Oklahoma’s? Because mine has
No disrespect to Kent State. Actually, a little disrespect to Kent State. After all, we’re talking about a team that was picked to finish dead last in the MAC and started 0-2 with losses to Pitt and FCS Saint Francis. Heupel could coach this game from his college house in Norman and still lead Tennessee to a blowout win. But fresh off the blowout win vs. NC State and with his Oklahoma matchup looming, I’d expect a basic game plan for the Vols. That’s all they should need to cruise. The better question might be if the defense will enter the Week 4 showdown in Norman still having not allowed a defensive touchdown. That might be the only reason to tune in late on Saturday night in Knoxville.
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Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
