SEC! SEC! SEC!
The greatest conference in college sports rolled to a 16-0 record in Week 1, sending B1G>SEC zealots scurrying for their phones to tweet through the pain.
I get it. If you spent all summer assuring your readers that the age of SEC dominance was over, it’s better to double down and yell about weak schedules than acknowledge the possibility you might be wrong after the SEC does something no league has done since 1997. Sure, there’s the ugly little mess of Michigan needing 60 minutes and 1 second to beat Western Michigan in the Big House, but if we complain that Georgia played Tennessee State maybe no one will notice?
When you go 16-0, you avoid painful Week 1 discussions about whether you can pay the electric bill or Mike Norvell’s buyout. Yes, cloudier days are coming. LSU and the SEC are still duking it out in court, after all, and at some point, Alex Golesh might be punished for deciding to bring the entire South Florida offense to the Plains just to see what happens if it played a Power 4 schedule. But for now? Plenty of churchgoing southern folk left services this weekend feeling like the good Lord in heaven personally smiled on their teams. From the Swamp to the endless Texas sky in Brazos County and Austin, the feel-good warm summer breezes, big lies and smilin’ cheeses of talking season last at least one more week.
“The List” feels good about Week 1, too. The top player on the list, Trinidad Chambliss, looked every bit the best quarterback in America in guiding Ole Miss past a testy Louisville, making the types of anticipation throws only a handful of humans on the planet can make.
Jadan Baugh met the bell for “List” stars in Week 1, too, running around and over the Florida Atlantic defense to the tune of 160 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Florida Gators scored 66 points, which I’m told might be more than they accumulated in at least 2 seasons of the Napier era.
“List” stars don’t need to make Week 1 statements to summit the most prestigious list in college football by season’s end. This is a list about production, not preseason hype.
But it sure doesn’t hurt. Playing well enough to earn honorable mention? That’s a Week 2 reward, giving us a full “List” for the first time this season. As always, honorable mentions are limited to 2 per school and if I didn’t include your favorite player, it’s because they need to play better or I don’t know anything about football or I hate your team. You decide. I just leave you on “Read.”
Honorable Mentions (Limit 2 per school): Alabama: Zabien Brown, CB, Bray Hubbard, S. Arkansas: Kavion Broussard, OT; Chris Marshall, WR. Auburn: Xavier Atkins, LB; Elijah Melendez, LB. Florida: Vernell Brown III, WR; Dijon Johnson, CB. Georgia: Jaden Reddell, TE; Ellis Robinson IV, CB. Kentucky: Jordan Castell, S; Coleton Price, C. LSU: Winston Watkins Jr., WR; Whit Weeks, LB. Mississippi State: Anthony Evans III, WR; Kamario Taylor, QB. Missouri: Jeremiah Beasley, LB; Donovan Olugbode, WR. Oklahoma: Isaiah Sategna III, WR/Returner; David Stone, DT. Ole Miss: Terez Davis, OT; Kewan Lacy, RB. South Carolina: Nyck Harbor, WR; Dylan Stewart, Edge. Tennessee: Xavier Gilliam, DE; Mike Matthews, WR. Texas: Cam Coleman, WR; Arch Manning, QB. Texas A&M: Tyree Adams, OT; Mario Craver, WR/Return. Vanderblit: Sedrick Alexander, RB; Bryan Longwell, LB.
10. Eric Winters, Safety (Auburn)
Winters earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors with 11 tackles, including 2 tackles for loss, in Auburn‘s 17-16 Alex Golesh era opening-week win over Baylor. No tackle was bigger than his final one, which stopped a potential game-winning Baylor 2-point conversion.
Winters also forced a fumble in the first quarter, setting the tone for an outstanding defensive performance that won the game on a day the Tigers’ offense struggled to move the football consistently.
9. Sam Leavitt, QB (LSU)
Lane Kiffin‘s new quarterback answered some questions against a Clemson defense that has plenty of talent even if the gig is up for Dabo Swinney’s program as one of the nation’s elite. Leavitt shook off a slow start to to accumulate 343 yards of offense (230 passing, 113 rushing) and 3 touchdowns (2 rushing, 1 passing) in LSU’s impressive 41-point mauling of Clemson. The Tigers will have many more difficult tests than Clemson, and questions will linger about whether Lane Kiffin can use Leavitt as a Tebow-like battering ram in short yardage all season. But the answers we received in game one weren’t just promising: they were “List” worthy.
8. Nate Frazier, RB (Georgia)
Four touches. Three touchdowns. I’m not sure the Georgia running back will have an ROI like that again this season, but when you open your season by scoring on 75% of your carries and averaging 18 yards per touch in the process, you meet every possible criterion for “List” inclusion. The Dawgs are loaded, with an embarrassment of riches at tight end in particular, but the sun around which this offense will orbit is Gunner Stockton and Frazier, and I think that’s a formula that is well-suited for success under Mike Bobo.
7. Yhonzae Pierre, Edge (Alabama)
How do you end up on the “List” after 1 week? One way would be to grade out as the best edge rusher in college football(95.4 per PFF) while also registering a sack and a tackle for loss. Another way would be to take a Mitch Griffis pass to the house for a pick 6.
Or you could be Alabama star Yhonzae Pierre and do both in just 21 snaps. Elite!
6. Deuce Alexander, WR (Ole Miss)
Alexander put on a show in the Music City on Sunday night, totaling 159 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns in his first start at Ole Miss. On the edge of breaking out in 2025, Alexander quickly showed he’ll be Trinidad Chambliss’s main man in 2026, showcasing his speed on a 62-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter. Alexander might not post half his team’s receiving yards every week. But his explosiveness will keep safeties honest against the run game and make Ole Miss one of the toughest defenses to defend boundary to boundary and vertically in the entire country.
5. Colin Simmons, Edge (Texas)
The Longhorns star played just 31 snaps in a feel good 59-7 Texas rout of Texas State. Still, the All-American made his presence felt, collecting 3 pressures and 2 quarterback hurries to accompany 2 tackles. Simmons did miss a tackle in the run game, which gives him something to clean up, but as usual, he commanded double teams and stressed the opposing offense as one of the few players in college football you must find on every snap. A national showcase game against Ohio State awaits.
4. Jordan Seaton, OT (LSU)
The Tigers accumulated 644 total yards in Seaton’s first start, averaging an impressive 5.3 yards per carry on 58 rushing attempts. Seaton did not commit a penalty or allow a pressure, leading the way for the LSU offensive line and a Tigers offense that had just 2 negative-yardage plays all evening. The junior will continue to decorate awards lists, and early returns suggest the hype is justified, as the Tigers managed 300 rushing yards and 300 passing yards in the same game for just the 6th time in school history.
3. Princewill Umanmielen, DE (LSU)
Umanmielen was a force of nature for LSU in its season-opening rout of Clemson, posting 6 tackles, 4 pressures and 2 sacks to lead a LSU defense that didn’t surrender 100 yards of offense until the fourth quarter.
One thing I love about Umanmielen is that he actively asks to play special teams, too — and he trotted out with the special teams group for 5 snaps in Saturday night’s rout. A team player who commands double teams and is poised to be the latest Umanmielen to dominate for a Lane Kiffin football team.
2. Jadan Baugh, RB (Florida)
Baugh says his favorite running back growing up was Le’Veon Bell, an absolute bowling ball with deceptive speed who rushed for nearly 7,000 yards in an All-Pro NFL career. Few of us get to be like our heroes, but Baugh, a Bell clone if there ever was one, is likely going to be the first running back selected in the 2027 NFL Draft because he’s a bear to tackle and, oh by the way, he can juke you out of your shoes, too. Baugh rushed for 160 yards on just 14 carries in Florida’s season-opening statement made 66-21 win over a solid Florida Atlantic team. Baugh picked up 140 of his yards after contact, averaging almost 9 yards after contact per attempt, per PFF. Florida’s success rate on Baugh runs? A preposterous 86%.
1. Trinidad Chambliss, QB (Ole Miss)
The Ole Miss All-American did it all on Sunday night, producing 396 yards of total offense and 4 touchdowns (3 passing, 1 rushing) to help the Rebels escape Nashville with a win over No. 24 Louisville. Late in the game, Chambliss showed the leadership and competitive zeal that willed Ole Miss to the College Football Playoff semifinals a season ago, even flashing a grin when Louisville tied the game up but left just enough time for Chambliss to put the Rebels in position to win the game on a clutch Lucas Carneiro kick. If Chambliss isn’t the best player in the country, he’s certainly one of a handful in the conversation.
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Neil Blackmon covers SEC football and basketball for SaturdayDownSouth.com. An attorney, he is also a member of the Football and Basketball Writers Associations of America. He also coaches basketball.
