By Chris Marler
It’s a bye week for several teams around the league which means this week will be a little lighter than most. Not because we’re tired, and not because we even need the rest, honestly. It’s because with next week’s slate, we are going on an absolute bender.
Let’s pace ourselves because October is a marathon, not a sprint.
Vanderbilt at Alabama
Vanderbilt travels to Alabama looking to extend a streak for themselves and quarterback Diego Pavia. Pavia has never lost to an Alabama team in his college career, and he’s leading a Vanderbilt squad that’s far more than a Cinderella story, even if the rest of the country hasn’t caught on yet.
Vanderbilt has the 4th best scoring offense in America at 49 points per game. They’re also averaging over 494 yards of offense per game and are second in the SEC in rushing offense at 229 yards per game. Alabama cannot stop the run this season, and they are coming off a game where they allowed nearly seven yards per carry to Georgia.
Vanderbilt has a statistical advantage in almost every category. The one advantage they don’t have this year is sneaking up on Alabama. The Tide will get it done at home. Surely they will. Right?
NEW: Diego Pavia to @clowfb on playing at Alabama:
“The crowd, I think, is going to be a big factor in the game. But we just gotta play within the white lines. If we do that, if we play our game, it won’t be close.”https://t.co/u6X5fb6hcY https://t.co/vRhyi6TBET pic.twitter.com/23T1p6VhtG
— On3 (@On3sports) October 1, 2025
The Winning
Alabama 34, Vanderbilt 23
The Boozing
Seltzers, 40 of them.
Remember how for like the entire history of alcohol no red-blooded American man would have ever been caught drinking a seltzer. That’s not what men do! You drink the hard stuff. I’m talking about a watered down 4% alcohol domestic beer that helps you be louder, fight quicker and suppress your emotional instability way harder. Men stuff!
Now you can’t go to a tailgate, Rouses, or local bar without seeing a seltzer. And, with good reason because they are delicious. Regardless, for roughly 40 years men would’ve scoffed at those. Just like we would’ve scoffed at the idea of being scared of Vanderbilt. Now fast forward to 2025 and Vanderbilt is coming off their first win in 40 years against Alabama, and looking for another. So grab some seltzers. Forty of them. One for every point they scored on Alabama last year and for every year Diego Pavia has been in college.
Mississippi State at Texas A&M
Texas A&M is supposed to be the program with all the money and the five-star recruits. Mississippi State? The Bulldogs were picked near the bottom of the West again, like usual. And yet, since the Aggies joined the SEC, the record in this series is basically a coin flip. A&M is up just 7–6 and over the last 10 meetings, it’s dead even at 5–5.
A&M won the last two, beating a Lebby led team 34-24 and crushing State the year before 51–10. But the Bulldogs took the previous two, including a 42–24 win in 2022 that didn’t even feel close. History says neither side ever holds onto momentum for long.
The Winning
Texas A&M 30, Mississippi State 23
The Boozing
A Salty Dog.
Earlier this week, Texas A&M’s beloved Collie Rev passed away. We’ll almost never pass up a chance to take shots at the Aggies, whether it’s the cult-like singalongs, the milkman-era cheerleaders, or their countless bizarre traditions. But a dog? Not happening. Not Reveille. And, not Bully, for that matter. Now, Uga is a different story because that little leg humping, mouth-breather looks like if Danny Devito were a dog.
But a Salty Dog is perfect for Saturday. Vodka, grapefruit juice and a salted rim. Take a sip, and pour one out for Rev. The goodest of girls. RIP.
Texas A&M Athletics mourns the loss of our Former First Lady of Aggieland, Reveille IX.
We are grateful for the joy and spirit she brought to us all throughout campus and on game days ❤️
Here. pic.twitter.com/x4JgAHdITb
— Texas A&M Athletics (@12thMan) September 29, 2025
Texas at Florida
Does Las Vegas know something we don’t? Do sportsbooks everywhere believe in Billy Napier more than his entire fanbase and administration? Apparently so, because there is no way this game should only be a 6.5 point spread in favor of Texas.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the biggest believer in Texas right now. However, the Longhorns are 4-1 coming off a bye week under Steve Sarkisian. Honestly, I expect something similar to what we saw in the Miami game, where Florida was also a touchdown underdog. The real question is how this Gator offense plans to score against one of the nation’s top defenses over the last two seasons.
The Winning
Texas 31, Florida 10
The Boozing
A 2009 Silver Oak Cabernet.
When I was 11, the movie Titanic came out. I was a huge history nerd at the time, and was fascinated by the Titanic. I devoured every book, documentary and bit of Titanic content I could find on Microsoft Encarta (RIP). The summer before sixth grade, I heard a blockbuster movie about the ship was coming out at Christmas, and I was ecstatic. My mom took me on opening night. Probably worth noting here that I clearly didn’t have a ton of friends.
I went to see the movie and was crushed to realize it wasn’t really about the ship’s history at all, it was a sappy romance where an 84-year-old tossed away a diamond that could’ve paid for her grandkids’ grandkids to go to college. To top it off, the one scene my 12-year-old self actually wanted to watch was blocked by my mom’s hand. Biggest letdown since learning Santa wasn’t real.
That’s how disappointing Arch Manning and DJ Lagway have been this season. Normally, I would never recommend wine at a tailgate, but it’s deserved for these two. Make sure it’s from 2009 to pay homage to these schools going a combined 26-2 that year, but coming up just short of winning a national title. Still, it’s a great vintage. Not as good as the 2005 or the 2008 from Silver Oak, but a great vintage, nonetheless.
Now, imagine your sadness when you open the bottle on Saturday and realize that Arch sucks, DJ Sucks and the bottle itself is corked. Sad day.
More SEC News
