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Overreacting to everything I saw.
College Football

10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 3 in the SEC

Chris Wright

By Chris Wright

Published:

“Concepts of a plan …”

You can’t begin to understand the restraint it took not to turn this entire exercise into the 10 biggest offenders among the 100 or so suspects. And “Florida’s head football coach” (I promised last week I was done ranting about “Billy Napier”) was only going to appear in about half of them.

I scrapped the all-in plan, but the topic remains high on the list of the 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 3 in and around the SEC.

10. Concepts of a plan …

One highlight of this gig is I get to edit Matt Hinton 3 times a week. Hinton is a wordsmith with a deep understanding of analytics. Literally, lyrical Moneyball.

He’s also hysterical — a necessity when you’re trying to get folks to read 5,000 words of prose about Xs and Os, Johnnys and Joes.

Last week, after “Florida’s head football coach” told the media Graham Mertz would start against Texas A&M but he had a plan to also play DJ Lagway, Hinton wrote:

“I think I speak for virtually the entire outside world when I say: Why, man?”

I laughed. Hinton continued: “The question does not need to be litigated or dragged out. It’s not even a question. With all due respect to the savvy veteran stylings of Mertz … Lagway is clearly the future. Based on his 456-yard, 3-touchdown debut on Saturday, he’s also the present.”

That’s how you win a debate, a football game and a legion of fans.

Now, as for the “Florida football coach’s” concept of the plan vs. Texas A&M … it didn’t work.

Shocking, I know.

Mertz was Mertz: The numbers never tell the story. He completed 8 of his first 9 passes for 147 yards and a TD. Workable, right? The tape never lies. His longest completion — a 38-yarder to Elijhah Banger came on a shallow cross that Mertz threw behind Banger. The receiver made a nice adjustment, which freed up the YAC.

Mertz’s misfires on back-to-back plays were game-changers, though. A&M jumped offsides, giving the Gators a free play. Mertz overthrew a streaking Taylor Spierto, eliminating a big play. His next pass, into tight coverage, turned into a party’s over, tip-drill, pick-6.

Books will be written once this era mercifully ends, but it was telling that Texas A&M hammered Florida with … wait for it … a dynamic redshirt freshman quarterback who had as many career starts as Lagway.

Florida’s football coach tried to divert attention from the obvious issue by noting the Gators’ defense couldn’t stop anybody and the o-line couldn’t block anybody.

True, but also the very reason the QB page should have been turned.

Along with everything else in the program.

9. Could be worse … FSU doesn’t have any QBs

This was DJ Uiagalelei’s stat line after the first quarter vs. Memphis.

If you’re looking for a positive … maybe, he throws a catchable ball?

It didn’t get any better afterward, either.

None of this makes sense.

FSU is 0-3 for the 3rd time in program history and 2nd time under Mike Norvell.

The Noles were double-digit favorites in all 3 games.

True, they have holes everywhere, but they look equal parts helpless, hapless and hopeless at the most important position on the field. You know, just like at the end of last season.

The scariest part about the failed DJU experiment is this: Norvell has continued to stick with it, which can only mean one thing — he doesn’t have any faith in anybody else in the QB room.

Number to watch: FSU hasn’t lost more than 7 games since losing 8 in 1975 — the final season before Bobby Bowden arrived.

8. Peyton and Eli could never do this …

https://twitter.com/TSN_Edge/status/1835109338244911209

Caveat: Texas could have beaten UT-San Antonio with the guys who started for FSU or Florida. Probably.

Still … how much fun was it watching Arch Manning do his thing Saturday night?

The circumstances weren’t ideal: Injury-prone Heisman hopeful Quinn Ewers (strained abdomen) was knocked out of the game.

Arch Manning entered and big plays ensued.

Manning threw a TD pass on his first play, then ripped off a 67-yard TD run on his next drive.

That run gave him family bragging rights: Peyton Manning’s longest run in the NFL was 33 yards. And for as much grief as Peyton got for not being able to run, his longest run was almost twice as long as brother Eli, whose career-best in the NFL was 18 yards.

7. SEC refs rally to top South Carolina

Refs don’t lose games? Tell that to the breakfast crowd at Lizard’s Thicket this morning.

South Carolina led LSU most of the day, but every time it appeared to deliver the dagger, a flag flew.

White flag of surrender from the Tigers? No. Worse.

We all saw the flag that wiped out South Carolina’s pick-6, but most of us are still trying to find the infraction. High tackle? Sure. Horse collar? Highly debatable.

South Carolina should have been up 14-0 in the first quarter. No question. Instead, they were forced to keep playing defense. After getting a stop, South Carolina added a field goal made it 10-0.

Fast forward to the 4th quarter.

Immediately after LSU scored to take its first lead at 29-24, South Carolina’s Rocket Sanders answered with a 66-yard TD run to put the Gamecocks back in front, 30-29. Another field goal stretched the advantage to 33-29.

That’s when this happened.

https://twitter.com/bbrendennn/status/1835043630417166527

This call was more egregious than the horse collar. A quarterback who throws an interception and then tries to make a tackle loses his right to be protected like a quarterback.

Credit LSU, for rallying again, scoring the go-ahead TD in the final minute and escaping a raucous Willy B with a hard-fought victory. Well-done, Tigers.

But come on, man.

Refs might not win or lose games, but they certainly made the largest impact on this game’s 2 most important plays.

You know it’s wild when Shane Beamer says this … and you have to look at multiple plays to find out which one he referenced:

6. Freshmen are taking over …

The SEC is so loaded with Heisman candidates that it’s impossible to consider the possibility that a true freshman might be the league’s best offensive player.

Spoiler: Alabama’s Ryan Williams is. They call the kid “Hollywood” for a reason — and for the 3rd consecutive week, he delivered a blockbuster performance. He caught a 31-yard TD pass against Wisconsin that would have been 91 yards had the play started at the 9. He added a 47-yard reception.

Already this season, he has 5 receptions of 30+ yards, and 4 TD catches.

But Williams isn’t the only freshman sensation.

Saturday, LSU’s beleaguered running game might have found its footing thanks to Caden Durham, a 4-star who had 4 yards in the first 2 games before erupting for 98 yards and 2 TDs against South Carolina. Durham ran will skill and ill intent.

Sure, it was just 1 game, but it’s been awhile since the Tigers had a young game-breaking running back.

5. The SEC’s 5 Playoff teams are …

1. Texas, 2. Alabama, 3. Tennessee, 4. Ole Miss, 5. Georgia

Yep, I said it: The SEC deserves 5 Playoff teams.

Through 3 weeks, it’s more obvious than ever that the SEC’s No. 6 team could win every other conference in America, except, perhaps the Big Ten. No league in America has 2 teams better than the SEC’s top 6.

It’s not just that the SEC added Texas, it’s that Ole Miss, Missouri and Tennessee have taken measurable strides to keep up.

Alabama played its most complete game of the season, behind another 5-TD day from Jalen Milroe, but nobody has looked better, week to week, than the Longhorns.

4. 4 “plans” gone horribly wrong

Seriously, FSU? In fairness, I’m not sure which idea was worse: Bringing in DJU to begin with, having a water-gun fight at practice when you’re 0-2 … or filming said shenanigans and hitting send.

I’ll let y’all decide on No. 4 (A-Z, so many choices!):

  • A) Schiano Sunday
  • B) Giving Butch Jones a trash can … or a microphone
  • C) Arkansas hiring Chad Morris
  • D) John Calipari thinking 1-and-done would work … every year
  • E) Hugh Freeze not buying a burner phone
  • F) Handing off instead of taking a knee. Oh, Mario …
  • G) Recruiting Derrick Henry as a linebacker only
  • H) Anybody telling Alabama, on national TV, that they’re next, but especially when you play for Vandy
  • I) College kids pitching to Cags, pretty much ever, but especially with runners on
  • J) Jeremy Pruitt? Really?
  • K) Asking Nick Saban about Tua vs. Jalen
  • L) Asking Nick Saban about backups getting in games against supposed heavy underdogs
  • M) Renting a house from Nick Saban, apparently
  • N) Nick Saban sitting beside Pat McAfee
  • O) Florida choosing that hideous Gator-skin themed uniform
  • P) Strongly believing Michigan was cheating … and not changing your signs
  • Q) Begging for an extra second in regulation to attempt a field goal you have next to no chance of making …
  • R) Not rushing the quarterback on 4th-and-31
  • S) Signing transfer QBs from the Big Ten because, you know, Joe Burrow worked out
  • T) Mark Ingram standing beside Derrick Henry
  • U) Letting Uga get that close to Bevo
  • V) Just about every plan Kirby Smart had for Justin Fields
  • W) Posing on top of a shark (allegedly)
  • X) Guaranteeing $100 million contracts to guys who can’t win 10 games
  • Y) Guaranteeing $100 million contracts to guys who can’t win 10 games (some things are worth repeating)
  • Z) Big Ten on CBS? What are we even doing …

3. At least Carson Beck “managed” to avoid the upset

I ended Carson Beck’s Heisman bid in Week 1, essentially exposing the flaw nobody wants to discuss: Beck’s arm isn’t a game-changer. He’s a game-manager.

His Week 3 performance at Kentucky merely confirmed that.

Still, nobody could have predicted he’d go 5-for-11 for 32 yards in the worst half of football Georgia has played in 5 years. He finished 15-for-24 for 160 yards.

Sure, the Dawgs escaped/survived/won. Spoiler: They normally do.

But they also still play 4 SEC teams ranked in the top 10 and looking the part. Three of those games are on the road: at Alabama, at Texas and at Ole Miss. They close that gauntlet with a home date against Tennessee.

All 4 of those teams have a more dangerous QB than Beck. It’s not unthinkable that Georgia loses 3 of those. If they play like they did Saturday, it’s more likely than not.

2. College football fans need to adjust their thinking

Growing up in the basketball-crazed Triangle region in North Carolina — home to UNC, NC State and Duke — football season was just something we did to take a break from arguing about who was a better college player: Bias or Jordan? (It was Bias, and neither came close to David Thompson.)

We never argued about which sport had the best postseason. That was as obvious and undisputed as picking Dean Smith over Bob Knight.

Basketball taught us to camp out for tickets and cherish those regular-season rivalries but also that the most important banners are awarded in the postseason. That it’s possible to celebrate both without jeopardizing the importance of either.

As the NCAA Tournament expanded from the mid-20s to 48 and now 68 teams, there was never a need to pretend that there were only 2, 3 or 4 great teams. March would settle that debate.

College football has forever been the exact opposite. It groomed generations to believe that there were never more than 4 great teams, and sometimes only 1.

It’s a ridiculous notion, of course, but so was awarding a national championship to a team that lost a bowl game.

Even when the 4-team Playoff arrived in 2014, we heard the talking heads complain loudly that there weren’t 4 Playoff-worthy teams, so why in the world, Pawwwwwllll, would you ever want to expand to 12?

Again, a nonsensical mindset to everybody who grew up planning their year around March Madness — or watched Johnny Football’s No. 15 Texas A&M Aggies topple Nick Saban’s top-ranked (and eventual national champion) Crimson Tide in 2012.

Spoiler: There have always been — and always will be — 20 teams capable of winning a national football tournament. Even a team that enters the tournament with 3 losses. Oh, the horror!

We know this because it happens in every other sport. Most obviously in the NCAA Tournament, but wild card teams have won the World Series and Super Bowl, too. The Los Angeles Kings had the 13th-best record in 2012 and won the Stanley Cup.

College football isn’t on an island. It just limited its party for so long, it’s difficult for some to imagine there could be more than 4 teams worthy of winning a title.

Adjust your mindset and enjoy the ride.

This race is wide open — and the 2024 national champion will be the most authentic in the sport’s history.

1. Lane vs. Paaaawwwl … the best rivalry in college football

https://twitter.com/Lane_Kiffin/status/1833525591410413724

Chris Wright
Chris Wright

Managing Editor

A 30-time APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.

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