Tony Barnhart
By Tony Barnhart
On Friday I was convinced that it would be an uneventful Week 2
in college football. But a long time ago I learned that is when strange and
unexpected things happen. And so it was on Sept. 6. Here are five things we learned on
Week 2.
1—Billy Napier is in trouble. I pointed this out last week about
Alabama and its opening loss to Florida State. It’s one thing to
lose. It’s another thing to lose and look like a poorly coached
team doing it.
And Florida, in its fourth season under Napier, was a poorly
coached team in a stunning 18-17 loss to South Florida.
“I’m not here to make excuses,” he said after the game.
Good. Because there are no excuses for 11 penalties, including
one at a crucial point in the game where a Florida player spit on
an opponent and was ejected on South Florida’s game-winning
drive. That’s a lack of discipline and that goes back to coaching.
After last year’s strong finish the Gator Nation was back on board
with Napier.
Now Florida will play at LSU this Saturday followed by games with
Miami, Texas, Texas A&M and Georgia. That has to be the
toughest schedule in the country.
2—A great win for Mississippi State: Last Thursday I wrote that
Mississippi State, the team that went 0-8 in the SEC last season,
would have a chance to beat Arizona State, the defending Big 12
champion and playoff team last season.
Why?
Humidity and Cowbells.
The teams that travel from West to East usually have problems in
September. Mississippi State won 24-20 and Jeff Lebby got a
nice building block for his program.
3—John Mateer is the real deal, ya’ll.
Kirk Herbstreit pointed this out in the Oklahoma-Michigan game
and I agree with him. Washington State transfer John Mateer had
great stats (266 yards passing, 74 yards rushing and three
touchdowns). But the takeaway from Saturday’s 24-13 win in
Norman was the energy level he brought to the stadium.
Oklahoma looked like a team that can challenge the very best in
the SEC.
Just one concern. Mateer gained those 74 yards rushing by
carrying 19 times. You just can’t do that with your quarterback
every week.
They need a running game not dependent on the quarterback.
Oklahoma is at Temple this week and hosts Auburn on Sept. 20.
That will be interesting.
4—We better start paying attention to Missouri. The Tigers open
the season with six straight home games and on Saturday they
looked like a team that could start 6-0 with a 42-31 win over
Kansas. Missouri trailed 21-6 and stormed back for the win.
Beau Pribula, the transfer from Penn State, threw for 334 yards
and three touchdowns. The Tigers had two backs—Jamal
Roberts and Ahmad Hardy— go over 100 yards.
Coach Eli Drinkwitz has been wondering when his team, which
won 10 games last season and 11 the season before that, was
going to start getting some love.
Arguments were made last season for South Carolina, Ole Miss,
and Alabama to make the playoffs. Mizzou was not part of that
discussion.
Missouri plays Louisiana-Lafayette, South Carolina and UMass
before an open date. Then they get Alabama in COMO on Oct.
11. The Tigers finally cracked the AP Top 25 at No. 25 on Sunday.
5—Saturday’s game at Tennessee will be a moment of truth for
the Georgia Bulldogs.
Georgia beat Austin Peay, 28-6, for its 33rd straight victory at home last
Saturday. The game started early and was then delayed by
lightning in the area. In short, it was not your typical Saturday at
Dooley Field.
Still, the Georgia faithful are nervous about their offense and its
lack of explosive plays. Mike Griffith of the AJC points out Georgia
did not have a play of more than 23 yards against Austin Peay.
The week before in a 45-7 win over Marshall the Bulldogs had
only one play of more than 25 yards. That’s a concern because Tennessee put up 72 points against an
overmatched East Tennessee State team.