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We’ve played 10 weeks of college football, which means we have figured out quite a bit about who is the real deal and who are the pretenders. As teams approach and pass the halfway point on their schedule, we’ve got a much better idea where everyone stands than we did a few weeks ago, but at this point of the year we still have to adjust our expectations from time to time. Here’s a look at what teams, players and things are overrated and underrated around the SEC.
OVERRATED
RETURNS TO GLORY — So many people have been eager to label programs such as Tennessee, Florida, Georgia and Arkansas as “back” but it takes more time than fans want to accept to really rebuild a program. That takes time. Florida’s season is remarkable for how quickly the Gators returned to the top of the SEC East, whether they are legit national championship contenders or not. Tennessee could win eight regular season games, which is a step in the right direction. Georgia and Arkansas are just reminders of how much injuries can hurt and how little margin for error there is in the SEC.
LEONARD FOURNETTE BASHING — Anyone who says the LSU running back is overrated is overrated themselves. Fournette was shut down by Alabama’s run defense, but every running back who has faced Alabama has been shut down by the Tide. Bama’s run defense is historically good. So is Fournette, but as was the case with Nick Chubb and Alex Collins and Tra Carson and all the rest, Fournette is simply one guy trying to smash his way through a brick wall.
TEXAS A&M — It seems too easy to label the Aggies this way, but once again the entire nation overreacted to an opening-week win against a team that wasn’t anywhere near as good as we all thought. It allowed us to overlook quarterback issues and focus on the areas where the Aggies were clearly talented. But this team may lack depth and counts on so many young players on offense that we should have seen some inconsistency coming.
UNDERRATED
MISSISSIPPI STATE — We keep beating this horn, but the Bulldogs have a shot to prove it against a great Alabama team on Saturday. MSU is a missed field goal away from having a very similar resume to the Crimson Tide and Dak Prescott just looks like a man determined not to let the program fade away as long as he has any say in the matter. The Bulldogs are getting contributions elsewhere, and the defense looks solid. MSU could very well find itself back in a major bowl game.
VANDERBILT’S DEFENSE — Florida deserves some criticism for the way it barely squeaked one out against Vandy on Saturday, but the Commodores have a very good defense that makes the possibility of them pulling off upsets very real. Vandy has played one more game than LSU but has allowed 31 fewer points. That’s pretty impressive.
CHRIS WESTRY — Kentucky is once again in danger of letting a potential bowl season slip away if it can’t win at least two of its final three games. The Wildcats suffering has masked how great a freshman season the defensive back Westry has had. With 2 interceptions and 6 pass breakups, offenses have started avoiding throwing his way, but he’s still on his way to freshman All-American honors and looks like a legit NFL prospect already.
Shane Mettlen is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Texas A&M, Missouri and Alabama.
