Inside the SEC West: Auburn looking up, MSU looking down, Bama looking unbeatable

If Week 4 proved anything in the SEC West, it’s that just when you think you’ve got things figured out, think again.

A lot of people had written off Auburn, Texas A&M and the Alabama defense. At the same time, Mississippi State was the hottest team in the SEC following a 37-7 victory over LSU to start its season 3-0.

Here’s a recap of how this week proved that the West isn’t even close to being finished, and why we might know even less than Jon Snow from Game of Thrones.

Alabama

Public service announcement: don’t talk trash to Alabama.

Vanderbilt didn’t get that memo following Florida State president John Thrasher’s comments prior to Alabama’s 24-7 victory over the Seminoles, and it cost the Commodores dearly as they were embarrassed 59-0 against the Tide.

Alabama running back Damien Harris stole the show as he ran for 151 yards and 3 touchdowns on only 12 carries — good for 12.6 yards per carry.

In a surprising development, true freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was named the player of the game after totaling 125 yards (103 passing, 22 rushing) and 2 touchdowns, completing 80 percent of his passes. What was surprising about it was that he didn’t even enter the game until the middle of the third quarter.

The best news came on the defensive side of the ball, however. Alabama saw three of their five injured pass rushers return against the Commodores.

Arkansas

Bret Bielema’s seat got a lot hotter following Arkansas’s 50-43 loss in overtime to Texas A&M. Despite leading the Aggies for most of the game, the Razorbacks weren’t able to finish, and it dropped them to 1-2 (0-1) to start the season.

For the second week in a row, quarterback Austin Allen comleted less than 50 percent of his passes (12 of 25). He did throw for 2 touchdowns, but his lone interception came in overtime to seal the victory for the Aggies.

The bigger story was the 6 sacks that the Arkansas offensive line gave up, however.

The Razorbacks welcome New Mexico State next week before a brutal stretch that includes South Carolina, Alabama, Auburn and Ole Miss. At this point, it wouldn’t be surprising if Arkansas is searching for a new head coach by November.

Auburn

Oh, how quickly things can change. Following a rough two-week stretch that included a loss to Clemson and an unimpressive win over Mercer, a lot of people, myself included, were writing off the Tigers.

What was most impressive about Auburn’s 51-14 victory over Missouri were the turnovers. The offense, after coughing up the ball 5 times versus Mercer in Week 3, didn’t commit a single turnover, and the defense earned 4 takeaways, including 3 (2 fumbles, 1 interception) from quarterback Drew Lock.

After backup quarterback Sean White was sent packing following his arrest last Sunday morning, true freshman Malik Willis saw his first action as Auburn’s new backup quarterback. He completed 75 percent of his throws, but it only resulted in 1 yard passing.

With a tough six-game stretch ahead that includes Mississippi State, Ole Miss, LSU, Arkansas, Texas A&M and Georgia, Auburn has to hope that this newfound offensive success will be a permanent complement to their already elite defense.

LSU

After a promising start to the season, LSU seems to be working through some kinks. Following the 37-7 beating they took against division rival Mississippi State, the Tigers’ pass defense continued to struggle in their 35-26 victory over Syracuse.

They gave up 308 passing yards, including 265 yards to Orange quarterback Eric Dungey.

Derrius Guice did end up playing despite being ruled out earlier in the week, but he only managed 14 yards on 8 rushing attempts before giving way to Darrell Williams for the rest of the game.

The Tigers will have another opportunity to rest up and work through some of their issues with a home game against Troy in Week 5.

Mississippi State

As good as the Bulldogs looked against LSU in Week 3, they looked equally as bad against Georgia in Week 4.

Nick Fitzgerald might have seen any chance he had at the Heisman go down the drain after totaling only 130 yards (83 passing, 47 rushing) and throwing 2 interceptions.

The State defense, which had emerged as one of the conference’s best, allowed true freshman Jake Fromm to throw for 201 yards and 2 touchdowns on only 9 completions (12 attempts).

Overall, Georgia outscored (31-3), out-gained (404 total yards to 280) and out-willed the SEC West’s Bulldogs en route to handing them their first loss.

Ole Miss

The Rebels are the lone SEC team that has not played a conference game. They certainly won’t be able to ease into the conference season.

Off in Week 4, they’ve had extended preparation time for their trip to Tuscaloosa for a Saturday night meeting with the No. 1 Crimson Tide. So far, Matt Luke’s team seems to be laying low. Haven’t heard much of the “we want Bama” talk that worked so well for Vanderbilt.

The main news out of Oxford this past week was Hugh Freeze finally delivering an apology.

Texas A&M

Kevin Sumlin lives to fight another day. After trailing for most of the game against the Razorbacks, the Aggies were able to send things to overtime and then snatch victory by picking off Austin Allen.

The win moved A&M to 6-0 against Arkansas since moving from the Big 12 to the SEC.

True freshman quarterback Kellen Mond totaled 325 yards (216 passing, 109 rushing) with two passing touchdowns in his best start of the season. If he can continue to emerge as a threat with his legs and arm, the Aggies could turn out to be a much bigger threat than originally anticipated.

Quote of the week

“I heard one of the (Vanderbilt) guys say a word like he didn’t even want to play anymore.” — Alabama RB Bo Scarbrough following a 59-0 victory over Vanderbilt

Tweet of the week

All the other Vanderbilt players & coaches looking at Nifae Lealao like #BAMAvsVandy pic.twitter.com/YzC851sKAO

— Golden Child (@_BuddyLove07) September 23, 2017

Clint Lamb

Clint helps cover the SEC West for Saturday Down South. His work can also be found on USA TODAY Sports, The 'Bama Beat podcast and The Bullpen with TonyMac and The Lamb. Previous stops include SEC Country, 247Sports and Touchdown Alabama Magazine.