SEC takeaways: Week 1
The SEC kicked off their 2020 season with plenty of intrigue and a few exciting games.
Despite an ongoing pandemic that this country is enduring, one large hope for many was the ongoing play of college football this season. One thing the college football fans pretty much counted on was the Southeastern Conference taking the field and providing quality play. Well, the SEC did just that this past weekend as their 2020 season as a conference got underway. Time to dive into the key takeaways from this past week.
Mike Leach era starts with a bang
It was a hire that went largely unnoticed due to the pandemic and a few other headline grabbing programs. But the Mississippi State Bulldogs started the Mike Leach tenure with an upset on the road against defending national champion LSU Tigers, 44-34. Granted, the 20th ranked Tigers were taking the field with a ton of new starters but the Tigers defense gave up 623 passing yards to MSU quarterback KJ Costello, the Stanford transfer.
New LSU starting quarterback Myles Brennan had his fair share of positives with 345 passing yards and three touchdown passes. Yet, he was also sacked seven times and never truly looked in sync during his first career start. LSU head coach Ed Orgeron has his work cut out for him this season to get the roster spun up and ready for SEC play but the Air Raid offense implemented by Leach had quite the introduction to the SEC.
Rough start for Georgia ends in a blowout
The halftime scoreboard showed a 7-5 lead for Arkansas. By that point, starting quarterback Dwan Mathis was pulled and Georgia fans were perplexed by the overall first half. By the time the third quarter ended, #4 Georgia possessed a 27-10 lead and was in the driver seat towards a 37-10 victory on the road in their season opener.
A change at quarterback from Mathis to Stenson Bennett IV sparked a state of panic from some of the faithful Georgia followers. This is until transfer J.T. Daniels comes to save the day. One thing is for sure, the rumblings in Athens are starting to grow a bit as the pressure on head coach Kirby Smart continues to mount. The margin of error is pretty thin despite whomever trots out as the starter at quarterback.
Tennessee survives a scare
Speaking of expectations, there is a decent share of such in Knoxville as the #21 Tennessee Volunteers embark on their 2020 campaign. An 8-5 record and a Gator Bowl victory last season has the fanbase wanting more. Especially with a top-10 recruiting class in tow this year and another next year.
Their first contest of the season saw the Volunteers sweat a bit as they nursed a 31-27 lead with roughly a minute and a half remaining in the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks. A muffed punt by the Gamecocks as it bounced off the leg of a gunner on the punt team was recovered by Tennessee and placed on the bow on a season opening. It is still tough to gauge how good Tennessee is and how good they can be. But games against Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Auburn will provide us with plenty of clarification.
Waddle & Harris shine for the Crimson Tide
Alabama enters the season with the # 2 ranking and a national championship is a legitimate possibility. The amount of weapons on offense is likely to be the engine of the team and their two biggest stars on offense were their normal selves in a 38-19 win over Missouri.
Alabama receiver Jaylen Waddle was electric in 2019 and 2020 could be an even bigger season. He got the season off to a dynamic start with 134 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions. He only recorded one 100-yard game and a multi-touchdown reception game in 2019. The tough running of Najee Harris was the foundation for the 111 rushing yards posted by Alabama and Harris chipped in three touchdowns just because. Questions will persist about Mac Jones at the quarterback position but he will for sure have a treasure trove of elite weaponry at his disposal.