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I don’t know how, but we’re already at the end of September.
Yeah, that’s how time works. I get that. It still freaks me out that we’re at Week 5 of the 2024 season. Before long, I’ll be writing “midseason awards” columns and whatnot.
For now, though, it’s just Week 5. It’s still September, meaning it’s still early.
Speaking of early, here are my early thoughts for each SEC game in Week 5:
Mississippi State vs. No. 1 Texas — Let’s see more Arch Manning
Manning shouldn’t start if Quinn Ewers is healthy. At all. Steve Sarkisian believes that, too. What would make sense is if Texas was extremely cautious with Ewers, who was the Heisman Trophy favorite before he suffered a strained oblique against UTSA. Against Mississippi State, Manning can get some “SEC” experience. I put that in air quotes because with all due respect to Mississippi State, getting trucked by Toledo in your own building didn’t exactly show that the Bulldogs are at that level in Year 0 of the Jeff Lebby era (I did mean Year 0). Even if Ewers is at 95%, it’d be nice to see Sarkisian be as conservative as possible with Ewers, who’ll get a bye week after Mississippi State ahead of the Red River Rivalry.
No. 21 Oklahoma vs. Auburn — The over/under for QBs getting meaningful snaps is 3.5
By the way, that’s “combined” for both teams. I’m not sure what to expect from either program, both of whom already benched quarterbacks that they brought to SEC Media Days. That’s telling. Jackson Arnold’s 3-turnover start against Tennessee prompted Brent Venables to turn to true freshman Michael Hawkins Jr., who looked 1-dimensional at first, but led a couple of late touchdown drives. The Oklahoma coach was non-committal afterward about what that meant moving forward. Hugh Freeze was a step below non-committal. Instead, he blasted the decision-making of his quarterbacks and vowed to fix it after Hank Brown’s 3-turnover start. Yikes. Prepare for just about any sort of quarterback combination to unfold for a pair of desperate teams.
Arkansas vs. No. 24 Texas A&M in Arlington — Can Sam Pittman all but guarantee a 2025 return with a win?
Some Arkansas fans are over the Pittman era and they’d like to see a change, regardless of how this season turns out. But for those of us who haven’t dismissed the notion that he’s the right person for that job, think about it. He went into Jordan-Hare and won by double digits and now, he has an opportunity to get his second win against A&M in Arlington. Mind you, he’s the only Arkansas coach who beat A&M since the Aggies joined the SEC. A 4-1 start would all but lock up a bowl berth with games vs. lifeless Mississippi State and 1-2 Louisiana Tech forthcoming. It’s pivotal because those 5 other remaining games on Arkansas’ schedule are all against top-13 teams. If Arkansas can win just one of those — Mizzou looks the most vulnerable of those 5 — then he could clinch a 7-win regular season that would likely force Hunter Yurachek to run it back with the Pittman/Bobby Petrino combination. Of course, that starts by taking care of an A&M team that’s been Arkansas’ boogeyman for the last decade-plus.
Kentucky vs. No. 6 Ole Miss — I love that Tre Harris-Maxwell Hairston matchup
If this isn’t a straight shadow situation, I’ll be surprised. Harris has been that good, and Hairston is a walking pick-6. He had his 3rd pick-6 of his career last weekend, albeit one in which he perfectly played zone coverage and baited the Ohio quarterback into making a poor choice. With Jaxson Dart, one would assume he won’t make mistakes like that. So far, targeting Harris has been about as reliable as any offensive plan in college football. On the heels of an 11-catch, 225-yard showing, he’s currently No. 2 in FBS and easily No. 1 in the SEC with 628 receiving yards. Harris lined up on the outside almost exclusively (93%) while Hairston played 81% of his snaps at wide CB. Kentucky’s only chance of playing a 60-minute game on the road includes turning Harris into a mortal.
South Alabama vs. No. 13 LSU — Um, have you seen what South Alabama’s offense has been doing?
Scoring 135 points in a 2-game stretch would be impressive against air. Sure, Northwestern State might be closer to that, but after that 87-point outburst (!) on short rest, the Jaguars went into Appalachian State and put up 48 points on Thursday night. So with extra rest, now Major Applewhite’s squad will go into Death Valley and try to put some pressure on Blake Baker’s defense, especially in the run game where LSU won’t have Harold Perkins, who is out for the season with a torn ACL. Southpaw signal-caller Gio Lopez can do some of the things that we saw South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers do to the Tigers. He’s patient, he doesn’t go down with arm tackles and if you don’t break down in space (a la Sage Ryan), he could be gone. This will be a legitimate test for LSU ahead of the bye week.
No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 4 Alabama — I can’t wait to see Jalen Milroe against this UGA defense (again)
A whole lot of people talked about the Alabama quarterback this offseason as if he didn’t play a huge role in handing Georgia its first loss in 2 years. Never mind the fact that Milroe finished higher in the Heisman Trophy voting than any returning player in the sport. The question was about his fit in the Kalen DeBoer offense. In a not-so-stunning development, so far, they have worked well together. Yes, the USF game had some slow moments, but Milroe isn’t just chucking it deep and DeBoer isn’t asking him to throw the ball 35 times a game.
Last year in the SEC Championship, Milroe’s legs helped put that game away. This year, with a defense that has yet to allow a touchdown through 3 games, how will Smart attack this version of Milroe? Jalon Walker has been everything UGA hoped Mykel Williams would be. That chess match will be among the best we’ll see all year. One would think Kalen DeBoer won’t ask Milroe to methodically pick apart the Georgia secondary, but attacking All-American Malaki Starks downfield doesn’t seem like a sound game plan, either. Whatever the plan is, 2 weeks for both of these coaches — DeBoer and Smart have a combined 31 consecutive wins with more than a week to prepare (H/T DawgNation) — should make for an epic clash in Tuscaloosa.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
