WBN SEC Football Power Rankings: 9/11 Edition
By Paul Jordan
1, (2. LW) #2 ALABAMA (2-0, defeated #23 Penn State 27-11) Like last week, I reward teams for beating quality opponents rather than sisters of the poor, so Alabama moves back atop the rankings for beating Penn State on the road. Alabama’s defense is flat out nasty, holding PSU to just 251 yards overall. Trent Richardson rushed for 111 yards and sophomore Eddie Lacy went for 85 on just 11 carries. Championships are won with defense and a pounding ground game and Bama has both. AJ McCarron is not flashy, but steady and efficient and that is all they need now. He will need to make plays eventually, but he has time to progress and mature. THIS WEEK: 9/17 vs North Texas
2. (1. LW) #3 LSU (2-0, defeated Northwestern State 49-3) As expected, LSU dominated Northwestern State on the scoreboard and in the stats. LSU owned a 400 – 99 total yardage advantage and the defense allowed (-4) yards rushing on 27 carries. Jarrett Lee was near perfect, going 9-10 for 133 yards and a TD and I think the Tigers are better with Lee than Jordan Jefferson. Not going to rave on about LSU pounding a FCS school. but Thursday night’s game should be interesting. THIS WEEK: 9/15 @ #25 Mississippi State
3. (3. LW) #11 SOUTH CAROLINA (2-0, defeated Georgia 45-42) Here is where it gets tricky. I don’t know what to make over South Carolina’s win over a Georgia team that looked horrid against Boise State. Stephen Garcia was horrible, but South Carolina has Marcus Lattimore (176 yards) and Alshon Jeffery and that is going to make up for a lot of deficiencies. The offense is obviously high powered but Garcia can bring it to a crawl immediately. The defense is porous giving up 79 points in two games, but they did score two TD’s against Georgia and got a 68 yard fake punt TD. Problem is that due to their schedule, we won’t get a true read on the Gamecocks until October. THIS WEEK: 9/17 vs Navy
4. (4. LW) #14 ARKANSAS (2-0, defeated New Mexico 52-3) Arkansas has been more than impressive this year, decimating their cupcakes by the combined score of 103-10 and the Hawgs racked up 632 yards last night. No matter who runs the ball, Arkansas is getting is done. Ronnie Wingo was the leading carrier with 73 yards but the team gained a total of 259 yards. Tyler Wilson was impressive, but the Lobos are one of the worst FBS teams and are coming of a 1-11 season. For now, we will say Arkansas is good. We will see how good in two weeks when they play Alabama. THIS WEEK: 9/17 vs Troy
5. (10. LW) # 21 AUBURN (2-0, defeated #16 Mississippi State 41-34) I admit, I underestimated Auburn at the beginning of the season. I thought they would be horrible, and they still may be. But the one “x factor” about this team is that it knows how to win. In both games this year, Auburn probably should have lost, but they find a way to make that big play to pull out a win. The defense is horrible (73 points in two games) but let’s face it. The defense was not that great last year when they won the national title. I’m still not sold on Barrett Trotter but Michael Dyer is solid and for now, this team is fun to watch and they are still winning. THIS WEEK: 9/17 @ Clemson
6. (6. LW) #16 FLORIDA (2-0, defeated UAB 39-0) Is the swagger back in Gainesville? The Will Muschamp era could have not have gotten off to a better start as UF has crushed their two opponents 80-3. Jeff Brantley has looked better, but Florida focused on the ground game against UAB and tallied 300 yards. The defense could not look better and UAB go nowhere near scoring last night. With a weak SEC East, I think you have to put Florida as a co-favorite with South Carolina right now. THIS WEEK 9/17 vs Tennessee
7. (5. LW) #25 MISSISSIPPI STATE (1-1, lost to Auburn 41-34) The Bulldogs came with an inch of tying Auburn this week, so I am not going to go crazy and drop them way down. This is one of the SEC’s best offenses and they actually out gained the Tigers 531-381. Like a lot of SEC defenses this year, there are holes, but whats defense if you can put up plenty of points? Mississippi State gained 331 yards on the ground vs Auburn and Chris Relf is becoming one of the country’s best dual threat QB’s. Dan Mullen knows defense as well and I don’t think the Bulldog’s defense is nearly as bad as it looked on Saturday. It all gets real on Thursday night. THIS WEEK: 9/15 vs #2 LSU
8. (8. LW) TENNESSEE (2-0, defeated Cincinnati 45-23) Tyler Bray has been better than imaginied with 7 TD’s already on the season and close to 700 yards passing. Yes, the Vols have a potent passing attack but as pretty as that is, there are sill concerns about this team. The Vols gained just 3.6 yards a carry on the ground versus Cincinnati and allowed the Bearcats 166 yards and 6.4 yards a carry. The Vols do get some props for holding the Bearcats to 23 points after UC scored 72 the previous week. The Vols seem better than last year, but the jury is still out. THIS WEEK: 9/17 @ #16 Florida
9. (9. LW) KENTUCKY (2-0, defeated Central Michigan 28-13) The Wildcats have played 5 and a half quarters of putrid football so far this season, but you get the feeling they may have found themselves as they scored 21 straight points to put away Central Michigan. Morgan Newton has just 211 yards passing through two games against inferior defenses and this has to improve. Playmakers such as Josh Clemons and LaRod King are emerging for the offense and that gives some hope. The defense has been solid thus far, allowing just 8 points a game, which is good for 8th in the country. Kentucky fans expected a slow start with the team, but the learning window is quickly closing. THIS WEEK: 9/17 vs Louisville
10. (12. LW) VANDERBILT (2-0, defeated Connecticut 24-21) Kudos to the Commodores for knocking off the Big East Huskies. It seems that the trademark of Vandy is always a tougher than expected defense and they held UConn to just 193 total yards. On the other hand, the Commodores gained just 259 themselves. QB Larry Smith still seems as erratic as ever, but the “Dores have a semblance nof a running game with Zac Stacy and freshman Jerron Seymour shows potential. Believe it or not, the Commodores have a realistic shot at 3-0. THIS WEEK: 9/17: vs Mississippi.
11. (11. LW) MISSISSIPPI (1-1, defeated Southern Illinois 42-24) In retrospect, the BYU loss seems a bit better now, especially after BYU almost won a Texas, but Ole Miss gets no love for beating the FCS Salukis and the Rebels were actually outgained 420-315 by SIU. The Rebels did forc
e 4 turnovers though. Jeff Scott emerged for 118 rushing yards and 3 TD’s last night and the Rebels appear to be taking it slow with QB Zach Stoudt. The Rebels look better than last year, but not sure how much. THIS WEEK: 9/17 @ Vanderbilt
12. (7. LW) GEORGIA (0-2, lost to #12 South Carolina 45-42) Do the Bulldogs deserve to be number 12? No. Are they the worst team in the SEC? No. As a matter of fact, they can still compete for the SEC East, but due to a 0-2 start, there is nowhere to go but up. I have to admit. I love Aaron Murray and I love Mark Richt and have to say that the Bulldogs deserve Mike Leach if they are stupid enough to fire Richt. Just my opinion. Georgia certainly played well enough to beat South Carolina, but this team has a knack for shooting itself in the foot and now have lost three in a row and four of five. Will be interesting to see if this team rallies around Richt or implodes from here on out. THIS WEEK: 9/17 vs Coastal Carolina
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