Winners and Losers from SEC Week Two
Oh, how quickly things can change in the SEC, and as proof, we proudly give you week two of the conference schedule as proof. Some things did remain the same, but some winners from week one are losers this week.
All 14 teams were active this week, and while there was only one major surprise, there are some team's still scratching their head on Monday morning while attempting to figure out what happened to them on Saturday.
THE WINNERS
Arkansas: Just one week after perhaps the most impressive win of the season, Mississippi State rolled into their matchup against first-year head coach Sam Pittman and his Razorbacks feeling good. They left feeling anything but as the Hogs won their first conference game in three seasons 21-14 over Mike Leach's bunch of Bulldogs.
Pittman staked his claim for the early season coach of the year and, in doing so, likely doomed Vanderbilt to the cellar of the standings this season.
Alabama: This one is easy in saying Nick Saban's team are winners, but they made a bit of a statement on Saturday. Their offense is perhaps the best in the conference, even with Mac Jones starting.
The Tide dismantled Texas A&M (more on them in the losers) and made it look easy.
Georgia: The Dogs didn't light up the scoreboard as often as Alabama, but their defense might be better than the Tides. The Bulldogs held Auburn to just six points in their 27-6 throttling of the Tigers in Athens.
It was a dominating performance for the Dogs.
THE LOSERS
The Bulldogs from Starkville: Last week, MSU was riding high, having taken down LSU in Baton Rouge and throwing for over 600 yards in the process. It was proof positive that Mike Leach's offense would indeed work in the SEC. Now one week later, people are once again questioning that fact.
It was a shocking and surprising win for the Hogs, and equally as stunning to the Bulldogs. It doesn't take long for teams in the SEC to figure things out, and Pittman and his staff took only six days. Look for the rest of the conference to follow the Arkansas blueprint against the Dogs the rest of the way.
Texas A&M: The Aggies struggled to a less than impressive opening game win over Vanderbilt at home, now they've been exposed. Yes, Bama is one of the best teams in the country, but A&M was No.10 entering week one and seems ready to take that next step. Now they are four steps back and still looking for an answer to tame the Tide's mastery of them.
Auburn: The Tigers got declawed on Saturday in Athens with their sophomore quarterback Bo Nix taking the brunt of the blame by their fans. It's not all on Nix, though he didn't play well, but perhaps the War Eagle clan should give the Bulldogs defense some credit.
Still, Auburn looks to be one of those teams that's not quite as good as people thought entering the season. They struggled in week one to beat Kentucky (who is also overrated and lost to Ole Miss this week) then were beaten in every aspect of the game by Georgia.
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