And the Beat Goes On.. SEC Football Week 1 in Review

College Football Christmas is Here

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, Christmas! Well, Christmas for the male or female football freaks of the world. And to our delights Week 1 of the college football season did not disappoint. Old powers resumed their mantle, while a former power stirred in the swamp. LSU special teams turned out to be as bad as their new coach’s southern accent. Pigs, Cats, Sharks and Dogs all throw their hat in the ring of SEC dark-horse contenders. Many questions were answered but the whirlwind of emotions has just begun.

And the Beat Goes On…

And the beat goes on… You don’t even have to be a casual fan to know what I am about to discuss next and it’s not the smash hit from Sonny and Cher. What I am discussing is the dominance that is the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs response in their quest for a repeat championship.

There is a phrase we use on our podcast when talking about defending champions, it’s called The Bama Test™. It’s really simple and here’s how it goes:

How does a team answer – once they have reached the top and are inevitably ravaged by coaching changes and NFL departures? Georgia answered with an emphatic beatdown of the visiting Oregon Ducks – yes visiting. A game held 45 minutes from Athens and 40 hours from Oregon is not neutral. The Ducks even had some things going in their favor. First, they had a head coach in Dan Lanning – former UGA Defensive Coordinator – that should have been very familiar with his former team. Secondly, this means he should have carried the element of surprise on offense. Too bad that surprise was led by Bo Nix – better known as Bo Picks to those “in the know.” It all mattered not.

Georgia dominated from start to finish, sending a clear message to all of those hoping they would take a step back this year. Georgia QB, Stetson “Stetquavious” Bennet, in his 6^th year, at a youthful 24 years of age, looked poised and made highlight reel plays against his peers – not just the game managing ones that have become his label. The defense looked as fast and nasty as they did last year – only with a new cast of names. That shouldn’t be too much of a surprise if you follow recruiting.

And the beat goes on… Utah State’s coach Blake Anderson summed it up about as well as anyone could. He said Bama was “the best football team [he] has ever seen.” I don’t care the opponent. If you watched, you saw it as well – the Tide is a well-oiled machine.

I can rave on the size and speed of all the individual players on Alabama’s defense. I could gloat over the poetry that is they play of Bryce Young, but I can sum that game up and the Tide’s performance in describing one single play. I’m not sure if it was a screen or what the exact offensive play was, but a lead blocker had made his way in front of the Utah St. ball carrier. The Tide defender, #6 Khyree Jackson, destroyed the blocker, who cartoonishly flew into the ball carrier taking him off his feet. You heard that right… Khyree Jackson made a tackle with the opposing team’s lead blocker.

Sorry for the use of generic terminology here, I had a lot going on and was just happy to catch this play. I know week one is always loaded with the “pump your breaks” hot takes, but after one Saturday, it seems we are headed for the inevitable repeat for the SEC title in Atlanta. And the beat goes on…

A Tale of Two Halves

The Ole Miss Rebels and Kentucky Wildcats opening games were a tale of two halves for teams hoping to play the role of sleeper in their respective divisions. The Rebels did their best to make my Saturday Morning YouTube show – Saturday Morning Cocktail Kickoff [SMCK] for those not watching – prognostications look on point. Then the second half happened. In the first half the Rebs established a solid ground game behind TCU transfer Zack Evans and freshman Quinshon Judkins and played a salty brand of defense. In the second half it appeared Kiffin wanted to see his offense switch it up and try to push the vertical passing game and the offense sputtered outside of one drive and had several sloppy turnovers. More or less, the second half was a great deal of “meh”. Good thing for the Rebs they have a few more practice games before Kentucky comes to town.

The Wildcats had a similar story play out in Lexington. However it was the first half that saw the Cats struggle. QB Will Levis garnered a great deal of preseason pub as a potential top draft pick. While he finished the day with a solid 300 yards passing and 3 TD’s, it was special teams and defense that broke the game open in the second half. Many, including myself, felt like Kentucky could be a team to challenge Georgia for the SEC East this year. While scuffling out of the gate isn’t a death sentence, this could be viewed as a bad omen if the season doesn’t go well. However, there is a game looming next week in the Swamp that looked much more winnable a week ago.

An onion of catharsis…

… is the only way to describe the Florida Gators win over the Utah Utes. If you don’t know what the last word in the prior sentence means I highly recommend watching My Cousin Vinny when you finish reading this article. It will be explained. How was this game cathartic you ask? I’ll start with me. The Dan Mullen led Gator’s were the bane of my college football picking existence last year. I went something like 0-9 in picking their games. Like an idiot, I kept going back to the well. That is over! On both of our shows this week I was pretty adamant that Mullen was the problem and the Gators had upgraded at coach with Billy Napier. I also believed the Gators had some talent still stocked in Gainesville.

Florida wasn’t losing last year because insufficient talent, their coach had lost the team and botched the QB situation. That couldn’t have been more evident Saturday night in the Swamp. The Gators looked disciplined, they looked motivated, and they looked like a team that could make noise sooner rather than later in the SEC East. It was cathartic for me to break the curse. It was therapy for the Gator fans as well – the swamp was rocking. Speaking of swamps rocking, they were rocking for a different reason on the bayou.

Similar Scenario Not Similar Results

There are a lot of similarities between the LSU situation and Florida’s. Both are talented teams that underachieved due to coaching. Both seemingly made hires to improve themselves in said coaching area. However, it would seem the younger, less seasoned Napier was much more prepared for his first test. Not that Brian Kelly is taking over a perfect product at LSU, but neither was Napier at Florida. One team looked disciplined, and LSU looked like a newer version of last year’s team – sloppy. Their special teams were a disaster. One of the top WR prospects in the country, Kayshon Boutte, looked like he would have rather been fishing, and the offensive line may get the QB killed before years end. Again, the talent is there, but the question remains – can Kelly get anything out of the Tigers in year one?

Is there a more fitting gif for a program right now?

It fits their:

• Special Teams
• Team Chemistry
• Coach’s Fake Accent
• Coach’s Weird Dancing
• Coach’s decisions when it comes to student media

A Pirates Quest for 5k

The Mississippi State Bulldogs easily dispatched Memphis in a game that ended sometime Sunday morning after hours of delay. Apparently 1000’s of people holding metal bells in a lightning storm isn’t safe – this Reb thinks they should have kept playing. The Bulldog faithful that stayed were treated to a masterful performance by Will “Jolly” Rodgers. I’m sorry I can’t help the cheese sometimes.

Rodgers started the season with a modest 450 yards passing and 5 touchdowns. This puts him on pace for 5,400 yards in a 12-game season – including the bowl he could get into the 5,800 yard range. That got me thinking… where does that put Will in the pantheon of the Pirates QB tree? Let’s see who and what numbers Will is chasing to become the most prolific of the Pirate’s passers.

• Tim Couch – Kentucky 1998 – 4,275 yards
  • Yes, the Pirate was Hal Mumme’s OC at Kentucky.
• Josh Heupel – Oklahoma 1999 – 3,606 yards
  • The Pirate was headed to Big12 to make his mark, this would be his last OC stop.
• Kliff Kingsbury – Texas Tech 2002 – 5,012 yards
  • The Pirate is now the head man, and the numbers start getting real.
  • Moreover, Kingsbury was coaching Pat Mahomes when he had a 5k season at Tech. How’s that for the circle of football life.
• BJ Symons – Texas Tech 2003 – 5,833 yards
  • This set the NCAA record at the time and remains the highest total of Leach’s Quarterbacks.
• Sonny Cumbie – Texas Tech 2004 – 4,742 yards
  • Yawn
• Cody Hodges – Texas Tech 2005 – 4,197 yards
  • Somehow, 4k yards is a boring drop-off.
• Graham Harrell – Texas Tech 06-08 – 5,700 & 5,100 yards
  • Harrell was the only Leach QB who topped 5k twice.
  • He also lost to a Houston Nutt coached Ole Miss team in the Cotton Bowl, just saying.
• Anthony Gordon – WSU 2019 – 5,579 yards
  • This was the Pirates last year at WSU.
• A bunch of other dudes hit the 4,000-yard mark.
  • Taylor Potts, Jeff Tuel, Conner Halliday, Luke Falk
  • And, who could forget the famous mustache, Garner Minshew.

So, in summary, Leach had 4 quarterbacks top the 5,000-yard passing mark with Graham Harrell being the only player to do it twice. No doubt it’s a harder task to complete in the ultra-talented SEC, which would make Rodgers’ feat even more impressive, should he accomplish it. He threw for 4700 yards in 2021. Only time will tell – no pun intended – if he can join the exclusive 5,000-yard club.

For those of you who were wondering, Billy Zappe of Western Kentucky currently holds the NCAA Division I record with 5,967 yards – a record he set in 2021. Final note, this happened last year, and I had no clue.

The Leftovers

South Carolina – The SEC Network is really getting jazzed and running with this Beamer ball deal. They scored 23 points… let me rephrase that. It took them scoring 23 points on special teams to beat mighty Georgia St. Not Georgia. Not even crappy Georgia Tech… Georgia freaking St.

Good luck with Beamer ball beating anyone with a pulse in league play. The East is getting stiffer and it’s not because of the cocks.

Vanderbilt – Speaking of teams that have seen the media go overboard, I give you exhibit B. Vandy has smoked Hawaii and beaten Elon by 10. Mike Wright – that’s the Vandy QB for those with a life – has put up good numbers. But let’s pump the breaks. As of last weekend, Vandy’s honeymoon season is pretty much over. They could beat Northern Illinois and thy have a shot at Beamer Ball’s Cocks, but that’s it. Maybe that’s why we’ve heard so much bluster. This is probably the networks’ only opportunity to give the ’Dores some love.

Tennessee – I didn’t forget about you, Rocky Top. It seems like you played a month ago, and it’s just Thursday. The Vols dominated and covered the spread much as I expected. Georgia made my “the Vols will win the East” call from Episode 0051 look a little crazier, but I still think they make serious noise this year. Huepel has that offense rolling, and the defense looks like and old school Vol defense. I do want to see more consistency from the line play but look out for good ol’ Rocky Top. Fortunate for any haters, they get a decent test on the road at Pittsburg next week. Win that one, and the Vols get an early season break before a huge game with the Gators at Neyland Stadium.

Arkansas – The Pigs struggled a little more than I expected with Cincinnati. The secondary got torched a few times in the second half to make it close, but they had enough physicality to put them away and, at least, cover the spread. I expect this to be a typical Sam Pittman Arkansas team. They are disciplined and hardnosed but nothing special. Jefferson had a solid day, but you could tell he was missing his deep play threat from a year ago, as Burks is now playing on Sundays.

Sorry Missouri, A&M and Auburn, I didn’t see you play. I have no thoughts on you yet, but congrats on the *huge* victories.

Dabo, Clemson, please keep playing Uiagalelei… signed “the rest of college football.” It took everyone with eyes half a drive to see what they needed from the Klubnik kid. Let’s hope he’s in the portal for my boy Kiffin next year.

Pettey’s Super Scientific Rankings:

This is a ranking of how teams are playing at this very moment, not future projections.

1. Georgia – Got to knock the champs off the perch.
2. Alabama – I think they can be the ones to knock them off.
3. Florida – The fight for third begins. Florida faced the toughest test and passed.
4. Tennessee – They get their test this week with Pitt. Pass and watch out for the Vols.
5. Mississippi State – This is where it becomes a log jam. State played pretty well. Flip some coins.
6. Texas A&M – I’m not sold on King, but they are loaded with talent. We’ll see if they stick here.
7. Ole Miss – Rebs were sloppy in the second half after dominating the first.
8. Arkansas – Pigs were in a slugfest with a watered-down Cincinnati.
9. Kentucky – Cats struggled to separate from Miami… of Ohio!
10. Vandy – The Vandy love on tv is cute. They will not stay here, but like the media, I’m taking my only opportunity to rank them above 14, as they are the only 2-0 team in the SEC.
11. Auburn – I didn’t see them play, slightly blind pick. They will have a chance to prove me wrong.
12. South Carolina – Beamer Ball won’t win in this league, period.
13. LSU – Oh boy! Going to be a fun year on the bayou. Kelly may want to brush up on some new lame accent.
14. Mizzou – Welcome to this week’s edition of why are you in this league? Seriously, why?!

I apologize for so many words. It was opening weekend and I was excited. If you made it this far, you are a saint. Also, if you made it this far you might as well subscribe to our podcast and also our YouTube channel.