10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 12 in the SEC
By Chris Wright
Published:
How did the SEC miss out on Fernando Mendoza? Twice?
Did LSU really just try to fire Brian Kelly … twice? At least no other coaches were fired this week. That was nice.
Not as nice as Kirby’s surprise, 2nd-half Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Ahmad Hardy’s 300-yard rushing game looked Saturday, but certainly better than Alabama and that out-of-bounds Texas trooper. Dude, seriously?
Those are among the 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after a wild Week 12 in and around the SEC.
10. Texas Agony & Misery, again? Not so fast, my friends
Texas A&M played the worst 30 minutes of football by any team this season. Not just any SEC team or any Playoff contending team. Any team.
It was so bad, so out of character, so consistently terrible it made you wonder all kinds of unscrupulous things. (For the record, I don’t think anything was awry, but that debacle of a first half is exactly how investigations and conspiracy theories start.)
Marcel Reed’s Heisman campaign? Oh, that appeared to end about 2/10ths of a second after he released a pass, um, directly into the arms of a South Carolina defender in the end zone, negating a Texas A&M interception that hinted that the Aggies might actually have an interest in playing football Saturday.
Worse, as horrific as the Aggies were in the first half against South Carolina, they weren’t even responsible for the most heinous act of the day. That belonged to the officer who intentionally banged into Nyck Harbor. (About the only thing the Texas side did right to that point was sending that officer home. Hopefully for good.)
To recap: That first half could not have gone any worse had Texas A&M tried to make it worse. (Again, not saying the Aggies did!)
But that’s why they play 4 quarters, Paaaawwwwl!
In the second half, Reed looked like a Heisman contender and the Aggies again looked like the best team in the country. ESPN noted that SEC teams that trailed by 27 or more points were 0-286 since 2004.
Make it 1-286 after the Aggies outscored the Gamecocks 28-0 in the 2nd half — their go-ahead TD coming on a season-defining, 10-play, 98-yard drive in the 4th quarter.
Reed finished with a career-high 439 yards passing. He offset the 2 INTs in the opening half by closing with 3 TD passes. He was as close to perfect as possible — when Texas A&M had no other choice but play a perfect half.
Bury the Ghosts of Agony & Misery already, the ones who reached the top 10 10 times from 2010-2024 — and finished unranked in 7 of those seasons. That’s not happening this year.
This is a new Texas A&M — the most explosive, complete contender in the country.
Oh, Texas. You’re in trouble.
9. Boomer, Sooner, baby!
Oklahoma arguably had the most treacherous path to the Playoff. Emphasis on had. It was the only reason I couldn’t go all-in on the Sooners’ Playoff bid.
Now? After shocking Alabama in Tuscaloosa, the Sooners are 8-2 and are in total control of their Playoff fate with only Mizzou (without its starting QB) and LSU remaining.
Gauntlet to gimme?
Well, as Week 12 showed in every time slot, nothing is a gimme in the NIL/Portal/Parity era.
No. 3 Texas A&M needed a historic comeback to beat South Carolina. No. 6 Ole Miss struggled to put away Florida, the team that covets Lane Kiffin most. No. 14 Georgia Tech needed a last-second field goal to overcome 1-9 Boston College. No. 18 Michigan needed a last-second field goal to take down Northwestern. Clemson ended No. 19 Louisville’s ACC Championship bid — ie, its only hope to make the Playoff.
Nothing came easy Saturday.
But few wins were as impressive as the one the Sooners delivered. Brent Venables‘ defense was better than advertised — harassing Heisman hopeful Ty Simpson all afternoon, sacking him 4 times and holding the Tide to 0-for-3 on trips inside the red zone. One of those trips ended when Oklahoma’s Eli Bowen returned an interception 87 yards for a TD and 10-0 lead.
Just like that, the Sooners and Tide traded places in the Playoff pecking order.
Oklahoma can finally exhale.
Now the 2-loss Tide suddenly are in must-win mode entering the Iron Bowl — needing that win to secure a tiebreaker-inspired spot in Atlanta.
8. Fire Kalen DeBoer!
I’m kidding, but some of y’all weren’t.
Twitter is a dangerous spot after losses, but goodness, the overreactions during and after Alabama’s loss to Oklahoma were something.
Venables might not own Texas, but he’s now 2-0 vs. Kalen DeBoer — and DeBoer’s offense has scored a grand total of 24 points — 3 TDs and a field goal — in 8 quarters.
Not that Bama fans noticed …
That is just a sampling — a carefully selected Safe for Sunday morning sampling.
It was so bad that DeBoer’s unbeatable black hoodie now might need to be retired in disgrace after losing … checks notes … for the first time at home.
At least DeBoer knows what Ty Simpson felt like, being chased by angry men all night.
7. ‘We want Lane!’ You have Lane …
As Ole Miss was celebrating its “Lane Bowl” victory over Florida on Saturday night, Rebels fans began to serenade their coaching hero with chants of “We want Lane!”
You and everybody else not named Georgia.
As if Lane Kiffin needed any more reason to believe he has every chance to win it all at Ole Miss, his transfer running back Kewan Lacy absolutely went off against Florida on Saturday to keep every single goal the Rebels have had fully intact.
Kiffin doesn’t need Florida to make dreams come true.
The magic is alive and well in Oxford.
6. Kirby Smart is an assassin, Part 67
Georgia had just gone 73 yards in 10 plays for a TD to turn a dicey 14-10 lead into a 21-10 advantage early in the 4th quarter.
Kirby Smart wanted more. I know, when does he not.
Let’s just say the ensuing play-call and execution of what came next was … elite.
Georgia surprised the world — and most notably, Texas — by kicking and recovering an on-side kick.
Holy Justin Fields!
This worked out a whole lot better than that ill-fated special teams decision.
The Dawgs proceeded to march 53 more yards in 9 more plays for 7 more points.
Georgia 28 … Texas 0 chance of making the Playoff … en route to 21-point 4th quarter and a 35-10 win.
Kirby Smart, you are one bad man.
5. Predicting the 5 automatic bids
ACC: Georgia Tech, although needing a last-second field goal to beat 1-9 Boston College isn’t exactly a statement. I still think Miami is better, but you have a better chance of locking down Cam Coleman than the Canes do of even making the ACC Championship Game.
Big Ten: Ohio State. Indiana has been an entertaining story. At some point, talent trumps narrative. The Buckeyes have 5 times as much talent as the Hoosiers. That will play out in Indianapolis — especially if the Hoosiers get off to their customary slow start. Overcoming woeful Wisconsin is one thing. Running down Jeremiah Smith is quite another.
Big 12: I’ve been all-in on Texas Tech from the beginning. Not stopping now. Also, Utah deserves an at-large bid.
SEC: Texas A&M. Shout out to Lane Kiffin, obviously an avid Overreactions reader. Hours after I made the case last Sunday that Texas A&M should be No. 1 in the country, Kiffin stepped to the mic and said exactly the same thing.
Group of 5: James Madison. USF blew its last chance when it lost at Navy. JMU now becomes the Group of 5 team to watch — with the easiest remaining Playoff path, too. The Dukes’ schedule is laughably soft, but that won’t matter when other Group of 5 champions all have multiple losses and no offsetting ranked wins. The thought that Curt Cignetti could leave JMU for Indiana and 2 short years later both could make the Playoff is peak NIL/Portal Era Parity.
4. Sorry, SEC, but Notre Dame is Playoff-bound
I’ve consistently made the case that the SEC deserves 5 Playoff bids but will end up with 4.
Lots of reasons — but Notre Dame is the biggest culprit.
The Irish can only qualify for the Playoff as 1 of the 7 at-large teams, which leaves only 6 at-large bids left. To think the SEC would grab 4 of those 6 bids is wishful thinking — no matter how deserving its final team might be.
Notre Dame absolutely looked the part Saturday, physically dominating a ranked Pitt team, in Pittsburgh, with GameDay and Pitt legends Tony Dorsett and Aaron Donald on site.
Jeremiyah Love might not win the Heisman, but he’s proving every time he touches the ball that he deserves the Doak Walker Award. Love added to his highlight reel Saturday, making a Pitt safety miss with a Walter Payton-like spin move to set up a 56-yard TD run. Love finished with 147 yards and another rushing TD — his 14th this season.
I’ve poked holes in the Irish’s resume, but no more. As long as they run the table and finish 10-2, there’s no denying their Playoff-worthiness.
3. My (unofficial) Heisman ballot after Week 12
Heisman voters pick 3 names, in order.
For the 2nd year in a row, the winner and runner-up will not be quarterbacks — and the SEC is shut out again? Say it ain’t so …
1. Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State: Nobody in the country forces more schematic adjustments than Smith. When he’s not beating double teams and actively showing you how he’s the best player in America, he’s capitalizing on his ability to draw multiple defenders and be the best decoy in America. Nobody creates more winnable matchups for his teammates. He left early in OSU’s Week 12 win. Hopefully he’s just saving himself for Michigan.
2. Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame: If all you know are the stats — which are really good — you’re missing the magic. Watch Love play — and then tell me who has a more electric running back?
3. Fernando Mendoza, Indiana: In addition to rewriting Indiana’s record book, Mendoza will finish with the best QB numbers on a Playoff contender that will be ranked No. 2 when the votes are due.
2. In the case of Brian Kelly v LSU …
Oh, LSU.
You fired Brian Kelly, but not really? Because the guy who fired him, you know, the AD you also got rid of, didn’t have the authority to do so? So this time you’re really, really firing him — with cause. That’s what you want us to believe?
I’m sure I left out some details, but this lame attempt to save money is so far-fetched I lost interest midway through the second sentence.
This saga is so far off the rails that Kelly’s attempt at a Southern accent sounds more authentic than LSU’s “case” against him.
Pay the man, already.
1. Fernando Mendoza, No. 1 overall?
Imagine telling somebody in August of 2023 that a kid named Fernando Mendoza would be picked ahead of Arch Manning in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Then imagine doubling down and predicting that Mendoza would be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 draft.
To that point, Mendoza had not taken a college snap after redshirting his freshman season at Cal. At that point, Arch Manning had just settled in at Texas for his true freshman season, full of the hype that follows the most decorated 5-star recruit in rankings history. Before his first snap, Manning already was being projected as the No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft.
Fast forward to Week 12 of the 2025 season: Manning has been nothing more than OK at Texas and certainly won’t even consider entering this draft early. Mendoza, meanwhile, has raced to the top of the Heisman race and draft boards while leading undefeated Indiana to a No. 2 national ranking. Saturday, he threw his 30th TD pass of the season, not only setting the program record but also becoming the first Hoosier QB to reach 30.
It’s hard to find a comp for what Mendoza is accomplishing. Despite his projectable measurables — 6-4, 205 pounds — he was an overlooked low 3-star recruit from Miami — the No. 134-ranked quarterback in his class — who originally committed to Yale. (Hometown Miami only saw him as a preferred walk-on.) He signed with Cal and spent 3 years there, graduated and transferred to IU. He had zero interest from any of Florida’s power conference programs. In fact, Cal was the only power conference program that offered him a scholarship.
True, other low stars have developed into NFL first-rounders. Josh Allen comes to mind. Allen didn’t even have a recruiting ranking and started his career at Reedley Community College before transferring to Wyoming. Allen had individual success, sure, but obviously Wyoming was never in the Playoff mix. Daniel Jones was a tall, athletic, 2-star recruit who developed into a No. 6 overall pick, but he never even won 9 games at Duke. There are other examples of recruiting rags to riches.
But No. 134 QB in his class … to all of this?
It’s historic, which invites skepticism. Now 6-5 and 225 pounds, Mendoza looks the part. But so did Ryan Leaf and Mitch Trubisky and Blaine Gabbert and JaMarcus Russell and so many others. So many others.
Will the bubble burst? That’s what everybody is wondering.
Me? I’m still wondering how every SEC and ACC school let this South Florida kid get away … twice?
Managing Editor
A 30-time APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.
