It’s Week 2 and the SEC has come under fire for being overrated. Indeed there were many teams and many units that performed below SEC expectations. However, there were also things that went well. Here’s the SEC’s “hot and not” for the second week of the season:
HOT
- Georgia’s Nick Chubb. The Bulldogs running back accounted for 189 yards over 19 carries, with his longest run at 68 yards. Chubb is a machine, and is a reliable force on offense regardless of which quarterback hands it off to him. Here’s hoping that Georgia utilizes Chubb even more than they have.
- LSU’s Leonard Fournette. No warm-up game needed for Fournette to perform at a top level. He rushed for 159 yards over 28 carries and notched 3 touchdowns. Fournette was not only in on every LSU drive, but often started every drive with a run. When you factor in the fact that he was running against Mississippi State, his production is just that much more impressive.
- Florida’s Jim McElwain. The Gators head coach was hot this weekend for multiple reasons. He was heated in the sense that he was extremely angry at running back Kelvin Taylor. His tirade at Taylor then became hot on social media as the video spread. Finally, his reaction was greeted with general approval from those who saw his blow-up as an attempt to instill in his players not just great football but great character.
NOT
- Auburn, offense and defense. Jeremy Johnson added two more to his interception count on Saturday, and continued to show that he has issues with decision-making and confidence. Will Muschamp’s defense didn’t help, giving up 438 total yards and looking underprepared.
- Arkansas’s defense. The Razorbacks struggled to defend against Toledo’s passing attack, allowing Rockets quarterback Phillip Ely to complete multiple long passes. Over and over, Toledo penetrated Arkansas territory with little difficulty. While this squad looked good in preseason camp, it’s now obvious Bielema has a lot of work to do with his defense.
- South Carolina’s defense. Because the Gamecocks offense is currently in upheaval due to a change in starting quarterbacks, they won’t be included in the “not” list. However, we have included a defense which allowed Kentucky to run against it at will. UK racked up 307 yards of offense in the first half alone, averaging 6.2 yards per carry. And it wasn’t from lack of defenders in the area that Kentucky was able to successfully move the ball on the ground. For most of Kentucky’s runs, eight South Carolina defenders were within 7 yards of the line of scrimmage. Something is broken in South Carolina, and unless it gets fixed, the Gamecocks’ season will start to slip away from them.
Christine Wang is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. She covers Auburn, Arkansas and Ole Miss.
