1. No. 21 Texas A&M 52, No. 9 South Carolina 28
Texas A&M won't be ready for its first season in the SEC.
Texas A&M won't be able to repeat its magical first season in the SEC.
Texas A&M will take a step back in 2014, after losing three of the best players in school history. Kevin Sumlin's offense is a gimmick that relied on one generational talent, and he's lost control of his program, and SEC defenses have the talent advantage again.
(If you'd prefer, the two-minute remix. Set to South Carolina's own "Sandstorm." Ouch)
Considering the game was played in Columbia against the country's No. 9 team, the numbers are still hard to believe:
12. Aggie players with a reception. Five of them had over 50 yards receiving.
511. Passing yards from Kenny. On the road. Against an SEC team. A Top 10-ranked SEC team. In his first start ever. Yep, that's a school record.
680. Total yards of offense. That's the most South Carolina has ever given up in a game ever in history. Have we mentioned you should be optimistic about this season yet?
The Sumlin-era Aggies taught us all, yet again, that they're here. And "Sumlin-era" is now the term. Johnny Manziel is gone, and yet quarterback Kenny Hill did to South Carolina's defense exactly what you would've expected Manziel to do against a talented and experienced SEC defense that's extremely young at the cornerback spots -- which happens to correlate with A&M's most outlandish strengths. Former five-star wide outs Ricky Seals-Jones and Speedy Noil had good nights, and they finished fourth and fifth among Aggie catchers.
Seriously, in 17 SEC games under Sumlin A&M has gone over 600 yards of total offense eight times.
— Matt Hinton (@MattRHinton) August 29, 2014
For the Gamecocks, the team that was supposed to rank among Steve Spurrier's greatest achievements is now looking at two more very possible home losses before it even leaves September. East Carolina runs generally the same offense A&M runs, and does it with a more experienced passing battery. Georgia's loaded defense is up to the challenge of holding Dylan Thompson to 50 percent completions, as A&M's bomb-prone defense did, or the Carolina ground game to 67 yards, as A&M's eye-opening front seven did.
South Carolina's first half, in two GIFs: http://t.co/CjBnXfKaYN pic.twitter.com/HOMK4YA3Je
— SB✯Nation CFB (@SBNationCFB) August 28, 2014
The SEC West is a four-month first-person shooter with rocket launchers only, while the SEC East is now completely wide open. Except for Vanderbilt (whose only highlight was showing a ref an email in order to avoid a penalty).
2. No. 18 Ole Miss 35, Boise State 13
What we knew about Ole Miss heading into Thursday night: Hugh Freeze's Rebels are talented and inconsistent. What we know after Thursday night: they are quite talented and quite inconsistent.
For 50 minutes, Boise State was up to its usual neutral-site-in-enemy-territory-against-a-more-talented-team routine, returning both Ole Miss' punches and its stomach-turning interceptions. But the dam broke in the fourth quarter. Bo Wallace went from being the quarterback with three first-half picks to the quarterback with three second-half touchdowns, and the Rebel offense once again teased what Oxford will have once its offense can match its defense in ferocity.
This is the most physical Ole Miss defense I've ever seen.
— Steven Godfrey (@38Godfrey) August 29, 2014
The young pack of blue-chips in blue and red gave up 399 yards to the slimmer Mountain West squad, but only 5.7 per pass and 3.6 per rush. It also DEAR GOD HAVE MERCY
If Boise State can get Boise State-grade quarterback play from Grant Hedrick or someone else, it'll still challenge for a conference title and maybe even the mid-major New Year's spot. While it no longer has the talent to beat SEC teams, it has the talent to hang with them, and it has the squirrely Boise offense we've come to love.
The SEC West is ... well, as A&M proved on the same night, it's hard as hell. Wherever you had Ole Miss and A&M ranked in your preseason pecking order, you probably have the Aggies ahead of the Rebels now. But if it turns out the fourth quarter in Atlanta was more representative of Freeze's program than the first three, we should just marvel if any team makes it out of that division in one piece.
3. Rutgers 41, Washington State 38
Hey, maybe the Big Ten rookies can play. The Scarlet Knights picked up a road win against a Pac-12 team, and lest we discount the value of a such a feat, consider the bloodbath that usually ensues when the B1G goes west in September: Week 2, 2012 was basically the "Ozymandias" of football weeks.
And sure, one can say, "But it's just Washington State." But the Cougars aren't exactly lifeless. Connor Halliday threw for 532 yards and five touchdowns (and true to his goals, only one interception), and Wazzu held the lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Despite giving up all those yards, the Scarlet Knights won the way coaches want to see their teams win: control the line of scrimmage and punish mistakes. Paul James was a warlord at tailback with 173 yards and three touchdowns — including the game-winner with less than four minutes left — and it was Rutgers making the key plays down the stretch.
James' go-ahead score was predicated by a botched punt return by WSU's River Cracraft, setting the Scarlet Knights up with a golden opportunity at the 50. After the ensuing score, Kemoko Turay abused some poor blocking and sacked Halliday to set up a second-and-19, a situation the Cougs couldn't dig out of in the gloaming.
Winning in Seattle was an accomplishment, and there will be several Big Ten teams who don't log a non-conference win of that caliber this season. Rutgers is now within range of a chance at a bowl trip, while defenseless Wazzu's postseason chances already look doubtful.
The rest of the scores
- No. 19 Arizona State 45, Weber State 14 | Recap
- Louisiana-Monroe 17, Wake Forest 10 | Recap
- Temple 37, Vanderbilt 7 | Recap
- Minnesota 42, Eastern Illinois 20 | Recap
- Utah 56, Idaho State 14 | Recap
- Akron 41, Howard 0 | Recap
- Northern Illinois 55, Presbyterian 3 | Recap
- Tulsa 38, Tulane 31 (OT)
- Central Michigan 20, Chattanooga 16 | Recap
- New Mexico State 28, Cal Poly 10
- San Jose State 42, North Dakota 10