SEC Round Up

Hello, Auburn Family and War Eagle. Hope you guys enjoyed week four in the Southeastern Conference. It was a crazy week with close finishes and surprising upsets. My highlight obviously was Auburn's road win last Thursday in Manhattan against a very good Kansas State team. Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi State were all equally impressive as they each picked up victories last weekend. Let's recap last week around the league and look ahead to a big week that includes Auburn's homecoming game against Louisiana Tech.

Last week began with a huge non-conference road game for Auburn as they traveled to Manhattan, Kansas to take on the Kansas State Wildcats. The Tigers got off to a slow start as the offense struggled to move the ball consistently. Fortunately for Auburn the defense stood tall on multiple occasions and held the Wildcats to forty rushing yards. Ellis Johnson's unit continues to impress, as they get more comfortable in year two in Johnson's 4-2-5 system. Nick Marshall made huge throws down the stretch and JUCO All-American Duke Williams had eight receptions as Auburn held of Kansas State, 20-14.

Saturday around the conference began with Georgia hosting Troy and Texas A&M traveling to Dallas to take on SMU. Georgia rebounded from last week's conference loss with a 66-0 victory over Troy. Freshman running back Sony Michel filled in nicely for Todd Gurley to lead the Bulldogs to an easy non-conference victory. Texas A&M had little trouble on the road against a deflated SMU squad. SMU was in their first game following the resignation of June Jones. Kenny Hill threw for 265 yards and 4 touchdowns to lead the visiting Aggies to an easy road victory.

The afternoon slate was highlighted with a showdown in Tuscaloosa as Will Muschamp brought his Florida Gators to town to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Gators forced four Alabama turnovers but the Crimson Tide offense was too much for the Gators. Alabama receiver Amari Cooper hauled in ten balls and Blake Sims threw for 445 yards and 4 touchdowns to lead Alabama to a 42-21 win. It will definitely be interesting to see how everything unfolds in Gainesville. A narrow victory over Kentucky and a disappointing performance in Tuscaloosa does not bode well for the future of Will Muschamp.

In other non-conference action around the conference, Arkansas rolled over Northern Illinois while Missouri fell to Indiana in Columbia. The primetime slate featured two quality match ups as LSU hosted Mississippi State and South Carolina traveled to Nashville to face a struggling Vanderbilt team. South Carolina got off to a slow start and Vanderbilt's special teams kept the game close for the first three quarters. In the end Dylan Thompson was too much for the Commodores as South Carolina won 48-34. The primetime ESPN game featured Mississippi State traveling to Baton Rouge to face LSU. Dak Prescott showed why he is in the Heisman conversation as he passed for three touchdowns and ran for one more to lead the Bulldogs to a huge road victory in Death Valley. LSU rallied in the fourth quarter behind backup quarterback Brandon Jennings, but it was a little too late for the Tigers as Mississippi State defender Will Redmond intercepted a late, desperation pass to seal the victory. The Mississippi State win snapped a 14-game skid in the series. Let's take a look at the upcoming week in the SEC:

Tennessee @ Georgia

Vanderbilt @ Kentucky

Arkansas @ Texas A&M

Louisiana Tech @ Auburn

Missouri @ South Carolina

Memphis @ Ole Miss

New Mexico State @ LSU

Game of the week: Arkansas @ Texas A&M

Could get interesting: Tennessee @ Georgia

Bring on the whiskey: Vanderbilt @ Kentucky

As always, thanks for taking the time to read my SEC round up. It should be another exciting week around the conference. I think everyone is counting down to the highly anticipated October 4^th slate that includes Auburn's primetime match up with LSU. Feel free to contact me on Twitter @AUTigerFrank. War Eagle!