In Week 3, Georgia slogged through a close win over Kentucky, Texas A&M blew out Florida on the road, and Texas moved to the top spot of the AP Poll for the first time since 2008.
The Southeastern Conference is off to a dominant start to the season. For the second week in a row, six of the seven highest ranked teams hail from the SEC.
Here are our top five SEC topics for Week 4, starting with a fresh showdown in Norman, Oklahoma.
1, Oklahoma’s first SEC test
No. 15 Oklahoma is set to host No. 6 Tennessee in the first in-conference matchup for either of the SEC’s two newbies. Oddsmakers don’t seem to like the Sooners’ chances of winning. They’re pegged as touchdown underdogs at home to Tennessee, which ranks No. 1 nationally in scoring offense and No. 3 in scoring defense through three weeks. How can Oklahoma pull off an upset? Coach Brent Venables needs to design a defense that confuses Nico Iamaleava, the Vols’ dangerous young quarterback.
2. Josh Heupel’s return
Before Oklahoma hired Lincoln Riley as its offensive coordinator in 2015, it first had to fire its previous play caller. Who did he replace? None other than Josh Heupel, the ex-Oklahoma quarterback who’s now set to face the Sooners as Tennessee’s head coach. Heupel has the Vols’ offense humming. For him, it’s an important game – not only for the revenge factor, but also for the fact that Tennessee can prove that it’s a true national title contender with a win.
3. Quinn Ewers’ health
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers suffered an abdominal strain last week in the Longhorns’ win over UTSA. Could the injury linger through the rest of the season? The answer isn’t clear. What we do know is that although Texas may have the best quarterback situation in the country – with ex-Newman star Arch Manning as its backup – it needs Ewers to be healthy before it can compete for a national title. Manning will one day be a star. But Ewers has the big-game experience that Texas needs.
4. Billy Napier’s job security
There’s no way around it. Florida cannot lose to Mississippi State on the road. If it does, then the national conversation about coach Billy Napier’s job security will only intensify. The Bulldogs lost to Arizona State in Week 2, then fell 41-17 at home in Week 3 – to Toledo. The Gators need a win to avoid dropping to 1-3 before they even hit the most difficult stretch of their schedule, a gauntlet of games against four of the six highest ranked teams in the country.
5. Auburn’s new quarterback
At quarterback, Auburn is sticking with Hank Brown, a redshirt freshman who replaced Payton Thorne after he was benched following the Tigers’ Week 2 loss to Cal. Brown led Auburn to a dominant win over New Mexico. Now, in a home game against Arkansas, he can either restore confidence in Auburn’s offense or allow frustrations to pile up again. The Tigers have enough weapons to field a solid SEC offense. They just need to find a quarterback who can manage their games.