There’s a lot to like in Week 5.
Six SEC games involve 2 Power Conference teams, 5 of which are in conference play. That’s the way we draw it up to close September.
What will be worth watching? That depends. You could be watching for Arkansas to not fumble late on a go-ahead drive for the 3rd consecutive week, or you could be watching if LSU‘s offense has Brian Kelly getting defensive at Ole Miss. In all likelihood, you’re watching Alabama travel for a game between the hedges for the first time in a decade.
Whatever the case, it’s a juicy slate with plenty to watch for:
No. 22 Notre Dame vs. Arkansas — This isn’t your older brother’s Notre Dame defense
What if I told you that through 3 games, Notre Dame allowed a minimum of 27 points and is No. 96 in yards/play allowed? Would you believe that Al Golden’s departure to the NFL might’ve been the most significant of any assistant this offseason? I would. Even Purdue put up 30 against the Irish. That leads me to believe that Arkansas, with the No. 15 scoring offense in the country, is going to be able to make plenty of plays. The question is if it can make those plays late, and if it can avoid the costly mistake that plagued each of the last 2 games.
The good news for Arkansas is that Notre Dame also shot itself in the foot late in the 2 close games it played. The bad news for Arkansas is that when your coach is 2-10 in 1-score games since the start of 2023, closing out games as a 6-point underdog feels like a task that’s next to impossible, especially with a defense that’s been just as ineffective as Notre Dame’s.
Utah State vs. No. 18 Vanderbilt — This could oddly turn into Vandy’s toughest 60-minute defensive task so far
Wait, didn’t Vanderbilt go into South Carolina to face LaNorris Sellers? Yes, but that was for less than a half because he left that game after Langston Patterson made contact with his head on a free rush. So yes, that’s why Utah State could pose more of a 60-minute threat than the likes of Virginia Tech, Georgia State, Luke Doty-led South Carolina and an FCS school. Utah State moved the ball somewhat well against Texas A&M in College Station. Former Utah quarterback Bryson Barnes has 14 touchdowns on the young season, 6 of which came with his legs.
This is a tricky spot for a 4-0 Vandy team that’s been lights out defensively under new DC Steve Gregory — being in the top 25 in scoring defense and yards/play allowed heading into the final weekend of September isn’t a coincidence — but is now in the unique position of trying to avoid a letdown ahead of the Alabama game. Still, though. Anything outside blowing a game as a 3-touchdown favorite and Vandy will be 5-0 with a monumental grudge match in Tuscaloosa. What a time to be alive.
No. 4 LSU vs. No. 13 Ole Miss — If you don’t know the name “Trinidad Chambliss,” now is your chance
The Division II transfer has been one of the biggest revelations of the young season after an ankle injury sidelined Austin Simmons. It’d now be nothing short of stunning if Lane Kiffin pivoted away from Chambliss in Week 5. Not after the way that he looked against a pair of respected defensive minds in Travis Williams and Jon Sumrall. He’s been completely in control with an offense that feels, dare I say, like 2021 Matt Corral and 2024 Jaxson Dart. That’s the gold standard for the Kiffin offense, and so far, Chambliss has been living up to it. Doing so against Blake Baker and that loaded LSU defense will be a different ballgame, though Chambliss will at least have the friendly confines of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Nobody has scored more than 10 points against the LSU defense this year, which already faced Cade Klubnik and DJ Lagway, both of whom have been disappointing. An over/under of 55.5 with Ole Miss entering the week as a slight 2.5-point favorite suggests that Chambliss and Co. will be the first to do that. Now feels like the first time that LSU could be tasked with winning more of a back-and-forth offensive game, though maybe not quite to the extent of the 2023 matchup wherein Ole Miss won a 55-49 shootout. Then again, should anybody be doubting Chambliss at this point?
Auburn vs. No. 9 Texas A&M — History isn’t on Auburn’s side
What do I mean?
- Texas A&M hasn’t lost to an unranked team at Kyle Field since 2022 when it was 5-7
- Mike Elko‘s lone home loss to an unranked team as a head coach came in Year 1 at Duke (Drake Maye had a go-ahead TD pass with 16 seconds left)
- Auburn has 8 consecutive losses vs. AP Top 25 teams in true road games
- Auburn has 14 consecutive losses vs. AP Top 10 teams in true road games (only 3 decided by 1 score)
Go figure that Auburn’s last win vs. an AP Top 10 team in a true road game was against … Hugh Freeze in 2014. Ironic? Perhaps. More relevant to Freeze’s bid to pull that off in 2025 and end the decade-long losing streak in those types of games will be whether his team plays desperate after an emotional loss at Oklahoma to start SEC play. Cashius Howell and the A&M pass rush can make Auburn’s offensive line feel like it’s Oklahoma all over again if it doesn’t find some answers. And while Marcel Reed’s downfield passing isn’t at the level of Auburn’s Week 1 opponent Sawyer Robertson, a passing game with the emerging Mario Craver and KC Concepcion can carve up any secondary in America. If this is going to be an Auburn team that stays in the Playoff picture, now is the time for it to shake off some troubling history and pick up a monumental win in College Station.
No. 15 Tennessee vs. Mississippi State — This can’t be an “8-10” reminder game for Josh Heupel
As in, let’s not forget that Heupel is just 8-10 in true road games at Tennessee. Against his former assistant, Jeff Lebby, Heupel now faces a tricky matchup in Starkville in what’ll be his team’s first true road game of the season. Does Joey Aguilar wilt with the sound of 50,000 cowbells (give or take a few thousand) rattling in his ears? Or can he continue cementing himself as one of the SEC’s top signal callers against an improved Mississippi State defense? That’ll be pivotal, as will the injury-depleted Tennessee secondary against a Mississippi State passing attack that’ll attack downfield with a healthy Blake Shapen, which it didn’t have in this game last year in Knoxville.
This might not necessarily be the type of game that serves as a preamble for a return trip to the Playoff, but it’s exactly the type of matchup that Heupel can’t afford to falter in with his troubling road history.
UMass vs. No. 20 Mizzou — Now is the perfect time for a light Ahmad Hardy day at the office
To be fair, Hardy did sit the final 25 minutes in the Week 3 blowout against Louisiana. He just already had 22 carries for 250 yards by that point. For the emerging Mizzou star, who has a commanding lead on the SEC rushing race after his 4th 100-yard game to start the season, now feels like a good time to get him an early exit. You’ve got the bye week coming up and then the anticipated showdown with Alabama in Week 7. Hardy is tied for 5th in FBS with 79 carries after 3 consecutive games with at least 22 backfield totes. It’s not even just the number of carries. It’s the type of contact that he takes on at his size. Through 4 weeks, Hardy has 458 yards after first contact. Nobody else in the FBS has more than 385 such yards.
Perhaps 10 first-half carries and a second half on the bench will be in store in what’ll likely be another lopsided Mizzou victory against UMass.
Kentucky vs. South Carolina — Shane Beamer’s culture should be what gets the Gamecocks through a matchup like this
Yes, that’s a reference to the well-documented, but denied, Mark Stoops dig at Shane Beamer on “climate vs. culture.” Beamer has 3-consecutive wins against Stoops, but more pressing for the South Carolina coach is avoiding his 3rd consecutive loss after climbing in the top 10. Under Beamer, the Gamecocks have had 1 losing streak of 3 games, and it happened in the middle of a frustrating 2023 season. So far, 2025 has been frustrating on a variety of levels, especially on offense. Sellers and the offense didn’t start the season off particularly fast, he got hurt in the midst of a rough offensive start against Vandy and then played well in his return from injury against Mizzou, but was let down by a woeful South Carolina rushing attack.
Kentucky has been seemingly everyone’s get-right game in the SEC the last couple seasons. Perhaps a visit from Stoops and Co. is exactly what the doctor ordered for the slipping Gamecocks.
No. 17 Alabama vs. No. 5 Georgia — That spread is only 3.5 points because of Alabama’s receivers vs. Georgia’s secondary
Georgia only being a 3.5-point favorite might feel bizarre given the history that’s working in its favor. The Dawgs haven’t lost a home game at night since 2009, while Alabama is 2-5 away from Tuscaloosa under Kalen DeBoer. One would assume based on those 2 things that this would be a much more lopsided spread, especially with how awful Alabama looked in its lone trip away from Tuscaloosa this season.
But while Georgia survived its lone road trip of the young season, we saw issues in that secondary. Those seem to be issues that can resurface against Alabama’s passing attack with Ty Simpson, especially if UGA doesn’t find some game-wrecking pass rushers. It’s not just Ryan Williams, who had an all-time performance in last year’s Alabama-Georgia game. It’s Germie Bernard, who might be Alabama’s most reliable player. It’s freshman Lotzeir Brooks, who has been an instant contributor out of the slot. It’s Miami transfer Isaiah Horton, who bounced back well after Florida State.
This is a tall defensive task for Kirby Smart, who will get plenty of reminders this week of his 1-6 record vs. Alabama. Of course, only 1 of those games came against DeBoer and none of them came in Athens. Saturday night’s showdown between the hedges will be a chance for Smart to show the world that he’s ready to shake the Alabama woes and keep Georgia firmly in the national title hunt.
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.
