10 things absolutely overreacting to after Week 1 in and around the SEC

Just when you thought the SEC had changed its slogan to “It just means 1 more loss,” Bo Nix saved the day – and maybe Gus’ job.

There’s no slowing the Bo train now.

Not after Nix’s final drive – from his 4th-and-3 run to his 26 – yard game-winning dagger to Seth Williams with 9 seconds left that stunned No. 11 Oregon. It was the stuff of legend.

True freshman. First start. Ranked opponent. Not sure there is an overreaction that would qualify as such. I’ll give it the ol ‘college try.

Here they are 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after a Wild Week 1 in and around the SEC.

10. Alabama’s linebackers: Oh, no!

But not overreacting to them. They’re fine. Heck, that’s better than fine. Bama’s 4 inside linebacker backups all arrived in Tuscaloosa as a top 10 recruits at their position.

Shocking trend, I know. Alabama’s freshmen are almost always better than everyone else’s freshmen, and they’re usually better than most teams’ seniors.

So I’m overreacting to you, you mighty naysayer and portender of doom.

Yes, losing Dylan Moses and Joshua McMillon hurts. And it would be a killer goal for most programs. In 49 states, that’s football. But this is Alabama.

Trevor Lawrence may be able to take advantage of their inexperience, but your quarterback can’t.

9. Trevor Lawrence threw 2 INTs. Over-rated, over-rated…

I saw a lot of this nonsense Thursday night on Twitter. As usual, the stupidest opinion of the night came from the guy who shouted to the world Johnny Manziel was going to dominate the NFL.

Did Trevor Lawrence blow the Heisman last night? Next on@ undisputed

– Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless)August 30, 2019

I have no one to blame but myself for actually searching “Trevor Lawrence.”

I’m too damn old to make such a stupid mistake. Won’t happen again.

Speaking of Lawrence, this was epic. After he threw an INT, he delivered a TD-saving tackle. I hadn’t seen anyone hit that hard since the intramural basketball game.

Trevor Lawrence looks like he could play safety# GTvsCLEM pic.twitter.com/uae4T0WjXg

— Kevin Boilard (@ 247 KevinBoilard)August 30, 2019

8. Justin Fields is going to win the Heisman!

I haven’t seen this excited person since Zion’s first dunk at Midnight Madness.

Fields’ performance Saturday against #CometoTheFAU was about as meaningful as an exhibition, too, but on a serious note, on his first 4 possessions as a Buckeye, he showed the skills he had almost everybody in Athens so amped up last year.

Possession 1: Fields ran for a 51 -yard TD on a perfectly read and executed zone-read. We knew he could do that.

Possession 2: He followed with a 25 – yard TD pass. Not a ton of evidence on that.

Possession 3: He threw a 32 – yard TD pass.

Possession 4: He threw a 29 – yard post route for another TD – a career-high setting in the process. Last season Fields was 27 – for – 39 for 328 yards and 4 TD throws.

It was, dare I say it, rather Tua-esque.

Fields finished with 4 TD passes and total yards.

This guy is going to make me like the Buckeyes, isn’t he?

7. Unless Jacob Eason does…

Anything you can do, I can do better…

) That’s going to be Eason’s season-long theme. And it didn’t take Georgia’s original 5-star gun-slinger long to start the chorus, either.

Up 7-0, Eason threw a 50 – yard laser on the Washington’s first play of the second possession.

https://twitter.com/Pac 12 Network / status / 1167881085180530688

Eason was spectacular, showcasing that rifle right arm that made him all the rage 3 years ago. He finished 27 – for – 36 for 347 yards and 4 TDs.

He’ll keep Washington in the Playoff race, and if he continues to play like this, he’ll be in the conversation for one of the first QBs off the board in the 2020 NFL Draft.

6. Long live offseason optimism

We all get caught up in the hype. Hard not to. If a football coach can’t motivate, he’s not a football coach for long.

So we buy into better schemes, new staff, upgraded talent, the next wave and pretty soon, we are legitimately wondering whether Mizzou can lose a record-breaking QB yet 10 games. Whether Kentucky can lose 2 of the best players in program history and actually be better. We understand that Ole Miss lost 4 pass catchers who are now in the NFL, but RichRod! We know that defense couldn’t stop anyone last year, but Mike MacIntyre!

Then Week 1 arrives, and the first dose of reality tastes every bit as terrible as Pepto-Bismol.

Ole Miss is in for a long year.

– Matt Hinton (@MattRHinton)August

, 2019

5. Tried to tell you about South Carolina

All offseason, I put South Carolina on the upset alert in Week 1.

“Crazy” was probably the nicest reaction I got.

There were multiple factors. First, UNC almost nearly as bad as its 2-9 record last year. More than half of the losses were 1-score games. Requires coaching. Second, they replaced Larry Fedora with Mack Brown. Requires a significant upgrade. And third, not nearly as sold on Jake Bentley as a lot of people are.

Now, it gets interesting. Bentley threw 2 more interceptions Saturday – Devoted to defending football after an offseason.

Tavien Feaster and Rico Dowdle both averaged more than 5 yards per carry. All Bentley had to do was just play well. Not great. Just well. He barely completed 50 percentage of his passes, the most glaring miss on South Carolina’s next-to-last possession, when he air-mailed an open receiver in the end zone.

I’ve seen enough. Will Muschamp has got it. He’s not going to pull the plug and go to Ryan Hilinski yet. Alabama visits in 2 weeks. That’s not fair to any freshman not named Lawrence.

But change is coming.

4. The 4 Playoff teams are…

I just have to overreact to how ludicrous it is to pick 4 teams after 60 minutes of football. Until Week 10, let’s just work with that understanding, OK.

Clemson
Alabama
Ohio State
Oklahoma

I’m not going to bury the Pac – 12. Washington looked great and Oregon probably should have beaten Auburn. The Ducks wore down. No insult, considering how nasty Auburn’s defense is.

3. Hey, didn’t you use to be the mighty SEC?

We’ve seen worse opening acts.

I had to remind myself of that. In 2016, the SEC lost 6 nonconference games in Week 1.

Still, 4 losses and a couple of close calls aren’t exactly setting the tone.

The world views the SEC differently this year. You can thank Clemson for that.

All fun and games, but also remember this: The SEC’s 6 ranked teams all won in Week 1, OK. The top half of this league, the half that matters, has gone away. If Week 1 is any indication, stronger than last year.

2. The $ 6 million throw

Is that an overreaction?

Probably.

Maybe Gus Malzahn could really go 6-6 or 7-5 against that schedule and survive. But he certainly bought himself some peace of mind Saturday night.

His quarterback, the guy he recruited, picked to start and stayed with, delivered the first of what Auburn hopes are 100 magic moments.

Without using Google as a cheat code, I’m struggling to come up with a better Week 1 freshman debut comeback than the one Bo Nix delivered.

And here’s the thing: Nix will be the first to say he even plays that well.

1. Rocky times

I just see that coming.

Georgia State just delivered the biggest shock of Week 1 and officially started Jeremy Pruitt’s tenure on the clock.

Anybody have Greg Schiano’s number? What, too soon?

Until next week…