It’s Week 4 of the college football season and this one is a big one. We could get the chance to see Notre Dame get embarrassed by the SEC on national TV again, or maybe see Tennessee and Florida stir up their usual chaos in Gainesville, or even crazier, see Arkansas’ defense get a stop.
Let’s dive into the action and see how each of the SEC fan bases are feeling heading into Week 4.
Alabama
Only Alabama could put 47 points in an SEC road game and the overwhelming feeling is “What’s wrong with the run game?” But you can guarantee Alabama fans would gladly trade fewer rushing yards for 5 receivers who can turn a simple slant route into an 80-yard touchdown with one cut.
Arkansas
How about that offense right? I mean, 55 points against Colorado State, including 24 in the 1st quarter is about as good as you can ask for. Oh sorry, what was that? Did you ask how the defense played? Next question, please.
Auburn
Who is this Auburn team? They’ve come out of the gates strong, they don’t mess around vs. lesser opponents and seem to have a stable and consistent offense … it’s almost like Gus isn’t their coach anymore. But we’ll find out for sure on Saturday when they play Texas A&M.
Florida
Pour one out for Feleipe. It’s awful to see him go out like that, but the silver lining is now the Trask era is officially upon us. We get to see the Gators once again unleash another brash, brazen and unpredictable QB on the SEC. What happens from here is a total mystery, except for the Tennessee game this Saturday. Judging from recent UF quarterback performances, he’ll have his career best game.
Georgia
Finally, Georgia gets a chance to prove itself this Saturday. And judging by the state of the rest of the SEC East, it might be one of their only times. Will we see 1st half vs. Alabama Fromm or 2nd half vs. Alabama Fromm? The chance for Georgia to make a big statement is high, but so is the chance of embarrassment.
Kentucky
Well, the good news is at least coming off a crushing loss to Florida isn’t exactly a new position for UK to be in. Kentucky has a lot to build off as it heads into another tough conference matchup at Mississippi State this weekend. Who knows, maybe building another losing streak against Florida is just the kind of motivation this team needs.
LSU
Some days, there is nothing better than having the eyes of the college football world tuned in to your game and making a statement win on national television. Other days, you’re glad no one was watching. Last week was one of those for LSU. But the bottom line is the Tigers are 3-0 heading into their SEC opener this Saturday and Vanderbilt should offer them a nice road test and hopefully an even nicer visitor’s locker room. Worst case, it’s still a weekend in Nashville.
Mississippi State
Bad news: The Bulldogs lost a game they probably should have won and now enter their SEC schedule on a down note. Good news: You’ll get to relive that Garrett Shrader flying spin highlight for the rest of the season, if not the rest of your life.
Is that good news? Who knows, but it’ll probably be as good as get gets for Mississippi State this season the way things looked in Week 3.
Missouri
It was an up and down opening 3 weeks for Mizzou, but the simple fact that the Tigers haven’t lost their starting quarterback for the year and they’re not Tennessee puts them ahead of most in the SEC East right now. The Gamecocks will be a great test.
Ole Miss
Ole Miss also really hopes you didn’t watch their game last week as they struggled to fend off an FCS team. And they probably don’t want you to watch this week when they play No. 21 Cal. But if you look at the standings, you’ll see there’s only 1 team with a 1-0 record in SEC West play, and they happen to play in Oxford, Mississippi. Oh, the joys of playing Arkansas.
South Carolina
Ryan Hilinski had the best 24-point loss any freshman quarterback could ever ask for. Carolina fans are all in, and the Hilinski era seems destined for great things. The only thing that could slow him down is if, say for instance, he had a head coach with a long history of not developing quarterbacks and running offenses into the ground.
Texas A&M
The Aggies whooped up on Lamar and now they’ve got a big showdown with Auburn. Sure, Auburn looks to be turning a corner this year and come in ranked in the top 10, but they won’t even be in the top 2 teams named “Tigers” A&M will play this year. Aggies got this.
Tennessee
Officially not the worst team in Tennessee, so no more jokes. Now all they have to do is play in Gainesville as the Gators are trying to break in a new quarterback, what could possibly go wrong?
Vanderbilt
The Commodores had a week to think about what they did against Purdue, and now have to regroup against LSU. Vandy fans will probably enjoy their Saturday much more if they just decide to watch Tennessee lose instead.
Houston lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football for Saturday Down South. You can follow him on twitter @hbarber17 or reach out at hbarber17@gmail.com
