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Two blowouts, two lower-tier teams giving the big boys a run for their money, and potentially the SEC game of the year – Week 5 was all a southern football fan could want.
Here, we examine how the national media reacted to Saturday’s slate of games, starting with some opening lines.
Some early lines (@TwitVI):
Tennessee +6.5 at Texas A&M
Alabama -13 at Arkansas
Washington -8.5 at Oregon
Florida State +1.5 at Miami— Barrett Sallee ?? (@BarrettSallee) October 2, 2016
Florida-Vanderbilt
https://twitter.com/AroundTheSEC/status/782286200220557312
Calling Florida – Vanderbilt "sloppy" is an insult to slop
— Barrett Sallee ?? (@BarrettSallee) October 1, 2016
It would be safe to say that neither team is exactly thrilled about their performance in Nashville on Saturday. With Florida limping in to face Vanderbilt, mainly biding time for quarterback Luke Del Rio to get healthy, this one was ugly. We’ll spare Gator fans some grief and leave it at these two.
Tennessee-Georgia
Hail yes. ??? pic.twitter.com/ha6hOARBjZ
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) October 2, 2016
Where the Tennessee win stacks up on the probability meter pic.twitter.com/Z47deTazwT
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) October 2, 2016
After blowing a combined 41-point lead in 3 losses last year, Tennessee has wiped out a combined 62-point deficit in 4 of its wins this year
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) October 2, 2016
Tennessee's win probability was 0.2% before the Hail Mary
1st time a SEC team scored a game-winning TD as time expired since the "kick six" pic.twitter.com/ItKyHiNvrT
— ESPNU (@ESPNU) October 2, 2016
Tennessee has fight, and that matters a lot. Leaders hadn't been in that spot before as "the hunted," and they made it work.
— Barrett Sallee ?? (@BarrettSallee) October 2, 2016
Because Tennessee squibbed after the Travis Stephens TD in 2001 and the universe demands symmetry. https://t.co/acMgjiJVVK
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) October 2, 2016
Tennessee-Georgia was everything there is to love about college football. Tennessee needed all 3,600 seconds to secure the win, but football fans everywhere would’ve been fine if these two decided to keep on playing. Twitter was a mess following the epic finish, with even the most grizzled of sports journalists at a loss for words. As the dust settled, the college football populous was left with only questions and great memories.
Texas A&M-South Carolina
Texas A&M was 5-0 last 2 seasons, finished 8-5. Think Aggies are better. But possibility of A&M making googly eyes at Herman is not over.
— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) October 3, 2016
Texas A&M was asleep a little bit last night, but the Aggies still ran well and that's the most important thing.
— Barrett Sallee ?? (@BarrettSallee) October 2, 2016
HALF: A&M 7, South Carolina 7 pic.twitter.com/ks4qKR3Dwi
— TexAgs (@TexAgs) October 1, 2016
Video: Aggies saw 'em off after win at South Carolina, and watch little girl's face after Tripucka gives her wristband: pic.twitter.com/0CyrMj7K2A
— Brent Zwerneman (@BrentZwerneman) October 1, 2016
A&M's move to the SEC paying off: Aggies could be 5-0 hosting 5-0 Tennessee the same weekend as a juiceless OU-Texas in Dallas.
— David Ubben (@davidubben) September 25, 2016
Suddenly among the mightiest in the SEC, as well as all of college football, Texas A&M found itself in a dog fight with South Carolina on Saturday. After going into the half tied at 7, the Aggies slowly extended their lead and stopped an improbable upset by Will Muschamp’s Gamecocks. It was sloppy, but A&M pulled out the W to set up a top 10 matchup with Tennessee next week. The ground game has given A&M a new dimension this year, and with Trevor Knight at the helm, the sky’s the limit for the Aggies.
Mizzou-LSU
Finebaum asked EO if he should be HC next year "We have to win games, & if we do- I will have a fair shot of being the head coach here" #LSU
— TigerDroppings (@TigerDroppings) October 3, 2016
#LSU set a school record for its most yds in an SEC game, eclipsing the old mark of 626 yards with 634 & Orgeron gets the big gatorade bath.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) October 2, 2016
#Mizzou drives:
Punt
Punt
Punt
INT
Punt
Punt
Downs
Punt
Punt#LSU— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) October 2, 2016
https://twitter.com/GabeDeArmond/status/782758312202817537
https://twitter.com/GabeDeArmond/status/782758437683761152
Missouri came into this game with the No. 1 offense in the #SEC, averaging 570 yards per game. Tonight: 0 points. 161 total yards. #LSU D…
— Shea Dixon (@Sheadixon) October 2, 2016
LSU just steamrolled Mizzou, and it severely changed both teams’ expectations in the national eye. LSU, the downtrodden squad who took the field without Les Miles for the first time in 10 years, compiled more offensive yards than they ever had under him. Combine that with Mizzou quarterback Drew Lock meeting the buzzsaw of LSU’s defensive backs, and the northernmost Tigers had a rough go all around. As Gabe DeArmond notes, Mizzou’s season expectations may have been a bit too high to start, whereas LSU still has a lot to prove after compiling a 3-2 record through the first five.
Alabama-Kentucky
Alabama RB Joshua Jacobs is SEC Freshman of the Week after his 100-yard rushing game against Kentucky.
— Cecil Hurt (@CecilHurt) October 3, 2016
Alabama player arrested on Thursday morning, sacking Kentucky quarterbacks on Saturday. https://t.co/cSfZpBxYst
— Seth Emerson (@SethWEmerson) October 2, 2016
UK went up 3-0 at the start of this one, and Twitter erupted with snarkiness. After the Alabama offense found its footing, and the defense made big plays, it was yet another beatdown by Nick Saban and Alabama. For Kentucky, the hits keep coming. Quarterback Drew Barker remains out, and Alabama remains an awful team to work out the kinks against.
A former resident of both Baton Rouge and the heart of Crimson Tide country, Will Ogburn handles multimedia content and news coverage for Saturday Down South.
