SEC: Three overreactions heading into week three

In a weekend that kicked off with an Alabama-Texas game that was a lot closer than some expected and included an Appalachian State win over Texas A&M that is now ripe with a weird controversy about something that’s been happening for years and is only now somehow being found out about, it was an interesting weekend in the SEC to say the least.

The whole A&M controversy and the ‘Midnight Yell gone wrong’ video that has been making its rounds on social media; I still don’t get what all the fuss is about. It’s not anything new, they’ve been doing midnight yells and clowning on opponents for decades.

Now I’m not going to pretend like I know what goes on at a midnight yell, I mean, I get the gist of it, but I didn’t go to Texas A&M and I’ve never been to a midnight yell. But I’m just going to go out on a limb here and say that this video is no different than any of the previous midnight yells.  A bunch of Aggie students and fans get together, hoot and holler and have a grand old time making fun of the team, mascot, fans, maybe even the players of the team they are playing. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think this is just another overreaction that somehow went viral on social media. I’m almost positive that they do this every week and have been for years, whether non-Aggie fans think it’s cringe or not.

What about the rest of the weekend? There was plenty of good football and even some big upsets. Here’s a look at three overreactions from the SEC heading into week three.

Alright, alright, alright, Texas is ready to compete in the SEC

Before we go any further, I feel it’s important to remind our readers that this an overreaction piece. I mean after all; they didn’t lose right? They only ‘ran out of time’. At least that’s what Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian would have you believe following Texas’ loss to Alabama. But let’s overreact about it and call it what it was. A game that was much, much closer than just about anyone that doesn’t wear burnt orange thought it would be.

Not only was it closer than most expected, but they did most of it without their starting quarterback. I’m sure if you polled the Texas faithful, they’d probably tell you that if they had starting quarterback Quinn Ewers they wouldn’t have run out of time, they would have won.  Which means, they would cement themselves as one of the top teams in the hypothetical SEC West.

Max Johnson should be starting for Texas A&M

No matter your opinion of the midnight yell video, lets put that one behind us. What are the facts surrounding the actual game itself? Appalachian State, a team that went into College Station as an 18-point underdog found a way to win and beat Texas A&M 17-14.

Starting quarterback Haynes King completed 13-of-20 passes for 97 yards and zero touchdowns and to top it off, he fumbled the ball twice and finished the game with a QBR of 21.3. Let’s break that down a little further. Out of 131 FBS football programs through the first two weeks of action. There are 109 quarterbacks in college football that have a QBR higher than Haynes King after two weeks.  Now I’m not going to bash the kid and kick him while he’s down, but this offense has not been living up to it’s expectations after two weeks of football.  

This past weekend against Appalachian State if it wasn’t for Devon Achane, Texas A&M might have lost 17-0. The Aggies scored only 14 points, one touchdown on a 26-yard run by Achane and the other touchdown wasn’t even on offense but came from Achane again when he returned a kickoff 95 yards to the house.

If your Jimbo Fisher, maybe it’s time to take a look at LSU transfer Max Johnson. How much worse could it get on offense?

Arkansas is an SEC West contender

If you’re an Arkansas fan, you’re feeling pretty good about your team after the first two weeks. They have two quality wins. One over a top 25 Cincinnati team and another over SEC East foe South Carolina and with games coming up against Missouri State and a struggling Texas A&M team that has to find some answers pretty quick, there’s a legitimate shot that your team could be heading into October sitting at 4-0 and a big Oct. 1 matchup with the Crimson Tide.

The offense has looked outstanding. KJ Jefferson is completing 76-percent of his passes and has 385 yards and four touchdowns through two games. Your top two running backs are averaging over five yards-per-carry and you’ve rushed for 500-plus yards as a team in the first two games. Since we’re overreacting, I’m not sure there’s an SEC West team that has a more impressive resume after the first two weeks.

Texas A&M and LSU have already lost, though both losses were non-conference games, so technically speaking they are still in the hunt as much as anyone is. Alabama beat up on Utah State 55-0 but then took just about everything Texas had with its No.2 quarterback at the helm for a good portion of the game. Ole Miss has wins over Troy and Central Arkansas, nothing to really write home about. Auburn has wins over Mercer and San Jose State… Yawn. Mississippi State has a couple of quality wins beating Memphis handily at home and Arizona on the road and have put up some impressive numbers offensively, but what’s new for a Mike Leach offense? What they don’t have on their resume is a top 25 win. Which, currently only Arkansas can bring to the table. When it comes to the SEC West, at least for this week, let us overreact and say they’re going to be in the thick of it.