The first full Saturday of college football is in the books, and the SEC did exactly what the SEC is supposed to do.
Win.
Fifteen conference teams have played, and all 15 walked away with a victory. Ole Miss is the only member we are still waiting on, with the Rebels facing Louisville on Sunday night. Some SEC teams were dominant. Some were impressive. A few did just enough to survive. But across the board, the conference took care of business.
That does not mean everybody looked like a championship contender. There is a big difference between winning an opening game and looking ready to compete for the College Football Playoff. This is The Sunday Drive, and we are going to take a quick ride through every SEC game and talk about what mattered.
LSU 51, Clemson 10
There is no way to tap dance around this one: Clemson flat got its ass kicked.
LSU spent the entire week surrounded by a circus. The eligibility fight, the court hearings, the criticism and all the noise gave Lane Kiffin every excuse in the world for his football team to come out distracted. Instead, LSU came out focused, aggressive and ready to make a statement.
Sam Leavitt passed for 230 yards, ran for another 113 and accounted for three touchdowns. LSU led 31-3 at halftime and never gave Clemson a chance to believe it belonged in the game.
This was the best win in the SEC this weekend, and it was not close. LSU looked like a legitimate championship contender. Clemson looked like a program with some serious questions to answer.
South Carolina 57, Kent State 0
Maybe I was a little too harsh on South Carolina immediately after this game. A 57-0 shutout with 653 yards of offense is a damn good win. In fact, it was South Carolina’s most offensive yardage against an FBS opponent in 20 years.
LaNorris Sellers completed 19 of 23 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns. The Gamecocks spread the ball around, protected it and got plenty of players involved. Kendall Briles called a good football game in his debut, and the offense looked more creative than it has in a long time.
There are still things to correct. Recognizing those things is not being negative; it is expecting the program to reach a higher standard. Ignoring them is the same kind of complacency that calls simply getting bowl eligible a good season.
South Carolina played well. It was a good win. Now clean up the mistakes and get better.
Florida 66, Florida Atlantic 21
I have been telling people that John Sumrall is going to be a hell of a football coach for Florida, and his debut did nothing to change my mind.
The Gators looked prepared, physical and ready to play. Jadan Baugh ran for 160 yards and three touchdowns, and Florida put 66 points on the board. Yes, it was Florida Atlantic, but this was exactly what a Florida team is supposed to do to an overmatched opponent.
Sumrall is trying to establish a new culture in Gainesville. The first step is getting his players to believe in what he is building. A 45-point opening win is a pretty good way to begin.
Georgia 63, Tennessee State 3
Georgia looked about like I expected Georgia to look: big, deep, physical and capable of beating an overmatched opponent without breaking much of a sweat.
Gunner Stockton completed 15 of 16 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns. Nate Frazier scored three times on only four carries. The Bulldogs rolled up 63 points and continued to show that their ground game is going to be a major strength.
You cannot learn everything about Georgia from a game against Tennessee State, but you can tell whether the machine is running smoothly. For the most part, it was. Georgia remains one of the teams everybody else will have to go through.
Texas 59, Texas Stare 7
Arch Manning needed to look like a quarterback who belongs in the Heisman conversation. He did.
Manning completed 20 of 27 passes for 305 yards and four touchdowns as Texas handled Texas State 59-7. He was efficient, pushed the ball down the field and looked in control of the offense.
I was not ready to hand Arch anything because of his last name or the hype surrounding him. If he wants to be treated like a Heisman candidate, he has to earn it on the field. This was a strong first step, and Texas looked every bit like the team I expected it to be.
Alabama 48, East Carolina 10
Alabama handled East Carolina 48-10, and Keelon Russell showed why people are excited about his future. He passed for 256 yards and added 86 yards on the ground.
The Crimson Tide did what they were supposed to do, but I am not ready to erase my preseason concerns after one game. Alabama still has questions to answer, and those answers will not come against East Carolina.
This was a solid opening performance. Now we need to see how that offensive line, the young quarterback and the rest of this team respond when somebody punches back.
Tennessee 56, Furman 9
Faizon Brandon put together one of the most impressive quarterback debuts of the weekend. The freshman completed 13 of 17 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns, then added 68 rushing yards and two more scores.
Five touchdowns in your first start will get my attention, regardless of the opponent.
Tennessee started a little slowly before taking control, but once the Volunteers settled down, Furman could not keep up. Brandon looked comfortable, confident and dangerous. We will learn a lot more when the competition improves, but Tennessee has to be excited about what it saw from its young quarterback.
Texas A&M 50, Missouri State 0
Texas A&M did exactly what a Top 10 team should do against Missouri State. The Aggies pitched a shutout, scored 50 points and never allowed the game to become interesting.
Marcel Reed completed 21 of 30 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns. It was not a spectacular statistical explosion, but he controlled the football game and gave the Aggies what they needed.
I have called Mike Elko one of the most underrated coaches in the SEC. His team looked prepared and took care of an inferior opponent without any drama. That is a professional opening-day performance.
Oklahoma 51, UTEP 0
John Mateer only needed 17 passes to remind everybody why I consider him a Heisman sleeper. He completed 11 of them for 225 yards and three touchdowns as Oklahoma buried UTEP 51-0.
The most important number may have been the zero. Oklahoma dominated both sides of the football and never gave UTEP any hope.
Mateer has the talent and the stage to force his way into the national conversation. He will face much tougher defenses than this, but he looked explosive in the opener and did not need four quarters to make his point.
Mississippi State 62, UL Monroe 13
Mississippi State quietly put together one of the biggest offensive performances in the conference. Kamario Taylor passed for 354 yards and four touchdowns, while J.J. Hill ran for 118 yards and two scores on only seven carries.
The Bulldogs scored 62 points and showed the kind of explosiveness that can make them a dangerous opponent in SEC play.
Nobody is going to confuse UL Monroe with Georgia or LSU, but scoring 62 deserves recognition. Mississippi State looked fast, confident and capable of creating big plays. That was a very good start.
Missouri 54, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 14
Austin Simmons was nearly perfect. He completed 17 of 19 passes for 252 yards and four touchdowns in Missouri’s 54-14 win.
That is about as efficient as a quarterback can be in an opener. Missouri took control early, built a 40-0 halftime lead and never gave Arkansas-Pine Bluff a chance to make it competitive.
The opponent matters, but so does execution. Simmons handled his business, and Missouri looked like a team capable of giving people problems when the SEC schedule begins.
Kentucky 45, Youngstown State 13
Kentucky got a strong performance from Kenny Minchey, who threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns in a comfortable 45-13 victory.
The Wildcats scored touchdowns on their first two possessions and maintained control the rest of the way. It was not the loudest win of the weekend, but it was convincing and gave Kentucky something positive to build around at quarterback.
Kentucky will be tested quickly when Alabama comes to Lexington. We will find out soon enough whether this performance carries over against SEC speed and physicality.
Arkansas 31, North Alabama 14
Arkansas won, but this was not one of the SEC’s more impressive performances.
K.J. Jackson passed for 267 yards and three touchdowns, but the Razorbacks never completely overwhelmed North Alabama. Arkansas led only 14-0 at halftime and allowed the Lions to hang around longer than an SEC team should.
A win is a win, particularly in the opener, but Arkansas has work to do. The Razorbacks were good enough to take care of business. They were not good enough to make anybody in the conference nervous.
Vanderbilt 28, Austin Peay 9
Vanderbilt earned a 28-9 win, but this was another game that felt more workmanlike than impressive.
The Commodores relied on their defense, controlled the second half and did enough offensively to put the game away. There is nothing wrong with winning ugly, especially early in the season, but Vanderbilt will need more offensive production when the level of competition rises.
Clark Lea has made Vanderbilt a much tougher football team. This was not a performance that will generate national attention, but the Commodores are 1-0 and moving forward.
Auburn 17, Baylor 16
Auburn survived. Sometimes that is the most important thing.
The Tigers did not play particularly well offensively, but they found a way to beat Baylor 17-16. This was one of the few SEC games against an opponent with enough talent to fight back, and Auburn deserves credit for winning a close game.
Still, there was nothing comfortable about it. Auburn has to become more consistent on offense and cannot expect to live on the edge every week in the SEC. It was a good win because of the opponent and the circumstances, but there is plenty to correct.
Ole Miss vs. Louisville: One More Game to Go
Ole Miss will try to complete a perfect opening weekend for the SEC when it faces Louisville on Sunday night in Nashville.
I have said all week that this game could be dangerous. Louisville has a legitimate running game, Jeff Brohm knows how to prepare an underdog and Ole Miss has undergone plenty of change. Trinidad Chambliss gives the Rebels a difference-maker at quarterback, but they had better show up ready to play.
The rest of the SEC has handled its business. Now it is Ole Miss’s turn.
JB’s Coach of the Week
My Coach of the Week is Lane Kiffin, with Kendall Briles a very close second.
Kiffin gets the nod because of the opponent, the pressure and the unbelievable amount of noise surrounding LSU. With damn near everybody pulling against them, he kept his team focused and led it to a 51-10 demolition of Clemson. That was not merely a win. That was a statement.
Briles deserves a hell of a lot of credit for producing 653 yards in his South Carolina debut. Any other weekend, that may have been enough to win the honor.
John Sumrall also belongs in the conversation after Florida looked prepared, physical and explosive in his debut. But this week belongs to Kiffin.
The Final Turn
The SEC could not have asked for a better start in the win-loss column. Fifteen teams played and 15 teams won. If Ole Miss beats Louisville, the entire conference will leave opening weekend undefeated.
But records never tell the whole story.
LSU made the biggest statement. Georgia and Texas looked like championship contenders. South Carolina’s offense took a major step forward. Florida looked reborn under John Sumrall. Tennessee may have introduced the country to its next star quarterback. Auburn escaped, while Arkansas and Vanderbilt won without exactly frightening anybody.
That is what opening weekend is for. You celebrate the win, correct the mistakes and get back to work.
Nobody wins a championship in Week 1. But you can damn sure start showing whether you have the team to compete for one.
Editor’s note: Ole Miss-Louisville will be added after Sunday night’s game.
Scores and statistical leaders were verified against the ESPN SEC scoreboard and official SEC/team schedules on September 6, 2026.
