Crazy week in college football manages to top previous week

I honestly did not think we would top how cool last week was in the SEC, but I was mistaken. Greatly mistaken.

Saturday saw the landscape of the conference change, albeit possibly for the short-term. We are going to enjoy it anyway. Well, most of us. Alabama, Tennessee, and Missouri may not share the sentiment.

Ranked teams fell. More importantly, they fell to unranked “basement dwellers.”  No doubt members of other P4 conferences were watching with delight, and outside of Texas using the bye week to bump themselves back into the No. 1 spot, the SEC will have lost its firm hold of the Top 5 rankings and possibly even the Top 10. Let’s take a look at the SEC scores from Week 6.

Three Takeaway Games

(1) Alabama 35, Vanderbilt 40: No one, and I mean no one, outside of anyone how cheers for the gold and black had the No. 1 ranked Crimson Tide leaving Nashville with a loss.

Imagine beating a No. 1-ranked Alabama. Now imagine beating them in the quietest football stadium in the SEC. Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia’s pass to Junior Sherrill late in the 3rd quarter on 4th and 1 was one of the most beautiful things a fan has ever seen. So perfect in fact, I heard Jose Canseco sent it a private message asking it out to dinner. It also gave Vandy a 30-21 lead, which would not be their final scoring need, but it did give an amazing amount of momentum.

The Commodores did not look like the traditional team we casually see when no one else is playing. They looked polished on offense, and their ability to score almost at will against Bama gave them not only their first victory over No. 1 ranked team (or even Top 5 for that matter) in program history. It also marked the first time they have beaten Alabama in over 40-years.

The Crimson Tide getting knocked off the top of the pedestal will not keep them out of the playoffs, but it could lessen their seeding depending on how a few other things play out for the other top teams.

Arkansas 19, (4) Tennessee 14: Volunteer fans really only have one reason to be upset, and that is the loss overall. They have a couple of items to second guess. One being head coach Josh Heupel’s decision to let Arkansas score the go-ahead touchdown very late in the 4th quarter.

Another is whether or not their prize quarterback Nico Iamaleava has the ability to make smart decisions late in a crunch time scenario. I am not questioning the kid’s ability to play, but being an elite quarterback in the SEC and a hopeful for the Heisman running out of bounds with no time left on the clock might give an intelligent Vols fan pause.

Outside of momentum, confidence, and a building point, there may not be much of an impact on Arkansas’s outlook. If the Hogs can run the gauntlet and win out, there is a chance of an SEC Championship appearance.

There is also a very, very slim chance of making the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoffs. And, for clarity and emphasis, that is a lot of “ifs” and a whole lot of “slim chances.”

It is also way too early to have high hopes like this in Fayetteville. But at least Sam Pittman’s seat just got a little bit cooler. Winning begets winning, but Arkansas has a tendency to do what Arkansas does.

(25) Texas A&M 41, (9) Missouri 10: Who had the Aggies dominating Missouri on their BINGO card? Not me. Not you. Not anyone.

An upset prediction here and there? Yes, but definitely not a score which made late viewers to the game to rub their eyes to ensure they were seeing things correctly.  No doubt Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz needed a few of his last name’s first syllable on his flight back to Columbia.

If A&M can build more and hold momentum off this victory, then they might be able to slide into the backend of the playoffs.

With LSU and Texas both waiting on the schedule, that will be tough. But with the Aggies’ lone loss being to Notre Dame, winning one of those two along with the remainder of their schedule, a berth for the national championship may just be a possibility.

Remaining SEC Results for Week 5

(12) Ole Miss 27,  South Carolina 3: The end result of this game was expected, but perhaps no the score. The Gamecocks had looked like a team surging to take a higher place in the SEC’s mid-tier hierarchy. The Rebels reminded South Carolina while they will not be among the elite, at least not at this time. No doubt Gamecocks Head Coach Shane Beamer will keep his season going in a positive direction but not to the results of anything special.

Florida 24, UCF 13: The key significance of this game’s results is it could possibly be a starting point for Billy Napier to save his job. My “insider” in Gainesville says Napier’s departure is a done deal, but it will most likely be at season’s end. My bet is if his Gators could win out or possibly only drop one more and win a bowl game, he might still be at the helm next year. Unfortunately for him, Georgia, Texas, LSU and Ole Miss all still have reservations on the Florida schedule. With a 3-2 record currently, some could think the powers that be in Florida might be forgiving with even a four-loss season given that schedule; however, the big scope of recent seasons will probably only afford him to close with three.

(5) Georgia 31, Auburn 13: This started off slow, but a late first half touchdown pass from Georgia’s Carson Beck to wide receiver Dominic Lovett started a scoring trend for the Bulldogs which carried over to the second half. Hugh Freeze looked as stressed as ever. Nine out of nine times, getting drilled in a football game will do that to a head coach.

Check back with us daily and next week for more thoughts on SEC Football.