College Football Week 2 Observations
Top Ranked SEC Teams Sleep Walk Through Competition
If you were checking in on some of those sleepy SEC games Saturday vs. inferior competition, you likely noticed some underwhelming scores. Texas and Arch Manning have yet to live up to their preseason No. 1 ranking. Manning did throw for 4 TDs, but also missed some very easy throws, and threw a terrible INT right before halftime that eliminated a scoring opportunity. They have also really struggled to get the run game going, which I believe has not allowed Arch to be super comfortable through the first 2 games.
Georgia was guilty of playing to their competition as well Saturday, only leading FCS opponent Austin Peay 14-3 at halftime. The Dawgs fumbled the ball twice, and struggled to sustain drives at times throughout the game. In addition to Austin Peay, UGA has also played Marshall thus far in the young season. Their first real test comes this weekend, as they head on the road to Knoxville to play the No. 15 Vols.
One week after a landmark win in the Brian Kelly era, LSU had a very uninspiring effort vs. in-state mid-major Louisiana Tech. The Bayou Bengals only managed 365 yards of total offense, and only had 2 explosive plays (plays of 30 yards or more) in the entire game. You would expect a little more from this offense vs. an opponent like that.
Alabama finds their mojo?
Considering the opponent, Alabama looked about as good as a team could look after coming off a disappointing season opening loss at Florida State. QB Ty Simpson was literally perfect, going 17-17 through the air, for 226 yards and 3 passing TDs. In fact, the Tide only had 4 incompletions all night among the 3 QBs that saw action, throwing 7 total TD passes.
Defensively Alabama’s defense was stifling, only allowing 148 yards, forcing 3 turnovers, and ultimately allowing zero points. In fact, ULM only gained a measly 2.96 yards per play against the Tide Saturday night.
Here’s the huge (and obvious) question now: Can this translate vs. power conference level opponents? On-tap for Alabama to finish out the month of September are the Wisconsin Badgers and the defending SEC champion Georgia Bulldogs. Will the ultra-motivated, clean & crisp Crimson Tide team show up again the next 2 weeks, or will they regress back to what we saw in week 1 in Tallahassee?
Auburn has created one of the top game atmospheres in the country
I have been to a number of games at Jordan-Hare Stadium in recent years, and despite Auburn not having a ton of overall success in the 2020s, the atmosphere inside their stadium has consistently remained among the best of any venue I have visited.
Fast forward to this season, and the folks on The Plains appear to have upped their game even more. With new pyrotechnics, lights, signage, and a massive $25M jumbotron, the enhanced experience now may be the best in the country.
It can’t be defined. Only Experienced. 🦅 pic.twitter.com/014TNGcnbK
— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) September 7, 2025
Add to that, the funky things that seem to happen in big games down there, and a team that is ranked for the first time since 2021, the Auburn Tigers are going to be extremely tough to take down in their own building this year. I will be really interested to see how Auburn performs over the next few weeks, particularly their SEC road slate at Oklahoma and Texas A&M that follows a home game this week vs. South Alabama. If they can get through that with a 4-1, or better yet a 5-0 record going into welcoming Georgia on October 11th, Jordan-Hare will be an absolute madhouse.
The Carter Cadence is a new blog series from Creative Media Director Brooks Carter. Follow Brooks on X and Instagram.
