Power ranking the SEC after week 1: Texas A&M football falls, UF plummets, UT rises

Even though many teams played cupcake opponents, there was plenty of movement in this week's edition of the SEC power rankings.

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava (8) during Tennessee's game against Chattanooga in Neyland Stadium in Knoxville on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024.
Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava (8) during Tennessee's game against Chattanooga in Neyland Stadium in Knoxville on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Power ranking the SEC after week 1: No. 14 - Mississippi State

The Jeff Lebby era is off to a roaring start with a victory over… uh, who did they play? Eastern Kentucky? 

The Fighting Cowbells at least didn’t look awful in their first game in a new regime. A close look at the numbers reveals that there’s still a lot left to be desired, though, against a lower-level opponent.

State mustered 44 points against EKU on 57 plays. That shows that they were decently explosive, but they notched a success rate of less than 50%. That means they were not moving the ball efficiently against a team that they are way more talented than.

The standard downs success rate for the Bulldogs was a paltry 40%, which means most of their gains were chunk yardage when they needed it. You can tend to count on that against low-quality foes, but that would worry me headed into playing other teams.

Schedule

Schedule