Wow. What a day in the SEC. The most anticipated day of the season certainly delivered. For some at least. So, what did we learn? Here’s our instant over-reaction from the day.
Lane Train gets derailed
It’s hard not to have some sort of visceral reaction to this. That’s been the consistent theme for the last nine or so months when it comes to the banter between LSU and Ole Miss. Banter is probably too kind of a word, but I’m not sure we’re allowed to write out the words used to describe the feelings these two programs have for each other right now.
Saturday’s game between LSU and Ole Miss was awesome. The atmosphere was awesome. Everything about Saturday night in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium was awesome. Unless you were Lane Kiffin. Unless you were the conductor of the most chaotic, and out of sync symphony imaginable. Other than that it was great.
There is no takeaway to have here other than that LSU and Kiffin got beat, 32-24. They also got out coached. And neither of those things were supposed to happen after an offseason where you spent nearly $200 million in buyouts, new contracts, and roster construction to bring him here away from Ole Miss. It still did though. Losing that game in Oxford was unacceptable. And losing it the way they did was even more unacceptable.
I don’t think LSU was unprepared for that game against Ole Miss. But, I know for a fact that Ole Miss didn’t have a single off-field court hearing, “injury” report drama, or weird social media/PR stunt where they hired fraternities and sororities to make fake College GameDay signs to taunt their own team ahead of Saturday. They just moved in silence, and after the clock hit double zeroes they moved to 3-0 in the standings.
Feels like 2014…again
Nobody has had a better start to the 2026 college football season than the state of Mississippi. Ole Miss felt like it was America’s team on Saturday, and much of the offseason if we are being honest. On Saturday it felt like 49 of the 50 states were pulling for one side, and it wasn’t the one wearing purple and gold. Ole Miss’ win on Saturday night was a statement win, and it was also a definitive declaration that they won the breakup, for this year at least.
There were a ton of questions that the Rebels had to answer coming into this season, but after three games it seems pretty clear that as long as No. 6 has the ball in his hands with a chance to win, then they have the answer to most of those questions.
It’s not just Ole Miss getting their flowers through the first quarter of the season though. Mississippi State also had a huge statement win on Saturday when they went to Columbia, S.C. and showed everyone that Nick Saban was right about Kamario Taylor, and so were they. Taylor had about as bad of a start as he could have going 0-for-4 on his first four attempts while watching South Carolina storm out to a 16-0 lead. That was erased quickly, and Taylor hit his next eight pass attempts that included four for touchdowns, and the Bulldogs went on a 41-7 scoring run. This was a game that head coach Shane Beamer had to have before the Gamecocks get into the meat of their schedule, and not only did South Carolina lose, they got embarrassed.
Taylor’s meteoric rise has been phenomenal to watch and the praise and recognition he, and State, are getting are incredibly deserved. The ceiling for both of these teams from the Magnolia state is only getting higher.
Texas 8 & 4 here we come
It’s not unreasonable to think that next Saturday’s game in Tiger Stadium is a September elimination game. Texas A&M and LSU were anointed the Week 4 prime-time slot on ABC, and it may have jinxed both teams in Week 3. LSU losing to Ole Miss was understandable. Texas A&M losing at home to Kentucky was not.
The Aggies got whipped for almost all four quarters, but the third quarter left a lasting bruise and black eye from the Wildcats. They were outscored 21-0 in the third quarter. The defense couldn’t stop Kentucky’s ground game when they needed to, and third-year starter Marcel Reed looked like he made no progression from last year to now when it comes to decision making and protecting the football. Reed finished the game with two interceptions and a 53.1% completion percentage.
The scary part for A&M is that this loss was at home, and now they’ll face road trips to LSU and Alabama in their next five games. That’s before closing out the year with Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee in consecutive weeks in the month of November.
An 8-4 record may not be just a joke this year. It may be their actual ceiling.
New Truths
The confidence we had in what we “knew” about teams in the SEC after Week 1 has almost done a complete 180. There’s still a lot of season left, but for some teams it may be a much longer one than they initially expected. We’re a quarter of the way through the season, and for now here are some new truths about SEC teams in no particular order.
1. Florida is a problem.
2. Alabama still has issues, but none of them are at quarterback.
3. Shane Beamer is in trouble.
4. John Mateer and Oklahoma are not very good.
5. Georgia is somehow the best team in the country that no one is talking about.
Best thing you saw all day
I’m not sure I have the words still for what happened in Nashville at the end of the Vanderbilt-N.C. State game. If you missed it, N.C. State had a three-point lead after intercepting a pass inside their 5-yard line with a minute to go in the fourth quarter. With six seconds left, and facing fourth down, they opted to try and take a safety to run out the clock instead of punt. Their quarterback got a little greedy in the end zone and managed to get hit, fumble, and Vanderbilt recovered in the end zone for a touchdown.
It was the most improbable win in college football since maybe the Kick Six. Prior to Saturday college football teams were 1,046-1 when holding a lead and the ball with less than 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter. That record is now 1,046-2 and Vanderbilt’s 3-0 thanks to what some are calling the Music City Miracle 2.0.
