Kenny Football.  Sumlin to the NFL.  Wallace’s bad decision-making.  Mason played quarterback-roulette.  Mike Davis flopped.

Part of the problem of playing in college football’s opening game at 6 p.m. EST on a Thursday night is that you’re on the national stage.  And the reason that’s a problem is everyone has been waiting eight months to fire their hot takes on Twitter and message boards.

The next day, talk radio hosts and national pundits tell us how we shouldn’t be — no, we can’t be — prisoners of the moment. That it’s only one game and the biggest improvements happen between week one and week two.

But something happened last night.  It’s not overreaction.  It’s reality.

Thursday night, August 28, 2014 changed our perceptions of the SEC East and the SEC West.

Heading into last night, there was the perception that the West was still better than the East, but Alabama and Auburn, and maybe LSU,  were the three vying for the division title.  Ole Miss and Mississippi State were receiving a lot of hype as teams who could spoil the party and having magical seasons.

On the other side, the division was between South Carolina and Georgia.  The Gamecocks were the clear favorite, but with a week three win in Columbia, Georgia could battle if they stay healthy and the defense improves.  Florida was considered a dark horse with Vandy looking to build on the momentum James Franklin built as they began the Derek Mason era.  Missouri was getting no love, considered by most as a middle-of-the-pack team with Tennessee and Kentucky bringing up the rear of the East.

Then Texas A&M happened.

Kenny Hill and his cast of Aggie teammates rolled in to Columbia and put a beatdown on Steve Spurrier’s team.  It was the greatest role-reversal in years.  The departure of Johnny Manziel, Mike Evans and Jake Matthews would decimate the Aggies who had a historically bad defense in 2013.  They Aggies were fortunate to be in the top 25.  No way could they go to Williams-Brice Stadium with a first-time starting quarterback and beat the Gamecocks in front of 80,000-plus rabid fans.

Not only did they beat South Carolina, but it wasn’t even close.  Kenny Hill broke records, yes.  But as impressive as his individual performance was, A&M’s team performance was equally as staggering.  12 different receivers caught a pass.  The offensive line manhandled the Gamecocks’ front.  Offensive coordinator Jake Spavital called a brilliant game.

And what happened to the boys in garnet and black?  I don’t know that I can recall a team looking more outmatched and unprepared in a season-opener than Carolina did.  Nothing seemed to go right with their gameplan, and it seemed early it was going to be a long night for the home team.

Then Ole Miss was underwhelming.  Then Vandy fell flat on their illegally-worn uniforms.

The SEC West looks very different heading into Saturday’s slate of games.  A&M is all of a sudden a contender, having leapfrogged both Mississippi schools and LSU.  With Lamar, Rice, SMU and Arkansas coming up in the next four weeks, the Aggies will very likely go to Mississippi State on Oct. 4 at 5-0 and a top 10 ranking.

With all of the preseason love as a darling team and the team that would execute the biggest upset of the college football season by beating Alabama in early October, Ole Miss throughly under impressed.  Bo Wallace was erratic, inaccurate and the offense wanted to do whatever they wanted.  They committed seven false start penalties in a half-empty stadium that could not have been very loud.  The defense was the saving grace of the Rebels against Boise State.

All of a sudden, they look like the fifth-best team in the West, at best.  Again, it’s only week one, but your eyes never lie and we did not see an Ole Miss team that can contend in the West last night.

And in Nashville, after a weather delay, Vanderbilt waited until almost 11 p.m. EST to kick off and have nothing go right in their disappointing loss to Temple.  Mason could not decide on which quarterback he wanted to play, the offense turned the ball over seven times (seven!) and you wondered how we could be watching the Vanderbilt of old after consecutive nine win seasons.

Tennessee fans can breathe easy because you’d beat the Commodore squad we saw last night.  Heck, Kentucky would beat them.  But now, the East looks firmly in Georgia’s grasp with South Carolina on the ropes after one game and Florida still an unknown with a new offensive system.  Missouri now has to feel good about their chances to repeat and get back to Atlanta.  Suffice it to say, the division is wide open and I can promise you, the Gamecocks’ performance caught the eye of every other head coach in the East.

I don’t know about you, but after Thursday night, I can’t wait for Saturday.  You can book this, though: there are many more surprises to come.