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The SEC offered a Saturday of surprises to its fans this week, some delightful and some frustrating.
Florida beat Kentucky, even though Kentucky was the more popular pick to win. Arkansas lost to its second non-conference opponent in Texas Tech, a team who went 4-8 last season. LSU beat Auburn, which most expected but the complete shutting down of Auburn was shocking. And Ole Miss rocked Alabama, something surprising to Tide fans only.
Here is the SEC’s “Hot or Not” for Week 3:
HOT
- Ole Miss under the leadership of Chad Kelly. With this victory over Alabama, Swag Kelly proved that he is better at being a quarterback than being a rapper. He went 18 of 33 for 341 yards and 3 touchdowns, not to mention running for a touchdown as well. The wealth of scoring amongst players also continued, as each of Kelly’s touchdowns went to a different wide receiver. Overall, Alabama’s defense was able to somewhat restrain Ole Miss’ explosive offensive, but it was like trying to hold back the Hulk with a shoelace.
- Leonard Fournette. This LSU running back is one part of the SEC that has lived up to the preseason hype. Against Auburn, Fournette ran for 228 yards and 3 touchdowns, and looked like a bulldozer. On the year so far, he has 387 yards and 6 touchdowns.
- Georgia’s offense under Greyson Lambert. Another SEC quarterback who is trending upwards after this weekend is Lambert, who put together a fantastic performance just when doubts started to surface. His accuracy was unprecedented, going 24 of 25 for 330 yards and 3 touchdowns. With Nick Chubb in tow, Georgia’s offense looked on par with Ole Miss and LSU. The Bulldogs scored 21 points in two out of the four quarters.
NOT
- Arkansas defense. Oh, how far this squad has fallen. The Razorbacks managed to make two interceptions during Saturday’s game against Texas Tech. But other than a quarterback hit by Brooks Ellis, the Arkansas defense left the Texas Tech quarterback untouched and Patrick Mahomes took advantage by throwing for 243 yards. If that’s what Mahomes can do, just imagine what Dak Prescott will do.
- Alabama special teams. Successfully fielding a kickoff is a staple of every football team in America, but somehow Alabama was able to bobble that task on Saturday with two fumbled kickoff returns, one of them coming right at the beginning of the game. Ole Miss is a hard enough opponent without giving away turnovers as presents. Maybe Alabama was just nervous?
- Missouri’s offense. The back-to-back SEC East champions looked decidedly un-champion-like against the Connecticut Huskies. Maty Mauk was supposed to be a star for the Tigers this season, but struggled to the point where Drew Lock went in at quarterback to help him out. As a group, Missouri struggled to move the ball down the field, and one of the two precious times the Tigers managed to penetrate the Connecticut 10, they were stuffed on a fourth-down try.
Christine Wang is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. She covers Auburn, Arkansas and Ole Miss.
