Alabama’s back, Florida’s swamped and cowbells are probably still ringing in Starkville, Mississippi.
It was another weekend filled with fascinating SEC football storylines.
There’s promise of more theater ahead Saturday with “College GameDay” headed to Knoxville, Tennessee, where Kirby Smart looks to continue his dominance over Tennessee in a 3:30 p.m. game at Neyland Stadium.
Smart has won eight in a row over the Vols, but Tennessee coach Josh Heupel has his Big Orange team coming off a record-setting offensive performance while Smart’s Bulldogs have had early struggles.
First things first, who is hot and cold after Saturday’s SEC action that had fans on the edge of their seats two weeks into the 2025 season:
Hot: Mississippi State
The goal posts came down in Starkville after the Maroon Bulldogs — clad in all-black uniforms — pulled out a 24-20 upset win over No. 12-ranked Arizona State.
Quarterback Blake Shapen hit Brenen Thompson with a 58-yard touchdown pass with 30 seconds left after the Sun Devils kicked a go-ahead field goal with 1:38 left to take their first lead of the night.
Mississippi State’s defense forced the Sun Devils to settle for the short-lived 3-point lead with a three-down, goal-line stand.
Arizona State’s final drive after Shapen’s heroics ended quickly when preseason first-team Big 12 quarterback Sam Leavitt was intercepted on the first play of the ensuing possession.
Cold: Billy Napier
The Florida head coach is back on the hot seat after the Gators lost to South Florida on a last-second field goal, 18-16.
Napier, who pulled off one of the most stunning midseason turnarounds to save his job last season, said Florida was simply “not good enough.”
The Gators were also not disciplined enough. Two penalties sparked the Bulls’ game-winning drive, a pass interference and an unsportsmanlike conduct on defensive lineman Brendan Bett for spitting in the face mask of South Florida lineman Cole Skinner.
Napier is 20-20 in his four seasons leading the Gators, and ESPN is reporting his contract buyout ($20.4 million) with Florida’s schedule on the verge of turning murderous — games at No. 3 LSU and at No. 5 Miami before a home game with No. 7 Texas and another road trip at No. 19 Texas A&M.
Hot: Kalen DeBoer
The Alabama head coach led a 73-0 home win over Louisiana Monroe to stop the bleeding in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, after the Tide’s disappointing, season-opening loss at Florida State, 31-17.
Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson completed a school-record 17 consecutive passes to open the game as the Tide scored on each of their 11 possessions and held the Sun Belt Conference Warhawks to 148 yards.
DeBoer had said he wanted Alabama to “cut it loose,” and the Tide did just that despite playing without star receiver Ryan Williams (concussion) leading into Saturday’s showdown with Big Ten opponent Wisconsin in Tuscaloosa.
Cold: Georgia offense
Georgia has the makings of another elite defense, but questions are swirling about the offense in the wake of a 28-6 win over Football Championship Subdivision opponent Austin Peay.
The Bulldogs, with a team talent composite rated No. 1 in the nation by 247Sports, was stopped five times at the 1-yard line at the end of the first half and failed to produce a play longer than 23 yards.
“I actually need to see what he does in practice in the game,” Smart said of quarterback Gunner Stockton, who has produced just one pass play longer than 25 yards this season — a screen pass behind the line of scrimmage to receiver Zachariah Branch that the USC transfer took 47 yards for a touchdown.
“We’ve got to find ways to be explosive, I mean, you’ve got to be able to throw the ball downfield and take shots, and that’s probably the toughest thing that I’ve been most disappointed in.”
Smart attributed UGA’s short-yardage struggles on Saturday, in part, to starting offensive linemen Earnest Greene lll (lower extremity) and Juan Gaston (ankle) being out. Both are likely to play at Tennessee.
Hot: Boomer Sooner
Sooners coach Brent Venables entered his fourth season in Norman, Oklahoma, squarely on the hot seat, but a convincing, 24-13 home win over Big Ten powerhouse Michigan should provide relief and much-needed confidence.
Oklahoma got a big performance out of Washington State transfer quarterback John Mateer, who rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another, while the Sooners defense limited Michigan to just one touchdown, that coming when Alabama transfer tailback Justice Haynes broke a 75-yard touchdown run to cut OU’s lead to 14-7 in the third quarter.
“It was a very physical game,” said the 54-year-old Venables, who was hoisted on his players’ shoulders after the game. “I think they punched back, we punched, went kind of back and forth.”
Oklahoma appears to have more slugfests in its future, particularly later in the season when it plays at No 10 South Carolina (Oct. 18), against No. 20 Ole Miss (Oct. 25), at No. 22 Tennessee (Nov. 1) and at No. 21 Alabama (Nov. 15) in succession before closing the season with Missouri and No. 3 LSU at home.
Hot: Arch Manning
The preseason Heisman Trophy winner was a winner, albeit a week later than the ideal script, but the Texas quarterback bounced back from his season-opening debacle at Ohio State in impressive fashion.
Manning had four touchdown passes in a span of less than five minutes against an overwhelmed San Jose State team in a 38-7 victory, adding a 20-yard touchdown run in the third quarter before exiting the game.
“I thought he played aggressively,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “He threw the ball down the field. I thought he did a great job extending plays. He used his arm to create explosive plays. He used his legs, scrambles for a touchdown.”
The Longhorns have winnable home games against Group of 6 programs UTEP and Sam Houston before their next SEC test at Florida on Oct. 4.
Hot: Tennessee transfer portal
The Vols continued making the most of what amounted to a QB swap when quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who led Tennessee to the College Football Playoff last season, transferred to UCLA after spring drills and former Appalachian State QB Joey Aguilar transferred to Tennessee after going through spring drills with the Bruins.
Aguilar spearheaded a 72-point outburst for the Vols — a school record for the modern era (after 1937) — in a 2-17 triumph over FCS East Tennessee, scoring 48 points in the first half before coach Josh Heupel turned the second half over to the backup quarterbacks.
Iamaleava and UCLA fell to 0-2 after a 30-23 loss to a UNLV team led by former Mississippi State and Florida coach Dan Mullen, who is leading the Rebels after a three-year hiatus from coaching.
Around the SEC
LSU 23, Louisiana Tech 7
The No. 3 Tigers took care of business at home, outgaining Tech by 211 yards in a game closer than most expected.
South Carolina 38, South Carolina State 10
Heisman Trophy candidate LaNorris Sellers had a quiet day, passing for 128 yards and a TD while running for 23 yards on eight carries. The Gamecocks special teams and defense combined for three touchdowns.
Texas A&M 44, Utah State 22
Aggies QB Marcel Reed threw for three touchdowns and ran for another before leaving the game with an injury. Coach Mike Elko said Reed will be fine to play at Notre Dame on Saturday.
Ole Miss 30, Kentucky 23
The Rebels avenged last season’s 20-17 upset loss to the Wildcats. Quarterback Austin Simmons overcame two interceptions with 235 yards passing and 44 yards rushing and a touchdown on eight attempts.
Missouri 42, Kansas 31
The Tigers won the renewal of the “Border War” rivalry against Big 12 foe Kansas, as Penn State transfer QB Beau Pribula threw for 334 yards and three touchdowns in the come-from-behind victory.
Arkansas 56, Arkansas State 14
The Razorbacks ran roughshod over the Red Wolves in the first football matchup between the in-state Football Bowl Subdivision programs, as Arkansas QB Taylen Green accounted for 390 yards and five touchdowns in the final contracted game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Auburn 42, Ball State 3
Tigers transfer QB Jackson Arnold threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns in his second start since coming to Auburn from Oklahoma, and the Auburn defense held its outmatched Mid-American Conference opponent to just 68 total yards of offense.
Vanderbilt 44, Virginia Tech 20
The Commodores rallied from a 20-10 halftime deficit to beat the ACC’s Hokies on the road, dominating the second half with 307 total yards to Virginia Tech’s 21 over the final 30 minutes in once-feared Lane Stadium.
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