It's Only SEC (but I like it....)
GEORGE SOMERVILLE – THE TOUCHDOWN’s
SEC CORRESPONDENT
Week Six
Can you believe that Week Six is here already? Yes, as the games wrap up on Saturday, we will have concluded the first half of the season. Wow, life moves pretty fast, friends….
This week we see two MASSIVE matchups. First, we have the Red River Showdown game between Texas and Oklahoma in what just might be the sport’s greatest spectacle. Then we have the matchup of two SEC behemoths who are playing to defend their unbeaten runs so far. 5-0 Georgia and 5-0 Alabama face off in Tuscaloosa to see who is the best team in the SEC, if not all of College Football is. Oh, and what’s that I hear you say? Texas might have something to say about that being the #1 team in the nation. Yes, I think you’re right.
Elsewhere, the wheels came off the Gators’ meteoric start to the season, and now we know that Mizzou is as good as we thought they should have been.
And what about those struggling? Arkansas suffered another defeat to a Texas A&M team that got a much-needed W, and South Carolina just can’t buy a victory right now despite having a 17-point lead over Kentucky. All this means that there is more heat on Shane Beamer than the rest of the SEC Head Coaches collectively. Well, maybe Ryan Silverfield is feeling it a bit.
So there is lots to talk about, and there is no shortage of headlines from this week’s SEC shenanigans.
Let’s see what nonsense we can talk about this week. Here are this week’s headlines.
this weeks sec Stories
It's a special game
Dallas, TX
Saturday’s game in the heart of the Texas State Fair at the Cotton Bowl will be the 122nd time that Oklahoma and Texas have faced each other in the game we know as the Red River Rivalry.
Despite its neutral venue status, the Red River Rivalry game is one of, if not the game which showcases college football at its finest.
On Saturday, 92,000 fans will pack the Cotton Bowl in Dallas while the Texas State Fair continues to razzle and dazzle outside. You literally have to walk through the fair to get to the stadium.
Once inside, the stadium is split right down the middle, giving equal capacity to both sets of fans, which gives the game its unique “one half crimson/ one half burnt orange” as both teams emerge from the Cotton Bowl tunnel at the same time. It’s as close to the gladiators walking out into the coliseum as college football gets.
And so it’s the game on the schedule that everyone looks forward to.
This week I spoke to Texas Longhorns Head Football Coach Steve Sarkisian about the special occasion. I asked Coach Sark about his team’s preparations and if the magnitude of the game altered their usual routine.
“we definitely try to keep it as normal as possible” Sarkisian told me Wednesday during the SEC Head Coaches Teleconference.
“we kind of believe in our process and trust our process of preparing for a ball game” continued Sarkisian. However he did acknowledge the scale of the game and the impact that this has on the atmosphere and energy in and around the program.
“I’m not naive to think that there aren’t emotions that come with this game and the festivities of the State Fair, the split stadium, the same tunnel, things of that nature, but at the end of the day, the better that we can have the right mental intensity and focus to play clear-minded, the better chance that we have to play good football and to be successful”.
How good is Red River?
And what about the Red River Rivalry? I’m certain that as you read this, you are already familiar with what is billed as the greatest rivalry game in college football. But let’s say you aren’t. What makes this such an intense rivalry but also an incredible spectacle? Well, it’s handy then that the Texas Longhorns’ head coach was available and happy to oblige.
“Well you know it’s a neutral site game, and it’s two teams that are playing for the 122nd time. And we’re playing in the middle of the Texas State Fair, and we’re playing in a historic stadium of the Cotton Bowl… you start adding all those things up, you know, with fans being split down the middle at the 50-yard line.
It just makes for a special game, and not to mention honoring all of those that have been part of this game before us”.
In the eye of the storm
Tuscaloosa, AL
A 5-0 Georgia Bulldogs team travelling into Tuscaloosa to play a 5-0 Alabama team is on any day a headline-grabbing game.
However, add in a Presidential visit, College Gameday & the rest of College Football media on site, and the potential for a Hurricane twisting through Tuscaloosa on gameday and this game is box-office and the centre of the sporting universe.
But what of the storm?
Early in the week, a number of weather forecast models had the storm hitting land on the Gulf shore in Mississippi as a Hurricane and it passing through Tuscaloosa around game time (7.30pm ET). However, as the week has progressed, the tracking of the storm, which has been named Storm Isaias and predicted to be a Category 3 Hurricane when it reaches land, suggests that the storm will have passed through Mississippi and Alabama by mid-afternoon with no rain or wind predicted by kickoff.
A State of Emergency
Notwithstanding this good news, the States in the path have declared National Emergencies, with many big events including the Alabama State Fair cancelled.
There will be no tailgating in Tuscaloosa this weekend, and College Gameday will be broadcast from within the Crimson Tide’s basketball arena, Coleman Coliseum. But the good news in respect of the game is that the current weather forecast shows the storm having passed by the time the game is due to commence.
However, that’s no great comfort to the good folks in the Shoals and further inland who will feel the full force of Isaias.
While we will all be gripped by what’s happening inside Bryant-Denny Stadium come midnight on Saturday/ Sunday, spare a thought for those who have been in the eye of the storm.
A New Heart & a New Hope for DJ
Columbia, MO
There are moments when football slips firmly into the background. Eli Drinkwitz’s emotional press conference on Tuesday was one of them, as Missouri’s head coach revealed that freshman offensive tackle Johnnie “DJ” Jones needed a heart transplant.
The 18-year-old’s heart problem was discovered during the Tigers’ summer intake checks. After two weeks of observation, Missouri’s medical staff sought further expertise at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, where doctors identified a more serious issue.
Fighting back tears, Drinkwitz struggled with the enormity of what Jones and his family were facing.
“An 18-year-old with everything in front of him and you’re just not prepared for that kind of news,” he said during his early week Press Conference.
By Thursday, there was desperately welcome news: Jones had received his transplant on Wednesday, with Drinkwitz confirming that the surgery went well and that he was recovering. The coach thanked the medical team and paid tribute to the donor and their family, describing their generosity as an “extraordinary gift”.
He also asked supporters to keep everyone involved in their prayers “as he begins the recovery process”.
For a young man whose college career was only beginning, this has been an unimaginably difficult turn. This week, however, brought hope — and a reminder of the extraordinary difference an organ donor can make.
This program has soul
Nashville, TN
This weekend the Vanderbilt Commodores welcome the Ole Miss Rebels into Nashville. The season has not gone exactly as planned for Clark Lea and his team. A 3-2 record after five games but 0-2 in conference play is not where the expectations for this program in recent years lie.
Higher expectations bring different pressures, and Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea is working to find his team’s winning formula after defeats at Auburn and Georgia.
When I asked Lea during the SEC Head Coaches Teleconference what adversity had taught him about this season’s team, his belief in his players was clear.
“This program has a soul, this team has heart and passion. We need to channel that passion and heart into playing better football,” he said.
For Lea, the shortcomings are specific: explosive touchdowns conceded by the defense, offensive penalties that leave Vanderbilt behind the chains, and two punts blocked for touchdowns this season.
“It’s just unacceptable for our style of football,” he said of those special teams breakdowns.
But responsibility extends beyond the players.
“We need detail, we need focus, and we need to play better football,” Lea explained. “That’s not just about our players.”
Replacing a Heisman-finalist quarterback and the Mackey Award winner adds to the challenge. Yet Lea stressed that previous success offers no guarantees for a new team.
“There’s never a year where you inherit results from a prior team. You have to win games for yourself.”
His message was one of accountability, but also belief that Vanderbilt can still shape its season.
“We’re not going to be defined by the last two games. We’re going to learn from them, we’re going to move forward.”
Week Six SEC Schedule
Across the SEC
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10
Texas A&M (3-2, 1-2 SEC) at Missouri (4-1, 1-1 SEC)
Series: TAMU leads, 11-7
11 CT • ABC
Last: TAMU, 38-17 (2025 at Columbia)
Columbia, Mo. • Faurot Field (65,000)
South Carolina (2-3, 0-3 SEC) at Florida (4-1, 2-1 SEC)
Series: UF leads, 31-10-3
12:45 p.m. ET • SEC Network
Last: SC, 41-39 (2023 at Columbia)
Gainesville, Fla. • Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (88,548)
Oklahoma (3-2, 0-2 SEC) vs. Texas (4-0, 1-0 SEC)
Series: TEX leads, 65-51-5
2:30 p.m. CT • ABC
Last: TEX, 23-6 (2025 at Dallas)
Dallas, Texas • Cotton Bowl Stadium (92,100)
Ole Miss (3-1, 1-1 SEC) at Vanderbilt (3-2, 0-2 SEC)
Series: UM leads, 54-40-2
2:30 p.m. CT • ESPN
Last: UM, 33-7 (2023 at Oxford)
Nashville, Tenn. • FirstBank Stadium (35,000)
Tennessee (4-1, 1-1 SEC) at Arkansas (2-3, 0-2 SEC)
Series: TN leads, 14-7
3:15 p.m. CT • SEC Network
Last: TN, 34-31 (2025 at Knoxville)
Fayetteville, Ark. • Reynolds Razorback Stadium (76,000)
LSU (4-1, 1-1 SEC) at Kentucky (4-1, 2-1 SEC)
Series: LSU leads, 39-16-1
7 p.m. ET • ESPN
Last: UK, 42-21 (2021 at Lexington)
Lexington, Ky. • Kroger Field (61,000)
Georgia (5-0, 3-0 SEC) at Alabama (5-0, 3-0 SEC)
Series: UA leads, 45-27-4
6:30 p.m. CT • ABC
Last: UGA, 28-7 (2025 at SEC Championship Game)
Tuscaloosa, Ala. • Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium (100,077)
Open Date:
- Auburn (3-2, 1-2 SEC); –
- Mississippi State (4-1, 2-1 SEC)
GEORGE SOMERVILLE
COLLEGE FOOTBALL WRITER
GEORGE IS A LONG STANDING FANATIC OF LIFE AND FOOTBALL IN THE DEEP SOUTH AND WRITES HIS WEEKLY COLUMN CALLED “IT’S ONLY SEC” FOR THE TOUCHDOWN. HE IS ALSO CO-HOST AND ONE THIRD OF THE COLLEGE CHAPS PODCAST, THE UK’S FIRST PODCAST DEDICATED TO THE COLLEGE GAME.
