Auburn
- This is a young team. Everyone who has heard me talk about expectations for this team knows this, and it was painfully evident yesterday. Gone are almost 30 players from last year's national champions, and there are very few impact juniors and seniors on this year's squad.
- If you hadn't headed the warnings of pretty much every media outlet that your expectations should be tempered, the Utah State miracle win should be enough to do the job. Again, I emphasize- this is an incredibly inexperienced team in all facets of the game.
- Barrett Trotter will never be Cam Newton. To expect him to be is unfair. Trotter managed the game well, made several great passes, and a few really poor throws. When it came time to step up, however, Trotter flourished. One of the things that coaches and teammates pointed out when Trotter was named the starter just weeks ago was his proficiency in the two minute drill. It showed Saturday and saved an Auburn defense that was absolutely atrocious.
- I repeat, Auburn is young on D. That being said, the Tigers will need vast improvement from their youngsters if they hope to win more than 6 games this season. Veteran linebacker Daren Bates played with the technique of a true freshman and no one else was much better. The defensive line failed to get a push or to stand up against the run game of the Aggies. Auburn must hope that the Game 1 jitters don't carry over into next week's opener, or Mississippi State will take home an easy victory.
- The Auburn receivers looked phenomenal. Coming into the year, this was a definite area of concern, especially depth-wise, but Travante Stallworth stepped up to answer the call, and seems ready to fill the role Kodi Burns played last season. Trovon Reed and Emory Blake will also be big-time play makers.
- Auburn will need to make huge strides on both the offensive and defensive lines in order to contend with the SEC elite.
- LSU is going to be GOOD! An LSU team playing without its starting quarterback and best play maker beat a very good Oregon team quite handily and was even able to must a bit of offense. There's no guarantee on if or when Jordan Jefferson will be back, but add Russell Shepherd to that mix and you have the makings of a legitimate top 5 team and an SEC Champion contender. Impressive victory for the Bayou Tigers. Oregon's all black uniforms were intimidating, but not as great as.....
- Georgia's new uniforms. Sick new digs for the Bulldogs. And I love the "Georgia" on the backs of the jerseys instead of individual names. Georgia will need everyone to work as a unit to save Mark Richt's job, and this is a nice step in the right direction. Back to football- Aaron Murray and Isaiah Crowell looked great at times, but inconsistent. The defense was picked apart by Kellen Moore, an early Heisman frontrunner, and failed to keep the team in the game. Georgia will be a contender in the SEC East by virtue of its parity, but this team needs significant improvement if they want to be a part of the SEC's elite.
- Alabama might have quarterback issues. 48-7 is a solid victory over a poor Kent State team, but 4 interceptions is a big problem. AJ McCarron had his moments, but turnovers will kill you in the SEC. Keep a watchful eye when Bama heads to Penn State next week.
- Mississippi State looked good. They also played Memphis.
- Kentucky only beat Western Kentucky by 11 points, scoring only 14. Not an impressive start for the Wildcats.
- Stephen Garcia enjoys turning the ball over, but you all knew that already. South Carolina will live and die by Garcia in each game. Unfortunately for the Gamecocks, the only thing they can count on with Garcia is inconsistency, and Spurrier and crew will never take it to the next level with him at the helm.
- Ole Miss is terrible again. Houston Nutt's seat is getting a bit warm in Oxford.
- Vanderbilt and Tennessee won relatively uninteresting matchups.
- Notre Dame still isn't very good. Interesting matchup coming with Michigan next week.
- Baylor will be a team to be reckoned with in the Big 12 err 11, err 10? 9? 0? Anyway, Robert Griffin is a stud, which those of you who followed the radio program will remember me telling you years ago. The Bears put up 50 on the vaunted TCU defense and took down the probably overrated Horned Frogs (sans Andy Dalton). This won't be Baylor's only upset this season.
- Oregon State lost to Sacramento State? Wow.
- Why couldn't we have this realignment talk during the offseason when everyone needed something to talk about? I don't want it cluttering up the actual season.
- Outside of the two marquee SEC games, not much in the way of riveting stuff this week. Stay tuned.
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