Winners and Losers from SEC Week One

It was a fun opening weekend in the SEC and here are the winners and losers from the first round of games.

Now that the Southeastern Conference has officially joined the party and opened its 2020 college football season, it's time to take a look at the winners and losers from the opening weekend across the southeast. 

As a whole, the conference welcomed four new head coaches to the fold in Mike Leach, Lane Kiffin, Sam Pittman, and Eli Drinkwitz. Each coached their first games on Saturday, and each of their teams played well, and at least for week one, acquitted themselves positively. 

Some veteran coaches also had had solid opening games, but many of those were expected. 

WEEK ONE WINNER

Mike Leach: Many critics said his gimmicky offense wouldn't work in the SEC, but it worked so well that his Bulldogs went into Baton Rouge and knocked off the defending champs in their backyard. His transfer starting quarterback KJ Costello touched the Tigers for 623 yards and five touchdowns in his first game for State. 

Leach's offense works in the SEC, at least for a week. 

Derek Mason: Yes, this might be a bit of a homer call here, but considering how much heat the Commodores coach has faced, the way his team performed with a true freshman quarterback starting the first game of the season and his career, he deserves some praise here. 

It appears that Mason struck gold in hiring both Todd Fitch and Ted Roof to run his offense and defense this season. The Commodores had a great gameplan, and this staff had this team ready to play, and they took the 10th ranked team in the nation to the wire on the road. Mason is a winner this week.  

KJ Costello: We mentioned him and his numbers above, and while he has been a major college starter at Stanford, the transfer played like the seconding coming of Joe Burrow in Baton Rouge. The only problem for Tiger fans,  he was wearing the wrong color jersey. 

LOSERS

LSU: In their defense, the Tigers lost as much or more talent than anyone in the nation after last season, so them being a bit weaker this season wasn't unexpected. However, their defense was atrocious.  Granted, they were without All-American corner Derek Stingley Jr., who, according to reports, was hospitalized Friday night with a non-COvid illness. His presence might have helped some but not enough to make the Tigers defense a winner in this one. 

Georgia Quarterbacks: D'Wan Mathis started the game at Arkansas for Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs, but he was ineffective and was replaced. Stetson Bennet, the fourth-string quarterback when fall practice began, had to come off the bench and rescue the Dogs in Fayetteville. Arkansas gave the more talented visitors a game for 30 minutes before the visitors from Athens got it together. Still, this leaves the Dogs with significant issues at the most critical position on the field,   

Sep 26, 2020; Auburn, Alabama, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn reacts to a call against his team during the second quarter against the Kentucky Wildcats at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Kentucky-AuburnOfficials: It was the first game of the season for the officials, but the closing moments of the first half we not pretty for this crew. Video replay appeared to show that they missed a call costing the Wildcats a touchdown. Then they returned the favor costing Auburn six-points on the very next play. To say either head coach was happy about the sequence would be a lie.    

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