Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

Seven games, all within the SEC, no byes. It’s a trio that we’ll only get one other time (Week 11) the rest of the season.

For today’s discussion, that means a lot. We learn more from a fully loaded conference slate than we do watching Auburn take on Mercer.

So here’s 1 thing I learned about every SEC team in Week 5:

Alabama — OC Tommy Rees is committed to a run-heavy approach, even in a favorable passing matchup.

Here’s all you need to know about that. Jalen Milroe’s second pass attempt happened 25 minutes into the game. Mind you, that was against a Mississippi State defense that ranked dead last among Power 5 teams with 9.6 yards/pass attempt allowed (min. 3 games vs. P5 teams). That’s how obvious it was that Alabama didn’t want Milroe throwing the football in a hostile atmosphere. At least not until that ground game was established.

Milroe finished the day with an extremely efficient 164 yards on 10-for-12 passing. That was more than enough to keep Mississippi State’s defense perplexed. Balance, there was not. Alabama ran the ball 43 times for 193 yards and 3 scores, 53 of which came on a Milroe touchdown run. This seems to be the obvious identity moving forward.

Arkansas — Rocket Sanders returned … and saw the same struggling offensive line

It was great to see Sanders return from the injury that knocked him out in Week 1. The All-SEC running back got off to a nice start with a 38-yard grab on a screen that looked like it got him going. But unfortunately, it’s hard to feel great about his presence with how much that Arkansas offensive line continues to struggle. Sanders finished the day with just 34 rushing yards on 11 carries, with a long rush on 9 yards. Game script didn’t favor Sanders with Arkansas trailing for the majority of the day. As great as Sanders is, there’s only so much he can do when the Hogs are playing from a deficit, or they’re behind schedule from sacks taken.

It’s hard to envision that grim reality changing anytime soon.

Auburn — Nobody is pushing around Auburn at Jordan-Hare anymore

After the way the past 2 years had gone, yes, I think it was fair to question that. Shoot, after the way last week went, it was fair to wonder if the Tigers were going to be pushed around. Of course, last week was away from the friendly confines of Jordan-Hare Stadium. Georgia got a reminder of why it’s on any short list of most intimidating atmospheres. The Dawgs were pushed to a 60-minute game. Why? Auburn held a 219-107 rushing advantage. That came against a Georgia defense that hadn’t allowed 200 rushing yards in a game since 2018 at LSU.

In a losing effort, Hugh Freeze’s squad showed that it was not going to be a doormat in the trenches. That was more of a question on the offensive line. As much as Freeze would love to have balance offensively, there are going to be Saturdays like that where being 1-dimensional is the best way to keep that crowd engaged. It helped that Payton Thorne took off for a 61-yard scamper on the second drive of the game. We shouldn’t expect that every week, but we should expect every team that comes into Jordan-Hare to get a 60-minute game.

Florida — The Gators reverted to the team we saw at Utah

The road version of Florida is many things. Sloppy, above all else, seems to be the theme. Sloppy tackling, sloppy blocking, sloppy penalties … everything looked sloppy. Just like we saw against Utah, Florida got down early and played like a team on its heels without an answer. We even had another bizarre special teams gaffe. This time, it was a “leaping over the shield” penalty that kept Florida’s defense on the field, which immediately resulted in a long Ray Davis touchdown. The Kentucky senior ran for an FBS-best 280 yards behind a scrutinized offensive line.

Florida got whipped in the trenches. A 329-69 rushing advantage told us that. It couldn’t keep Kentucky’s front out of the backfield — the Cats had 9 tackles for loss — and it couldn’t force that key takeaway of UK QB Devin Leary. Unlike the last time Florida visited Kentucky and left with a loss, you couldn’t even play the Dan Mullen card and point to a total yards advantage. Until further notice, don’t expect a particularly disciplined showing away from the friendly confines of The Swamp.

Georgia — Those run defense concerns were legit

I’m old enough to remember when the idea of playing a 1-dimensional offense against Georgia was the kiss of death. Against a UGA defense that entered Saturday ranked No. 49 in FBS in yards/rush allowed, that’s exactly what Auburn did. To Hugh Freeze’s credit, it was the right move. Auburn finished the day with 219 rushing yards, which was the most against Kirby Smart’s defense since 2018 at LSU. Georgia lost that game, and honestly never had much of a chance. It had a chance to overcome a double-digit deficit in part because Auburn didn’t have a passing game to complement that, and also because of Brock Bowers, who was in peak form.

Auburn was the first team willing to stick with the ground game against UGA. Mind you, South Carolina has the worst rushing attack in Power 5 while 2 Group of 5 teams and an FCS team were never going to have a game script favor that. It’s obvious that Kentucky, which just had Ray Davis rush for more yards in a game (280) than any FBS player this season, will test that next week in Athens.

Speaking of Davis …

Kentucky — Ray Davis owns Florida, and so does Mark Stoops now

He hit that century mark against the Gators in an upset victory for Vanderbilt last season. This season at Kentucky, Davis rewrote the record book. His 280 rushing yards were more than any FBS player this season. He was lights out. Whether it was dragging defenders into the end zone or making a cut and exploding at the second level, Florida didn’t have an answer for Davis. Shoot, even when Florida put 13 defenders on the field on the goal line, it still didn’t have an answer for Davis.

On a day in which the Kentucky passing game was a bit of a mess, Davis and the Big Blue Wall were on a different level. Davis tried to give the Cats’ scrutinized offensive line all the credit in the postgame interview with ESPN, claiming that he had nothing to do with that performance and it was all about those guys up front. Whatever the case, it was a monumental boost for an offensive line that’s had more “bad” than “good” the last season and a half. Let’s see if that can continue at Georgia next week.

LSU — This defense was indeed the thing preventing Brian Kelly from a Year 2 jump

We saw in the opener against Florida State that LSU’s back end was a major issue. Like, after an offseason in which Kelly admitted it was an area of concern. For the third time in 5 matchups, we saw a quarterback who could move the pocket absolutely torch LSU. Jaxson Dart finished with 389 passing yards on 10 yards per attempt, while Quinshon Judkins broke out for 177 rushing yards on 33 carries. LSU allowed 706 yards and it put up 49 points, yet it still didn’t have enough in the tank to hold on.

It’s too bad that an LSU defense loaded with front-7 talent has been such a disappointment. Yes, Harold Perkins was banged up in this one. That wasn’t the issue. The issue is that LSU, even with guys like Maason Smith and Mekhi Wingo, still lacked gap discipline and didn’t generate enough pressure on Dart, who didn’t get sacked. It feels like such a waste for that offense because Jayden Daniels has a special connection with Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas. LSU will still win plenty of games. But much like 2022 Tennessee, an inconsistent defense was too much to overcome.

Mississippi State — The passing TD drought vs. Alabama is over!

OK, so I realize that’s not the main takeaway from this game. Mississippi State’s defense again was trucked by a Power 5 offense, and there are real concerns about this group moving forward. I get that. And I also get that Will Rogers has struggled in the Kevin Barbay offense most of September. But Rogers did something that no Mississippi State quarterback had accomplished since Dak Prescott in 2014. That is, throw a touchdown pass against the Tide. Yep, it was that simple. For the first time in 9 years, the Bulldogs reached the end zone via a pass against Alabama.

But yeah, other than that, it was far from a historic night for a Mississippi State squad who is off to an 0-3 start in SEC play.

Mizzou — The most Mizzou loss ever was … avoided!

So here’s something. Saturday was Mizzou’s first win as an AP Top 25 team against Power 5 competition since 2014. That’s right. Here’s how those matchups played out:

  • 2015 at Kentucky: L, 21-13
  • 2018 Liberty Bowl vs. Oklahoma State: L, 38-33
  • 2019 at Vanderbilt: L, 21-14

By the way, those 3 teams that Mizzou lost to went a combined 6-19 in conference play in those respective seasons. That’s wild to me. Yes, Mizzou won 3 nonconference cupcakes as an AP Top 25 team in 2015. Beating a Power 5 team, even one that has struggled like Vandy, was still significant. Mizzou will go into October at 5-0 with an offense that looks very much in sync. Brady Cook broke the SEC record with his 326th consecutive pass without an interception, and once again, he was masterful. So was Luther Burden, who turned in yet another banner day with 140 yards and a couple of touchdowns. Next up? A home game against an LSU team that just let Ole Miss put up 55.

Ole Miss — Finally, a signature win for Lane Kiffin.

It wasn’t a clean game by any stretch — both teams missed countless tackles — but all that mattered was avoiding loss No. 2. The fact that a 55-point effort was the response after an embarrassing 10-point showing at Alabama probably made it that much sweeter for Kiffin. That was easily his best win at Ole Miss. No, it wasn’t beating Indiana in a bowl game after a COVID season. It was watching the home crowd rush the field after his offense put on a clinic. Quinshon Judkins delivered what was easily his best game of the year with 181 scrimmage yards and 2 scores, while Jaxson Dart threw for 389 yards and 4 touchdowns without an interception.

The stat I always bring up with Kiffin is that he hasn’t beaten a Power 5 team that went on to win 9 regular season games since 2011 when his USC squad knocked off Oregon. We don’t know if LSU is heading for a 10-2 or a 9-3 season, but still. That was different than beating No. 7 Kentucky last season. Taking down a team with legitimate preseason Playoff buzz to conceivably knock it out of that conversation was monumental.

South Carolina — Spencer Rattler doesn’t own the state of Tennessee

Hey, after last year’s brilliance against the Vols, you could’ve made the case that Rattler obtained ownership. After Saturday night’s revenge game, though, we can put that to bed. In Rattler’s defense, he didn’t have much of a chance behind that offensive line. He threw a pick-6 that looked more like the Rattler of old than the Rattler who was playing as well as any SEC starting quarterback. The efficiency wasn’t there. In addition to taking those 6 sacks, he had just 4.8 yards per attempt, and the nation’s leading receiver, Xavier Legette, was held to 50 yards.

After an unforgettable performance for Rattler a year ago, it was a night to forget. That’s the issue with this South Carolina team moving forward. Unless Rattler is playing at an elite level and the offensive line gives him a chance, it’s hard to envision them keeping their head above water in SEC play.

Tennessee — Bru McCoy’s injury was such a bummer on an otherwise excellent night on Rocky Top

It was hard for Tennessee to truly enjoy that win — wherein the Vols avenged last year’s stunning South Carolina loss emphatically — knowing how bad that looked for McCoy. Immediately, it looked bad. They carted him off the field and showed a visibly upset Joe Milton. Even South Carolina players looked visibly upset after the play was over. To make matters worse, they said on the SEC Network broadcast that his family traveled from California to be in attendance.

It was a devastating development for a player who’s meant a ton to that program since transferring from USC. It was McCoy who set up the game-winning field goal against Alabama last year, and he came into this year as a preseason All-SEC guy with big expectations after Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman left for the NFL. His toughness and leadership were heavily valued by Josh Heupel. Assuming he’s going to be out for a significant period, those attributes will be missed, especially for a passing game that’s been inconsistent so far.

Texas A&M — The Max Johnson-led A&M offense is __________.

“Still capable of keeping this thing rolling.”

Wait, what do I mean by “keep this thing rolling” when A&M was written off after Miami? I mean, keeping the offense rolling after the injury to Conner Weigman. We saw Johnson do that last week against Auburn, and in his first start of the season, the veteran southpaw did that again. Outside of a rough stretch to start the second half with a pick-6 and a fumble, he kept the offense rolling.

He delivered an absolute dime to Evan Stewart for the first touchdown of the day, and he picked up a career-high 57 rushing yards. That second part was huge because the thinking was that Weigman’s absence would significantly impact the ability to execute the quarterback run game. Instead, Bobby Petrino’s offense picked up 414 yards and did more than enough to keep Arkansas at an arm’s length.

That was the first time since 2014 Florida State that a Jimbo Fisher-led team had 5 consecutive games with 27 points in a season. And hey, that happened in the first 5 games with Petrino amid a quarterback injury. Not too shabby.

Now, can he keep it going next week against visiting Alabama?

Vanderbilt — That AJ Swann injury was serious enough to sideline him

With Swann nursing an elbow contusion — he was available to play — Ken Seals returned to the starting job. The former true freshman starter didn’t play at all last year as QB3 behind Swann and Mike Wright. But with Wright now at Mississippi State, Seals took over. Go figure that he scored the first rushing touchdown against that Mizzou defense this season. All things considered, he actually played pretty well. He had an interception, but he didn’t struggle with the turnover issues that had been an issue with Swann. Seals finished with 259 yards and 3 total touchdowns.

It’ll be interesting to see what Clark Lea does moving forward. He decided to start Swann early in the week. Would he bench a healthy Swann? Stay tuned.