SEC Power Rankings: How has conference play already started?

Time for our weekly look at the league, which saw one team suffer an embarrassing loss and drop out of the top 10 while another did quality work against a visiting Big 10 opponent.

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1. LSU

Their high quality win over Clemson holds a lot of value right now, especially considering how some of the other members of the conference fared during out of conference play. 23-7 against LA Tech isn’t anything all that special, but a look at the box score reveals some crazy effort from the Tigers defense. LA Tech almost had as many penalty yards (130) as total yards (154).

2. Georgia

Ho hum. One touchdown a quarter. I’ll give a little grace after the weather delay. But just a little.

3. Texas

The Longhorns rode a five minute stretch where the offense capitalized on forced turnovers to create a 28-point lead. Arch Manning looked like the player who Texas fans saw shine against the lower-level G5 teams he played against last year. The O-line could use some work, but there’s some time to figure that out and it’s not like the rest of September will be much of a challenge.

4. Alabama

You’ll be shocked to learn Florida dropped straight out of the top 10 in the conference. Todd Orlando’s defense — yes, that Todd Orlando — limited DJ Lagway to 6.7 ypa. Florida also hit the 100-penalty yard club this week, and one of those was key in allowing the Bulls to pull the upset. Alabama jumped into the No. 4 spot after taking out ULM.

5. South Carolina

A very odd box score for this one in their win over South Carolina State. The Gamecocks rushed 34 times for 62 yards and LaNorris Sellers only posted 128 yards passing. But Beamer Ball was out in full force. Vicari Swain had two punt returns for a touchdown and USC has a fumble-six. How much of this is real and how much of this is pyrite?

6. Oklahoma

Consider me unimpressed with Michigan’s gameplan, which seemed to just be let Justice Haynes run the ball until he couldn’t anymore. Oklahoma was just fine with that. On 55 plays, Oklahoma allowed 3.87 yards per play. Of course, there was that 75 yard touchdown run and those yards count all the same, but Brent Venables’ defense put the clamps on a true freshman quarterback who seemed to have the training wheels on anyway. Of note, John Mateer was the play-maker, the rusher or the passer, on 53 of Oklahoma’s 74 plays. That includes 19 carries. OU looked the part of a team that can stand strong against some of the more challenging teams on its schedule.

7. Ole Miss

Someday, Kentucky will understand offense. Wins on the road in the SEC are worth their weight in gold, even if they come against a team that has Zach Calzada and Cutter Boley playing quarterback. Austin Simmons’ health is the biggest story to track for the Rebels, but he is a tough one. Ole Miss notching 4.6 yards per carry but scoring three TDs on the ground shows how much of a slog this one was.

8. Texas A&M

Quality day for Marcel Reed through the air and on the ground. He amassed 286 yards and four touchdowns by himself. The Aggies posted 7 yards per play, which is going to win you a lot of ball games. One interesting thing is that Utah State did not attempt a PAT on any of its three touchdowns. Two-point tries only, and they were 2-for-3.

9. Tennessee

The Volunteers now have eight 60+ point games under Josh Heupel and two 70+ point games. Tennessee posted 717 total yards and 41 first downs. The Vols ran 100 plays. The offense went crazy against an in-state FCS team.

10. Vanderbilt

The Commodores are mauling inferior competition. Yes, Virginia Tech is inferior competition for Vanderbilt. 262 yards on the ground is a mauling, especially when it comes a 7.1 yards per clip. It might be getting late early for Brent Pry in Blacksburg. Vanderbilt plays at South Carolina next week.