Hello there, November. You got here faster than usual.
Week 10 arrived at a record pace, and with it came plenty of storylines to watch.
Could Texas keep its Playoff hopes alive against a confident Vanderbilt squad? Could Josh Heupel lead Tennessee to a Playoff elimination game victory against his alma mater? Would Georgia avoid a letdown against a nothing-to-lose Florida squad? Who would help their Heisman Trophy cases in the SEC?
All of those questions were answered in Week 10. Here were the biggest SEC takeaways from Saturday:
Brent Venables just picked up his biggest win as a head coach
If Venables lasts a decade in Norman, remember that night in Knoxville. Against Heupel, he got revenge. Better yet, he did so in a place where Tennessee had defeated every non-Georgia team since the start of the 2022 season.
How did it happen, you ask? Well, that’s a bit tougher to explain. Takeaways were monumental early, which had been an issue for the Oklahoma defense. They turned Joey Aguilar into the version of himself that led the nation in interceptions last year. That also included losing R Mason Thomas on a scoop-and-score on a strip sack, which was why OU led at halftime even though Tennessee had mostly dominated the first half. And while the Sooners had some inexplicable time management issues late — I still can’t explain the decision to have John Mateer throw a sidearm laser with 4 minutes left in a 9-point game — all that mattered was getting out of Neyland alive. Or rather, with Playoff hopes alive.
That was a Playoff elimination game in every sense. Had Venables lost that, it not only would’ve been another defeat at the hands of Heupel, but it also would’ve knocked the Sooners out of that discussion after a 5-0 start. Maybe that’ll still happen in 2 weeks at Alabama. That didn’t matter. What did matter was that Venables won a true road game vs. an AP Top 25 team for the first time in his career. It helped that we saw close to a pre-injury version of Mateer.
This felt like a fork-in-the-road game for Venables. Lose this with an offense that’s stuck in the mud, and everyone is wondering about his future instead of the Playoff. He doesn’t have to live in that reality. Instead, OU exceeded the 27-point mark in SEC play for the first time since joining the conference thanks to 3 takeaways and the leg of Tate Sandell, who made 4 field goals, 3 of which were from 50-plus.
It wasn’t pretty, but Oklahoma was seeking a statement. Venables got that on Rocky Top.
Tennessee has nobody to blame but itself for ruining its Playoff path
Yuck. Dumb. Woof.
Pick your favorite word, or just slam your head into the wall. All are fair reactions to that Playoff-ruining performance. We knew that Tennessee’s defense was a walking missed tackle. What we didn’t know was that the Vols would suffer awful turnovers … and then have a pass go off a freshman tight end’s head on 4th down in a 9-point game. Yeah, it was that kind of night for Tennessee. Heupel didn’t get the last laugh on his alma mater this time.
Aguilar picked the wrong time to turn into a pumpkin, and the Vols had extremely atypical struggles in the ground game. With a defense that had little margin for error, that wasn’t a winning combination. It was a combination that led to the Vols’ first home loss to a non-Georgia team since Lane Kiffin returned to Knoxville back in 2021.
Just like that, Tennessee’s Playoff dreams are gone. A team that had 1 loss and the nation’s No. 1 offense at the midway point of the season now has 3 losses and an offense that’s been regressing against better defenses. That’s a problem. It’s a problem for a Tennessee team that’ll still travel to Florida, where it’ll face plenty of reminders that it hasn’t won in that building in 22 years. Playing spoiler to a potential Playoff bid for Vandy might end up being the only real bragging rights that the Vols are in line for in 2025.
Georgia is terrifying in such a different way than previous years
In a different era, I think some would assume the sky is falling for Georgia only beating a 3-win Florida team by 4 points after rallying for a go-ahead score late. Perhaps some still have that takeaway, but watching the Dawgs seize yet another key second-half moment en route to victory felt significant. In a sport that’s now defined by winning close games to get to the Playoff, Georgia is a scary sight.
Five of 6 times in SEC play, UGA went into the break without a lead. That’s not something you say about a team that improved to 5-1 in SEC play. It’s impossible to ignore. Georgia might’ve gotten the benefit of a favorable ruling on that long J. Michael Sturdivant play late, but this isn’t a team that’s surviving on luck. Gunner Stockton makes big-time throws when needed, the ground game steps up late, the defensive line gets push in the second half, etc.
What’s clear is that Georgia is comfortable playing in tight games, and perhaps unlike last year when that felt a bit unnerving, Kirby Smart always seems like he’s in control. That’s a comforting feeling for Georgia amid a nail-biting slate so far.
Does it mean that Georgia can overcome a second-half deficit against anyone? No, but there’ll be plenty of Playoff teams who’ll have minimal experience in that setting. UGA won’t be one of them.
That’s all we need to see from the Hugh Freeze era
We’ve seen enough here. Contrary to what Freeze said yet again after another devastating home loss, Auburn is not close. It’s 1-5 in SEC play for the 3rd consecutive year, and even worse, his team failed to score a touchdown against a Kentucky defense that got hit for 56 points at home last weekend. Neither Ashton Daniels nor Jackson Arnold were the answer, which feels fitting.
Actually, as Cole Cubelic said on the broadcast, the the most Auburn play of 2025 was Keldric Faulk forcing an interception late, only to have Kentucky strip the defensive play-carrier to regain possession and a new set of downs. One step forward, 2 steps back. That’s been the Freeze story.
Call that the perfect encapsulation of the Freeze era, which appears over after allowing Kentucky to beat its first Power Conference foe in over a year. The “fire Hugh Freeze” chants took over at Jordan-Hare Stadium, where Freeze lost to an SEC team for the 7th time in his last 8 games. The Tigers are now 2-10 vs. Power Conference competition at Jordan-Hare during the Freeze era. That was his first time since the 2019 season opener at Liberty that Freeze watched his team fail to score a touchdown (he was infamously in the hospital bed atop the stadium).
This is done. Add Auburn to the list of programs who’ll be making a hire in the 2025 cycle. Soon, the Tigers will have their 4th coach of the 2020s. The only question remains who that’ll be.
Just when you think Texas played a complete game … that ending happens
Everything that happened in the first 55 minutes suggested that Texas finally played its first complete game of the season. To be fair, it looked like Texas was about to take a 41-16 lead with 4:13 left in the 4th quarter against No. 9 Vandy. Being that dominant against a top-10 team is no small feat, especially this late in the season. What happened after that, you ask? This sequence:
- Overturned Texas TD call (with a missed defensive pass interference)
- Missed Texas FG
- Busted coverage on a 67-yard Vandy TD
- 2-point conversion for Vandy that didn’t appear to break the plane live or on replay
- 4-play, 49-second Texas drive that ended with a punt
- 89-yard Vandy touchdown drive to make it 34-31
- Vandy onside kick attempt that wasn’t recovered, but trickled out of bounds
Wild. Truly wild.
Had Texas lost that game for its 3rd defeat of the season, Steve Sarkisian would’ve never heard the end of it. Instead, the preseason No. 1 team in America won a game in which it mostly dominated until that bizarre final 4 minutes. That’s the good news. You knew it was going to be a good day for the Longhorns when Arch Manning’s swing pass to Ryan Wingo went for 75 yards on the opening play. Manning, who was in concussion protocol during the week, picked up where he left off from his comeback at Mississippi State.
The Texas defense had some busts in coverage that proved costly, but it still sacked Diego Pavia 6 times, which nearly matched his total (7) in the first 8 games. The Longhorns had a great game plan against Tim Beck’s window dressing in the Vandy offense, but that was far from a perfect showing.
Will Sarkisian take that? You bet. He beat his second AP Top 10 team this season, and he’ll go into Week 11 with just 1 SEC loss and Playoff hopes very much alive. Are his team’s inconsistent ways still maddening? After that sloppy finish, yes, that’s fair.
Don’t write off Vandy’s Playoff chances, but Diego Pavia’s Heisman Trophy path hit a roadblock
That aforementioned chaotic finish should’ve served as a reminder that you simply shouldn’t write off Vandy. Like, the 7-2 team who has 3 wins vs. top-15 teams and 2 losses on the road at Alabama and Texas. Quality losses don’t change opinions, but ask yourself this. Does Vandy’s path to 10-2 seem impossible?
- vs. Auburn
- vs. Kentucky
- at Tennessee
Yes, that Tennessee game looms. Still, though. If you had told anybody that Vandy’s path to the Playoff would be this with 3 games to play, it would’ve been seen as a stunner. This team keeps fighting. Pavia is healthier than he was late last season, and Beck is still an elite schemer who managed to get massive throwing windows for his quarterback against a Texas defense that looked like it had things figured out. That’s a silver lining of that too little, too late comeback.
What does feel all but over is Pavia’s path to the Heisman. He came into the day at No. 5 in the Heisman odds (via BetMGM). In theory, a 408-yard, 4-touchdown performance isn’t supposed to halt the Heisman path. The issue for Pavia is that Vandy’s path to the SEC Championship Game is all but over, and he’s got 24 total touchdowns with 3 games to play.
Could Pavia still get to New York? Absolutely. A Playoff-bound Vandy could absolutely yield that. But winning the award when you’re idle during conference championship weekend and likely shy of 40 total touchdowns would make that all but impossible, especially when Ty Simpson outplayed Pavia in the head-to-head.
Pavia is having a historic season, but just maybe one that won’t quite have him joining the Heisman fraternity.
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.
