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This wasn’t a week to remember for the SEC.
Mississippi State lost to a middling Sun Belt Conference program (South Alabama went 5-7 last season). LSU saw its 52-game regular-season win streak against non conference opponents get snapped by Wisconsin. Tennessee, the team many are speculating could compete with Alabama for conference supremacy, barely escaped from Appalachian State in overtime.
But despite the league’s mediocre 7-6 first-week record (Ole Miss opens Monday against Florida State), there were still some noteworthy performances.
But has the SEC slipped so much that one of the better performances is a loss? Check out below to see in our list of the five best performances by SEC teams this week:
5. South Carolina 13, Vanderbilt 10
Date: Sept. 1
Star Player: South Carolina K Elliott Fry booted a career-long 55-yard field goal with 35 seconds left to win it after earlier hitting from 48 yards.
Key Stat: After struggling in the first half, South Carolina senior quarterback Perry Orth completed 6-of-8 passes for 117 yards in the second half as the Gamecocks rallied for three scoring drives, erasing a 10-0 halftime deficit.
Why: Sure it was Vanderbilt with all of its flaws, but going on the road to win an SEC game is a huge feather in the hat for Will Muschamp’s Gamecocks. South Carolina looked pretty good on defense and Orth, who split time with freshman Brandon McIlwain, looked like he might give the Gamecocks a QB option they can win with.
4. No. 2 Clemson 19, Auburn 13
Date: Sept. 3
Star Player: Auburn DB Johnathan Ford had 6 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a quarterback hurry and a pass breakup as the Tigers held Clemson to half its 2015 scoring average.
Key stat: 87. Those are the number of yards managed by Auburn’s once-feared rushing attack. The Tigers averaged just 2.1 yards on 41 carries.
Why: Despite not having a reliable quarterback, the Tigers came within a completed Hail Mary pass from upsetting the No. 2 team in the country. The hiring of Kevin Steele as defensive coordinator looks like it’s a fit on The Plains as Auburn frustrated Heisman Trophy candidate Deshaun Watson and company. If Auburn can figure things out on offense, watch out.
3. No. 18 Georgia 33, No. 22 North Carolina 24
Date: Sept. 3
Star player: Georgia RB Nick Chubb rushed 35 times for 222 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a 55-yard touchdown run with 3:34 left that put the game away.
Key stat: 38:07. That’s time of possession for the Bulldogs, who nearly doubled the Tar Heels up in this category.
Why: Georgia picked up one of the SEC’s three wins over ranked opponents and showed up better than East Division favorite Tennessee did in an overtime struggle against Appalachian State. The Bulldogs still have QB issues (Jacob Eason and Greyson Lambert split time), but the running game — led by the now-healthy Chubb — makes them a contender in the East.
2. Texas A&M 31, No. 16 UCLA 24 (OT)
Date: Sept. 3
Star Player: Aggies quarterback Trevor Knight, in his first start since transferring from Oklahoma, completed 22-of-42 passes for 239 yards and a touchdown and added two rushing touchdowns, including the game-winner in overtime.
Key stats: There are two here: 5 sacks and 3 interceptions. The Aggies’ pass-rush was too much for the Bruins as they made life miserable for star QB Josh Rosen.
Why: After losing three highly recruited quarterbacks in the offseason to transfers, A&M showed that it still has a guy in Knight, the ex-Oklahoma starter who lost the job there to Baker Mayfield. Sure, the Aggies blew a two-TD lead in the fourth quarter, but when Knight delivered the 1-yard game-winning TD run, then Rosen’s 4th-down pass fell incomplete at the goal line, the message was sent that the Aggies were as strong as anybody in the SEC West not named Alabama.
1. No. 1 Alabama 52, No. 20 USC 6
Date: Sept. 3
Star Player: Alabama QB Jalen Hurts passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more.
Key Stat: Alabama held a 465-194 yardage edge, the kind of margin one would expect in a game against an overwhelmed school from a smaller conference, not a proud program like USC.
Why: The defending champions produced the most complete performance in the conference in the opening weekend, completely dominating the Trojans and answering questions about replacing star players. Lose Jacob Coker? Insert Hurts (118 yards passing, 32 rushing with the four TDs). Lose Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry at running back? Insert Damien Harris (9 carries, 138 yards). Alabama changes the names on the backs, but the Tide keeps rolling on.
