5 things I can’t wait to watch today in and around the SEC
By Chris Wright
Published:
Nationally and regionally, there might not be an abundance of intrigue about today’s Week 5 lineup. Two of the week’s best games were played Friday night.
But there’s still plenty enough to keep me glued to the big screen.
Here are five things I can’t wait to watch unfold in and around the SEC.
1. The Shea Show returns
Ole Miss has beaten Alabama twice in the past three years and scored far more points against the Tide in that span than anyone else.
In fact, the Rebels’ 109 points is relatively close to the output of the next two SEC teams combined: 126 from Auburn (69) and Arkansas (57).
And those numbers came against a defense many were saying was the best in SEC history.
This Bama defense is good, but it’s not on the 2015 or 2016 level. Today, it faces a quarterback in Shea Patterson who is on pace to obliterate Tim Couch’s single-season passing record.
Can Patterson keep it up and top 300 yards for the fifth consecutive game dating to last season? I fully expect the game plan and scoreboard to dictate 40 or more throws. It’s not only Ole Miss’ best chance; it’s the Rebels’ only chance.
2. Christian Kirk, better than before
He’s been so good since Day 1 that unless he’s scoring three times in multiple ways, we tend to overlook him. We’ve seen so much, the bar for impressing us unfairly high.
In Week 4, he hit us with a reminder. In doing so, he erased the UCLA debacle and also helped remind us that recruiting has never been Kevin Sumlin’s issue.
The Aggies have plenty of offensive firepower. Will Muschamp has been able to contain that somewhat, first at Florida, then as Auburn’s DC and even last year at South Carolina.
But I think the Aggies discovered what they have in freshman Kellen Mond last week. His confidence is growing, his running ability is elite … and he still has Kirk.
Kirk has caught a TD pass in three consecutive games. His longest streak is four. I expect him to match that tonight in College Station.
3. Rocky times on Rocky Top
Ideally, you’d like to see Tennessee push Georgia and create some fourth-quarter drama for Jake Fromm and potentially stir things up in the East. I just can’t see that happing.
Before the season, I wrote that the Vols would struggle to win six games. The schedule will help them become bowl eligible, but I am even more convinced that the struggle is real. The offense just isn’t working outside of John Kelly, and you have to think Georgia will take away Kelly this afternoon.
Then what?
The Vols aren’t forcing turnovers — they’ve picked off one pass in four games — and they’re allowing 5-plus yards per carry. It’s a bad formula.
Georgia might run it 50-plus times today, which will make Kirby Smart think he never left Tuscaloosa.
It could go from bad to worse today for embattled Vols coach Butch Jones if Georgia shows it can handle prosperity.
4. We Want Bama Bowl
Georgia exposed Mississippi State last week, pretty much in the same physical, dominating fashion that Clemson shut down Auburn in Week 2.
Neither offense stood a chance.
But Mississippi State and Auburn still look like the two best options in the West to hand Alabama a loss. Admittedly, both are longshots, but if Auburn, finally with a fully healthy backfield, can get it going tonight, they’ll prove they belong in the West discussion that, honestly, looks like a foregone conclusion.
If they can’t? Dan Mullen’s agent will be a very, very happy person.
5. Playoff implications
I’m keeping an eye on two games. SEC fans should too, especially if you live in Georgia.
Indiana at No. 4 Penn State: This isn’t about whether the Hoosiers can stun the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley. Nobody’s expecting that. But Penn State is ranked No. 4 largely on reputation and what it did the second half of last season. It very easily could have lost last week at Iowa, maybe should have.
Georgia is rising. Penn State won’t play a ranked non-conference team in the regular season. Right now, Ohio State and Michigan are the only two ranked teams it will face. It can’t just win games against teams like Indiana. It has to start beating them impressively.
No. 2 Clemson at No. 12 Virginia Tech: Night games in Blacksburg are an absolute spectacle. The crowd size can’t rival Death Valley, but the atmosphere certainly can. The Hokies don’t have the name brand, so this is an absolute prove it, must-win game to push them into the Playoff conversation.
Clemson, as defending champs and two-time championship game participant, probably could withstand a road loss against a ranked team. It overcame a one-point home loss to an unranked team last year.
No. 5 Southern Cal lost late Friday night; that’s one fewer obstacle in Georgia’s way. But a Clemson loss would push Georgia even closer to No. 4 in the AP Poll. And though the AP Poll and Playoff rankings are separate entities, they often mirror each other. The AP Poll and Playoff ranking agreed on at least three teams in all six weeks last year. Four weeks, it featured the same top four teams.
We’re still a month from the first Playoff ranking — Oct. 31 — but the jostling has begun.
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.
