Cowbell Corner

Can Mississippi State Copy Any of Saturday’s Upsets? SEC Roundup

Three Top 10 SEC teams got upset while the Bulldogs were off this week and saw different examples of how to win an upset of their own

Taylor Hodges

Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia celebrates with fans after defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide at FirstBank Stadium.
Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia celebrates with fans after defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide at FirstBank Stadium. / Butch Dill-Imagn Images
In this story:

Mississippi State football will look to play the role of spoiler in the rest of its games. The Bulldogs will be the underdog in each of their remaining games (with one exception) and will have to pull off some big upsets.

Luckily, last Saturday laid out several upset recipes for the Bulldogs to follow the rest of the season with three of the SEC’s Top 10 teams losing to lower-ranked or unranked teams.

Here’s a roundup of all the SEC action this weekend, starting with one of the biggest upsets in recent college football history:

Vanderbilt 40, No. 1 Alabama 35

“The only place that’s not hard to play in the SEC is Vanderbilt,” Nick Saban said on an episode of the Pat McAfee Show.

Oopsies.

As Vanderbilt fans began streaming onto the field after the game and Alabama players hurried off the field, the stadium played Saban’s quote. And the juxtaposition of hearing the quote and seeing Vanderbilt players and fans celebrating an upset win over the No. 1 team in the nation is absolutely hilarious.

Arkansas 19, No. 4 Tennessee 14

Arkansas’s backup quarterback Malachi Singleton led the Hogs on a game-winning scoring drive that  ended with just over a minute left in the game and the Hogs’ defense did what it had been doing all game: stopping the Volunteers’ high-powered offense.

The Volunteers became the third SEC team playing on the road against either an unranked or lower-ranked team.

No. 25 Texas A&M 41, No. 9 Missouri 10

Will the real Texas A&M team please stand up?

The Aggies dominated Missouri all game long, at one point leading by 24 points. It was the kind of dominant-upset win that makes you wonder if the rankings should be switched?

But then you remember the Aggies lost by 10 points to Notre Dame, beat Bowling Green by just six points and Arkansas by four points last week.

So, after six weeks, we still don’t know if Texas A&M is good or not.

No. 5 Georgia 31, Auburn 13

Well, that’s it for the upsets. Back to your regular, predictable SEC games.

Not a surprising final score in Athens, Georgia where Mississippi State is headed to next week. You can read our recap of the Georgia-Auburn game here.

No. 12 Ole Miss 27, South Carolina 3

Ole Miss was an upset victim last week and needed to come out strong against South Carolina to show last week was a fluke occurrence. Leading 14-0 just 10 minutes into the game counts as a strong start and it was one the Gamecocks couldn’t Beamer-ball their way into a win.

It’s a big win for the Rebels who will remain in the hunt for a College Football Playoff and, possibly, an SEC championship. But they’d need help, which after this week, isn’t as crazy you’d think.

Florida 24, UCF 13

One SEC team did play out-of-conference. The last time Florida played another school from the Sunshine State was Miami in the season-opener and that was a disaster.

The Gators still have Billy Napier as its head coach and winning games that you’re supposed to (which UCF qualifies as one) will help keep him employed a little while longer.

Read More Mississippi State Bulldogs On SI:

SEC Recruiting: Auburn Flips Four-Star Mississippi Based Quarterback

SEC Football Freshman of the Month: Who's Mississippi State's Candidate?

Mississippi State's Bye Week: A Chance for Injured Players to Heal and Return

Published
Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

Home/Football