ICYMI: A wild Saturday night in the SEC

Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

By Chris Marler

Whoever made the SEC’s Week 2 schedule must have had the YouTube TV quad box in mind, there’s no other reason so many games kick off at the same time Saturday night.

The assumption is most fans were locked in on LSU while tracking Mississippi State’s stunning win over Arizona State. Here’s everything else you may have missed in the SEC.

Florida lost

Everyone already knew that, but let’s absolutely talk about it again. The confidence and hubris from Gator fans coming into this season never matched the talent on that roster. It also overlooked just how unpredictable college football is, given the whole sport relies on 18- to 22-year-olds delivering exactly what we expect every Saturday.

Even if you knew South Florida won with a last second field goal you may have missed how they got there. Remember the shoe throw? Welcome to Spitgate.

Choose your fighter: Florida dumbass penalties edition pic.twitter.com/43woTui2wf

— Riley (@Ri_S_OB) September 6, 2025

Florida plays four ranked opponents in a row, and four top-ten teams in their next six games.

Bama is back?

Probably not. But, at least they had a better outcome Saturday against a Louisiana-Monroe team that has already won in Bryant-Denny Stadium. The defense may have pitched a shutout, but it was the offense that stole the spotlight — and likely gave Alabama fans some much-needed peace of mind.

Ty Simpson finished 17-of-17 for 226 yards and three touchdowns. No quarterback in the history of the program has ever started a game by completing his first 17 passes. On a night when the offense piled up 583 yards, three quarterbacks each threw at least two touchdowns and combined to go 29-of-33 for 371 yards at 11.2 yards per attempt.

Alabama QB Ty Simpson in Week 2:

🐘 17/17
🐘 226 YDS
🐘 4 Total TDS
🐘 0 INTS@AlabamaFTBL pic.twitter.com/TzCf3UOCwf

— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 7, 2025

Beamer Ball

South Carolina played a terribly underwhelming game against South Carolina State. The Gamecocks won 38-10, but had a very difficult time scoring early. They did however finish the game with a touchdown in all three phases: offense, a defensive fumble return, and not one but two punt returns for touchdowns from Vicari Swain.

Coaches kept using one word to describe Swain this offseason: playmaker. That’s exactly why they wanted him back deep fielding punts on special teams.

They were clearly right, as Swain has returned a punt for a touchdown in both games this season giving him three on the year already.

Put Vicari Swain’s jersey in the rafters

Two punt return TDs in two games is all I need to see 🐐 pic.twitter.com/TybGe3OCT4

— J.P. Hovey (@jhovey34) September 7, 2025

Vanderbilt and Diego Pavia aren’t playing around

The mark of a coach is how well they can make in-game adjustments, and Clark Lea has shown he can do exactly that. Vanderbilt trailed Virginia Tech 20-10 at halftime.

The final score was 44-20.

Diego Pavia has never been better

Vanderbilt has a chance in every game he suits up
pic.twitter.com/MuvOVZjGrq

— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) September 7, 2025

Vanderbilt dominated the second half on the road in Blacksburg, scoring on five straight drives and holding the Hokies to just 21 yards in the final 30 minutes. They also controlled the clock the entire second half, holding onto the ball for 21 minutes and 54 seconds of the second half.

Vanderbilt racked up 490 yards of offense, and the most alarming part is they still weren’t at their best, committing two turnovers and 11 penalties.

Jordan-Hare is back to being a nightmare for visitors

Sure, it was Ball State, but Auburn might actually be back. The Tigers have long thrived on their home-field advantage, and Saturday felt like a return to that. However, now they’ve added a second Jumbotron, one of the best rosters in the entire country, and most importantly 85,000 of the most loyal fans in the country.