Week 2 College Football Takeaways: SEC Struggles Mount With Alabama Loss to Texas

The Crimson’s Tide’s upset defeat at the hands of Texas was just one of several early losses for the SEC in a lackluster start to the season for the conference.

You could hear the chanting in Bryant-Denny stadium mocking those in Crimson who hadn’t left for the exits: “S-E-C.” But it was Texas fans doing the gloating. The mighty conference has yet to flex its muscles this season, taking notable non-conference losses in multiple ways. 

In Week 1, there was Florida’s mistake-fueled opener against Utah; North Carolina giving South Carolina the business; and Florida State torching LSU in the 4th quarter. Add Wake Forest running roughshod over Vanderbilt; Texas A&M being easily dispatched by Miami; and yes, that Texas win over Alabama in Week 2 and you be the judge of the most convincing SEC non-conference wins against teams with a pulse: Ole Miss smoking Tulane with a backup quarterback? Mississippi State beating Arizona in overtime thanks to four Jayden de Laura interceptions? Auburn or Missouri outlasting Cal and Middle Tennessee by four points, or Kentucky surviving Eastern Kentucky?

The narrative may swing once conference play comes around toward an SEC with great defenses and away from an SEC with quarterback play that is severely lacking, but this is a non-con performance that is rather lacking indeed. 

The SI Top 10 has no preseason priors to be beholden to, what follows is how things stack up after two weeks.

Texas ended the Crimson Tide’s 21-game home winning streak with a 34–24 win Saturday.  :: Aaron E. Martinez/USA TODAY NETWORK

SI Top 10

1. Texas

There’s a chance no team notches a better win than Texas beating Alabama in Alabama to break multiple Alabama win streaks and assert that this time, maybe Texas actually is “back.” What back really is means not falling on your face next Saturday against Wyoming. It’s about parlaying this win into more of them, not letting this be your Super Bowl.

2. Florida State

Speaking of “back,” Florida State would like a word as well. They dispatched Southern Miss and now get into the meat of conference play.

3. USC

There are whoopings, then there’s what USC put on Stanford. 49–3 at halftime basically scoring at will, and finally showing a little bit of defense as well? Stanford’s own offensive ineptitude had something to do with it, but the Trojans are who we thought they were as a team that can put up video game numbers at will, and it goes beyond what Caleb Williams can do.

Two words: Zach Branch.

Dawg… ZACH BRANCH IS RIDICULOUS 💨💨💨💨 pic.twitter.com/5G7YdYdud9

— AJ King (@allday_ajking) September 10, 2023

4. Washington

As good as USC’s offense is, Washington’s offense may be equally up to the task. It didn’t even need to punt in a win over Tulsa. One thing to monitor is if the Huskies are ever going to really need to run the ball, and if they can or not. But if Michael Penix Jr. is throwing for 400 yards every game as he did in the 43–10 win, maybe it doesn’t matter.

5. Notre Dame

Notre Dame might be legit this season. After two walks in the park, the Irish faced a legit defensive front in NC State and barely blinked despite significant lightning delay halting proceedings and zapping the jumbotron.

NC State’s brand new scoreboard got struck by lightning and shorted out pic.twitter.com/9xZ7WN9r42

— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) September 9, 2023

The Irish won 45–24, and Sam Hartman got over his house of horrors performances against NC State (six ints in the last two games) and piloted a steady ship to the victory. NC State is missing the cutting edge on offense, but that’s a defensive outfit that you don’t expect to give up almost 50 points at home on a wet track.

6. Georgia

Nobody’s claiming the mini-dynasty’s over for the Dawgs, and there’ll be a chance to see what this team looks like against at least somebody when South Carolina comes to town next weekend. Georgia’s taken care of business and found interesting new playmakers, but its schedule just hasn’t given it the chance to claim a significant victory yet. For now, a big win over Ball State is a box checked.

7. Michigan

The same that can be said about the Dawgs applies to the Wolverines after a blowout of UNLV. They took care of business, and you can’t ask for much more than that against a schedule that is built not to pose a significant test in the early part of the season. 

8. Ohio State

Marvin Harrison Jr. played well, but the rest of Ohio State’s offense looked a little sluggish in an otherwise unspectacular win over Youngstown state. One more tune up remains before a big one against Notre Dame.

9. Penn State

No muss, no fuss against FCS Delaware for Penn State. Next up: conference play.

10. Utah

Utah made things seemingly harder than they needed to be against Baylor, as Cam Rising’s continued absence is hampering the quarterback situation significantly for the Utes. The Nate Johnson-Ja’Quinden Jackson tandem was enough to get the Utes over the hump in a hard-fought 20–13 win over Baylor. Perhaps Utah stuck with Bryson Barnes a little too long, as the offense got going once Johnson took the wheel at quarterback. Baylor rebounded nicely after an embarrassing Week 1 loss, but Utah had too much in the end.

SI players of the week: 

Gage Larvadain, Miami (OH) / Jamree Kromah and Jalen Green, James Madison

• Have yourself a day, Mr. Larvadain. 273 yards through the air including a 99 yard touchdown reception. A truly impressive performance for the RedHawks.

• Kromah and Green combined for five tackles for loss and three sacks in JMU’s huge win over Virginia, including a late one by Green. JMU stood tall in the end to win the in-state matchup.

Did you see that?

• You have probably never seen a team lose like Division II IUP (a ranked team at that level) in which they just forget they have to kick a field goal at the end and lose in farcical fashion.

#IUP invents a new way to lose. Instead of attempting a game-winning field goal, they decide to just not run a play and let the clock hit zeros. Incredible. I need an explanation for this. (Audio didn't transfer over from the PSAC Digital Network.) pic.twitter.com/aWBwOiK6Rz

— Pete Sirianni (@petersirianni) September 9, 2023

• Quinn Ewers’ pass caught by … Quinn Ewers ends a two-play sequence of insanity for Texas against Alabama. This directly followed a play in which the horns tried to go for it on fourth down only for the center to snap it to nobody, a running back picked it up and converted the first down and, after a convoluted ref explainer, things ended up as they should be to set Ewers’ hilarious play up.

• Parental discretion is advised for Zach Arnett’s postgame interview.

• That’s, uhh, one way to score if you’re Miami (Oh.)

Feel so bad for UMass here. They just got the game within 3 points. Miami hits a big pass but they force a fumble. However, Miami just picked it up for a touchdown to make their lead 10 again. pic.twitter.com/kQEuqToum0

— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) September 10, 2023

• Not often you get this kind of Thicc Six. Look at Cooper Mumford of Colorado Mesa to improvise and do the unthinkable. 

THE O-LINEMAN SCOOPED UP THE FUMBLE AND THREW A TD 😯 pic.twitter.com/GJuIhcEMz6

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 9, 2023