Overall a really good weekend for the conference. 13-1 straight up, with only Tennessee losing, as was expected. I played golf yesterday instead of reading up on the games I didn't watch, so will need some help filling in the gaps. Will read what I can today before really moving on to this weekend's games. From what I've seen/read, the teams that played FCS type teams did exactly what they were supposed to do, so not sure there's much to take from those games, though I imagine Florida fans are ecstatic that they didn't enter the 4th quarter with the outcome still in doubt. I don't know that Mullen can take them anywhere near the highs of Spurrier and Urban, but he will put a much more enjoyable product on the field than what they've had.
Games I watched part/most/all of:
AU vs Washington: Midway through first quarter, I thought this was going to be a blowout. Washington appeared to come out really flat, while AU was the exact opposite. It looked like Wash had prepared for the wrong team. Red zone inefficiencies for both offenses kept it close, and was as ideal as possible for an under backer like myself. I won't comment too much on Washington, since what I saw Saturday is all I've seen of them. AU looked top 5 level on both offense and defense to start the game. They did fall back a bit, and I'm guessing their OL had most to do with that. Defense, especially the DL, looked great. For now, I think they are who we thought they are, right down to the botched 2 point conversion on the first TD. Not used to seeing an AU kicker miss from inside 40 yards, maybe they have just a good kicker instead of an elite kicker this season. Ton of penalties in this game, especially of the 15 yard variety. Thought that might be a thing, until I watched other games that had the same issue.
Alabama vs Louisville: Game went pretty much as expected, if you expected Tua to get most of the meaningful snaps. The difference between he and Hurts was put on full display, and there's not a person in the world who could justify playing Hurts over Tua. I don't know I'm biased or what, but I think Tua has a chance to be the best QB in the SEC in a while. Maybe not as dynamic as JFF, Cam, or Tebow, but as far as a passer, I can't think of anyone off the top of my head who has his ability. The run game wasn't as featured or as dominant as I expected, but I'm not too worried. Penalties were a concern, but as I noted from the AU game, seemed to be a theme all weekend. Especially with the B1G crews here and in Atlanta. How do you guys put up with that? Alabama may also have one of the best return games in the country, and one of the worst kicking games. It continues to amaze me how bad we are at kicking field goals/XP. Hopefully coach Banks can get it figured out. On the Louisville side, I think they have some playmakers on offense. And based what I saw this weekend, they can definitely contend in the ACC. Maybe it's a bad comparison, but Pass reminded me a bit of Cardale Jones.
LSU vs Miami: Probably biggest surprise for me of the weekend. Not so much that LSU won, but that Miami looked so bad. I think this was similar to the AU game in that LSU came out with their hair on fire, and Miami looked uninterested, though it should surprise no one that a Mark Richt team was unprepared for a marquee game. I'm still not sure what LSU has, but they appear to have a pretty strong defense, a decent run game, and a competent if not spectacular QB. That can be enough to win a lot of games, though the schedule remains brutal.
I watched bits and pieces of the Ole Miss game. Offense looked good to great, defense less so.
That's really all I saw. Toddler age children make it near impossible to watch a game and be able to pay full attention
