It's Only SEC (but I like it....)
GEORGE SOMERVILLE – THE TOUCHDOWN’s
SEC CORRESPONDENT
Week zero
If it feels a bit like Christmas Eve but warmer, well that’s because it kinda is. As I write this, we will witness College Football being played live and competitively this week. A game will be played in Dublin, effectively kicking off the 2026/27 college football season, followed by seven more games over the weekend.
No SEC football – yet. Although Mizzou will kick off their season next Friday, ahead of the rest of the SEC joining the action on Saturday. But that’s for next week!
While you might be forgiven for thinking it’s been quiet this week in the SEC – the proverbial “calm before the storm”- you, my friend, would be mistaken. It’s been as loud, crazy and downright mad in the SEC this week as things get serious.
Let’s see what nonsense we can talk about this week. Here are this week’s headlines.
this weeks sec Stories
QB 1
Across the SEC
Alabama
Last week I wrote about Alabama fans losing their minds that the Crimson Tide had not yet decided on their starting quarterback. Well, with a little over one week until the Tide suits up to face East Carolina, the pick is in!
This week, Head Football Coach Kalen DeBoer announced that Keelon Russell would start the season as the Tide’s starting quarterback.
“I don’t want to diminish Austin (Mack),” DeBoer told the Alabama media on Monday. “But I also want to sell and tell you that these guys really, really believe in what Keelon is going to do and what his playmaking ability is and and how he can move our offense and our team forward and go compete for a championship.”
DeBoer went on to explain why the Coaching staff settled on naming Russell as starter.
“His car was, if not the first, one of the first here the next day and it’s just who he is,” DeBoer said. “He’s an extremely hard worker. I mean, this guy’s a phenomenal quarterback and to me, he didn’t lose anything. He didn’t fail in any way.”
Florida
It wasn’t just in Tuscaloosa that the decision over who will play under centre was made. Florida announced that transfer Aaron Philo will start as Gators QB1. Philo transferred in from Georgia Tech along with Offensive Coordinator Buster Faulkner, so this felt like a package deal from the outset.
“We are preparing for him to be the starter for Week 1,” said Sumrall, who made the decision after the Gators’ second fall scrimmage Saturday.
Philo won the starting job over highly rated Redshirt Freshman Trammel Jones Jr. Sumrall was at pains to point out that Jones Jr. had made it a difficult decision but needed more time in the system.
“I would say [his ability] to operate at the line of scrimmage at just a touch higher level and be more efficient. There’s no surprise to that in spring because he’s been in the system and Tramell had not,” Sumrall said. “Tramell has improved a ton, but I still think we’re able to operate the full offense at a little bit higher level right now with with Aaron. So that’s probably the biggest separator.”
Tennessee
There is always excitement in Knoxville when a new QB1 is announced. And so it was again this week when Vols Head Coach Josh Heupel announced that the highly rated Brandon Faizon will be the Vols’ starting quarterback in Knoxville this year.
“I told the team this morning that Faizon had earned the right to be the starter Week 1,” Heupel told Tennessee media on Monday. “Faizon gets the nod in Week 1. The expectation at the quarterback position is like at every position, that guys continue to grow and compete every day and continue to get better throughout the course of the season.”
The announcement has Vols fans on cloud 9, as Faizon is a true freshman. In fact, Faizon will become only the 13th true freshman to start at quarterback in Tennessee history. And yes, Peyton Manning was one of those quarterbacks.
Vanderbilt
If you had asked me last week who was going to be the starting quarterback at Vanderbilt this season, I would have said, 100% Jared Curtis. Curtis was heavily recruited, and it was widely believed that landing him in Nashville was not possible. In fact, Curtis originally committed to Georgia. However, a group of boosters, the NIL collective, comedian Nate Bargatze and Diego Pavia somehow convinced Curtis to come to be the face of the Vanderbilt revolution.
Which made Tuesday’s announcement all the more intriguing. Third-year Blaze Berlowitz was named as starter ahead of Curtis, which caught many by surprise. However, when you delve behind the headlines, you start to understand why. Berlowitz arrived from New Mexico State along with offensive coordinator Jerry Kill, Eli Stowers and Diego Pavia. This means that Berlowitz is well embedded in Kill’s offensive scheme and clearly had a head start on freshman Curtis.
With Berlowitz having significant playing experience as the backup behind Pavia, this is the percentage play for Vanderbilt.
However, in making the announcement, Commodores Head Coach Clark Lea has said that Curtis will see some playing time during the season opener against Austin Peay. Lea will have to find the balance of keeping his young superstar happy while blooding him in the SEC versus keeping the team on track. Remember, expectations remain high in Nashville.
Real Housewives of Oxford, MS
Oxford, MS
I swear that this column writes itself sometimes.
Now, a disclaimer. I am sure that this story will grow arms and legs and become an urban legend in Mississippi. But the headline is too good to be true, and Ole Miss football is understandably trying to play down what happened.
But in a scene that wouldn’t be amiss in an episode of Real Housewives, having the FBI sweep the football facility for bugs after Lane Kiffin departs for LSU? Well, that’s just gold to you and me.
So what is true? Speaking on the Assorted Crackers podcast, the director of the Grove Collective (Ole Miss’ NIL collective) said that the FBI came to the Manning Centre in Oxford to sweep for listening devices after Kiffin left for LSU. Tasty and delicious for those devouring any morsel from the Kiffin v Rebels divorce.
On Monday, when asked during his weekly presser, Head Coach Golding moved to dampen the story.
“I do think we probably have a current player whose Dad just happens to work for the FBI that lives in town”.
Golding went on to explain that, like every other team in sports, security is heightened throughout the season.
“you want to make sure it’s secure for your players” Golding continued.
“That’s been done for the history of ball, but there was no, “Let’s get the FBI in”…holy cow!”
But still, Ole Miss felt the need to check for Kiffin shenanigans after he left.
This is why we love the SEC!
Ahmad won't start for Tigers
Columbia, MO
If you’ve been following the Ahmad Hardy story, you know that he has been struggling to be fit enough to be considered for Mizzou’s opening game against Arkansas Pine Bluff next week.
At SEC Media Days last month, Tigers Head Coach Eli Drinkwitz said that Hardy had been medically cleared to resume training. If you recall, Hardy had been shot during a concert he was attending in Mississippi during the offseason.
Drinkwitz said that Hardy’s rehab could take five to eight weeks, making a return for the start of the season challenging.
However, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel this week, Hardy has still not resumed practice and will not feature for the Tigers at the start of the season.
This is a blow to both the player and his team, who, with Hardy fit, have an explosive offense.
War Damn Eagle
Auburn, AL
With six SEC teams having new Head Coaches at the helm this season, there is a lot of change for everyone on these rosters to take in. Communication is key, but coaching staffs also have to embed culture and tradition into the new players on the roster. Even down to the last detail.
This was exemplified by new Auburn Tigers Head Football Coach, Alex Golesh, this week.
The Tigers have 40 new faces on the roster this season, including a number who transferred across from USF along with Golesh and his staff.
Getting familiar with the traditions at Auburn is key and imperative. So Golesh invited the Associate Director of Bands, along with the marching band, to one of the football team’s meetings to teach them “War Eagle”, Auburn’s fight song.
In these days of players transferring regularly, it’s going to be easier for players to become less invested in culture and tradition than before. So the schools need to maintain the traditions. And it appears Golesh understands how important it is to do this. Good for him.
War Eagle!
Dolly
Knoxville, TN
Not strictly football-related, apart from her love for her beloved Tennessee Vols, but sad news: American icon Dolly Parton has passed at the age of 80.
Tributes flooded in from media across the world, but especially across the South and in Tennessee, to the cultural icon who put her native Tennessee on the map.
But in no place was she celebrated more than in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Dolly was a regular visitor to the university campus in Knoxville and performed at Neyland Stadium often to raise money for the numerous charities that she patronised.
In 2009, Dolly Parton received her honorary doctorate degree of Human and Musical Letters from the University. In the photo above, you can see Peyton Manning escort Dolly Parton onto the field to sing Rocky Top in 2023 before the Vols played Georgia.
Ella
Auburn, AL
Ok, its pre season so I have some artistic licence here. So here we go with some more entertainment news. And count your blessings; it could be some more writing about LSU’s legal wrangling!
Even if you are not a country music fan, it has been difficult to miss the meteoric rise to fame of musician Ella Langley.
Her tours across the US have been selling out in record time, and she is undoubtedly Nashville’s newest and biggest star. But here is the rub. Ella is not from Nashville but from Alabama, and specifically a small town called Hope Hull just outside Montgomery.
As I write this piece, Miss Langley is playing another sold-out show, but this time in Auburn, Alabama, on the latest leg of her US tour. Langley attended the University of Auburn in 2019 but dropped out to pursue her music career.
So it’s no great surprise that the Tigers have adopted the rising star as their own. And if you were lucky enough to have been one of those at the show held at Auburn’s basketball arena, the Neville Arena, you might have picked up one of these limited-edition shirts.
What else could a best-dressed Auburn fan want to wear these days? But clever marketing from Auburn and Langley’s team!
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.