Ad Disclosure
After Week 2 of conference slate, 3 SEC teams land in USA Today’s Misery Index
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
While Alabama, Florida and Georgia are off to hot starts this season, the same can’t be said for a few other teams. On Sunday, USA Today college football writer Dan Wolken placed a total of 3 SEC teams in his weekly Misery Index: Auburn, South Carolina and Texas A&M.
Wolken partially blames the Tigers’ front 5 for a pedestrian performance by Bo Nix after Auburn’s 27-6 loss at Georgia.
“Though it’s fair to wonder whether sophomore Bo Nix is really the guy to get Auburn back into SEC title contention down the road — he’s still kind of erratic and unsettled in the pocket — going 21-for-40 for 177 yards against Georgia was as much the product of an offensive line that got manhandled all night,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, the Gamecocks are searching for answers after a loss to Florida, dropping them to 0-2 on the season.
“Muschamp’s conservative coaching style and inability to hire a difference-making offensive coordinator have stalled the progress fans expected to see by now,” Wolken wrote. “The Gamecocks should beat Vanderbilt next week, but likely will be underdogs in the next four after that.”
Finally, the Aggies have looked unconvincing in their first 2 games, holding off a challenge from Vanderbilt before getting blown out at Alabama. According to Wolken, that’s not what Aggies fans signed up for.
“Fisher is getting paid $7.5 million a year to at least be a nuisance to the Alabamas of the league,” wrote Wolken. “Instead, as he gets into the meat of Year 3, there is far more on-field evidence that Texas A&M is plateauing rather than threatening the best teams in the league.”
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
