LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — There remains plenty questions to be asked after week two of the college football season.
Coaches tinker with what they have early on which makes it very hard to gauge exactly what teams have. A clear picture of the season won’t be seen until at least mid-October.
Trends from last season are still bleeding into 2024 that come as no surprise. However, we start off with how well a true freshman played in his first start.
WINNER: DJ Lagway
The true freshman quarterback displayed a near perfect performance in his first career start Saturday. Lagway set Florida’s freshmen record for passing yards in a game with 456 and three touchdowns against Samford.
After being thrusted into early playing time when Graham Mertz suffered a concussion against Miami in week one, Lagway appeared to be overwhelmed at times. Getting significant playing time with a lot of success bodes well for him as the Gators prepare for Texas A&M.
“I think it’s never too big for [Lagway],” Napier said following Florida’s win over Samford. “I almost think it’s like he raises his level a little bit. When you think about the spring game, last week when he went in, you would have never known any different this week. He was just moving right along.”
“I think he’s had a chance to watch Graham prepare, knew what to expect, had a week under his belt. Then obviously he was excited, and I think he made the most of his opportunities.”
LOSER: Razorbacks Lose Another One Possession Game
Arkansas is now at the point in year five of a coaching tenure when everything is dissected under a microscope. One of the biggest pitfalls for the Razorbacks over the past five seasons is an inability to close out one possession games.
The Razorbacks have been in 21 such contests but have only won six times but this Oklahoma State loss was different than any other loss under Sam Pittman’s loss. Outside of some clock management issues, this game was lost on a lack of execution during a half dozen plays.
Bobby Petrino’s offense produced 648 yards of offense but only 28 points. Missed field goals, muffed punt and low IQ decision making throughout the second half killed Arkansas’ chances for an upset. Oklahoma State didn’t present much of a challenge in the first half but were able to combat that with halftime adjustments which flipped the game in the fourth quarter.
During SEC Media Days, Pittman talked about how big of a deal it is for Arkansas to win close games. Unless the Razorbacks can trim back on a number of errors things won’t be changing anytime soon.
“We have to finish the season,” Pittman said at SEC Media Days in July.. “We did not do that well. We’ve got to figure out how to win the close games. We lost five games by a touchdown or less [last year]. We’ve got to figure that out. We feel like we’re well on our way to getting that accomplished.”
WINNER: Tennessee’s Early Playoff Hopes
Coach Josh Heupel’s group are rising back into the College Football Playoff discussion with an important neutral site victory over North Carolina State in Charlotte. The victory gave Tennessee the fifth best odds to make the newly expanded 12-team playoff at 65%, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index analytics model.
If the Volunteers can come away unscathed during a road trip to Oklahoma and Arkansas, a home matchup with Alabama awaits. If Nico Iamaleava continues to stay healthy and remain as confident in his abilities there is no reason to doubt Tennessee’s ability to compete for a national title.
LOSER: Jalen Milroe’s Offensive Performance
If any of the top SEC programs have a chance of falling out of the top five at some point this season it is the Crimson Tide. Alabama has capitalized on opponents miscues but the offense has been less than stellar under first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer. It was going to be a tough task for anyone to follow Nick Saban and there were points in Saturdays’ contest that fans were booing and restless of the Tides’ inability to move the football consistently.
Quarterback Jalen Milroe ran for two scores and threw for a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter to put away USF in a sloppy effort on a night it honored Saban by naming the field after him.
The final score of 42-16 isn’t indicative of how close this game truly was. It was a five point contest with around eight minutes remaining before Alabama pulled away with the Bulls running out of gas.
Milroe is averaging 200 yards through the air with five touchdowns. His legs add a dynamic much different than any offense DeBoer has coached before. However, it’s hard to ignore similarities to Denard ‘Shoelace’ Robinson.
He’s quick, elusive in the open field and has enough of an arm to make a difference. DeBoer has proven himself as a quarterback whisperer with his work with Washington’s Michael Penix.
SEC FEED:
• Lagway posts positive message to Florida fans ahead of first start
• Kelly needs to stop blaming quarter and look at root of problem
• NC State coach gives high praise to Vols quarterback
• SEC Shorts releases new skit after Week 1 with plenty of love for Vanderbilt
• Four SEC quarterbacks earn high marks for Week 1 performances
