Well friends, we reached the halfway point of the 2025 college football regular season this past Saturday, and the Week 7 slate of games that got us there certainly did not disappoint. Not just in the SEC, but all across the country, we were treated to matchups with postseason implications, down-to-the-wire doozies, and results that will drastically alter the trajectory of multiple programs.
I know this is supposed to be an SEC-only column, but if you don’t mind, in good faith I feel like I can’t skip over 2 of the most important developments of the weekend, both of which occurred in the Big Ten.
Let’s make like Degeneration X and break it down!
Biggest Winner of the Weekend (Non-SEC Edition): Curt Cignetti and the Indiana HoosiersÂ
So this is a thing now, huh? Indiana is just awesome at football and we’re supposed to accept that? I’ll be honest, it all felt pretty funky to me going into the season. I expected Indiana to backslide this year, not necessarily back to the basement of the Big Ten, but at least into the middle of the pack. But then the Hoosiers dismantled Illinois a few weeks back, handled business against everyone else, and by the time we got to their mid-afternoon kickoff in Eugene, I had almost talked myself into Indiana being a live dog on the road.
But Oregon has been the picture of consistency since Dan Lanning arrived, and even prior, the Ducks’ track record of defending their home field as well as anyone in the country. Was it really going to be the Hoosiers who came into Autzen and outclassed Oregon?
It turns out, it was going to be the Hoosiers, because there was nothing fluky about that win. And as if it weren’t clear already, we no longer need to Google Curt Cignetti’s name to realize he is one of the absolute best head coaches in the business. I never thought I’d see the day that the Indiana Hoosiers were a year-over-year legitimate threat to win the Big Ten title, but Cignetti made good on the promise he made when he was hired, and now, that’s exactly where we are.
Biggest Loser of the Weekend (Non-SEC Edition): James FranklinÂ
I would say it’s too soon to make any James Franklin or Penn State jokes, but then I asked my cousin — a Penn State fan — how he was feeling about Franklin being fired, and this was his response: Very happy!! He couldn’t ever win the big game bro.
Evidently, it wasn’t just the big games that Franklin couldn’t win, because matchups with UCLA and Northwestern definitely don’t qualify as big games. But after dropping back to back games as 20+ point favorites, this was the time for Penn State to make the change.
Overreaction of the Week: John Mateer Shouldn’t Have Played in the Red River Rivalry!Â
I think there actually might be 2 different crowds here yelling that John Mateer shouldn’t have taken the field for the Red River Rivalry on Saturday just 17 days after having hand surgery. I’ll address both of them, because in each instance, they’re overreacting to this.
First, to the crowd that is saying John Mateer shouldn’t have pushed to play on Saturday… what do you expect him to do? Mateer might be at Oklahoma for just one single season, and you’d expect him to sit out what might be his one and only opportunity to play in the Red River Rivalry? If you have a competitive bone in your body — even if that bone is the bone in John Mateer’s right hand that was surgically repaired only 17 days ahead of Oklahoma vs. Texas — you’re able to put yourself in his shoes and understand why he’d push to play.
Second, to the crowd saying that Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners staff shouldn’t have made the decision to play John Mateer on Saturday… was trusting Michael Hawkins Jr. really the better option? Are we sure he could’ve done any better against a rock-solid Texas Longhorns defense? Frankly, I don’t think so, and yes, I say that with conviction even after Mateer threw 3 interceptions in what was certainly his worst game of the season. There’s a reason Mateer arrived in Norman with a nearly $3 million NIL price tag. He gives the Sooners the best chance to win games like this one, even if he’s only 17 days removed from hand surgery.
Also, I’d like to thank ABC for reminding us throughout the game that Mateer had surgery 17 days earlier. I think it might’ve slipped my mind if that graphic wasn’t popping up on the screen once every 7 minutes.
Biggest Winner of the Weekend: Steve Sarkisian and the Texas LonghornsÂ
I don’t want to suggest that Steve Sarkisian would’ve gotten the James Franklin treatment if Texas didn’t walk out of Red River with a win, but things would’ve been looking awfully bleak for the head coach of the preseason’s top-ranked team if it dropped one to its most bitter rival and fell to 3-3 on the season. Fortunately, the Longhorns’ defense feasted on John Mateer — who had surgery on a broken right hand just 17 days prior to Saturday’s game — and Arch Manning and the Texas offense was able to muster just enough to put the game out of reach.
Biggest Loser of the Weekend: South Carolina GamecocksÂ
The Gamecocks hung tough at LSU on Saturday night, but I’ll be honest, that was a game that had I pegged South Carolina to win before the season began. Since that’s the case, I’ll bunch myself in with the South Carolina Gamecocks here, because I spent the summer and the early weeks of the season suggesting that the Gamecocks were not just a sleeper to win the SEC title, but the national championship as well. Turns out, I got just a little carried away with the LaNorris Sellers, Dylan Stewart, Beamer Ball hype, ignoring that there are multiple teams in the SEC that are just better than South Carolina.
SEC Player of the Year Ballot
With apologies to Marcel Reed, Mario Craver, Kewan Lacy, Chris Brazzell II, Gunner Stockton, Taylen Green and John Mateer (who played on Saturday despite having hand surgery just 17 days earlier), the top 5 on my SEC Player of the Year ballot remains mostly the same as last week, with just a minor switch being made in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots.
1. Ty Simpson (QB, Alabama)Â — 1,678 passing yards, 16 passing touchdowns, 1 interception, 70.9% completion, 2 rushing touchdowns
2. Trinidad Chambliss (QB, Ole Miss)Â — 1,286 passing yards, 7 passing touchdowns, 1 interception, 65.4% completion, 281 rushing yards, 3 rushing touchdowns
3. Ahmad Hardy (RB, Missouri)Â — 115 attempts, 782 rushing yards, 9 rushing touchdowns
4. Diego Pavia (QB, Vanderbilt)Â — 1,409 passing yards, 14 passing touchdowns, 4 interceptions, 71.4% completion, 352 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns
5. Joey Aguilar (QB, Tennessee)Â — 1,680 passing yards, 14 passing touchdowns, 5 interceptions, 64.8% completion, 117 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns
SEC Power Poll of the WeekÂ
1. Alabama
2. Ole Miss
3. Texas A&M
4. Georgia
5. LSU
6. Texas
7. Oklahoma
8. Tennessee
9. Vanderbilt
10. MissouriÂ
One Big Question Heading Into Week 8: Will we continue to be reminded of how many days it’s been since John Mateer had hand surgery, or was that a 1-week-only deal?Â
The Year is 2042. John Mateer hasn’t played a snap for the Oklahoma Sooners in 17 years, and he’s since retired from the NFL. As Oklahoma and Texas get set to kick off the 138th edition of the Red River Rivalry, a graphic appears on the screen: 6,226 days since John Mateer’s hand surgery.
Another Big Question Heading Into Week 8: Is Ole Miss ready to go into Athens and secure their biggest win in the Lane Kiffin era?Â
Thank goodness Ole Miss survived that trap game against Washington State on Saturday afternoon, because now we’re set up for our sixth top-10 matchup of the season this weekend in Athens, when Lane Kiffin and the Rebels take on Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs, winners of 2 games in a row after getting upset by Alabama (in Athens) a few weeks back.
The Rebels did upset 2nd-ranked Georgia late in the season last year, but that game was in Oxford. The year prior, when Ole Miss visited Georgia, the Bulldogs cruised to a 52-17 win. Consider this the rubber match if you’d like, and perhaps, it could also be considered the most consequential game of the season just yet in the SEC.
