Conference round-up: Massive results highlight what's to be another chaotic year in the SEC

Texas A&M found a way to carry its unblemished record into the month of October for the first time since 2016 — and yes, we're following Mike Elko's orders by mentioning that off the rip.

The Aggies earned a massive home victory over Auburn, but it wasn't the only big win within the Southeastern Conference. Let's catch up on everything you may have missed while celebrating A&M's 4-0 start.

Alabama springs early lead on Georgia, wins 24-21

The biggest game within the SEC this past weekend was none other than Alabama at Georgia, a game in which the Crimson Tide ended the Bulldogs' 33-game win streak in between the hedges. Head coach Kalen DeBoer, needing a big win to right the ship after the Tide's season-opening loss at Florida State, saw a brilliant day from his offense — a group that put up nearly 400 yards of total offense, converted on 13 of 19 third downs and went a perfect 4-for-4 within the red zone. Quarterback Ty Simpson was remarkable, completing 63 percent of his passes for 276 yards and three total touchdowns.

This result has huge implications on the conference outlook: not only do the Tide look to be right back into the elite tier of this conference, but the Bulldogs caught an early loss within the conference and don't seem to be nearly as dominant as they had in years past. While the Bulldogs ran the ball effectively behind Chauncey Bowens, their passing game was locked up by the Alabama secondary and the Georgia defensive line failed to record a sack for the fourth straight game — an absolute anomaly for a Kirby Smart-led team.

Georgia certainly isn't going anywhere, and despite all those issues, still only lost to Alabama by three, but this result certainly opened some eyes to the potential fragility of this historic program.

LSU's offense is silenced by Ole Miss, 24-19

Meanwhile in Oxford, Mississippi, Lane Kiffin's crew earned a big win over Brian Kelly's Tigers. The final score of this game is very misleading, as the Rebels essentially doubled the Tigers up in total offense and tripled them up on the ground while holding them to just 2-for-11 on third down attempts.

Trinidad Chambliss was fantastic for this offense yet again, with the Ferris State transfer (yes, that's a real place) contributing nearly 400 yards of total offense while Cayden Lee led the way out wide with four grabs for 70 yards and a score. The defense held LSU in check for the most part and, despite committing twice as many penalties as the Tigers, this game never really felt like it was in doubt.

While a nice win for the Rebs, the bigger story surrounds LSU. This team has been completely let down by its ground game — which notched its lowest numbers in total yards and yards per carry since the 2022 season. Mix that in with quarterback Garrett Nussmeier playing through a significant injury, and the ability to play complementary football is nonexistent.

It's too early in the season to react harshly to the outcome of this game, but it is very disheartening for fans down in Louisiana. This program wasted a Heisman-level season from Jayden Daniels in 2023 because of how bad they were defensively and, now that their defense has turned things up a notch, it's the offense that's letting them down.

Tennessee survives an overtime road trip to Starkville, 41-34

Fans in Knoxville were clutching their pearls Saturday afternoon as their Vols found themselves in a seven-point deficit with just minutes to go against a very improved Mississippi State program. The Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead, forced three turnovers and scored a touchdown with just under eight minutes left to hold a late lead.

Tennessee responded in a big way, finding its way into a 13-play, 80-yard drive that finished with a six-yard rushing touchdown from Joey Aguilar to send the game into overtime. Josh Heupel's crew scored on the first play of overtime, stood Mississippi State up at the goal line, and left Davis Wade Stadium with a hard-earned win.

You could certainly argue this raises questions about Tennessee's ability to contend in the SEC this season, but I think this game said much more about Mississippi State — who was just a couple plays away from being the victor and holding a 5-0 record that also included a win over last year's Big 12 champions in Arizona State. This team is still a ways away from contending in the SEC, but the Bulldogs are no longer the doormat of this conference under Jeff Lebby.

In other news ...

• Arkansas got its doors blown off by Notre Dame, losing 56-13 in what was Sam Pittman's final game coaching this team — getting fired Sunday afternoon. The Razorbacks, who host the Aggies in a couple of weeks, will be led by Bobby Petrino as he assumed the interim head coaching position.

• South Carolina rebounded from its two-game skid with a home win over Kentucky by a final score of 35-13. While it's always nice to grab an in-conference win, I don't think beating this Mark Stoops-led team says much about you fully turning things around.

• Vanderbilt and Missouri enjoyed some high-scoring victories over Group of Five opponents teams, beating Utah State and UMass, respectively, by a combined score of 97-41.