Around the SEC: Week 3

Story posted September 23, 2021 in CommRadio, Sports by Nolan Clark

NCAA football is off to a great start, with some exciting, competitive matchups that have taken place the first few weeks of the season.

A conference that is always in the spotlight is the Southeastern Conference (SEC). This conference is home to teams like No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Georgia, No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 11 Florida.

No. 1 Alabama is no stranger to having a target on its back every year. Head coach Nick Saban has grown one of the strongest college football programs in history, and every one of their opponents tries to prove that they have what it takes to topple the Crimson Tide.

On Sept. 18, the Alabama Crimson Tide went up against the Florida Gators in a conference matchup in Gainesville, Florida. This game had fans on both sides hanging onto the edge of their seats.

Possible Heisman candidate at quarterback, sophomore Bryce Young dominated the pace of the game through the air, completing 62% of his passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns.

Alabama struggled to find success on the ground in the rushing game due to a solid performance from the Gators on the defensive side of the ball.  As the game progressed, they were able to feed off of the fans' energy to stifle the Crimson Tide’s offense.

The Gators struggled in the first half to produce a scoring drive, but after halftime they stuck to the run game, which brought them within three points of Alabama in the fourth quarter.

They were not able to get it done and Young, along with his team, pulled out a great win on the road to continue their momentum into Week 4.

Another team in the SEC that has looked phenomenal in the first three weeks of the season is No. 2 Georgia. After a hard-fought defensive battle against No. 9 Clemson in Week 1, the Bulldogs have dominated their opponents up until this Week 4 matchup against unranked Vanderbilt.

Defense wins championships and this team could possibly have the best defense in all of college football.

Led by junior quarterback JT Daniels, the Bulldogs look to continue facilitating the ball and putting it in the endzone as the season progresses.

In his matchup against South Carolina on Sept. 18, Daniels completed 74% of his passes for 303 yards and three touchdowns.

The three receiving touchdowns came from freshman Adonai Mitchell, sophomore Jermaine Burton and senior James Cook.

Mitchell and Burton combined for a total of 7 receptions for 147 yards and two touchdowns.

Cook ran for 51 yards and a touchdown on 4 carries and racked up 4 catches for 20 yards and a touchdown.

The Bulldogs have yet to see a worthy opponent since their matchup with Clemson, so expect them to continue their trend of outscoring their opponents by a wide margin until Week 5.

Another big SEC matchup to look forward to this weekend is No. 7 Texas A&M vs. unranked Arkansas. Both teams are (3-0) and hungry to keep their winning streaks alive.

The Aggies had to face adversity at the beginning of the season when their redshirt freshman, starting quarterback, Haynes King fractured his leg. Luckily for the Aggies, sophomore Zach Calzada has stepped up and performed very well under the circumstances.

Last week Calzada completed 57% of his passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns against the New Mexico Lobos.
He spread the ball around to all his receivers and leaned on junior running back Isaiah Spiller, who had 15 carries for 117 yards and one touchdown.

This is a big week for Calzada, as this is his first start against a conference opponent.

The SEC is loaded with high caliber players this year and, in the weeks to come, these future NFL prospects will display their talents as they race to compete in the College Football Playoffs.

 

Nolan Clark is a third-year studying broadcast journalism. To contact him, email nolanclark11@gmail.com.

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