For one week, at least, South Carolina is at the pinnacle of the SEC.

Don’t guffaw. Just look at the Gamecocks’ conference record: 1-0. Thanks to a decisive 31-13 victory at Missouri on Saturday, Will Muschamp’s team can look down at the rest of the SEC East until next Saturday, when other teams in the division, including Florida, Tennessee and Kentucky — which South Carolina will host — jump into conference play.

Of course, the “pinnacle of the SEC” comment is a bit tongue in cheek. It would be foolish to pick South Carolina over Alabama right now. The same probably goes for LSU and Georgia. But aside from that trio, is there really an SEC team you could make a case is demonstrably better than the Gamecocks through the first two weeks of the season?

South Carolina flew under the radar last week, as Alabama’s victory over Florida State and Florida’s ongoing offensive woes took center stage. Yet South Carolina picked up a better-than-it-sounds-or-looks-on-paper win over North Carolina State in Charlotte. The Wolfpack had been a popular dark-horse pick to win the ACC this year — and possibly do more than that. But the Gamecocks, in a tight game, proved to be the better team, departing Bank of America Stadium with a 35-28 victory.

And dismiss Saturday’s victory at Missouri at your own peril.

While the Tigers’ defense is laughably bad, their offense was dynamic last season and certainly should continue to be difficult for many opponents to contain the remainder of this fall. But the Gamecocks had no problems holding quarterback Drew Lock and the rest of the offense in check.

One week after the Tigers gained 815 yards — the second-most by any SEC team in a single game — they barely got to half that total Saturday, finishing with 423 yards. Lock was similarly lacking compared to the previous week, when he set single-game school records for passing yards (521), total yards (515) and touchdown passes (7). Saturday, he didn’t even complete half his passes, going 14-for-32 for 245 yards and throwing more interceptions (2) than touchdowns (1).

On the other side, South Carolina sophomore quarterback Jake Bentley keeps chugging along. He had a solid outing, completing 18 of his 28 attempts for 187 yards and a touchdown — and importantly, no interceptions.

And the Gamecocks showed resilience.

After trailing 10-0 in the second quarter, they quickly erased the deficit thanks to Deebo Samuel. He took a kickoff back 97 yards, and soon thereafter scored on a jet sweep following a Lock interception.

So are the Gamecocks perfect? No.

But they are certainly a solid team, with a young quarterback who continues to improve, a dynamic playmaker in Samuel and a schedule that appears far more manageable than it did at the outset of the season.

Take a look.

Next week they host a Kentucky team that struggled to put away in-state FCS foe Eastern Kentucky. Then comes Louisiana Tech, a team Mississippi State just whipped 57-21. After that is the sinking ship that is the S.S. Sumlin, also known as Texas A&M. Then it’s on to Arkansas, which collapsed against TCU on Saturday and allowed two touchdowns in the final two minutes of a 28-7 loss at home. South Carolina travels to Tennessee on Oct. 14 — and who knows Butch Jones’ status by then, especially if his ledger includes two more losses to Florida and Georgia? The Gamecocks have a bye during the week of Oct. 21 before closing out the month with a home game against Vanderbilt.

Look back up at that preceding paragraph again. Read over it a few times.

Is there a single game where you would definitively say the Gamecocks have no chance?

Don’t be surprised, then, if South Carolina enters its game at Georgia — Muschamp’s first visit to Sanford Stadium as an opposing coach — with an 8-0 record.

So the Gamecocks might remain at the pinnacle of the SEC East a bit longer than initially imagined.

Now let’s take a look at what else is going on around the SEC East:

Florida

The Gators were scheduled for a non-conference game against Northern Colorado on Saturday, but it was cancelled Thursday as the state braced for the impact of Hurricane Irma. The game won’t be rescheduled since the teams do not share a common open date.

Georgia

Rodrigo Blankenship’s wait is finally over. Friday, the sophomore kicker was awarded a scholarship, and then he went out and rewarded the Bulldogs with another game-winning kick Saturday against Notre Dame.

And the massive crowd Georgia took to South Bend, Indiana, Saturday became a storyline unto itself.

Kentucky

Once again, Kentucky had to work hard to beat Eastern Kentucky. Two years ago, the Wildcats had to rally for an overtime victory. Saturday, they trailed 13-3 in the second quarter before eventually righting the ship and winning 27-16.

Stephen Johnson got the start at quarterback, but Drew Barker saw action, too. Afterward, coach Mark Stoops explained he always planned to get Barker in the game on the third offensive possession.

And according to running back Benny Snell, Stoops has turned over a new leaf with his attitude, now more upbeat instead of being “all angry like he used to be.”

Missouri

Two games into Missouri’s season, the reviews are in. And they’re not positive.

Columnists from both the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The Kansas City Star believe the Tigers are showing no visible signs of progress in Year 2 of the Barry Odom era.

South Carolina

After scoring on a kick return for the second straight week, Deebo Samuel now has a path carved out to the athletics director job, writes David Cloninger of The Post & Courier.

And The State looks at how the Gamecocks’ offense can start to develop consistency going forward.

Tennessee

More than a dozen Florida natives who play for Tennessee had their home state on their minds during Saturday’s 42-7 win over Indiana State, writes Wes Rucker of Tennessee’s 247Sports site.

And Phil Kaplan, the deputy sports director of USA Today-Tennessee, was on trash can duty Saturday. But the viral meme it has become (more on that below) remained empty, as the Volunteers didn’t force a single turnover. 

Vanderbilt

With its 42-0 blanking of Alabama A&M on Saturday, Vanderbilt had its first shutout victory since 2012. Adam Sparks, the Commodores’ beat writer for the Tennessean, gave his take on the five things he learned about the team in the win.

Sparks also handed out “bests and worsts” from the game.

Tweet of the week

So about Tennessee’s trash can …

Saturday Down South’s Dan Harralson had a good story on its history earlier this week. To summarize, the trash can has been around since last season as a way for players forcing turnovers to celebrate on the sideline by “dunking” the football into the receptacle. So Monday’s game against Georgia Tech was merely its coming-out party as a meme.

Thankfully, Luke Slabaugh of WBIR-TV in Knoxville gave it the proper treatment Wednesday, featured in the tweet below.

Quote of the week

This might the easiest one we have all season.

After Saturday’s loss to South Carolina, Missouri coach Barry Odom disclosed running back Damarea Crockett exited the game with a bruised tailbone.

He then added, “I had one too. It’s called an ass-kicking.”

If there’s one thing I love, it’s candidness from coaches.