Week 3 in the SEC brought us a Game of the Year candidate, another Arkansas-Ole Miss shootout, a thriller at Notre Dame, and five interceptions from one quarterback.
Let’s break down the key stat or performance from each Week 3 SEC matchup that highlights why each team won or lost.
Alabama – 38-14 win over Wisconsin
Defense was all over Wisconsin, recording four sacks and two interceptions. The Crimson Tide held the Badgers to 209 total yards. Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell is likely playing for his job the rest of the season, but it’s still impressive to dominate a Big Ten team from start to finish. Has Alabama reset after the Week 1 embarrassment at Florida State? We will see at Georgia in two weeks.
Arkansas – 41-35 loss at No. 17 Ole Miss
Scott Starzyk missed two field goals. Crucial misses in a six-point game. Starzyk is a true freshman and was the No. 1 kicking prospect coming out of high school. He should develop into a reliable kicker. Arkansas’ offense was explosive for the third-straight week. The Rebels and Razorbacks almost always play high-scoring games that come down to a missed kick or late turnover.
Auburn – 31-15 win over South Alabama
The Tigers had a +2 turnover margin. This was a vanilla performance by Auburn against the in-state Jaguars. The Tigers led 28-9 at the half and coasted to a win. Hugh Freeze admitted that his gameplan up two scores was “probably a bit too conservative.” Freeze will be more liberal on offense when his Tigers visit Jackson Arnold’s old team in Norman, Oklahoma, next Saturday.
Florida – 20-10 loss at No. 3 LSU
DJ Lagway threw five interceptions, including a pick-six. There is no statistic or performance from the Florida-LSU game to better underscore how the Gators lost. Honestly, it is mindboggling that Florida only lost by 10 when it posted a -4 turnover margin (LSU’s own offensive struggles are a big reason). Historically, teams with a -4 turnover margin win less than 10% of games.
Georgia – 44-41 OT win at No. 15 Tennessee
Bulldogs show resiliency by coming back from three different deficits, including 21-7 in the first quarter, to win the game in overtime. Gunner Stockton played the best game of his career (304 passing, averaged 9.8 yards per completion, and two TDs) and threw a perfect 28-yard fade touchdown to London Humphreys on fourth down. A successful two-point conversion tied the game at 38. Georgia needed Stockton and every bit of the offense’s 502 yards and 5 TDs to edge Tennessee’s 496 yards and five TDs.
Kentucky – 48-23 win over Eastern Michigan
New starting QB Cutter Boley threw for 240 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. The redshirt freshman started in place of the injured Zach Calzada. Boley’s performance is worth highlighting after Calzada was mostly ineffective against Toledo last week (85 yards and an interception) before injuring his shoulder. The Wildcats need Boley to continue playing well if they expect to have a chance at South Carolina in two weeks.
LSU – 20-10 win over Florida
The Tigers pressured DJ Lagway throughout the game, recording three sacks. Linebacker Davhon Keys was LSU’s defensive stalwart, leading the team with 15 tackles, including a tackle for loss and a half sack. You read about Lagway’s five interceptions, which led to a pick-six. The Tigers offense has yet to put together an eye-popping performance, but the defense is playing elite. Through three games, LSU has only allowed two red zone trips.
Mississippi State – 63-0 win over Alcorn State
MSU rushed for 283 yards and six touchdowns. The FCS team from Alcorn, Mississippi, was expectedly overmatched against the Bulldogs. After upsetting then-No. 12 Arizona State, it is a positive sign that MSU avoided a letdown and had a big offensive output (515) against a team it should dominate.
Missouri – 52-10 win over Louisiana
Tigers rushed for 427 yards and five touchdowns. Running back Ahmad Hardy’s 250 yards is the most by an FBS player in a single game this season. Missouri is quietly 3-0 and averaging 47 points per game. The Tigers will seek to maintain momentum on the ground when they open SEC play, hosting South Carolina on Saturday.
Oklahoma – 42-3 win at Temple
Sooners defense dominated the Owls, stifling them for 104 total yards (26 rushing, 78 passing). A complete performance by Oklahoma. The offense was balanced, passing for 287 and rushing for 228. Sooners appear to be a complete team heading into their SEC opener against Auburn – a matchup of upstarts that should reveal a lot about the 2025 trajectory for each team. One last note from this game that exemplifies why college sports are the best: Oklahoma’s band didn’t travel with the team to Philadelphia, so one of Temple’s crosstown basketball rivals, Saint Joe’s, filled in for the Sooners’ band. Maybe Saint Joe’s band saw a fellow academic institution in need and wanted to help. Or they just wanted a front row seat to watch their big rival get crushed.
Ole Miss – 41-35 win over Arkansas
Backup QB Trinidad Chambliss shined with 353 passing yards, 62 rushing, and three total touchdowns. If Austin Simmons is out for an extended period (ankle injury), the Rebels offense should remain explosive with Chambliss at the helm. The defense allowed over 500 yards to Arkansas, underscoring how crucial it was for the offense not to take a step back with the QB change.
South Carolina – 31-7 loss to Vanderbilt
Gamecocks turn the ball over four times (two fumbles, two interceptions). Sellers suffering a concussion and leaving the game in the second quarter was critical. However, South Carolina’s offense has struggled to consistently move the ball in all three games this season. Only scoring seven and losing by 24 shows the Gamecocks have issues to fix beyond QB play.
Tennessee – 44-41 OT loss to No. 6 Georgia
Georgia possessed the ball for over 40 minutes. On the surface, time of possession is a moot point when the Vols offense connected on passing touchdowns of 72, 56, and 32 yards. But when the game is this tight and the head coach on the other sideline has been in these moments countless times, Georgia doubling up on time of possession and allowing for more scoring opportunities was crucial. Case in point: Bulldogs opened the second half with a 70-yard touchdown drive that took the lead and milked 7:41 off the clock.
Texas – 27-10 win over UTEP
Longhorns limit UTEP to 259 total yards. Multiple problems plague Texas’ offense in the early going this season, but the defense is consistently playing at an elite level through three games. Arch Manning has one more “get right” game against Sam Houston before Texas opens SEC play in the Swamp against a desperate Florida squad.
Texas A&M – 41-40 win at No. 8 Notre Dame
Marcell Reed passes for 360 yards (9.7 average) and throws the game-winning 11-yard touchdown pass with 13 seconds left. Receiver Mario Craver had 207 yards on seven catches, but I gave the nod to highlight Reed’s performance, despite completing less than 50% of his passes, because he delivered the game-winning TD pass on fourth and goal while flushed from the pocket. A defining moment that helped A&M beat a ranked team on the road for the first time since 2014.
Vanderbilt – 31-7 win at No. 11 South Carolina
Commodores controlled time of possession by holding the ball for nearly 12 more minutes than South Carolina. Sellers’ injury was a critical moment that limited the Gamecocks offense in the second half. But Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt had multiple games last year where their offense struggled. That was not the case in Columbia last Saturday. The Dores converted 50% of their third downs (and a fourth down) and consistently moved the chains to chew clock. Vanderbilt’s offense followed the blueprint for what to do when the opposing team is without its starting QB and the backup is ineffective.
By Jake Thigpen (@Jake_Thigpen)
