Last season, Southeastern Conference teams lost two games in Week 1. This first week, even with the Florida football win in Week 0, the SEC suffered four losses in the first week of the season.
It was a bit of a rough start for the Southeastern Conference in the first week of the college football season.
Despite Florida football’s 24-20 Week 0 win over Miami in Orlando, the SEC suffered four losses in the first full week of the season.
That’s right, four!
So, what went wrong?
Memphis 15, Mississippi 10
I suggested this would be a tough game for the Rebels. Well, the Memphis defense held Ole’ Miss to just 80 yards rushing while quarterback Matt Corral had just 93 yards in the air on 9-for-19 passing.
Needless to say, this was a terrible game for Mississippi as the Tigers’ defense had their number most of the night. Bryce Huff and JJ Russell each had two tackles for loss against an offensive line for Ole’ Miss that is suspect, at best.
North Carolina 24, South Carolina 20
This game was similar to Florida football’s 24-20 win over Miami in just two ways — in-state rivals and the game was on a neutral field.
Other than that, South Carolina built up a 20-9 lead going into the fourth quarter only to watch UNC quarterback Sam Howell throw for a pair of touchdowns to spark a 15-point fourth quarter for the Tar Heels.
Basically, Cocky kind of got it handed to them in the fourth quarter and North Carolina reaped the rewards for late lackadaisical play.
Georgia State 38, Tennessee 30
The Volunteers got a monster game from quarterback Jarrett Guarantano — 311 yards and two touchdowns on 26-for-40 passing.
But, the Tennessee defense was horrible. Georgia State got three rushing touchdowns from three different scorers — including the quarterback, Dan Ellington. For his efforts, Ellington was 11-for-24 with 139 yards and two touchdowns for Georgia State.
Things are not looking too good on Rocky Top.
Wyoming 37, Missouri 31
And here I thought Missouri would be a world-beater in the SEC.
Despite Kelly Bryant rocking the house with 423 yards and two touchdowns on 31-for-48 passing, the Tigers’ defense allowed 27 points in the second quarter.
Cowboys’ quarterback Sean Chambers had 120 yards on just 12 carries and a touchdown. Oh, he also went 6-for-16 passing for 92 yards. Running back Zazavian Valladay added 118 yards on the ground and a touchdown on 15 carries.
There were also some close shaves this week:
Arkansas 30, Portland State 13
Ben Hicks was consistent at quarterback and Rakeem Boyd had 114 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. But, the Razorbacks only managed to beat Portland State by seven … at home!
Auburn 27, Oregon 21
Gus Malzahn needed a win, and he got one. Barely.
Oregon was in full control of this game in the first half, but they shot themselves in the foot in the second half and Auburn capitalized by scoring 21 points in the second half to eke out the win.
What do you think about the first week of play in the SEC? Let us know in the comments below or message us on Twitter @hailfloridahail.