There, that was better. Most of the SEC’s teams expected to roll in Week 2 did that and more. Meanwhile, LSU continued to look impressive and Tennessee, well, didn’t. But we’re here to recap it all for you. We hand out grades to each SEC squad, then single out the best of offense, defense, and special teams for the honor roll — and the worst for detention. Ring the bell, school’s in.

West

LSU: A

Who would have believed the difference that a passing guru and an outstanding QB would make — 471 passing yards against No. 9 Texas would’ve certainly seemed optimistic, but it happened. Giving up 530 total yards and 38 points wasn’t the best defensive work we’ve seen, but this is a game that LSU would’ve lost over the past five seasons. Not this year.

Alabama: A-

We can’t give the Tide an A, because they played a horrid New Mexico State team and despite winning by 52, didn’t cover the point spread. This game tells us pretty much nothing about Alabama. The Crimson Tide are really good and the opposition wasn’t.

Mississippi: A-

This was a taking care of business game for the Rebels, who were offensively balanced (246 yards passing, 237 rushing) and didn’t allow an offensive touchdown to Arkansas until the final minute and a half of the game. It was Arkansas, so take it with something of a grain of salt, but it was still rock-solid.

Mississippi State: B+

The game was never in doubt. The biggest story here was a minor injury to Kylin Hill and Tommy Stevens getting knocked out in the second quarter. The defense gave up some plays in the second half, but this was a solid effort. Now Bulldogs fans just need to hope everybody is something near healthy.

Texas A&M: B-

A two score loss wasn’t shocking, but A&M’s offense … well, the Aggies drive chart read: Punt, punt, field goal, fumble, punt, punt, punt, punt, interception, touchdown with seconds left in the game. The defense was fine, but the offense? Well, maybe we should just credit Clemson’s D.

Auburn: C+

The Tigers won by 18 points, and managed to look completely uninspired doing so. The drive to beat Oregon was impressive, but after two games, Bo Nix is completing 47% of his passes. Jatarvious Whitlow fumbled three times, and Auburn had a bad case of sleepwalking.

Arkansas: D

If there was a positive to this loss, it has to be the excellent work by quarterback Nick Starkel against a Rebel defense that was admittedly playing something close to “prevent” defense. Starkel should be the man in Week 3, and maybe settling that will help the Razorbacks.

East

Missouri: A

If Barry Odom had drawn up a recipe for Week 2, this is what it would have looked like. Hold West Virginia under 200 yards? Check. Move the ball both passing (150 yards) and rushing (232)? Check. Win easily? Yep. Ten penalties for 100 yards is a little troubling.

South Carolina: A-

This would be an A had South Carolina unloaded like this on a better team, but FCS Charleston Southern never had a chance. Carolina put up 775 yards, including 493 rushing, in quarterback Ryan Hilinksi’s first start. Carolina was just 4 for 7 on third downs, mostly because the team didn’t get into third-down situations.

Florida: A-

Much like South Carolina, this was impressive and fairly meaningless. Florida dominated UT-Martin of the FCS, outgaining the opposition 543-194. The Gators passed (312 yards) and ran (231 yards) at will, and pitched a shutout defensively. They also won’t play a team this bad the rest of the season.

Georgia: B+

The Bulldogs offense continued to roll, even with Jake Fromm (11 passes), D’Andre Swift (six carries), and the other stars getting plenty of rest. The defense? Allowing 50- and 60-yard pass plays to FCS Murray State is a little disconcerting. Murray State’s Preston Rice was 20-of-25 for 216 yards and a score.

Kentucky: B+

After scoring touchdowns on their second and third possessions of the game, the Wildcats never led by less than 14 points. They got nickel and dimed for 337 passing yards, but the Wildcats were in control throughout. The apparent loss of QB Terry Wilson was troubling, but for this game, backup Sawyer Smith was fine to finish it out.

Vanderbilt: C-

The big-play passing game showed up, as Vandy threw for 420 yards, many coming well after the game was decided. That said, they gave up 509 passing yards to Purdue. Neither team could run the ball, but Purdue didn’t need to. Beleaguered is a good word for this Vandy defense.

Tennessee: F

The Vols outgained BYU by 79 yards, outrushed the Cougars  242-107 and had the game all but won. Then UT allowed a 64-yard pass in the final seconds to set up overtime, where the Vols lost. Either of these first two losses would have been bad. Both? Unthinkable.

Honor Roll

Offense

LSU

Three 100-yard receivers? And 471 yards passing? Again a top-10 team? Color us impressed.

South Carolina

Yes, it was an FCS opponent, but anytime a team rushes for 493 yards, it earns some credit.

Mississippi

Plenty of big offensive numbers, but the Rebels did it in conference play, with Matt Corral (246 yards passing) and Scottie Phillips (143 yards rushing) both looking like standouts. What a difference a week can make.

Defense

Missouri

A week after looking lost against Wyoming, the Tigers took care of business. West Virginia isn’t very good, but holding the Mountaineers under a yard per carry and intercepting three passes was a solid day’s work. A pick six is an added bonus.

Texas A&M

Holding Clemson to 24 points and 389 yards is worth mentioning. No, they weren’t a threat to win the game, but the Aggies defense handled Clemson about as well as the Tigers can be handled.

Florida

The Gators played horrible competition, but shutouts matter. Five sacks, 10 tackles for loss, under 200 total yards allowed. Good work for the Gator D.

Special Teams

Tennessee

The loss wasn’t the special teams’ fault. Brett Cimaglia was 4-for-4 on field goals, including a 51-yarder and one in the second overtime to give UT a final lead it couldn’t hold. Punter Joe Doyle was solid, and so were the coverage teams.

LSU

In a one-score game, each of Cade York’s three made field goals was pivotal.

Alabama

A week after I joked about them not missing any kicks against Duke when they successfully converted their PATs (and missed two field goals), they actually didn’t miss any kicks. Will Reichard hit a 49-yard field goal.

Detention

Offense

Arkansas

The final numbers looked a little better, but the Hogs took about 58½ minutes to reach the end zone on offense against Mississippi. That won’t get it done.

Auburn

The Tigers had 379 yards, 20 first downs. But this offense was just dozy, losing the turnover battle, struggling to hit 50% passing, and ending up with a fairly meager 3.8 yards per carry against Tulane.

Texas A&M

Yes, it was Clemson. But Kellen Mond was harassed from play one, the vaunted power running game ended up just under 2 yards per carry, and it took a last second touchdown to avoid a 24-3 loss.

Defense

Tennessee

With the game in hand, the defense needed to not give up any 40+ yard passes in the game’s final 18 seconds. The Vols promptly gave up a 64-yard pass, and then couldn’t get a stop in overtime.

Vanderbilt

Purdue is good at throwing the ball. But Vanderbilt didn’t do much to slow down a Boilermakers offense that piled up 509 passing yards and 42 points. Derek Mason has to have more from the defense.

Arkansas

An Ole Miss team that scored 10 points on Memphis had its way with the Hogs, passing for 10.3 yards per attempt and rushing for 237 yards. Arkansas needed to hold the Rebels under 31 points to have a chance. The Razorbacks didn’t do it, and they didn’t have a chance.

Special Teams

South Carolina

The first missed extra point of the season in the SEC goes to the Gamecocks.

Mississippi State

The Bulldogs did not get much from their return teams (24 yards on two punt returns, 11 yards on two kickoffs). Good punting from Tucker Day, though.

Missouri

A shanked punt by Tucker McCann was a rare down mark in Mizzou’s day.