The college football season is a long, drawn out process. In four months time, contenders can become pretenders, teams can make complete turnarounds, more Heisman Trophy candidates can emerge and much more. My point being is that week one’s results are not always indicative of how the rest of the season will play out. It doesn’t always tell the true story.

With so many of these assumptions about teams, players, etc. being made so early in the season, I explain what I’m not overreacting about heading into week two of the season.

Tennessee’s 38-7 win over Utah State

If you had the opportunity to watch Tennessee’s victory over Utah State this past Sunday, you would have thought the Vols had resurrected their glory days of the late 1990s. Granted, Neyland Stadium had an electric atmosphere, the Vols featured exciting young talent in Josh Malone and Jalen Hurd and the team’s leader, senior linebacker AJ Johnson, looked dominant all game.

Instilled with a “brick by brick” mentality from head coach Butch Jones, it seems the Vols are going in the right direction. However, while the optimism of a breakout season is great, I’d like to caution UT fans to not put the cart before the horse. Last season the Vols opened up with two strong performances, scoring 97 points in the first two weeks of the season. However, the wheels fell off quickly with a 45-point defeat at the hands of the Oregon Ducks and then subsequently six SEC losses later that year.

This season sets up similarly with a week three matchup on the road against the Oklahoma Sooners and then a road game against Georgia, two incredibly tough opponents. As much as Tennessee football being “back” would be great for the SEC, I think it’s silly to make that assessment after victory over Utah State. The Aggies are certainly not a terrible team, but for Tennessee fans to use that victory as a reason to believe the Vols could be a sleeper team in the SEC, shows just how down the program has been recently. I’m intrigued to see where the Vols go from here, but until I see more consistent performances throughout the season, I’d be cautious about the 2014 outlook for Tennessee.

Alabama’s failure to blowout West Virginia

Going into this game, no one gave West Virginia a chance. And with how Alabama has dominated these season-opening non-conference games in the past, you can’t blame those predictions. To everyone’s surprise, the Mountaineers came out strong against the Crimson Tide, quickly moving up the field on their first drive before settling for a field goal. West Virginia’s up-tempo offense and big plays on special teams kept things close for most of the game before Alabama pulled away in the end to win 33-23.

With the game a lot closer than expected, some wondered if Alabama was overrated or weaker than in past years. Despite just a 10-point victory, I think it’s too soon to give these labels to the Crimson Tide. Blake Sims wasn’t perfect in his debut, but he showed he was more than capable in leading the offense. They have the best running back duo in TJ Yeldon and Derrick Henry, who combined for 239 yards and three touchdowns. Amari Cooper is a full-fledged star at wide receiver and they are loaded with talent and size at the offensive line.

Defensively, they have their usual stars at key areas with Trey DePriest (who returns from suspension this week) at linebacker, Landon Collins at safety and A’Shawn Robinson at defensive line. Cornerback is often discussed as a weak area for Alabama. They weren’t exactly the shut-down corners that we’re accustomed to from Alabama, but for key guys like Tony Brown and Marlon Humphrey, they’ll see more time at defensive back. It’s doubtful those two as well as Cyrus Jones and Bradley Sylve don’t improve significantly as the season goes on.

All in all, this Crimson Tide has all the makings of the same dominant teams we’ve seen from Nick Saban since 2009. I wouldn’t look too far into their less than perfect week one performance.

South Carolina’s poor performance in the secondary against Texas A&M

As everyone knows by now, South Carolina didn’t exactly impress last Thursday against Texas A&M. The Gamecocks’ secondary got torched for 511 passing yards from Kenny Hill, a true sophomore starting his first collegiate game. South Carolina was ranked No. 9 and was considered a strong favorite to reach the SEC Championship and perhaps the College Football Playoff.

But Thursday’s poor defensive performance squashed those expectations about as fast as a Texas A&M touchdown from that night. While you can’t ignore the beatdown South Carolina took, I think it’s more about Texas A&M than it is about the Gamecocks secondary.

When you look at, I think the shock of South Carolina’s defensive performance was that it wasn’t what anybody expected. Texas A&M was supposed to struggle without Johnny Manziel. Kyle Allen was eventually going to take the job from Kenny Hill. But everyone was wrong and it appears the Gamecocks ran into the buzzsaw known as “Kenny Trill.” Defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward’s defense is predicated on pressure. The Gamecocks’ defensive line got virtually no pressure on Hill, essentially leaving the defensive backs out to dry for much of the game.

The secondary is arguably the least of South Carolina’s defensive issues. I’d be cautious in throwing in the towel on South Carolina’s defensive backs. They have three new starters as well as a bevy of young, inexperienced talent. I think Thursday night was more indicative of the dominating Aggies offense led by Hill rather than the incompetence of the South Carolina secondary.