The Monday morning meltdown (Sec mean tweets edition)
GEORGE SOMERVILLE – THE TOUCHDOWN SEC CORRESPONDENT
As we know, in SEC football, It Just Means More! And that goes for both the glory and the failure!
The good and the bad in college football are exaggerated to the max on Sunday and Monday after each week’s slate of games. In SEC football, no one is safe from the fallout of defeat or the overcelebration of victory.
After the extreme negativity of last week’s fallout, I really wanted to find some good news stories to write about. I really did. But it’s SEC football, and early in the season, every twist and turn is commented upon with the wildest of exposure.
So, let’s take a look at the teams that hit the “fan” headlines this weekend. Let’s take a look at the Monday Morning Meltdown’s…
Vandy on top!
Ok let’s start off with some good news. I was going to have this piece only as the fallout from the state of Alabama (see below), but such is the good news story coming out of Nashville, it seems churlish not to have some good news on this page! Let’s go, SEC football!
Against the expectations of many experts, the Vanderbilt Commodores are 2-0 for the season. In their opening game, Vandy took down Virginia Tech in a game that saw the Vegas sports books favouring the Hokies. On Saturday, the Commodores came up against the much less fancied Alcorn State but demolished the Braves 55-0.
But it is the way Vandy is playing that has people excited. Transfer quarterback Diego Pavia has the team from Nashville rocking on all fronts, and his comparison with Johnny Football has the city buzzing once again about its college football team.
Two things stick out that Vandy and its neighbours will need to get used to if the winning streak continues. First, neighbours in and around the area posted on social media that a fog horn could be heard multiple times and wondered where it was coming from. Vandy sounds the horn every time they score. Get used to this people!
Secondly, the stadium production team ran out of fireworks—again, a celebration each time the home team scores. I think there is some work to do on the celebration front! Buy more fireworks, Vandy!
With two victories under their belt, Vanderbilt fans are on a high, and who can blame them?
Alabama feels the heat
The scoreline suggests that Alabama steamrolled the University of South Florida. The mean tweets suggest a whole other story. For three quarters, Alabama fans were losing their minds over the inconsistency of this new-look team.
Errors, including last season’s habit of bad snaps, ill discipline leading to numerous penalties, and some very inconsistent play on the offensive line (I am being far more kind than the mean tweeters), led to the Crimson Tide faithful being apoplectic with rage.
“I don’t want to see another touchdown dance, tik Tok dance, podcast nothing – GET TO PRACTICE” was amongst some of the less expletive laden posts on X.
Depending on your viewpoint, the “Fix Your Shit” tweet is going to become a meme for the generations and will certainly be rolled out on many occasions in the future. But it summed up the feeling at that moment.
The offensive line was subject to a significant amount of criticism, with freshman Wilkin Formby being the focus of the attention. Unfortunately for him, he was making his Bryant Denny debut, and his inexperience showed a lot during the game.
But despite all of the criticism, Alabama still won. What will “X” be like if they lose? I suggest having a tin helmet and flak jacket on standby…..
war eagle melts down
Listen, Auburn fans don’t have it easy. A storied and historical program, their glory days are in the rearview mirror, and the dominance of in-state rivals Alabama does not help.
But there is hope for Auburn. Head coach High Freeze is seen as the dragon slayer, and there is huge (Hugh!?) hope and expectation on the Plains that Freeze can wrestle the crown away from the Crimson Tide and then from Georgia.
But this is only year two for Freeze, so expectations may outweigh the progress. And when I say “may”, I mean definitely will.
This leads us to the fallout from Auburn’s defeat to Cal this last weekend in Jordan Hare. And at the sake of repeating myself,this is where the problem lies. Auburn isn’t expected to lose inside Jordan Hare to ANYONE. So, losing to a West Coast team wasn’t going to go down well on Toomer’s Corner.
Unfortunately, quarterback Payton Thorne is at the centre of focus for Tigers fans. Who, to be honest, also in his second season on the Plains, isn’t looking like the answer for Freeze, who has worked hard to build a team around his transfer quarterback. Arguably, Thorne has more talent around him than most. DeKeandre Lambert Smith, Cam Coleman, and Perry Thompson are as talented a trio of wide receivers as you will see around the league.
But on Saturday, against a team that Auburn was 13.5pt favourites over, Thorne threw four interceptions. By the end of the game, Thorne was 14-for-27 for 165 yards, one touchdown, and four interceptions. And the fans let him and the Tigers know.
Ouch.
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.