Week 7 of the SEC football season was as exciting as any we’ve seen this year, but now we look forward to another tantalizing slate of games this weekend. The SEC cross-divisional games continue in Week 8 as the SEC East hopes to prove it can at least win one game against the SEC West.
Here is the biggest storyline for each SEC team heading into Week 8.
Alabama – The Crimson Tide may have won last Saturday, but optimistic isn’t exactly what I would describe as the current mood in Tuscaloosa. For Alabama, surprisingly the biggest issue has been mental mistakes. Whether it’s special teams mishaps or stupid penalties, they actually look human this season and head coach Nick Saban seems to have been in a constant state of frustration for about a month now. Pundits are beginning to scream Alabama is overrated, and perhaps they are, but they’ll get a chance to prove everyone wrong against Texas A&M this weekend.
Arkansas – When are the Hogs finally going to win a SEC game?! That’s the question everyone is asking up in Fayetteville this week after Arkansas let yet another fourth quarter lead slip away against an SEC opponent. As improved as the Razorbacks have looked this season, they’ve yet to win an SEC game, but you get the sense it’s coming soon for them. Arkansas plays Georgia this weekend in Little Rock, Ark., a game I’m sure has Georgia fans more than nervous about.
Auburn – Two weeks ago, Auburn was considered the best team in the nation, but a hard-fought loss on the road to the current No. 1 ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs changed that somewhat. While they may not be as highly ranked anymore, Auburn continues to play like one of the most complete teams in the nation. A tragic start for the Tigers ruined their chances of winning last weekend’s game, but they fought back and had two separate instances where they were trailing by only eight points. In the end, Dak Prescott was simply too much. Auburn’s off again this week, but the Tigers are still one of the top teams in the country moving forward.
Florida – The Gators gave away a big SEC win late in the fourth quarter to LSU, thanks to some crucial drops by their wide receivers, and of course, a Jeff Driskel interception. While the loss stings, Florida’s goal of reaching the SEC Championship game is still very much attainable, however, the margin for error significantly decreases. Florida fans are clamoring for Treon Harris to start now that he’s been fully reinstated, but Will Muschamp said Driskel will start this weekend against Missouri and Harris will also play. All eyes will be on the Gators’ quarterback position Saturday to see if Harris can outplay the fourth-year signal caller.
Georgia – Mental toughness. That’s what Georgia exemplified the most on Saturday against Missouri. Coming off a distracting, tumultuous week, Georgia was able the shut out Missouri 34-0, even in the wake of Todd Gurley’s indefinite suspension. The Bulldogs don’t have much to celebrate, however, with a tricky road game against Arkansas this weekend. After his best game as a ‘Dawg, true freshman running back Nick Chubb will look to replicate last week’s success. He’ll be the focal point of the offense and he may even get some help as Keith Marshall could return from injury as soon as this week.
Kentucky – Don’t look now, but the Kentucky Wildcats are 5-1 for just the eighth time in school history. More importantly, UK is 2-1 in conference play. They’ll have a tough matchup on the road against LSU with a home matchup versus the No. 1 ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs following next week. While this team is much improved, we’ll get a much greater and more accurate sense of where this team stands in the SEC picture following these next two game. Are the Cats for real?
LSU – Flailing behind shaky quarterback play, talks of LSU possibly not even making a bowl game this year emerged following a blowout loss to Auburn two weeks ago. A big win in The Swamp changed that outlook, despite LSU having one of the toughest ending stretches to its schedule in college football. Leonard Fournette earned his first start last week and had the best game of his collegiate career – 27 carries, 140 yards and two touchdowns. Fournette and LSU’s other young talent have certainly turned a corner, so maybe this Tigers team isn’t as down this sseason as many people believed.
Mississippi State – No one, and I mean no one, is playing better football right now than the Mississippi State Bulldogs. A double-digit win over Auburn last week gave Dan Mullen’s team its third-straight win over a top-10 ranked team and vaulted them to a No. 1 ranking. In fact, it’s the fastest a preseason unranked team has risen to the No. 1 spot in the polls. Mississippi State is off this week, but they’ve certainly earned it.
Missouri – Once thought of as an SEC East frontrunner, the Missouri Tigers looked like anything but that against Georgia over the weekend. They were completely dismantled in a 34-0 loss and couldn’t get any rhythm going on either side of the football. Missouri’s last three games – a loss to Indiana, a one-point win over South Carolina and a blowout loss to UGA – indicate that perhaps this Tigers football team isn’t really very good. But it seems as soon as that becomes the talk in Columbia, Missouri turns things around for at least a week or two. We’ll find out more about this team this weekend as we see whether good Missouri or bad Missouri shows up to The Swamp to face the Gators.
Ole Miss – If Mississippi State is playing the best football of any team in the country, then Ole Miss isn’t far behind. The Rebels marched into Kyle Field and silenced a college football record 110,663 people in attendance. They did it on both sides of the football, too. Whether it was a methodical drive led by quarterback Bo Wallace or a game-changing pick-six by the leader of the Rebels’ secondary, Cody Prewitt, Ole Miss did everything well last Saturday. Tennessee comes into town this weekend, but the Vols shouldn’t provide too much of a challenge. Like their Magnolia State counterparts, Ole Miss is playing like one of the top teams in the country.
South Carolina – After a disappointing first half, South Carolina got a much-needed bye week to recuperate. Now, the Gamecocks face Furman this week in what should amount to a simple tune-up game for them before taking on the second-half of their schedule. South Carolina has a number of things to work on, so the Furman matchup comes at the perfect time.
Tennessee – The Vols weren’t handed any favors this weekend with a road game in Oxford, Miss., to face No. 3 ranked Ole Miss. While it’s a very tough matchup, this would certainly be a game Tennessee could hang its hat on if they were able to pull off the upset. Butch Jones and the Vols haven’t been able to put it all together on the field yet, but the talent is there. The Rebels are good, but there is no reason why this couldn’t be the week for the Vols to finally get that big win they’ve so desperately wanted.
Texas A&M – The Aggies have gone from nearly cracking the top-five to almost being out of the rankings in two weeks. Simply put, it looks like this team isn’t as good as originally thought and the only two big wins for them this season have come against an overrated South Carolina team and Arkansas at a neutral-site. They’ll travel to Alabama to take on the Crimson Tide, a place where they upset Nick Saban’s team in 2012 behind Johnny Manziel. They have the offensive scheme to beat Alabama this weekend, but with their young players, it’s unclear if the Aggies have the resolve to bounce back after two straight losses.
Vanderbilt – Oh, Vanderbilt. The Commodores squeaked out a one-point win against Charleston Southern last week. They won, but it was still embarrassing. They have four SEC games remaining and a home game against Old Dominion. Normally, I would have expected Vanderbilt to go 1-4 in that stretch, but there’s no reason not to believe they could go winless. This team is a mess right now.
Drew Laing will be providing analysis and insight on Florida, Georgia, Missouri and South Carolina.
