More upsets and dramatic finishes were on tap this past weekend. That’s life in the SEC. Here’s everything we learned from Week 8.
1. LSU is a real contender
LSU’s ranking is an absolute mystery right now. They have two one-score losses this season to teams currently ranked in the Top 12, and both of those losses came away from home. The Tigers currently sit at No. 15 in the AP Top 25 and No. 13 in the Coaches Poll.
That doesn’t matter right now because if they win out they will be in, period. That’s not an easy task considering after their bye week they’ll play three teams in the Top 20. It may not matter with how good the Tigers are playing right now though. They obliterated Auburn this weekend and had the highest winning margin in series history at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Quarterback Sam Leavitt had over 400 yards of offense and four touchdowns. The defense held the Tigers to 271 yards of offense and under 2.0 yards per carry on the ground.
LSU gets two of its first three games at home during their November gauntlet. That’s bad news for Alabama and Texas.
2. Texas (finally showed some) fight
Texas is apparently better than we think. Or, maybe their home field advantage is real. The Longhorns suffered two losses way earlier than expected, but they are now back on the right track. Quarterback Arch Manning looked much better in the second half, and some of the stars of the offense finally showed up. The Longhorns outgained Ole Miss 419-363 on the day. What was most impressive was that they played their C+ game and still beat a Top-10 team. That included three turnovers and 14 penalties for 134 yards. None of that stopped them from beating Ole Miss, and they made sure of it from the start, jumping out to a 24-3 lead at the half.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier for Texas with a minimum of two ranked opponents left in their final five games. Texas is firmly back in the college football playoff mix.
3. The safest place to be is at home
I don’t mean that in the sense of a home game. Yes, Texas and South Carolina defended their home turf this weekend and got big wins over Top 15 teams. Alabama extended its home unbeaten streak against unranked opponents to 90 games. However, the safest place for SEC teams to be this past weekend was at home on the bye. Georgia lost to unranked Auburn just two weeks ago and the No. 1 team in the country and subsequently dropped to No. 5. They were idle on Saturday and moved up two spots to No. 3. Florida was also off before their annual showdown against Georgia and moved up three spots. Not playing anyone is a good thing for some teams, and that’s great news for LSU and Alabama this weekend.
