Week 1 of the 2024 season is in the books, for the SEC at least, and it was an overall shaky debut for one of the nation’s premiere conferences. Though plenty of the 16 schools beat up on lesser opponents, the SEC had a more difficult time leaving an impression against more equally matched Power Four foes.
In fact, SEC teams went 1-3 against ranked opponents in Week 1. Now, to be fair, a couple of those losses were expected: unranked Florida lost at home to No. 19 Miami, and No. 20 Texas A&M had No. 7 Notre Dame locked in a defensive battle until the Irish pulled away at the end. But No. 13 LSU lost in Las Vegas to No. 23 USC as a neutral-site favorite, dropping to 0-5 in its last five season openers. And it is important to mention that Texas A&M was favored over the Irish.
Otherwise, the SEC was spotless. A majority of those wins came against either FCS or Group of Five opponents, but No. 1 Georgia handled business against No. 14 Clemson and Vanderbilt started its year off with a bang by beating Virginia Tech, earning its first win against a power conference opponent since Nov. 19, 2022.
With all 16 SEC teams kicking off their respective seasons in Week 1, there’s plenty to take away — even from the non-competitive tune-up games. Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly from each SEC program in the first week of the 2024 season.
The good: Physicality wasn’t an issue for Kalen DeBoer’s debut. Some were worried that Alabama would lose its edge when it hired DeBoer from Washington. Though Western Kentucky was hopelessly overmatched, the Crimson Tide still looked plenty aggressive — especially on defense. They only had one sack, but managed seven tackles for loss and four quarterback pressures while limiting the Hilltoppers to a paltry 1.6 yards per carry.
The bad and ugly: The Kadyn Proctor injury. It’s never good news when you lose your franchise left tackle before the first game of the season even kicks off. He spent Saturday on the sidelines in street clothes and a sling on his left arm after suffering an apparent upper body ailment in warmups. Thankfully for Alabama, Proctor is going to be OK as 247Sports reports he’s week-to-week and could suit up against Wisconsin in two weeks. Still, it was a scare that soured what was otherwise a party of a Saturday night.
The good: The run game looks rejuvenized. It was quite a re-debut for new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino, whose unit looked explosive in Arkansas’ largest margin of victory in almost a century. Especially impressive was the revival of the Razorbacks’ ground attack, which struggled last season. Utah transfer Ja’Quinden Jackson looked unstoppable with 101 yards rushing and two touchdowns on just eight carries. It seems Taylen Green will pick up right where KJ Jefferson left off at quarterback. Five different Hawgs scored a rushing touchdown, and Arkansas averaged 8.5 yards per carry as a team.
The bad and ugly: It’s hard to nit-pick a 70-point win, but Green did get off a slow start, at least as a passer. He missed on two of his first three attempts before he really settled into the rhythm of things. Chalk it up to nerves in his first game as an SEC starter, cause the Boise State transfer looked great for a majority of the game. Again, really hard to find anything else wrong with Arkansas’ performance.
The good: Great start for a new-look passing attack. All four of Auburn’s leading receivers Saturday night made their Tigers debut. The freshman trio of Malcolm Simmons, Perry Thompson and Cam Coleman combined for 235 yards and three touchdowns. Each caught a pass of at least 50 yards. Then Penn State transfer KeAndre Lambert-Smith 80 total yards, with both of his catches resulting in scores. Auburn certainly doesn’t lack in explosive playmakers anymore.
The bad and ugly: Again, really hard to find fault with a 70-point win, but Auburn probably wants to clean up the penalties against better competition. The Tigers were flagged five times for a total of 60 yards, including two totally avoidable 15-yard personal foul calls.
Florida
- Result: Lost 41-17 to Miami
The good: Freshman quarterback DJ Lagway could be a much-needed spark. Graham Mertz wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire prior to his debut — though he has shown throughout his career that he’s capable of more — and Lagway at least looked exciting when he entered the game. He brings a dimension that Mertz simply can’t with legs and definitely has some juice in his arm. He led a nice touchdown drive late in the game.
The bad: Graham Mertz’s injury. Yes, Lagway is a flashy, fun toy, and Florida should give him some looks regardless of Mertz’s status. But the Gators are going to need a veteran to navigate their bear of a schedule. Plus, no matter how he looked Saturday, Mertz proved in 2023 that he’s one of the country’s more underrated passers, and he’s more than capable of getting the job done.
The ugly: A lot, honestly, but Florida’s offensive line has a special place of dishonor. Lagway did have an interception that wasn’t really his fault. He barely had time to set his feet before a Miami edge rusher was all over him. That was a consistent theme for the Gators, who may as well have had a revolving door protecting the quarterback. Miami had three sacks, eight tackles for loss and two quarterback pressures.
Georgia
- Result: Beat Clemson 34-3
The good: Georgia’s running back depth is absurd. The Bulldogs had 169 yards and averaged 6.3 yards per carry against a Clemson defensive front stocked with NFL talent. And that was without projected starting RB Trevor Etienne and No. 2 option Roderick Robinson. Freshman Nate Frazier looked like the next great Dawgs back, with 11 carries for 84 yards and one touchdown.
The bad: The offensive line looked a little lackluster, at least in the early goings. This is, of course, relative to preseason projections, which had UGA’s line looking like a Joe Moore Award winner. That is still possible, and maybe even probable, but the Bulldogs did struggle a bit through the first couple quarters. That rushing attack only averaged 2.8 yards per carry at halftime and quarterback Carson Beck came under some fire through the third quarter.
The ugly: Slow starts still plague the offense. It must be part of the Mike Bobo playbook. The Bulldogs punted on three of their first five drives. The other two ended in field goals, including one that capped a 12-play, 68-yard drive that moved the ball all the way to Clemson’s 12-yard line. Once Georgia’s superior depth took over, it was off to the races. Better offensive teams than Clemson might be able to take advantage of a sluggish first half, though.
The good: Quarterback Brock Vandagriff looks comfortable in his first real meaningful action. Experience was a huge question mark for the former Georgia transfer. He attempted just 21 passes in three years with the Bulldogs, and none were thrown in a high-stress situation. Vandagriff was smooth operating Kentucky’s offense — even with the weird weather impacting rhythm — by completing 12 of his 18 pass attempts for 169 yards and three touchdowns.
The bad and ugly: Kentucky faced an averaged third-down distance of 6.6 yards. While the Wildcats did convert three of their five third-down opportunities, which is a respectable clip, and largely stayed ahead of the chains, only one of their third downs came with five yards or less of distance to the first down marker. Not a problem against teams like Southern Miss, but that won’t do in the SEC.
LSU
- Result: Lost 27-20 to USC
The good: LSU is still loaded at wide receiver. No one should be surprised at this point, but the program’s ability to consistently reload no matter what it loses at the position is impressive. Kyren Lacy looked like a first-round talent against USC, Aaron Anderson had a breakout game and tight end Mason Taylor (not a WR, but he catches the ball) was an excellent safety valve. This was without an injured Chris Hilton Jr. and without coveted transfer CJ Daniels making much of an impact.
The bad: LSU’s tackling. The Tigers did look better on defense in their first game under coordinator Blake Baker, but they need to get back into the lab when it comes to tackling. USC’s running backs were able to fight for extra yards — or just downright escape the first defender — more often than you’d like to see from an SEC team.
The ugly: A distinct lack of discipline. Maybe it was first game sloppiness, or maybe it’s a problem from the top, but LSU displayed a shocking lack of discipline in Sunday night’s game. And it cost the Tigers, big time. An unsportsmanlike conduct foul took took the ball from LSU’s own 36-yard line to its 21 midway through the fourth quarter, with an opportunity to drain the clock or even score to likely shut the door on the game. Instead, the Tigers went three-and-out, surrendered field position and allowed USC’s go-ahead touchdown — aided by an offsides call. Then, of course, there was the targeting penalty on USC’s game-winning drive that put the ball on LSU’s doorstep.
The good: Mississippi State executed Jeff Lebby’s tempo very well. The Bulldogs were extremely efficient, running just 57 plays in 21:54 of possession and scoring on all but three of their drives that didn’t result in the end of a half or the end of the game. They averaged a brisk 7.9 yards per play and 16.5 yards per pass completion, both great numbers for an offensive system that can be hard to pick up.
The bad and ugly: The running backs didn’t get a ton of push in the rushing attack. Mississippi State quarterback Blake Shapen led the Bulldogs in rushing with 44 net yards. Their longest run of the day came from wide receiver Creed Whittemore, who took a double-reverse 41 yards to the house. Without those two, State averaged just under 4.5 yards per carry. Not a terrible mark, but it should be better in an offense that spaces defenses out so much.
The good: Missouri’s all-new defense made a great first impression. The Tigers hired Corey Batoon from South Alabama to replace Blake Baker, who left for LSU after transforming Mizzou’s defense into one of the SEC’s best. Eli Drinkwitz’s squad also lost six of its top defenders to the 2024 NFL Draft, so there was some concern about a major drop off. Not the best competition, but so far so good. Only one of Murray State’s drives ended in Missouri territory. The Tigers had two sacks, six tackles for loss, four pass breakups and forced a fumble, and ballyhooed transfer cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. had a pick-six in his first game in a Missouri jersey. All around top marks.
The bad and ugly: Brady Cook still needs to work on the deep ball. He’s a good quarterback, and he had a good start to 2024 with 228 yards and one touchdown through the air. But the Tigers left some points on the table with a disjointed deep passing attack. Cook put a little too much air on the ball and overthrew some open receivers, including all-star Luther Burden III. It’s a fixable issue that should get better with the passing weeks.
The good: Jackson Arnold took major strides in his decision-making during the offseason. In the 2023 Alamo Bowl loss to Arizona, he chucked three interceptions and completed just 57.8% of his passes. He didn’t turn the ball over at all against Temple and really didn’t have any bad throws. Three of his eight incompletions were due to wide receiver drops. Arnold also faced a lot of pressure but showed tremendous poise for it being his first regular season start.
The bad: Concerns about the offensive line were validated. The Sooners had to build that unit from the ground up after losing five starters and offensive tackle Jake Taylor missed Saturday’s game with an injury. Starting center Branson Hickman also went down early with an ankle sprain. Still, Oklahoma got pushed around against what should have been a much weaker Temple front. The Owls had three sacks and five tackles for loss.
The ugly: Oklahoma’s third-down offense. The Sooners went 1-of-12 on third downs. They did convert all three of their fourth down attempts, but that’s unacceptable as the competition gets better.
The good: The passing attack looks way better than we thought, and expectations were already high. Quarterback Jaxson Dart had 418 yards and five touchdowns by halftime. Tre Harris did Tre Harris things, with eight catches for 179 yards and two touchdowns. It was encouraging to see other options step up when Jordan Watkins left with injury, and given Deion Smith’s current eligibility battle with the NCAA. Wideout Cayden Lee had a good game with his increased opportunity.
The bad and ugly: Punter Fraser Masin averaged 32 yards on two punts — including a 29-yard shank — and neither were downed inside the 20-yard line. It is good news that Ole Miss only had to punt twice. It’s also an indication of how dominant the Rebels were, that this is their only standout issue.
The good: South Carolina has some real play makers on defense. Edge rushers Kyle Kennard and Dylan Stewart, a five-star true freshman, spared the Gamecocks a total disaster with a pair of timely strip sacks. Defensive back Jalon Kilgore came up big with an interception that halted what could have been a game-winning drive for the Monarchs. O’Donnell Fortune also made a great play in the second quarter to jump a route and intercept a pass in the end zone.
The bad: South Carolina didn’t get that same effort from its wide receivers. New starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers didn’t have the best day, but it hurts his development that he doesn’t have a legitimate No. 1 option to throw the ball to. Vandrevius Jacobs flashed and the staff is high on freshman Mazeo Bennett Jr., but neither dominated in a buy-game. Freak athlete Nyckoles Harbor was a non-factor. Someone’s going to need to step up.
The ugly: The offensive line hasn’t improved at all. As you may guess, this also contributed to Sellers’ poor showing. Old Dominion had four sacks, 2.5 of which came from Mario Thompson. The Gamecocks will face better pass rushes as the year wears on, obviously, so keep Sellers’ health in your thoughts.
The good: Tennessee has quality depth across the board. Josh Heupel has done a tremendous job rebuilding the gutted roster he inherited when he took over in 2021. Eight different players caught a pass from quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who sat for the entire second half. Twenty-eight different players had at least one tackle. The Vols won’t field quite that many players against more evenly matched competition, but they do have a legitimate rotation at most positions on the field.
The bad and ugly: The pass rush was quiet. Now, Chattanooga did a lot of things that make it hard to rush the passer. A majority of its passes were quick outs or slants across the middle and the offensive line cut blockers plenty. It was a good gameplan against a ferocious Tennessee front highlighted by EDGE James Pearce Jr., who only played 10 snaps against the Mocs. Still, it would have been nice to see the Vols with more than one sack.
The good: Texas scored a touchdown on all seven of its red zone trips. Quinn Ewers looked a lot more comfortable passing near the goal line, and the Longhorns — who lost CJ Baxter and Christian Clark to preseason injury — got nice efforts from their running backs in scoring distance. Tre Wisner and Jerrick Gibson each had rushing touchdowns inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. It was impressive to see from a team that had a 50.8% red zone touchdown rate in 2023.
The bad and ugly: The defensive line was largely held in check. Texas’ two biggest losses of the offseason were its pair of All-American caliber defensive tackles in Byron Murphy II and T’Vondre Sweat, who both went off the board within the first 40 picks of the 2024 NFL Draft. Those two won a lot of battles for Texas’ defense and contributed to one of the nation’s best rush defenses. While Colorado State didn’t get a lot done on the ground, the Longhorns’ defensive front wasn’t very disruptive. They went without a sack and only contributed two of UT’s five tackles for loss.
Texas A&M
- Result: Lost 23-13 to Notre Dame
The good: The pass defense looked solid. Texas A&M faced off against a good quarterback in Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard and held him to 18-of-30 for 158 yards and no touchdowns through the air. Though Notre Dame tried to minimize the Aggy pass rush with a quick passing attack, A&M still managed one sack and five total quarterback pressures.
The bad: Another big one got away. The Aggies had plenty of opportunities to open the Mike Elko era with a cornerstone win and shake the lingering narrative that they can’t get the job done in big games. They’re now 0-6 against AP-ranked opponents since the start of the 2023 season. Four of those losses have come by one possession.
The ugly: Conner Weigman might not be the answer at quarterback. Notre Dame has a great defense and one of the best secondaries in the nation, but Weigman made some horrible throws. Both of his interceptions were bad decisions. — one an overthrow into double coverage and the other over the middle of the field with a defender well in front of the intended target. He also lacked zip on his passes and threw some hospital balls that could get wide receivers hurt down the line. It was very disappointing after the former five-star signee showed flashes last season.
Vanderbilt
- Result: Beat Virginia Tech 34-27
The good: Diego Pavia is an injection of life that Vanderbilt desperately needed. It’s hard to find a time that the Commodores ever had this much juice at the quarterback position. He plays with swagger. He can impact the game as a passer and runner and did both extremely well against the Hokies, totaling 320 yards and three touchdowns. He may have been one of the most underrated transfer portal finds this offseason. It’s clear that the continuity, with both former coach Jerry Kill and offensive coordinator Tim Beck moving to Nashville from New Mexico State, is going to help him have a big year.
The bad and ugly: Vanderbilt’s offensive line might have trouble holding up for a full season. Virginia Tech had two sacks and seven tackles for a loss, while the Commodores — outside of Pavia scrambling around — had 77 yards rushing and 3.5 yards per carry. With the likes of Alabama, Texas and Tennessee on the schedule, wins at the line of scrimmage could be difficult to come by.
MORE: SEC power rankings after Week 1
