2019 SEC Power Rankings: Week 2

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Hey guys! The second week of the college football season might have had better match ups than week one. We might not have learned a lot more about several teams, but that happens when you play cupcakes. Unfortunately, the injury bug has already reared its ugly head and bitten a few players. Three SEC teams alone have lost their starting QBs, two of them for the season. How did your team do in week 2? Let’s have a look. On to the rankings!

2019 SEC Power Rankings: Week 2

1. Alabama – That went as expected. There wasn’t much to learn from a lopsided game that we didn’t already know about Alabama. Tua Tagovailoa is really good and Jerry Jeudy is hard to cover. The real winner might be Henry Ruggs III, who scorched the field with his speed on the first play. The Tide’s main objective here was to polish up their play, get some quality reps for the backups, and avoid injury. Mission accomplished. They hit the road for South Carolina this weekend.

2. LSU – The Tigers could easily be the #1 team right now. With an impressive beating of Texas, LSU has put the country on notice. If you didn’t know Joe Burrow before Saturday, you do now. Newsflash: LSU has a passing attack now. With almost 500 yards passing, Burrow spread the ball all over the field, giving three WRs 100+ yards. Justin Jefferson reeled in 163 yards and 3 touchdowns alone. The only question left for LSU is the defense, allowing over 500 yards of offense. They host Northwestern State this weekend.

3. Georgia – Pretty much exactly like the Alabama game, the Bulldogs used Murray State as a glorified scrimmage. After a slow start, Georgia did what Georgia does: grind down opponents. QB Jake Fromm and RB D’Andre Swift put up solid numbers and then exited the game to avoid injury. The second and third strings got some valuable game time reps while avoiding injury to the starters. They have another game like this coming up against Arkansas State.

4. Auburn – It might not seem like it, but Auburn avoided a trap game last Saturday. Tulane is a much better team than most think and they gave Auburn some fits early. QB Bo Nix settled in and led the Tigers through the air, with over 200 yards and a touchdown. RB JaTarvious Whitlow almost broke 100 yards on the ground, but fumbled the ball 3 times. WRs Will Hastings and Seth Williams left the game with injuries, which leaves 1 healthy starting WR on the season. They get Kent State this weekend to get healthy, before starting conference play.

5. Florida – After a rocky start against Miami in week 0, Florida used their bye week to get back on track. QB Feleipe Franks played a near perfect game, going 25/27 with 270 yards and 2 touchdowns. I never would have believed it to be honest. The defense sacked UT Martin all night, and looks to be the cornerstone of this team. The downside: the offensive line needs work and WR Kadarius Toney went down with an injury. They could use him when they head to Kentucky this weekend.

6. Texas A&M – The upset a few people predicted never arrived on Saturday. The Aggies were essentially shutdown by Clemson until a last second touchdown covered the spread (thank you Jimbo.) QB Kellen Mond looked downright pedestrian against the Tigers defense, never gaining any momentum. The offense didn’t even break 300 total yards all game, and had less than 100 before half. The defense couldn’t stop the potent Clemson offense all night either. A&M needs to fix some problems with conference play looming, but the can tune up against Lamar.

7. Kentucky – A lopsided win came at a big cost for the Wildcats this past weekend. Starting QB Terry Wilson went down with a knee injury in the game, and will now miss the season with a torn patellar tendon. Backup Sawyer Smith will take the starting role for the rest of the season, which doesn’t seem terrible with how he played this past weekend. He’ll need to be ready though, Florida is a little better than Eastern Michigan.

8. Mississippi State – The Bulldogs notched their 2nd win of the season against an inferior opponent, but looked like a more complete team in this outing. RB Kylin Hill carried the team with over 120 yards and a touchdown on the ground. The defense looked better, shutting down Southern Miss for most of the game. Unfortunately, QB Tommy Stevens went out of the game with an injury before halftime. Hopefully he’s ok and will be back this Saturday against Kansas State.

9. Missouri – Oh, so we’re doing that thing where Missouri isn’t sure what team they want to be? I thought we were passed that, but ok. Lose to Wyoming and then beat West Virginia? QB Kelly Bryant was as advertised here, racking up 3 touchdown passes. RB Larry Rountree III lead a really effective rush attack, which the Tigers have been missing lately. Even the defense stepped up and won the turnover battle. Maybe this version of Missouri will stick around. They host SE Missouri State.

10. South Carolina – How do you respond to losing to an instate rival? Beat the hell out of an inferior opponent! The Gamecocks were looking to make a statement, and hung up 72 points on poor Charleston Southern. Freshman QB Ryan Hilinski played well filling in for the injured Jake Bentley. HC Will Muschamp eased Hilinski in, letting him get comfortable. Unfortunately, the comfort ends this weekend when Alabama comes to town.

11. Ole Miss – Ole Miss really needed this win to springboard them into conference play. QB Matt Corral had a much better game than last week and looked more comfortable leading the offense. WR Elijah Moore had a huge game and looks to be the next big Ole Miss deep threat, reeling in two touchdowns. It’s hard to tell if the defense has improved since last week (since Arkansas isn’t exactly great.) They’ll notch another win against SE Louisiana this weekend.

12. Arkansas – Over 680 days. That’s how long it’s been since Arkansas won a conference game. Unfortunately for the Razorbacks, the streak continues. Arkansas never seemed to be in the game against Ole Miss, but the QB battle should be settled now. Nick Starkel should be the guy going forward, as Ben Hicks just couldn’t get the offense moving. Hicks will likely still see the field, but the offense needs the spark that Starkel brings. A win isn’t guaranteed next week against Colorado State, but they need it desperately.

13. Vanderbilt – I’ll be honest, I thought Vanderbilt did ok against Georgia. But against Purdue? They needed to show a little more fight. The run defense was stellar until the 4th quarter, but they allowed over 500 passing yards. FIVE. HUNDRED. Say what you want about QB Riley Neal, but it’s hard to win when your defense is that easy to throw on. Head Coach Derek Mason is supposed to be a defensive specialist, and he’ll need to upcoming bye week to fix it.

14. Tennessee – If you thought it couldn’t get worse for UT, you’d be wrong. How do you give up that pass with less than a minute to go?

Poppa Bear is the Lead SEC Analyst for the SoBros Network, and serves as our resident expert on the human anatomy, fixin’ stuff, and tomatoes. Follow on Twitter:@SoBroPoppaBear

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