MARLER: SEC Power Rankings Week 2

By Chris Marler

We are finally into the start of the regular season which means these rankings won’t be based off gross overreactions from the offseason anymore. Now they can be based off on-field performances AND my own gross overreactions. So strap in because I’m in midseason form for being irrational, and it’s only Week 2.

16 – Florida (Last Week – 13)

Yuck. Florida could very well still be an ok football team. But, they could also very well lose 11 games this year. They are favored in one game the rest of the season (vs Samford), and what we saw from the Gators against Miami after the offseason talk leading into the year was nothing short of a huge disappointment.

15 – South Carolina (Last Week – 11)

Double yuck. A three-touchdown favorite against a Sun Belt team at home in Week 1 that resulted in a four-point win. And, that’s AFTER they recovered not one but two fumbles inside Old Dominion’s own 10 yard line.

14 – Mississippi State (Last Week – 16)

Uh oh, we have a “MARLER IS AN IDIOT AND COULDN’T HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG ABOUT MY TEAM” nominee already this season. I was extremely low on Blake Shapen and Mississippi State heading into the season, and I may have been wrong about both. Granted it was Eastern Kentucky, but a 56-7 win for Jeff Lebby and company in the first game of his tenure was very impressive down in Starkville.

13 – Vandy  (Last Week – 15)

I said last week on multiple platforms that the game that could let the SEC poke its collective chest out more than any other is if Vandy upset Virginia Tech. Now they definitely tried to Vandy the **** out of that game and almost blew a three-score lead. But, the ‘Dores hung on in overtime and were able to win outright as a two TD underdog against a VT team that returned 21 starters.

12 – Arkansas (Last Week – 14)

Bobby Petrino is back baby. Let the Wild Hawgs jokes begin. I don’t care who they were playing, what Arkansas did on Thursday night was nothing short of a total 180 from what we’ve seen the last few years. Arkansas scored ten touchdowns on ten total possessions and put up the third most offensive yards in program history. Taylen Green is going to be fun to watch this season.

11 – Kentucky (Last Week – 10)

Kentucky probably didn’t deserve to drop a spot after winning 31-0 against an FBS team, but that’s what they get for making me stay up past my bedtime and then calling the game early in the 3rd quarter. The defense looked as dominant as I expected in the offseason, holding the Golden Eagles to 131 total yards and just five rushing yards. Kentucky could be in for another feel-good story season in Lexington.

10 – Texas A&M (Last Week – 9)

The Aggies had a hard-fought loss against a better-than-expected Notre Dame team on Saturday night. The loss was bad for a number of reasons, though. One, Mike Elko announced Monday that starting center Mark Nabou was lost for the season. And two, after a lot of surprising hype around QB Conner Weigman this offseason, he was abysmal against the Irish. Weigman finished the game 12 of 30 with only 100 yards and threw two INTs as well.

9 – Auburn (Last Week -12)

Sure, Auburn played Alabama A&M, but the massive improvements on the offensive side of the ball were more than noticeable. Auburn WRs had a combined seven total TD receptions a season ago. The new group had six total in their first game and averaged…wait for it…OVER TWENTY-FIVE YARDS PER CATCH. I don’t care who they played because that’s good against air.

8 – Oklahoma (Last Week – 8)

The Sooners looked great at times, but the 51-3 win vs Temple also left a lot to be desired. They averaged less than six yards per attempt in the passing game and were just 1-of-12 on third downs. On the bright side, they did force six turnovers and four of Jackson Arnold’s eight incompletions came on drops. Very efficient game one overall.

7 – LSU  (Last Week – 6)

The Tigers were 15 minutes away from breaking a four-year drought in season openers Sunday night in Vegas. However, the LSU defense gave up 174 yards and were outgained 14-3 in the fourth quarter versus Southern Cal. They’ve still got some dudes, and Garrett Nussmeier looked really good in his first start of the year. But, they’ll only go as far as that “improved” defense will take them.

6 – Missouri (Last Week – 7)

Mizzou had a dominant win Thursday night but they did it against arguably the worst team anyone faced. Murray St had an onside kick that they failed to recover, failed fourth down conversion, and threw a pick six. And, that was all in the first quarter. Yes, Mizzou won 52-0, but there are a lot of things to work on including Brady Cook’s deep ball accuracy.

5 – Tennessee (Last Week – 5)

Our national nightmare is about to return to college football fans everywhere outside of Knoxville. Tennessee is good. Tennessee may be really good. So, strap in. Phenom QB Nico Iamaleava was 22-of-28 for 314 yards and threw three TDs as well. The Vols racked up over 700 yards of offense and ran 90 plays. At the half the Vols were up 45-0, and the defense held the Mocs to only three first downs and seven punts on eight possessions.

4 – Alabama (Last Week – 4)

Uh oh, Bama might still be Bama, y’all. You should not have been surprised by the 63 points, the 600 yards of offense or the five total touchdowns from QB Jalen Milroe. What WAS surprising was that the defense allowed Western Kentucky to only 145 yards of offense which was their lowest output in over 15 seasons.

3 – Ole Miss (Last Week – 3)

The Rebs won 76-0 against Furman in the opener. The opponent was horrible, but the efficiency from Ole Miss was on a whole new level. The Rebs racked up 52 points and over 500 yards of offense in the first half alone, and the Heisman campaign for Jaxson Dart is off and rolling as he had over 400 yards passing and six total touchdowns.

2 – Texas (Last Week – 2)

“Who’s stopping us from going 12-0?” That was an actual quote and question by Colorado St QB Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi this summer going into the season. The answer then is the same as it is now, Texas. Texas came out of the gates swinging in their first game as an SEC team, winning 52-0 and putting on an offensive show in Austin. Ewers looked great, the new wide receivers looked great, and Arch Manning got in on the action throwing his first career TD pass.

1 – UGA (Last Week – 1)

Kirby Smart and company reminded everyone that regardless of what happened in Atlanta last year, they are still the standard of college football. The Dawgs absolutely drubbed Clemson, and they did it how they always do: suffocating defense, annoyingly efficient offense, and elite halftime coaching adjustments. UGA outscored Clemson, 28-3, in the second half and held Clemson to 2.1 ypc on the ground and under 200 yards of total offense on the day.