Burning questions from around the SEC after Week 5
Well, I guess we’ve all heard the last of all that crazy talk about Alabama no longer being Alabama.
The Crimson Tide put an emphatic stop to such blasphemy with their 38-10 drubbing of Georgia on Saturday and again stamped their name into any conversations about the College Football Playoff.
That game was among the many defining ones in what was a wild weekend throughout the SEC. Here are some burning questions now from around the league.
1. Alabama: Are the Crimson Tide really as good as they looked in hammering the Dawgs? Yes, but especially when quarterback Jake Coker plays like he did. The Florida State transfer was feeling it, completing 11 of 16 passes for 190 yards and a touchdown in the steady rain to pave the way for a potent Alabama ground game.
2. Arkansas: How did the Razorbacks finally snap a three-game losing skid? By returning to power football. Both Alex Collins (27 carries for 154 yards, two TDs) and Rawleigh Williams III (14-100) each went for at least 100 yards to help the Hogs control the football for more than 22 minutes in the second half alone.
3. Auburn: Has coach Gus Malzahn cured some of the Tigers’ many offensive woes? Saturday’s 35-21 win over San Jose State is hardly a true barometer, but the results from that game have to be somewhat encouraging to Tigers fans. Running back Peyton Barber totaled five touchdowns and rushed for at least 100 yards for the fourth time this season as Auburn snapped a two-game losing skid. A more accurate gauge of the Tigers’ improved offensive skills comes Oct. 15 at Kentucky.
4. Florida: Are the Gators suddenly the best team in the SEC East? They looked like it on Saturday night, dominating third-ranked Ole Miss in every facet to cruise to an easy 38-10 win at The Swamp and improve to 5-0. Everybody knew that first-year coach Jim McElwain had inherited a great defense, but the Florida offense was equally as impressive behind redshirt freshman quarterback Will Grier, who completed 24 of 29 passes for 271 yards and four touchdowns without an interception.
5. Georgia: Who will the Bulldogs start at quarterback when they play at Tennessee this week? The guess is that it will be Greyson Lambert, but only because backup Brice Ramsey was considerably worse in the 38-10 loss to Alabama on Saturday. It will be interesting to see how offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer calls the game in Knoxville after the miserable play of his quarterbacks last weekend. You can bet the Volunteers will play likewise defensively and dare Georgia’s quarterbacks to beat them through the air.
6. Kentucky: Did the Wildcats take a step back after requiring overtime to beat Football Championship Subdivision foe Eastern Kentucky on Saturday just a week after upsetting then-No. 25 Missouri? No, because these were the kind of games the Wildcats lost in years past. It wasn’t pretty, but coach Mark Stoops’ team overcame a 14-point hole for a 34-27 win. Quarterback Patrick Towles passed for 329 yards and three touchdowns, including one in the final minute of regulation and in overtime to lead the rally. You can bet that Stoops will have his team’s attention this week as they prepare to host Auburn on Oct. 15.
7. LSU: Would you consider Tigers running back Leonard Fournette the Heisman Trophy frontrunner as of now? It’s hard not to after watching the sophomore become the first person in SEC history to rush for more than 200 yards for the third consecutive game. Fournette totaled 233 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries to pace No. 9 LSU past Eastern Michigan, 44-22, on Saturday night.
8. Ole Miss: Were the Rebels overrated? Perhaps, but they were definitely exposed in Saturday’s 38-10 loss to Florida as a finesse team that has trouble protecting quarterback Chad Kelly against a physical defensive front. The Gators grounded a high-flying Ole Miss offense that entered the game averaging nearly 55 points per game by sacking Kelly four times and forcing him into two fumbles and an interception.
9. Mississippi State: Does quarterback Dak Prescott have enough weapons around him for the Bulldogs to contend? Mississippi State lost a lot of good players from last year’s team and replacing them hasn’t been easy. Prescott not only passed for 210 yards in Saturday’s 30-17 loss at Texas A&M, but he also paced his team in rushing with 96 yards. No other Bulldogs player totaled more than 52 on the ground. Prescott desperately needs help.
10. Missouri: Will true freshman Drew Lock remain the starting quarterback after leading the Tigers to a 24-10 win over South Carolina? Lock played admirably, completing 21 of 28 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns in place of the suspended Maty Mauk, but the guess is they will continue to share duties at least for a while longer. Mizzou hosts surging Florida this week and having a veteran quarterback against a tenacious Gators defense is probably a good idea.
11. South Carolina: Will the Head Ball Coach stick with true freshman quarterback Lorenzo Nunez? Most likely, if not for any other reason than the fact that coach Steve Spurrier doesn’t have any better options. Nunez endured a disastrous day in the loss at Missouri, throwing three interceptions in his second career start for the Gamecocks. It doesn’t get any easier this week with LSU coming to Columbia.
12. Tennessee: Can Volunteers coach Butch Jones survive after his team blew another two-touchdown lead in Saturday’s 24-20 loss to Arkansas and lost for the third time in four games? The hot seat is getting even hotter in Knoxville as a season that began with so much promise is quickly unraveling. It’s not helping the embattled Jones that Georgia and Alabama are the Vols’ next two opponents.
13. Texas A&M: Could the Aggies be in the mix to win the SEC West and reach the College Football Playoff? That’s most definitely a possibility after Saturday’s 30-17 win over Mississippi State. Quarterback Kyle Allen passed for 322 yards and two touchdowns and a stingy defense did the rest as Texas A&M improved to 5-0. The Aggies have a week off before hosting Alabama in a key SEC West showdown on Oct. 17.
14. Vanderbilt: Do the Commodores need to get the ball to running back Ralph Webb more? Yes, because doing so would not only alleviate the pressure off struggling quarterback Johnny McCrary, but it would also help improve Vanderbilt’s red zone deficiencies that have cost the team this year. Webb rushed for 155 yards and the game-winning touchdown on 25 carries to fuel his team’s rally from a 10-point deficit in Saturday 17-13 win over Middle Tennessee State.