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Tag: Georgia Bulldogs

  • Georgia: Lawson Luckie has been named a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the…

    Georgia: Lawson Luckie has been named a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the…

    CONFIRMEDTip of the cap: Georgia Football (official) posted: “Lawson Luckie has been named a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award”

    Source: Georgia Football (official) · 10/21 3:53 PM CT

  • 27-24, Three Times: The SEC Upset Recipe Nobody Wrote Down

    27-24, Three Times: The SEC Upset Recipe Nobody Wrote Down

    In eight days, three unranked SEC teams beat top-seven SEC teams by the exact same score. They all came from behind by double digits, and every one was sealed by a takeaway in the last two minutes.

    By T-Rohn, Gridiron Gumbo · Posted Oct. 21, 2026

    CONFIRMED: Oklahoma 27, No. 1 Texas 24 (Oct. 10); Auburn 27, No. 1 Georgia 24 and Florida 27, No. 7 Texas 24 (Oct. 17); the comebacks, the late takeaways and the back-to-back walk-off field goals, per AP/ESPN. REPORTED: details credited to single outlets in text.

    Every good Cajun cook has one recipe she never writes down. You just watch her make it until you can do it yourself.

    The SEC just made the same dish three times in eight days. I wrote it down.

    The recipe is 27-24.

    TAKE (joke): Mawmaw wrote hers on the back of a Piggly Wiggly receipt. The SEC wrote this one on a scoreboard. Same rule for both: nobody gets to see it until somebody’s already eating.

    Everybody covered the upsets one at a time. Put the three box scores side by side, though, and they look like the same game played three times.

    The Recipe Card

    Here’s what all three upsets had in common, checked against the AP, ESPN and the schools’ own game notes:

    • Same score. Oklahoma 27, Texas 24. Auburn 27, Georgia 24. Florida 27, Texas 24.
    • Same matchup. An unranked SEC team beat an SEC team ranked in the AP top seven, two of them No. 1.
    • Same hole. Every winner trailed by at least 10 points.
    • Same finish. Every winner’s defense took the ball away in the final two minutes.

    And two of the three ended on a field goal as time expired. ESPN Research says that’s the first time in AP poll history, going back to 1936, that the No. 1 team lost on the final play in back-to-back weeks.

    Three times is not a coincidence. Three times is a cookbook.

    Batch One: Oklahoma 27, No. 1 Texas 24 (Oct. 10)

    The Red River Rivalry, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, in front of 92,100.

    Texas led 17-7 at halftime, and Oklahoma’s offense had been sputtering. ESPN reported the Sooners had 69 yards of offense in the first half, and 1 of those came on the ground.

    That’s not an offense. That’s a man looking for his truck keys.

    But Oklahoma scored in all three phases. Dakoda Fields fell on a blocked punt in the end zone. Peyton Bowen returned an interception 42 yards for a touchdown. Lloyd Avant ran one in from 2 yards.

    Texas tied it at 24 with 6:32 left. Then Courtland Guillory intercepted a pass at the Oklahoma 39 with 19 seconds to go. ESPN reported it was his first pick as a Sooner. John Mateer found Isaiah Sategna III for gains of 13 and 20, and replay let both stand.

    With no time left, Tate Sandell drilled a 47-yarder, per the AP. He’d already hit one from 53 earlier in the game.

    “I don’t know if I ever could have dreamed something like this,” Sandell told ESPN.

    Here’s the part I like. Sandell is from Port Neches, Texas, per Oklahoma Athletics. That’s Golden Triangle country, close enough to Louisiana to smell the boudin. He transferred from UTSA and won the 2025 Lou Groza Award as the nation’s best kicker, Oklahoma’s first ever.

    TAKE (joke): Norman has the trophy now. Port Neches has the bragging rights. Louisiana, as usual, has the boudin and will be taking partial credit.

    A Texas boy, raised a short drive from Cajun country, beat No. 1 Texas with one swing of his leg. Ça c’est bon.

    It was Oklahoma’s first win over a No. 1 team since 2007. ESPN noted that in 122 years of the rivalry, the Sooners had never beaten a No. 1 Texas team. The AP put their record against top-ranked Texas at 0-4-1.

    Batch Two: Auburn 27, No. 1 Georgia 24 (Oct. 17)

    Georgia moved up to No. 1 after Texas lost. It turned into what the AP called a “short one-week stay.”

    The Bulldogs led 14-0 in the first quarter in Athens. ESPN Research says that before this game, unranked teams trailing the AP No. 1 by 14 or more had lost 195 straight. Under Kirby Smart, Georgia was 65-0 against unranked teams when it led by at least 14.

    Then Auburn scored 24 straight points.

    TAKE (joke): Athens went quiet. Then it went very quiet. Then somebody in the upper deck asked if the hedges were still under warranty.

    Georgia came back to tie it at 24 with 2:58 left. With 58 seconds to go, Cody Sigler forced a fumble and Sylvester Smith-Reed recovered at the Auburn 44, per the AP and Auburn Athletics.

    Then Alex McPherson hit a 34-yarder as time expired.

    Auburn closed as a 19.5-point underdog at DraftKings for the Oct. 17 game (per LineGauge and GordStats). Auburn Athletics said it was the Tigers’ first win between the hedges since 2005.

    McPherson gave the credit to everybody but himself. “Hudson Powell and Hudson Kaak did a great job, great snap and hold,” he said, per Auburn Athletics. “Our entire line did a great job and made my job pretty easy.”

    Kicking runs in that family. McPherson’s older brother Evan kicks for the Cincinnati Bengals after starring at Florida. Their oldest brother, Logan, punted and held at Louisiana Tech, per Auburn Athletics.

    So a Louisiana Tech punter’s little brother knocked off No. 1. I’m counting that one for the state of Louisiana. Nobody can stop me.

    McPherson has never missed an extra point. He’s 106-for-106 for his career, per Auburn Athletics’ postgame notes.

    Batch Three: Florida 27, No. 7 Texas 24 (Oct. 17)

    Same Saturday. Same score. Same poor Longhorns.

    TAKE (joke): Austin has live music, breakfast tacos and, as of Oct. 17, a strong opinion about the number 24.

    Florida came into Austin off two straight blowout losses under first-year coach Jon Sumrall, per the AP. Quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. was making his first career start, in place of the injured Aaron Philo.

    Texas led 17-3 in the second quarter after Ryan Niblett took a punt back 63 yards for a touchdown, per Texas Athletics and the AP. It was his third career punt-return score, which ties a Texas program record, per Texas Athletics. Tip of the cap to the young man.

    Then Florida scored 24 unanswered points.

    Yes, 24 unanswered. Again. Auburn did the exact same thing in Athens that same day. Somebody’s passing notes.

    Jones threw two touchdowns, both to tight end Lacota Dippre, and didn’t turn it over. Patrick Durkin’s 28-yard field goal gave Florida its first lead, and Jadan Baugh’s fourth-quarter touchdown made it 27-17.

    Texas scored to make it 27-24 with 4:21 left. Then on Texas’ final possession, Myles Graham sacked the quarterback and forced a fumble, and Kanye Clark recovered with 1:58 left, per Florida Athletics.

    Florida Athletics said the Gators came in ranked 131st nationally in pass defense. Against Texas they had five sacks and held the Longhorns to 272 total yards.

    The AP said it was Florida’s first road win over a top-10 team since 2012.

    The Secret Ingredient: Nobody Flinched

    Listen to the two coaches who won on Oct. 17, and you’ll hear the same word.

    “The thing I’m most proud of is that nobody flinched,” Auburn’s Alex Golesh said, per Auburn Athletics.

    Florida’s Jon Sumrall, per the AP: “When things got tough, we flinched the last couple weeks.” Then: “Our team grew today … because we fought.”

    Two coaches, two stadiums, one word. If “flinch” were a spice, it’d be the one you leave out of the pot.

    TAKE (joke): Like raisins in a gumbo. Technically legal. Grounds for leaving the family reunion.

    Dear Longhorns: We Need to Talk About 27-24

    Texas has now lost by the same score in back-to-back weeks. It went from No. 1 to No. 19 in two polls.

    Sports Illustrated reported the Longhorns are the ninth team of the 25-team AP poll era (since 1989) to drop consecutive games to unranked opponents while ranked in the top 10.

    Somebody in Austin needs to check whether the scoreboard is stuck. Two weeks, same numbers. That’s not a losing streak. That’s a screensaver.

    TAKE (joke): Somebody unplug it, count to ten and plug it back in. That fixes the router, the TV and, we hope, the burnt orange.

    To be fair to Texas, it lost both games by a field goal to teams playing out of their minds, and one of those losses came on the final snap. That’s not a collapse. That’s a bad week at the casino.

    Speaking of the casino: ESPN’s David Purdum reported that a three-team moneyline parlay on Auburn, Florida and Tennessee on Oct. 17 paid about 156-1 at Hard Rock Bet. The book said it took at least two of them, the biggest for $10, which netted $1,565.

    Tennessee, by the way, ruined my whole theme by beating Alabama 26-10 that same Saturday, per the AP. Close enough, Vols. You get partial credit.

    Lagniappe: The Recipe Doesn’t Travel

    Before y’all start painting 27-24 on the side of your truck, here’s a warning.

    Oklahoma followed its 27-24 upset by losing 21-13 at home to Kentucky on Oct. 17, per the AP and Oklahoma Athletics. So the recipe works once. After that, you’re just a team that needs a new recipe.

    TAKE (joke): Kentucky brought the recipe for Kentucky. Turns out it’s mostly bourbon barrels and patience.

    Who’s Next to Get Served

    • Texas hosts No. 7 Ole Miss on Saturday, Oct. 24, per the AP.
    • Auburn hosts No. 18 LSU on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 11 a.m. CT on ABC, per Auburn Athletics.
    • Oklahoma visits my Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 2:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network, per Oklahoma Athletics.
    • Florida gets Georgia on Oct. 31, per Florida Athletics.

    About my Bulldogs. LSU just beat us 31-0 in Baton Rouge, per the AP, and we fell out of the poll. If Oklahoma wants to beat us 27-24, cher, I’ll take it. At least we’d have 24.

    TAKE (joke): Confession Booth: the Cowbell Counter is at “ringing it in the shower.” And LSU fans, quit grinning. Y’all kick off at Auburn at 11 a.m. CT, which in Baton Rouge is still breakfast.

    Every good cook knows: you don’t argue with a recipe that works. You just hope it’s not your turn in the pot.

    Laissez les bons temps rouler, y’all.

    Betting content is for entertainment only. See our picks disclaimer.

    Sources

    Correction (Oct. 22, 2026): An earlier version cited an opening line without naming a sportsbook.

  • Georgia: Gunner Stockton has been named a 2026 NFF National Scholar-Athlete and Campbell Trophy…

    Georgia: Gunner Stockton has been named a 2026 NFF National Scholar-Athlete and Campbell Trophy…

    CONFIRMEDTip of the cap: Georgia Football (official) posted: “Gunner Stockton has been named a 2026 NFF National Scholar-Athlete and Campbell Trophy Finalist!”

    Source: Georgia Football (official) · 10/21 10:22 AM CT

  • The One That Walked On: Bishop, Golesh and a Grudge Where Everybody Won

    The One That Walked On: Bishop, Golesh and a Grudge Where Everybody Won

    Tennessee’s former walk-on ran for 220 yards against the coach he says helped keep him off scholarship. Two weeks later, on the same Saturday, both men pulled off signature wins.

    By T-Rohn, Gridiron Gumbo · Posted Oct. 21, 2026

    CONFIRMED: results and records per AP/ESPN. REPORTED: details credited to single outlets in text.

    Down in Cajun country, we’ve got a rule about fishing: never brag about the one that got away, because somebody at the bait shop knows the real story.

    Alex Golesh doesn’t have that luxury. The one that got away from him grew up in Knoxville, carries the ball for Tennessee, and has started telling the whole bait shop about it.

    Everybody covered the games. We’re covering the grudge, and how it turned into the SEC’s strangest win-win.

    Some folks hold grudges. Some folks hold press conferences. DeSean Bishop held the football 34 times.

    The Kid From Karns

    Bishop was no unknown. At Karns High School in Knoxville, he ran for 8,347 yards, second-most in Tennessee high school history, and scored 102 rushing touchdowns, third-most, per the TSSAA record book as cited by 247Sports. He also won back-to-back Class 5A Mr. Football awards.

    Tennessee did offer him, in June 2021, right after he showed out at a Vols camp. The Knoxville News Sentinel reported it was his first Power 5 offer and that he was “first in line for every drill.”

    Michigan State, Purdue and Virginia Tech were his only other Power 5 offers, and people close to him pushed him toward a Group of 5 scholarship, according to 247Sports.

    He committed to Coastal Carolina in July 2022. When coach Jamey Chadwell left for Liberty, Bishop reopened his recruitment that December and took an official visit to Appalachian State.

    Then he bet on himself, picking a walk-on spot with his hometown Vols over a Group of 5 scholarship. “There was just something in me that always thought I was bigger than that,” he told 247Sports.

    He walked on in 2023, spent two seasons without a scholarship and was put on one before 2025, per 247Sports. Then he made second-team All-SEC with 1,076 yards and 16 touchdowns, according to A to Z Sports.

    The best part? Bishop said at SEC Media Days he didn’t even know it was a walk-on spot at first. “Tennessee came knocking on the door and gave me the opportunity to walk on there,” he said, per A to Z Sports. “And honestly, it’s funny because I didn’t realize it was to walk on when I got there.”

    Cher, I once showed up to a crawfish boil thinking I was a guest and found out I was the help. I know the feeling.

    Two Sides of the Same Pot

    Who was Tennessee’s offensive coordinator during Bishop’s recruitment? Alex Golesh, who ran the Vols offense in 2021 and 2022, according to Auburn’s official bio. His 2022 offense led the country in scoring at 47.3 points a game.

    So Golesh was on staff from the June 2021 offer through Bishop’s senior season. South Florida hired him in December 2022, the same month Bishop reopened his recruitment, so Golesh was in Tampa by the time Bishop walked on. He coached USF from 2023 through 2025, and Auburn hired him on Nov. 30, 2025.

    There are two versions of why Bishop walked on, and we’re serving both bowls.

    Tennessee coach Josh Heupel gave his at SEC Media Days in July. “His offers, we didn’t feel like, necessarily matched what his potential skill level was,” Heupel said, adding that “at that time, we were limited in some of the roster spots that we were able to have with some of the things that we inherited from the previous staff,” per A to Z Sports.

    Bishop’s version came out after the Oct. 3 game. We’ll get there.

    So it may have been roster math, not a talent judgment. But a man doesn’t need the whole recipe to remember who was standing at the stove.

    Oct. 3: The Receipt

    Auburn came to Knoxville on Oct. 3, and Bishop ran like the gumbo was getting cold.

    He carried 34 times for 220 yards and three touchdowns (25, 44 and 5 yards), all career highs, in a 24-14 Tennessee win in front of 101,915, according to Tennessee Athletics.

    The 220 yards rank 12th on Tennessee’s single-game list. They were also the most anyone had run for against Auburn since Alabama’s Derrick Henry put up 220-plus on Nov. 28, 2015.

    Derrick Henry, y’all. That’s the company a grudge keeps.

    After the game, Bishop didn’t tiptoe. “I’m not going to lie, I’m going to keep it real – like this game was very personal from just the mindset of Golesh, he was one of the reasons I was a walk-on at the University of Tennessee,” he said, per 247Sports. (FanSided’s Fly War Eagle printed a shorter version: “Golesh was a big reason I was a walk-on.”)

    Then he did the most Tennessee-boy thing possible: he thanked the man, sort of. “But in a sense, it was really a blessing in disguise,” Bishop said, per 247Sports.

    Half thank-you note, half receipt. Classiest shot fired in the SEC all year.

    Golesh didn’t take the bait. Fly War Eagle reported he didn’t respond to Bishop’s comments and talked only about his defense: “The missed tackles came from not getting a push up front and missing in the gap opportunities.”

    Smart man. When a fella just ran for 220 on you, you nod and go watch film.

    Oct. 17: Everybody Eats

    Auburn was 3-2 after that loss, with a bye week coming. That’s usually when the message boards light the torches.

    Instead, Golesh’s team went to Athens on Oct. 17 and beat No. 1 Georgia 27-24.

    Auburn scored 24 straight points after falling behind 14-0, per Auburn Athletics. Georgia tied it with 2:58 left. Then Cody Sigler forced a fumble, Sylvester Smith-Reed fell on it at the Auburn 44, and Alex McPherson hit a 34-yard field goal as time expired. Quarterback Byrum Brown ran 26 times for 115 yards, per the AP.

    Auburn Athletics said it was the program’s first walk-off field goal in regulation since Wes Byrum’s kick beat Oregon for the national title after the 2010 season. It was also just the second time Auburn has won on the road against a No. 1 team, and the first time since 1994.

    The AP noted Georgia’s 53-game win streak against unranked teams ended. Top-ranked teams had also won 93 straight home games against unranked opponents, dating to 2007.

    Ninety-three straight. That streak outlasted every diet I’ve started since 2007.

    “The thing I’m most proud of is that nobody flinched,” Golesh said, per Auburn Athletics. He told the AP: “We’re going to build Auburn back to where everybody wants it, one game at a time. Just hang with us.”

    Meanwhile, back in Knoxville that same day, the former walk-on was doing it again.

    Bishop carried 32 times for 159 yards and both Tennessee touchdowns, each from 5 yards out, in a 26-10 win over No. 6 Alabama, per Tennessee Athletics and the AP.

    “You look back at the start of my journey and I was literally watching this game at home, and now I’m making the plays that make the difference for my team,” he said afterward, per All For Tennessee.

    So on the same Saturday, the coach Bishop says helped keep him off scholarship beat the No. 1 team in America, and the former walk-on ran over No. 6. Nobody lost except Georgia and Alabama, and frankly, they can afford it.

    Mais, that’s a split decision where both fighters go home with the belt.

    The Punchline Writes Itself

    Here’s what cracks me up. After all that, Auburn still isn’t ranked.

    The Tigers got 61 points in Sunday’s AP poll, third among teams receiving votes, per NCAA.com. You beat No. 1 on the road with a walk-off kick, and the voters treat you like the cousin who showed up to the reunion without a dish. Tennessee, meanwhile, climbed to No. 11.

    My Mississippi State Bulldogs sat at 30 points in that same poll. Sixty-one and no ranking? Cher, we’d frame that and ring a cowbell at it.

    Bishop said it best: a blessing in disguise. If he’d taken the Appalachian State scholarship, he isn’t the hometown hero. If Tennessee had handed him a scholarship back then, maybe nobody’s writing this story.

    Some grudges are like a good roux. They take time, they need constant stirring, and if you do it right, everybody at the table gets fed.

    Up Next

    Tennessee visits South Carolina on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern (2:30 Central) on ESPN. Auburn hosts No. 18 LSU on the Plains at 11 a.m. Central on ABC.

    Laissez les bons temps rouler, y’all. And if the local star wants a scholarship, maybe just give him one. It’s cheaper than 220 yards.

    Sources

  • Bluegrass Bayou Ambush: How Will Stein’s Kentucky Got Outgained, Out-Possessed and Still Walked Out of Norman Tied for First

    Bluegrass Bayou Ambush: How Will Stein’s Kentucky Got Outgained, Out-Possessed and Still Walked Out of Norman Tied for First

    Oklahoma racked up 346 yards to Kentucky’s 230, and the Wildcats won anyway. Four takeaways and a late pick-six later, the first-year coach has a 6-1 team, a five-game win streak and a share of the SEC lead.

    CONFIRMED: result and records per AP/ESPN. REPORTED: details credited to single outlets in text.

    Every swamp-raised kid learns one thing early: the gator that looks asleep is the one that eats your dog. Kentucky played Saturday night in Norman like that gator, half-submerged for three quarters. Then it bit.

    In fairness to Oklahoma, nobody in Norman was expecting a gator from Lexington. Kentucky’s fan base wasn’t either. Half of them were still checking basketball recruiting rankings.

    No. 15 Kentucky beat Oklahoma 21-13 on Oct. 17 and moved into a tie for the Southeastern Conference lead, according to the Associated Press. The Wildcats (6-1, 4-1 SEC) have won five straight and pulled even with Georgia after the Bulldogs fell to Auburn. On Sunday they climbed to No. 12 in the AP poll, per WUKY.

    Tied for first in the SEC in football, in October. Lexington authorities have advised residents not to make any sudden movements.

    Plenty of folks will tell you Kentucky is “for real.” We’re more interested in how they’re doing it, because the box score from Norman reads like a losing team’s. Kentucky won that game the way a Cajun wins at bourré: patience, a little nerve, and taking the pot at the very end.

    Bourré, for the uninitiated, is the card game where you can lose the pot, your truck, and your dignity before the gumbo’s done. Kentucky took the pot.

    The Yardage Lie

    Per ESPN’s box score, Oklahoma outgained Kentucky 346 yards to 230, had 19 first downs to Kentucky’s 14, and held the ball 31:24 to 28:36. UK Wildcats Wire’s Lee Ann Herring Olvedo wrote that the Sooners kept the ball in Kentucky’s half for long stretches. Most weeks, that’s a loss with a long bus ride home.

    Oklahoma basically rented Kentucky’s half of the field, put up curtains, and still got evicted at the end of the lease.

    Not this time. Asked about the stat sheet, Will Stein said up front in his postgame remarks that stats are for losers, Wildcats Wire reported. Hard to argue when the scoreboard backs you up.

    The ESPN line score shows the shape of it: Kentucky 7-0-0-14, Oklahoma 3-7-3-0. The Wildcats went more than two quarters without scoring and then put up 14 in the fourth while the defense pitched a shutout over the final 15 minutes.

    Two scoreless quarters in the middle. Kentucky’s offense took the longest halftime in the history of the sport and nobody told the television people.

    The Defense Ran a Trap Line

    The AP said, and ESPN’s box score backs up the count of four Oklahoma turnovers, that Kentucky intercepted Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer three times and holder Jacob Ulrich once. That fourth one deserves its own paragraph.

    In the second quarter, Oklahoma lined up for a 28-yard field goal and tried a fake, with Ulrich throwing. Jordan Castell was waiting and picked it off, wiping out three points the Sooners all but had in hand and keeping Kentucky ahead 7-3, per Wildcats Wire. Down here we call that stealing the shrimp right off your plate.

    A fake field goal in the SEC: the football equivalent of telling your mama you already cleaned your room. It works great until somebody opens the door.

    Oklahoma answered with a 90-yard, 12-play drive capped by Mateer’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Rocky Beers for a 10-7 halftime lead, then added a 26-yard field goal in the third quarter for 13-7. Then came the turn. Late in the third quarter, with 3:10 to go, Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace hit Mateer’s arm mid-throw. The pass fluttered, and Ty Bryant intercepted it and brought it back deep into Oklahoma territory, according to Wildcats Wire.

    Sooner fans, at this point, were already looking up how much a field storm costs in their new conference. Patience, y’all. The rate card is flat.

    Kentucky’s offense finally woke up. A seven-play, 44-yard drive ended with Willie Rodriguez catching a 12-yard touchdown from Kenny Minchey for a 14-13 lead with 12:53 left, per ESPN. On Oklahoma’s next series, the Kentucky defense forced a punt without a first down.

    Like a Lexington alarm clock: it doesn’t go off for a while, then it goes off all at once and you’ve got 14 points and a crick in your neck.

    The finisher came with 1:17 left. On third-and-6 at the Oklahoma 32, Castell jumped a Mateer throw and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown, according to the AP and Wildcats Wire. Wildcats Wire noted it was the first pick-six of Stein’s tenure. Bryant grabbed his second interception with 21 seconds left to close it out. That’s four takeaways on the night, and zero Kentucky turnovers, per ESPN.

    Somewhere in Kentucky a fan base that usually spends November arguing about point guards had to sit down on the porch steps.

    ESPN credits Castell with the pick-six, and Wildcats Wire credits him with the fake-field-goal interception too. That would give him two of the four takeaways, and both of the game-changing ones. Somebody get that young man a plate of étouffée.

    The Coach Who Admits It

    Here’s what we like about this one. Stein didn’t pretend his own call was perfect.

    Up 14-13 with a fourth down just outside the Oklahoma goal line, Stein went for it. Minchey was sacked. Afterward, per Wildcats Wire and 247Sports, Stein said: “Part of me wishes we would have kicked the field goal at that point, just because it would have put us up four.”

    A head coach in the SEC owning a decision out loud, in his first season? Mon ami, that’s rarer than a quiet Saturday night on Bourbon Street. His defense covered for it with another three-and-out, then the pick-six made it a moot point.

    Most SEC decisions get explained the way a Louisiana mechanic explains a bill: lots of words, no admissions, and somehow it’s the weather’s fault.

    Minchey finished 21 of 28 for 158 yards and two touchdowns, both to Rodriguez, per ESPN. It wasn’t flashy. It was efficient, and that was enough.

    The Road Is Where Kentucky Lives Now

    This is the part that sets Kentucky apart. CBS Sports’ Austin Nivison, who moved the Wildcats from sixth to third in his SEC Power Rankings, noted Norman was Kentucky’s third conference road win. He listed the road wins as Texas A&M, South Carolina and Oklahoma, and called the win over LSU the marquee result. Nivison wrote that “all of those wins came on the road in extremely hostile environments.”

    Kentucky’s road schedule this year reads like a bus driver’s revenge tour. The program has seen more hostile stadiums than a traveling tuba section.

    Nivison, writing for CBS Sports, also pointed to the analytics: Kentucky is 20th in adjusted EPA per play and second in strength of record, citing ESPN FPI. He also wrote, “At some point, we have to throw out preseason expectations and accept that Kentucky might just be a really good football team.”

    Gators Wire’s power rankings had Kentucky third as well and noted the only loss came against Alabama. That puts Kentucky in a firm position to make the SEC title game in its first season under Stein.

    Think about where the rest of the league is. In the same weekend, No. 1 Georgia lost at home to Auburn, No. 6 Alabama lost at Tennessee, and No. 7 Texas lost to Florida. Ranked teams were dropping like overcooked crawfish. Meanwhile Kentucky went into a hostile building, got outgained by more than 100 yards, and still came home with the W. In a season this messy, a team that does that has something worth more than a pretty stat line.

    The AP Top 10 last weekend was less a poll and more a casualty list from a bayou-side tailgate that ran out of ice.

    Next Up: Vanderbilt

    Kentucky’s next game is against Vanderbilt. Nivison already has a forecast: “just brace yourselves for Will Stein leading 7-1 Kentucky into November.”

    Vanderbilt fans, a famously calm people who mostly storm the library, are said to be ready either way.

    Is Kentucky a true SEC heavyweight? The yardage says “show me.” The scoreboard, the turnover margin and the standings say “already did.” T-Rohn’s take: in a league where everybody’s grandmama is losing at home, the team that keeps winning on the road gets a seat at the head of the table.

    Pass the hot sauce. The Wildcats are cooking.

    Sources

  • Bowl Gumbo, Second Stir: Ole Miss Jumps in the Playoff Pot, Texas Falls Out, and Where Every SEC Team Is Headed

    Bowl Gumbo, Second Stir: Ole Miss Jumps in the Playoff Pot, Texas Falls Out, and Where Every SEC Team Is Headed

    Gridiron Gumbo original projections — Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, after the Oct. 17 games (Week 7). Second stir of the pot; last week’s Early Bowl Gumbo is here. Disclosure: your humble cook still bleeds maroon and rings a cowbell (Mississippi State). State got graded like everybody else, and after Saturday in Baton Rouge, that is not a favor.

    Last week we had four SEC teams in the Playoff Pot. Then the No. 1 team in the country lost at home to an unranked Auburn, Tennessee sat on Alabama for four quarters, and Florida walked into Austin and walked out with a win. The AP’s top team has now lost in back-to-back weeks to unranked opponents, which NCAA.com says has happened only five times ever. (CONFIRMED) So we dumped the whole pot out on the newspaper and started over.

    How we cooked it

    These are our picks, not a copy or an average of anybody else’s bowl projections. Ingredients, all pulled Oct. 20:

    • Records and results through the Oct. 17 games (ESPN standings, cross-checked against the CollegeFootballData.com game log).
    • Ratings: ESPN FPI (updated Oct. 20) and SP+ (via CollegeFootballData.com). Both measure points above an average team.
    • The Gumbo Model: we average each SEC team’s FPI and SP+ rating, give the home team 2.5 points, turn every remaining game into a win probability and simulate the rest of the season 20,000 times. Projected records below are those simulated wins rounded, not a game-by-game “favorite always wins” list (that would have LSU going 10-2, which happens in only 14% of our sims).
    • The AP poll (Oct. 18). The CFP committee’s first rankings don’t come out until Tuesday, Nov. 3, so the AP poll and the ratings stand in for now. (CONFIRMED)

    The rules of the pot (re-checked this week):

    • CFP: Still 12 teams for 2026-27. The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC champions get in, plus the highest-ranked champion from the other conferences, plus the next seven highest-ranked teams. The top four ranked teams get first-round byes. (CONFIRMED)
    • SEC ladder: The Citrus Bowl takes the best SEC team left after the Playoff. Next is the “pool of six” (ReliaQuest, Gator, Music City, Texas, Las Vegas, Liberty), which the SEC slots with the schools and bowls while avoiding repeat trips. Birmingham and Gasparilla pick after that. Bowl tie-ins were carried over from 2025 for this one season, and 2026 is the SEC’s turn in Las Vegas in its rotation with the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. (CONFIRMED)
    Cartoon critters fighting over a gold trophy in a giant gumbo pot under the words Playoff Pot

    The Playoff Pot (CFP summary)

    • Georgia — SEC champion, top-four seed with a first-round bye. We have Georgia beating Tennessee in Atlanta.
    • Tennessee — at-large after losing the SEC title game. Projected 9-3 in the regular season.
    • Ole Miss — at-large. Projected 9-3. New this week.
    • Alabama — at-large, the last SEC team in. Projected 9-3, and the bubble is right under its feet.
    • First team out: Texas. FPI and SP+ still rate the Longhorns as a top-eight team, but they’re 1-2 in the league. Saturday’s Ole Miss at Texas game is basically a trade: the winner probably takes the spot.

    TAKE: Four SEC teams is our call, same number as last week, with two new names. The SEC has nine teams in the AP Top 25, but the highest is Georgia at No. 5, behind Miami, BYU, Ohio State and Notre Dame. That’s a lot of competition for seven at-large spots, so a fifth SEC team would need chaos somewhere else.

    Who Moved

    • ▲ Ole Miss: Citrus → CFP at-large. Beat Missouri 31-3 and jumped to No. 7 in the AP poll. 63% of our sims end with 9 or more wins.
    • ▼ Texas: CFP at-large → Texas Bowl. Lost to Oklahoma, then 27-24 at home to Florida. Two league losses in a nine-game SEC schedule leaves no room for error.
    • ▲ Tennessee: last team in → SEC title game plus a safe at-large spot. Beat Alabama 26-10 and has the league’s second-best path to Atlanta in our sims (34%).
    • ▼ Alabama: 10-2 with a home playoff game → 9-3 and the last SEC team in. Lost back-to-back games, and our model makes the Tide an underdog at LSU on Nov. 7.
    • ▲ LSU: Gator → Citrus. Shut out Mississippi State 31-0. SP+ rates LSU No. 6 in the country, and our model makes the Tigers favorites in all five remaining games.
    • ▲ Auburn: Birmingham → Liberty. Won 27-24 at No. 1 Georgia and now projects to 7-5.
    • ▲ Florida: Liberty → ReliaQuest. The 27-24 win at Texas gives the Gators wins over Ole Miss, Texas and Auburn.
    • ▼ Oklahoma: Texas Bowl → Birmingham. Lost 21-13 at home to Kentucky and is 3-3, with six wins a 62% proposition in our sims.

    The Pot, Team by Team

    Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC; AP No. 5)

    Projection: 10-2, SEC champion, top-four CFP seed (bye). ■ STEADY on the destination, down from last week’s 12-0/11-1 on the record.
    The data: Lost 27-24 at home to Auburn. Still the SEC’s highest-rated team in both systems (FPI No. 3, SP+ No. 2). Our sims put Georgia in Atlanta 85% of the time, and it wins out 41% of the time. The toughest remaining game is Nov. 7 at Ole Miss (Georgia 67% in our model). FPI gives them a 78.1% playoff chance.
    TAKE: Kirby Smart’s sideline face Saturday could’ve curdled a pot of milk from across the stadium. Calm down, Athens. Y’all lost one game, not the deed to the house.

    Tennessee (6-1, 3-1; AP No. 11)

    Projection: 9-3, loses the SEC title game to Georgia, CFP at-large. ▲ UP from last week’s last-team-in.
    The data: Beat Alabama 26-10. The only loss is 20-17 to Texas. FPI No. 12, SP+ No. 13. Remaining games, with Tennessee’s chance in our model: at South Carolina (63%), Kentucky (76%), at Texas A&M (60%), LSU (43%, its only game as an underdog) and at Vanderbilt (86%). 79% of our sims end with nine or more wins.
    TAKE: Knoxville’s already printing “SEC Champs” shirts in that traffic-cone orange that makes Mawmaw’s eyes water. Josh Heupel, unplug the printer, cher. Atlanta’s still a month off.

    Ole Miss (5-1, 3-1; AP No. 7)

    Projection: 9-3, CFP at-large. ▲ UP from the Citrus Bowl.
    The data: Beat Missouri 31-3. The only loss is 52-28 at Florida. FPI No. 11, SP+ No. 14, FPI playoff odds 43.6%. The back half is no picnic: at Texas (31%), Auburn (75%), Georgia (33%), at Oklahoma (61%), Wofford and the Egg Bowl vs. Mississippi State (81%). Our projected losses are the Texas and Georgia games. Win either one and this goes from bubble to comfortable.
    TAKE: Grove folks are already pricing December hotel rooms in their Sunday seersucker. Pete Golding, keep ’em off the balcony until the committee actually says something.

    Alabama (5-2, 3-2; AP No. 13)

    Projection: 9-3, CFP at-large (last SEC team in). ▼ DOWN from 10-2 and a home playoff game.
    The data: Lost 20-17 to Georgia and 26-10 at Tennessee. Wins include 45-17 at Kentucky and 56-23 at Mississippi State. The ratings still love the Tide (FPI No. 6, 49.5% playoff odds; SP+ No. 12). Remaining: Texas A&M (81%), at LSU (39%), at Vanderbilt (91%), Chattanooga and Auburn (82%). A loss in Baton Rouge puts them at 9-3, with the committee doing the math.
    TAKE: Tuscaloosa’s call-in shows are running hotter than a crawfish pot with the lid clamped down. Kalen DeBoer’s gonna need a bigger net for all them complaints.

    LSU (5-2, 2-2; AP No. 18)

    Projection: 8-4, Citrus Bowl. ▲ UP from the Gator Bowl.
    The data: Beat Mississippi State 31-0. The losses are 32-24 at Ole Miss and 35-34 at Kentucky. SP+ No. 6 (second in the SEC only to Georgia) and FPI No. 8. Our model makes LSU the favorite in every remaining game (at Auburn 74%, Alabama 61%, Texas 58%, at Tennessee 57%, at Arkansas 92%), but stacking up that many 60-40 games still averages out to about 8.4 wins. Two SEC losses already make the Playoff a long shot (FPI: 28.5%). The highest-rated team left after the Playoff is the obvious Citrus pick.
    TAKE: Ten days ago Death Valley wanted Lane Kiffin’s head on a boudin platter. Now the same callers are booking Orlando condos. Fair-weather fans on the bayou? Never heard of ’em, cher.

    Kentucky (6-1, 4-1; AP No. 12)

    Projection: 8-4, Gator Bowl. ■ STEADY: still a pool-of-six team, but the bowl changes from ReliaQuest to Gator.
    The data: Tied for first, with five straight wins capped by 21-13 at Oklahoma. The only loss was 45-17 to Alabama. But the ratings aren’t buying it: FPI No. 26 and SP+ No. 45, the lowest of the top seven teams in the standings. Remaining: Vanderbilt (81%), at Tennessee (24%), Florida (53%), at Missouri (36%) and Louisville (50%). FPI gives them 39.4% playoff odds. Our blend is more skeptical because SP+ rates them so much lower.
    TAKE: Lexington’s tied for first in the SEC in late October, so every bourbon shop in town is down to the bottom shelf. Will Stein, the raccoon’s still on the bricks, but somebody just turned on the porch light.

    Texas (4-2, 1-2; AP No. 19)

    Projection: 8-4, Texas Bowl. ▼ DOWN from a CFP at-large.
    The data: Lost 27-24 to Oklahoma and 27-24 at home to Florida, after September wins over Ohio State (24-23) and at Tennessee (20-17). FPI No. 7 (41.0% playoff odds) and SP+ No. 8, so the talent is real. Our model favors Texas in five of six remaining games: Ole Miss (69%), Mississippi State (88%), at Missouri (69%), at LSU (42%), Arkansas (96%) and at Texas A&M (72%). Still, only 47% of our sims reach nine wins. Along with LSU, they’re the best-rated team we have outside the Playoff. Beat Ole Miss Saturday and the two programs likely swap spots.
    TAKE: Steve Sarkisian says everything in Austin is getting evaluated. Mawmaw says start with the seasoning, cher. That budget buys a lot of cayenne.

    Florida (5-2, 3-2; AP No. 20)

    Projection: 8-4, ReliaQuest Bowl. ▲ UP from 7-5 and the Liberty Bowl.
    The data: Won 27-24 at Texas. That gives the Gators three résumé wins (Ole Miss 52-28, at Auburn 44-39, at Texas) to go with losses at Missouri (45-17) and vs. South Carolina (38-19). FPI No. 19, SP+ No. 38. Remaining: at Georgia (14%), Oklahoma (58%), at Kentucky (47%), Vanderbilt (84%) and at Florida State (62%).
    TAKE: Gator Nation went from “fire somebody” to “book the bowl trip” in two Saturdays. That’s the fastest mood swing in Florida since the Publix deli ran out of sub rolls. Jon Sumrall’s roux is finally browning.

    Missouri (5-2, 2-2; AP No. 22)

    Projection: 7-5, Music City Bowl. ▼ DOWN a win (8-4 → 7-5), same bowl.
    The data: Lost 31-3 at Ole Miss. Still 4-0 at home. FPI No. 27, SP+ No. 20. Remaining: at Arkansas (77%), Texas (31%), at Georgia (12%), Kentucky (64%) and Oklahoma (61%). Nashville stays an easy drive.
    TAKE: The Show-Me State finally has a demand for Eli Drinkwitz: show us a touchdown from the 2-yard line. Bring a covered dish to Nashville anyway, y’all.

    Mississippi State (4-2, 2-2; receiving votes) (the cook’s team, graded fair)

    Projection: 7-5, Las Vegas Bowl. ■ STEADY on record and bowl, even though the computers now like State less.
    The data: Lost 31-0 at LSU and fell out of the AP Top 25 (was No. 16). FPI dropped to No. 38, the lowest of any SEC team we project to a bowl; SP+ has them No. 47. The early wins still count: at South Carolina 41-34, Missouri 31-24, at Minnesota 38-13. The path to 7-5: Tennessee Tech and Vanderbilt (77%) at home, plus one of two home coin flips, Oklahoma (48%) and Auburn (49%). FPI gives them a 92.2% shot at bowl eligibility.
    TAKE: Starkville’s cowbells went so quiet in Baton Rouge you could hear a crawfish sneeze. Jeff Lebby, when you’re inside the 40, Mawmaw says take the three points and say thank you. (Disclosure: the cook rang his into a pillow all weekend.)

    Auburn (4-2, 2-2; receiving votes)

    Projection: 7-5, Liberty Bowl. ▲ UP from 6-6 and the Birmingham Bowl.
    The data: Won 27-24 at No. 1 Georgia with a field goal as time expired. Losses are 44-39 to Florida and 24-14 at Tennessee. FPI No. 21 (96.2% for six wins), SP+ No. 40. The back half is brutal: LSU (26%), at Ole Miss (25%), Arkansas (83%), at Mississippi State (51%), Samford and at Alabama (18%).
    TAKE: Auburn folks rolled Toomer’s so hard after Athens that Lee County is rationing toilet paper like it’s hurricane season. Alex Golesh won’t buy his own supper till Easter.

    Oklahoma (3-3, 1-2)

    Projection: 6-6, Birmingham Bowl. ▼ DOWN from 7-5 and the Texas Bowl.
    The data: Lost 21-13 at home to Kentucky. The other losses are at Michigan (17-10) and at Georgia (41-13), and the big win is 27-24 over Texas. FPI No. 22, SP+ No. 34. FPI puts six wins at 65.0%, and we have it at 62%. Remaining: at Mississippi State (52%), South Carolina (59%), at Florida (42%), Ole Miss (39%), Texas A&M (57%) and at Missouri (39%).
    TAKE: Last week Sooner Nation was planning a parade. Now Brent Venables’ parade route runs straight to Birmingham, and the band’s down to one kazoo.

    South Carolina (3-3, 1-3)

    Projection: 6-6, Gasparilla Bowl. ■ STEADY.
    The data: Had a week off. The SEC losses are 41-34 to Mississippi State, 49-18 at Alabama and 35-34 to Kentucky, and the win is 38-19 at Florida. FPI No. 29, SP+ No. 32. FPI puts bowl eligibility at 56.9%, and we have it at 62%. Remaining: Tennessee (37%), at Oklahoma (41%), Texas A&M (55%), at Arkansas (72%), Georgia (17%) and at Clemson (62%).
    TAKE: Columbia’s bowl hopes are a 6-6 coin flip, and somehow Gamecock fans already know which ref is gonna blow it. Shane Beamer, keep the visor on and the antacids close.

    Texas A&M (4-3, 1-3)

    Projection: 6-6, bowl TBD (SEC backup slot). ■ STEADY.
    The data: Beat The Citadel 41-0. The SEC losses are to Kentucky (31-21), at LSU (35-6) and at Missouri (27-6). FPI rates them better than their record (No. 20, 61.1% for six wins), and SP+ has them No. 33. They need two wins from at Alabama (19%), at South Carolina (45%), Tennessee (40%), at Oklahoma (43%) and Texas (28%), and they’re the underdog in all five. If all 14 teams get to six wins, the SEC’s tie-ins run out of seats, so A&M lands in a leftover bowl.
    TAKE: College Station’s got the budget of a Houston oil company and the October of a church-league softball team. Mike Elko’s kitchen still smells like burnt roux.

    Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-4)

    Projection: 4-8, no bowl. ■ STEADY.
    The data: Four straight losses, the latest 31-21 at home to Arkansas. FPI No. 66 (2.8% bowl odds), SP+ No. 71. They’d need three wins from at Kentucky, at Mississippi State, Alabama, at Florida and Tennessee, and our model doesn’t favor them in any of the five.
    TAKE: Vandy fans ran the bowl math, double-checked it, showed their work, and quietly bought basketball tickets. Clark Lea, at least the library’s open late.

    Arkansas (3-4, 1-3)

    Projection: 4-8, no bowl. ■ STEADY on the destination, up a win from last week’s 3-9.
    The data: Won 31-21 at Vanderbilt for their first SEC win of the year. FPI No. 58 (4.4% bowl odds), SP+ No. 82. They’re the underdog in all five remaining games: Missouri, at Auburn, South Carolina, at Texas and LSU.
    TAKE: Ryan Silverfield got his first SEC win and Fayetteville called the Hogs so loud the cows in Missouri stopped giving milk. In the Ozarks, cher, 4-8 counts as a rebuilding plan with a tailgate.

    The Tally

    4 CFP teams (Georgia, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Alabama), plus Citrus (LSU), plus the pool of six (Florida–ReliaQuest, Kentucky–Gator, Texas–Texas Bowl, Missouri–Music City, Mississippi State–Las Vegas, Auburn–Liberty), plus Birmingham (Oklahoma) and Gasparilla (South Carolina), plus Texas A&M in a backup slot. That’s 14 bowl-eligible teams, the same as last week. Vanderbilt and Arkansas stay home.

    Where the computers argue with us: FPI gives Texas (41.0%) and Kentucky (39.4%) playoff odds right next to Ole Miss (43.6%) and Tennessee (44.7%). We went with Ole Miss because of its schedule and SP+. If Texas wins Saturday, we’ll eat the crow, cher. It goes great with rice.

    Games that move the pot this week (Oct. 24): Ole Miss at Texas (a playoff spot is basically on the line), Tennessee at South Carolina, LSU at Auburn, Oklahoma at Mississippi State (a 52-48 coin flip in our model), and Texas A&M at Alabama.

    More from the pot: our Week 7 recap and why Georgia still deserves the SEC crown.

    Sources (data)

    Gridiron Gumbo: SEC football, seasoned in Southwest Louisiana. Projections are our own TAKE built on the data above. Records and ratings are CONFIRMED as of Oct. 20, 2026.

  • Auburn Dismisses Star Linebacker Xavier Atkins, Multiple Outlets Report

    Auburn Dismisses Star Linebacker Xavier Atkins, Multiple Outlets Report

    UPDATE (Oct. 20, 2026, 8:47 AM CT) — CONFIRMED: Xavier Atkins says he will enter the transfer portal. In a post on X early Tuesday, Oct. 20, he wrote: "I have nothing but respect [for] Auburn University and will continue to support my teammates this season," adding that his focus is on his health, his family and finishing the semester, and that he will be entering the portal "at the appropriate time," per ESPN (Pete Thamel) and Pete Thamel on X. He did not address the dismissal itself. He is no longer listed on Auburn's online roster, per Auburn Wire (USA Today). Pete Nakos of On3 reported the portal plan first. Auburn still has not put out a statement.

    The first-team All-SEC linebacker, who sat out Saturday’s upset of No. 1 Georgia, is no longer with the program. LSU, his former school, visits the Plains on Saturday.

    By T-Rohn, Gridiron Gumbo · Posted Oct. 19, 2026, late night CT

    The news, straight up

    CONFIRMED: Auburn has dismissed linebacker Xavier Atkins from the football program, according to several outlets that reported it independently late Monday night, Oct. 19. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported it first, at about 10:36 p.m. CT, citing sources. On3’s AuburnSports (Justin Hokanson), 247Sports’ Auburn247 (Jason Caldwell) and AL.com (Peter Rauterkus) each confirmed it through their own sources within minutes, and WSFA’s Davis Baker said he could confirm the reports.

    Not yet official: At press time we had not found a statement from Auburn or from Atkins. Head coach Alex Golesh has kept the reasons in-house.

    How we got here

    CONFIRMED: Golesh announced on Oct. 12 that Atkins would not play against Georgia. “We’ll keep it in house,” Golesh said. “He won’t be available for us this week for the game.” Atkins did not travel for Auburn’s 27-24 win in Athens on Saturday.

    CONFIRMED: At his Monday press conference, hours before the reports, Golesh said, “We’re still working through it. I don’t have an update right now.”

    REPORTED (On3, Oct. 12): Sources told AuburnSports that Atkins’ discipline this season was mostly about showing up late to, or skipping, required meetings, and at times about how he practiced. Auburn has not commented on that.

    What Auburn loses

    CONFIRMED: Atkins was a first-team All-SEC pick in 2025 and earned All-American honors from several publications. He led the SEC with 17 tackles for loss last season, with 84 tackles and nine sacks. This season he had 37 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and three sacks in five games.

    CONFIRMED: Auburn’s defense held up without him at Georgia. Bryce Deas started in his place and made eight tackles, and Elijah Melendez had nine tackles, a sack and an interception. Georgia ran for just 113 yards.

    What’s next

    CONFIRMED: Auburn (4-2, 2-2 SEC) hosts LSU on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 11 a.m. CT on ABC. Atkins transferred to Auburn from LSU, so the Tigers from Baton Rouge will see a familiar name missing from the other sideline.

    The Gumbo Take

    (TAKE, not news.) This is a tough one, and there’s nothing funny about a young man’s career taking a hard turn. Golesh made a call about his locker room, and his defense just proved at Georgia it can cook without its best ingredient. We wish Atkins the best wherever he goes from here. We’ll update this story if Auburn or Atkins comments.

    Labels: CONFIRMED = verified by two or more reliable sources or official records. REPORTED = from one reliable outlet. TAKE = T-Rohn’s opinion.

    Sources

  • Long Live the Dented King: Why Georgia Still Deserves the 2026 SEC Crown

    Long Live the Dented King: Why Georgia Still Deserves the 2026 SEC Crown

    Two No. 1s have been dunked in the roux in two weeks, Kentucky is tied for first, and Mama has opinions. T-Rohn crowns the team with the best résumé in the pot, scratch marks and all.

    By T-Rohn | Gridiron Gumbo | Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, after Week 7

    First, a Confession From the Maroon Pew

    Before I hand out a crown, y’all deserve to know where my bias sleeps at night: I’m a Mississippi State man. I lean maroon. I own a cowbell that has been rung so hard it now only plays one note, and that note is “anguish.” CONFIRMED (by my neighbors).

    So you know I’m not crowning my own team. State is 4-2, 2-2 in the SEC, and just got shut out 31-0 in Baton Rouge after five trips inside the LSU 40 ended in five failed fourth downs. CONFIRMED. Five! That’s not an offense, cher, that’s a man knocking on a door, getting told nobody’s home, knocking again, and then leaving a casserole on the porch with no note. I love my Dawgs. My Dawgs are not getting a crown. My Dawgs are getting a hug and a field goal unit.

    Now let’s cook.

    The State of the Pot: A Throne Made of Folding Chairs

    Here’s the situation after Week 7, and every word of it is CONFIRMED by ESPN’s standings and the AP poll:

    • Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC) and Kentucky (6-1, 4-1) are tied for first.
    • Tennessee (6-1, 3-1) and Ole Miss (5-1, 3-1) are one loss back with a game in hand.
    • Florida, Alabama (both 5-2, 3-2) lurk behind them, with LSU, Auburn, Missouri and State at 2-2.
    • The AP’s No. 1 team has lost in back-to-back weeks for the first time since October 1990, per Sportradar. Texas fell to Oklahoma, then Georgia fell to Auburn 27-24 on a field goal as time expired.
    • The SEC still has nine teams in the AP Top 25, and the highest one is Georgia, way down at No. 5.

    The SEC throne right now is less “throne” and more one of those plastic folding chairs at a church fish fry. Everybody sits in it for a minute. Everybody gets up with a red mark on the back of their legs. And there’s always one uncle who leans back too far and goes straight into the coleslaw.

    I called Mama for guidance. Mama is four-foot-ten, ninety-one pounds, and has been stirring the same gumbo since the Carter administration. I told her the SEC had no king.

    She sipped her coffee and said, “Bébé, the SEC never has a king. It has a man holding the spoon until somebody hits him with the pot.”

    Then she hung up, because Wheel of Fortune was on.

    The Pick: Georgia, and Yes, I Saw Saturday Too

    TAKE: The Georgia Bulldogs deserve the 2026 SEC crown.

    I know. Georgia was a 19.5-point favorite at home against an unranked Auburn team and lost. (That’s DraftKings’ closing line at the 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff on Oct. 17, per VegasInsider. Picks disclaimer.) Georgia had 53 straight wins over unranked teams, and No. 1 teams had won 93 straight home games against unranked foes going back to 2007, per the AP. CONFIRMED. Saturday, both streaks went into the trash bag with the crawfish heads.

    But “deserve” is about the whole meal, not the one time you dropped the potato salad on the driveway. Here’s the résumé, all CONFIRMED:

    • Won at Alabama, 20-17 (Oct. 10). Nobody else in the league has a road win in Tuscaloosa this year.
    • Beat Oklahoma 41-13. That’s the same Oklahoma that beat then-No. 1 Texas a week later.
    • Won at Arkansas 45-17 and beat Vanderbilt 38-14.
    • Four SEC wins, tied for the most in the league.
    • Points: 301 scored, 111 allowed in seven games. Do the math and that’s an average margin of about 27 points a game, which in gumbo terms is a roux so dark it has its own zip code.
    • Even in the loss, Georgia outgained Auburn 440-366, and Gunner Stockton threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns.

    What sank them was self-inflicted: three turnovers and, in Kirby Smart’s own words, “some really, really untimely, undisciplined, uncharacteristic penalties” (via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). CONFIRMED. That’s fixable. You can’t coach “slow,” but you can absolutely coach “please stop handing the ball to the other team like it’s a plate of boudin at a wake.”

    Why not Tennessee, my own Power Pot No. 1? Because “who’s playing best this week” and “who deserves the crown” are two different questions, the same way “who’s the best dancer at the wedding” and “who should be married” are two different questions. Tennessee is the hottest team. Georgia is still the best résumé in the room. That’s exactly what the Power Pot said Sunday night, too.

    The Road Ahead (It’s a Gauntlet With Spanish Moss on It)

    Georgia’s bye comes this week, and then CONFIRMED by ESPN’s schedule:

    • Oct. 31: Florida. The Gators just went into Austin and won as a 13.5-point dog behind a quarterback making his first career start. Spooky date, spooky opponent.
    • Nov. 7: at Ole Miss. The Rebels are 25-1 at home since 2023, per the AP. This is the de facto SEC semifinal, and I’ll need a defibrillator and a second bowl.
    • Nov. 14: Missouri.
    • Nov. 21: at South Carolina.

    That’s the hardest remaining path of any contender. TAKE: Good. A crown you earn through Florida, Oxford and Columbia is a crown nobody can argue about at Thanksgiving. Lose one of those and Georgia can kiss the throne goodbye. Win them all, and the conversation ends.

    The Crown Ceremony

    I held the official Gridiron Gumbo Crown Ceremony in my backyard on Sunday night. It went exactly as planned, if the plan was a disaster.

    The crown is a crawfish-boil pot lid with a cayenne-red bow tied on it. The scepter is a boudin link, which I’m told is not regulation. The throne is the same folding chair from earlier, now with a Georgia towel on it, and it is still wobbly, because this is the SEC and every chair in this league has one short leg.

    I called Georgia’s name. I lifted the lid. Steam came off it like a hot tub in a cold snap.

    And then Mama walked out of the kitchen, took the lid, put it right back on the pot, and said, “That’s my lid. Get your own crown. Also, they lost at home.”

    So the crown is now provisional. Georgia gets to look at the lid. Georgia may touch the lid on Nov. 7 if it wins in Oxford. Georgia may wear the lid only after the SEC Championship, and must return it clean.

    The Contenders: Folks With a Spoon in the Pot

    Tennessee (6-1, 3-1). CONFIRMED: The Vols handed Alabama a 26-10 beating in which Bama had 201 total yards, went 2 of 13 on third down and turned it over four times. DeSean Bishop ran 32 times for 159 yards and two touchdowns, and Tennessee closed it with a 9:32 fourth-quarter drive, the longest of the Josh Heupel era. Their only loss was 20-17 to Texas. TAKE: Tennessee runs the ball like a freight train, then a second freight train, and then, just when you think you’re safe, a third freight train shows up driven by Mama, who doesn’t have a license and doesn’t need one. Kicking four first-half field goals and still winning by 16 is the football version of going to a crawfish boil, eating only the corn, and still having to unbutton your pants. Catch: Tennessee doesn’t play Georgia, so tiebreakers could get messier than a seafood platter in a convertible. They go to South Carolina this week (South Carolina -2.5 at DraftKings, total 50.5, as of 8:12 p.m. CT Thursday, Oct. 22, via VegasInsider; lines move. Picks disclaimer), then get Kentucky Nov. 7.

    Ole Miss (5-1, 3-1). CONFIRMED: The Rebels held Missouri, a team with a back coming off two straight 200-yard games, to 39 rushing yards on 26 carries in a 31-3 win. Trinidad Chambliss accounted for four touchdowns, and Kewan Lacy (122) and Makhi Frazier (101) both cleared 100. The lone loss was 52-28 at Florida. TAKE: Ole Miss is playing the best football in October, and it controls the biggest game left on the board. The bad news is the schedule: at Texas Saturday, Auburn, Georgia, at Oklahoma, then my State boys in the Egg Bowl. That’s not a schedule, that’s an obstacle course designed by somebody who hates you personally. REPORTED: It may get a little easier Saturday. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons, the national sacks leader with 10.5, has a high-ankle sprain and is expected to miss the Ole Miss game. Orangebloods reported a three-to-four-week timeline (single outlet). Texas has not announced a diagnosis. Wishing Colin a quick and full mend. Update (Oct. 22): CONFIRMED: Simmons is listed OUT for the Ole Miss game on Thursday’s SEC availability report (via On3).

    Kentucky (6-1, 4-1). CONFIRMED: Tied for first, five straight wins, including 35-34 over South Carolina and 35-34 over LSU, then a 21-13 win at Oklahoma with 230 total yards and four interceptions, capped by a 41-yard pick-six with 1:17 left. TAKE: Kentucky wins like a raccoon gets into your garbage. You don’t know how. You locked it. You put a brick on it. You put a second brick on it. And in the morning the raccoon is sitting on the bricks eating your leftover jambalaya, and he’s tied for first in the SEC. I respect it. But the lone loss was a 45-17 home beating from Alabama, and Tennessee, Florida and Missouri are still on the menu. Kentucky is a contender with one foot on a banana peel.

    The Pretenders: Folks Who Brought an Empty Pot

    Texas (4-2, 1-2). CONFIRMED: No. 1 two weeks ago. Now 1-2 in the league after losses to Oklahoma and Florida, with 272 total yards and 2 of 10 on third down against the Gators. TAKE: Texas has the budget of a mid-size oil company and an offense that keeps running out of gas. It’s like buying a bass boat with a $40,000 motor, three fish finders and a built-in cooler, and then paddling it with a ping-pong paddle. And now the best pass rusher in America is out (per Thursday’s SEC availability report, via On3) the week Ole Miss shows up. It’s math: two league losses and Ole Miss in town means the crown is gone.

    Alabama (5-2, 3-2). CONFIRMED: First back-to-back regular-season losses since 2007. TAKE: The Tide has gone out so far that people in Tuscaloosa are walking out on the sand looking for shells. Then they found a parking spot out there. Then a guy opened a snowball stand where the tide used to be. The defense deserves better, and Bama still has wins over Kentucky and South Carolina, but “we beat the team tied for first in September” is not a coronation speech. Texas A&M visits Saturday.

    Missouri (5-2, 2-2). CONFIRMED: Unbeaten at home, but had first-and-goal at the Ole Miss 2, ran backward twice, threw incomplete and missed a 23-yard field goal. TAKE: You could have rolled a sack of Zatarain’s into the end zone from the 2. Mama has. In her driveway. On a Tuesday. For fun. Three of Mizzou’s last four are at home, so they’ll spoil somebody’s party, but they’re the uncle who shows up at the reunion with a cooler full of ice and no drinks.

    Honorable Mentions in the Chaos Stew: Florida (5-2, 3-2) owns wins over Ole Miss, Texas and Auburn and could absolutely ruin Georgia’s crown fitting on Oct. 31. TAKE: They’re too far back to win it, and just dangerous enough to decide it. LSU (5-2) just pitched its first shutout of an SEC opponent since 2007 (CONFIRMED), and I’ll say it through gritted maroon teeth: Death Valley was a buzzsaw Saturday. Auburn (4-2) is the most dangerous unranked team in America and can tell its grandchildren about Athens.

    Fine Print, Rumors and the Pot Still Boiling

    • CONFIRMED: Standings, scores, stats and schedules come from ESPN, AP recaps and our Week 7 recap.
    • REPORTED: Colin Simmons’ high-ankle sprain (ESPN, On3, Orangebloods); the three-to-four-week timeline (Orangebloods only). Texas’ official SEC availability report drops Wednesday night, around 7 p.m. CT. Update (Oct. 22): CONFIRMED: Thursday’s SEC availability report lists Simmons OUT for Ole Miss (via On3).
    • RUMOR: Mama claims she can predict the SEC champion by which way the bay leaf floats. Last year it floated toward the stove and the stove caught fire. Unverified.
    • TAKE: Everything with the words “cher,” “Mama” or “freight train” in it.

    The Last Bite

    So here’s my answer. Georgia deserves the 2026 SEC crown because it has the best road win in the league, the fattest point margin, a share of first place, and the hardest path left to prove it. Tennessee is the hottest team, Ole Miss controls the biggest game, and Kentucky has a raccoon sitting on its bricks. Georgia is the one holding the spoon.

    But the lid stays in Mama’s kitchen until Nov. 7.

    As Mama put it when I asked her who she thinks wins the SEC: “Baby, the crown don’t go to the best team. It goes to the last one still standing when the gumbo’s gone.” Then she pointed at my bowl. “And you’re not standing. Sit down and eat.”

    Gridiron Gumbo: SEC football, seasoned in Southwest Louisiana. Laissez les bons temps rouler, and kick the field goal from the 6, Starkville.

    Correction (Oct. 22, 2026): An earlier version quoted Kirby Smart as calling the penalties “untimely, uncharacteristic and undisciplined”; his exact words, per the AJC, are now quoted above. Updated (Oct. 22, 2026): Georgia’s 19.5-point line now names its sportsbook (DraftKings’ close). The Tennessee-South Carolina line, previously ESPN’s Sunday number (South Carolina -1.5), now shows DraftKings’ current line. Texas EDGE Colin Simmons is now listed OUT on Thursday’s SEC availability report.

  • Georgia Handles Auburn Loss Like an Adult, Flips Tennessee’s No. 1 JUCO Defensive Lineman Before Knoxville Finished Sweeping Up

    Georgia Handles Auburn Loss Like an Adult, Flips Tennessee’s No. 1 JUCO Defensive Lineman Before Knoxville Finished Sweeping Up

    Christian Mays, the nation’s top-ranked JUCO D-lineman, flips from the Vols to the Dawgs. Georgia goes to 24 commits, Tennessee drops to 18, and Kentucky moves up a spot in the SEC rankings without getting off the couch.

    By T-Rohn, Gridiron Gumbo

    Tennessee fans spent Saturday night on the Neyland Stadium grass. Sunday, the SEC sent the bill: $500,000. Monday at 8:42 a.m. CT, Georgia sent a second bill. This one was also non-refundable, and it plays nose tackle.

    The news, straight up

    CONFIRMED: Georgia flipped defensive lineman Christian Mays, rated a four-star by 247Sports (a three-star in the industry 247Sports Composite), from Tennessee on Monday, Oct. 19, around 8:42 a.m. CT. Rivals (Steve Wiltfong) and 247Sports (Benjamin Wolk) reported it independently, minutes apart.

    CONFIRMED: Mays plays at Northeast Mississippi Community College in the 2027 class. Both Rivals and 247Sports rank him the No. 1 JUCO defensive lineman in the country. 247Sports lists him at 6-foot-5 and 340 pounds.

    CONFIRMED: He had been committed to Tennessee since early June. Georgia offered in mid-September, hosted him on an official visit for the Auburn game this weekend, and closed.

    REPORTED: Through seven games this season he has 15 tackles and a forced fumble, according to the NMCC football site as cited by Tennessee On SI. Texas and Auburn were among the other programs pursuing him, per the same report.

    CONFIRMED: As of Oct. 19, Georgia’s commit count went from 23 to 24 and Tennessee’s from 19 to 18. Update (Oct. 22, 2026): Georgia is back to 23 after linebacker Temorris Campbell Jr. decommitted, per 247Sports. Every move is logged on our SEC Recruiting Hub, which updated at 9:05 a.m. CT.

    Why it matters for Georgia

    REPORTED (247Sports): Mays gives Georgia a true nose tackle. He’s the most 0-technique type in the Bulldogs’ 2027 class so far. That’s the guy who lines up over the center and makes two offensive linemen argue all afternoon about whose turn it is.

    REPORTED (247Sports): He’s the fourth player to flip to Georgia this fall after an in-season official visit, and the second JUCO addition of the fall.

    Four flips. One autumn. At this point a Georgia official visit should come with a change-of-address form and a moving truck idling in the parking lot.

    CONFIRMED: Auburn beat No. 1 Georgia 27-24 on a field goal as time expired Saturday in Athens. Most fan bases handle that by staring at a wall. Georgia fans did the five stages of grief in 40 hours: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and flipping somebody else’s best defensive line commit.

    Why it matters for Tennessee

    CONFIRMED: Tennessee beat then-No. 6 Alabama 26-10 on Saturday. Fans stormed the field. On Sunday, the SEC fined the school $500,000, payable directly to Alabama.

    REPORTED (Knox News, The Tennessean): Stadium security kept fans from tearing down the goalposts. They stayed up.

    REPORTED (UGA Wire, Sept. 15): At that point, Mays was Tennessee’s only defensive line commitment in the 2027 class.

    So here’s the Vols’ weekend. Saturday: beat Alabama. Sunday: write Alabama a check for half a million dollars. Monday: watch Georgia leave with the defensive tackle. That’s not a weekend. That’s a country song with a box score.

    Tennessee paid $500,000 and didn’t even get to keep the goalposts. Security spent Saturday night guarding two yellow poles like they were the crown jewels. Nobody was guarding the defensive line commitment.

    The rankings shake-up

    CONFIRMED (247Sports Composite, updated Oct. 19): Tennessee slipped from 9th to 10th in the SEC. Kentucky rose from 10th to 9th. Kentucky sits at 241.36 points and Tennessee at 238.81.

    Kentucky did not sign anybody to make this happen. Kentucky moved up the way my uncle wins at bourré: sitting perfectly still while everybody else at the table panics.

    And this is the same Kentucky that CONFIRMED paid LSU $500,000 for its own field storm after beating the Tigers 35-34 in overtime on Oct. 10. So Kentucky spent half a million dollars on a party, then got a free ranking bump nine days later because a different school’s party went worse. That’s not a recruiting strategy. That’s a coupon.

    Lagniappe Stat (CONFIRMED): In that same 247 Composite, Mississippi State is 16th of 16. I bring this up as a State fan because a 247Sports four-star defensive lineman was playing football in Mississippi this whole time, and I need somebody to talk to.

    The Gumbo Take

    (TAKE, not news.) Mais, let me tell you about roux.

    Nobody posts a picture of the roux. Nobody orders “extra roux.” But you skip it, and what you’ve got is shrimp floating in sad brown water while your in-laws ask if you “used a recipe.” A nose tackle is the roux of a defense. Nobody buys his jersey. Everything falls apart without him.

    Georgia just put a big ol’ cast-iron skillet of dark roux on the stove. Tennessee, if that September report still holds, is standing at the boil with corn, potatoes and a sack of sausage, and no crawfish in sight.

    Fair is fair. Tennessee isn’t wrecked. The Vols just beat Alabama, and it’s October, not National Signing Day. A good program re-stirs the pot. And Georgia fans, a recruiting win on Monday does not un-kick Saturday’s field goal. That ball is still going through the uprights in Athens. It’ll go through every night this week, around 2 a.m.

    Mays, for his part, made a smart football call at a premium position. The No. 1 JUCO D-lineman in the country picking an SEC home is good for the league. Ça c’est bon.

    Quick bites from the pot

    • Cousin Thibodeaux (fictional, always wrong) says he called this flip back in June. He called it for Vanderbilt.
    • Georgia doesn’t recruit the Southeast. It runs a Shop-Vac across it and sorts the bag later.
    • Tennessee’s weekend ledger: $500,000 paid to the team it beat, zero goalposts acquired, one defensive tackle lost. Somewhere a financial advisor in Knoxville is breathing into a paper bag.
    • (SATIRE) Kentucky celebrated the bump by storming its own break room. The SEC fine is pending.

    The last spoonful

    Georgia lost on Saturday and won on Monday. Tennessee won on Saturday and lost on Monday. Kentucky did nothing at all and came out ahead. That’s SEC recruiting in one sentence, cher.

    At press time (SATIRE), Tennessee fans had returned to Neyland to finally take those goalposts down, just to feel something. The SEC mailed the invoice in advance.

    Labels: CONFIRMED = verified by two or more reliable sources or official records. REPORTED = from one reliable outlet. RUMOR = unverified (none used here). TAKE = T-Rohn’s opinion. SATIRE = jokes, not facts.

    Sources

    Correction (Oct. 22, 2026): An earlier version called Mays a four-star without naming the rating service. He is a four-star in 247Sports’ own rating and a three-star in the 247Sports Composite.

    Update (Oct. 22, 2026): Added an “as of Oct. 19” date to the commit counts. Georgia now has 23 2027 commits, per 247Sports.

  • SEC Week 7 Recap: Auburn Upsets No. 1 Georgia, Tennessee Beats Alabama, Florida Wins at Texas and LSU Shuts Out Mississippi State

    SEC Week 7 Recap: Auburn Upsets No. 1 Georgia, Tennessee Beats Alabama, Florida Wins at Texas and LSU Shuts Out Mississippi State

    Gridiron Gumbo | SEC Week 7 Recap: games of Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026 | Posted Sunday night, Oct. 18, 2026

    By Rohn Dixon, reporting from Southwest Louisiana, where the roux is dark, the mosquitoes are organized, and the takes are hotter than a boiling pot at a church crawfish fundraiser

    Before We Stir the Pot: A Disclosure

    Full transparency, cher: I bleed maroon. Mississippi State is my team, and I’ve been a Bulldog ever since a few LSU road trips to Starkville made me fall for the place. That means two things. One, I know heartbreak like a Cajun knows humidity. Two, in this kitchen State goes in the same pot as everybody else, and this week I turned the burner all the way up on my own boys. You’ll see.

    Now, what a Saturday. For the second straight week, the No. 1 team in the country got dunked in the roux by an unranked SEC team. Last week it was Texas falling to Oklahoma. This week Auburn walked into Athens and walked out with Georgia’s crown on a field goal as time expired. Per Sportradar, it’s the first time the AP’s No. 1 team has lost in back-to-back weeks since October 1990. Alabama lost its second straight game, too. Texas lost its second straight. Florida, left for dead two weeks ago, rose up like a gator out of a drainage ditch in Austin. Arkansas finally won an SEC game. And Kentucky, the team that keeps winning games it has no business winning, is now tied with Georgia for first place in the SEC. Mawmaw dropped her rosary twice.

    Cajun Commentary: The throne in this league has a revolving door and a squeaky hinge. Nobody’s safe, nobody’s clean, and everybody’s got gumbo on their good shirt.

    There were seven SEC-vs-SEC games plus one nonconference game, no SEC games Thursday or Friday, and one team on a bye (South Carolina). By Sunday the SEC still had nine teams in the AP Top 25, but the highest one is Georgia, down at No. 5.

    Grab a bowl, a sleeve of saltines, and a can of bug spray. Here’s the whole league.

    The Weekend at a Glance

    • Auburn 27, No. 1 Georgia 24 (Athens)
    • No. 14 Tennessee 26, No. 6 Alabama 10 (Knoxville)
    • Florida 27, No. 7 Texas 24 (Austin)
    • No. 9 Ole Miss 31, No. 13 Missouri 3 (Oxford)
    • No. 15 Kentucky 21, Oklahoma 13 (Norman)
    • No. 22 LSU 31, No. 16 Mississippi State 0 (Baton Rouge)
    • Arkansas 31, Vanderbilt 21 (Nashville)
    • Texas A&M 41, The Citadel 0 (College Station)
    • Bye: South Carolina

    Rankings shown are the AP rankings going into the game. Week 7 lines quoted below are DraftKings closing lines.

    Auburn 27, No. 1 Georgia 24: Two weeks, two No. 1s dunked in the roux. That throne's got a revolving door, cher.
    Auburn 27, No. 1 Georgia 24: Two weeks, two No. 1s dunked in the roux. That throne’s got a revolving door, cher.

    AUBURN TIGERS: The Upset Boil of the Year (So Far)

    Auburn 27, No. 1 Georgia 24 | Auburn now 4-2 (2-2 SEC) | Unranked

    Cajun roast: Auburn came into Athens as a 19.5-point underdog (DraftKings closing line). Georgia fans had the victory boudin warming in the slow cooker by kickoff. Auburn ate it, licked the plate, and asked where the cracklins were.

    Down 14-0 in the first quarter, Auburn could’ve folded like a cheap lawn chair at a crawfish boil. Instead the Tigers scored 24 straight points, starting with a trick play: Byrum Brown pitched to receiver Christian Neptune, who threw a touchdown pass to Keshaun Singleton. Brown ran it like a 235-pound bulldozer with a learner’s permit: 26 carries, 115 yards and a touchdown, plus 15 of 26 passing for 150 yards and a TD to Chas Nimrod (6 catches, 60 yards). Per Auburn, Brown joins Cam Newton as the only Auburn quarterbacks in 40 years to run for 100 yards against Georgia.

    Georgia tied it 24-24 with 2:58 left. Then Cody Sigler forced a fumble in the final minute, Sylvester Smith-Reed jumped on it at the Auburn 44, and Alex McPherson drilled a 34-yarder as time expired. Elijah Melendez was everywhere: 9 tackles, a sack and an interception. Auburn outrushed Georgia 192-113 and committed zero turnovers. First-year coach Alex Golesh now owns Auburn’s first road win over a No. 1 team since 1994.

    Cajun Commentary: Hot take: Auburn is the most dangerous unranked team in the SEC, and nobody wants to see that quarterback coming downhill in November. Eleven penalties for 85 yards, though? Baby, you won in spite of the flags.

    Gumbo Grade: A+. Road win, No. 1 opponent, walk-off kick, zero turnovers. Ça c’est bon, and then some.

    GEORGIA BULLDOGS: One Week on the Throne, Then Into the Pot

    Auburn 27, No. 1 Georgia 24 | Georgia now 6-1 (4-1 SEC) | New AP rank: No. 5

    Cajun roast: Georgia’s stay at No. 1 lasted exactly one week, which is shorter than my cousin’s last diet and only slightly longer than a Mardi Gras parade bead stays on a balcony railing.

    It started like a coronation. Georgia went up 14-0 in the first quarter on a 15-yard Dwight Phillips Jr. run and a 24-yard Gunner Stockton touchdown pass to tight end Lawson Luckie. Then the Dawgs stopped cooking and started burning the rice. Auburn scored 24 straight. Georgia rallied with a 42-yard Peyton Woodring field goal and a gutsy 13-play, 94-yard drive that ended on Stockton’s 4-yard TD pass to London Humphreys to tie it with 2:58 left.

    Then came the self-inflicted stuff. Georgia turned it over three times, and Kirby Smart was blunt about the penalties: “untimely, uncharacteristic and undisciplined.” A late roughing-the-passer flag helped set up the winning kick. Georgia actually outgained Auburn 440-366, with Stockton throwing for 272 yards and two TDs and Craig Dandridge catching 4 balls for 88 yards. Raylen Wilson had 10 tackles and a sack.

    The streaks that died in Athens: nine straight wins over Auburn, and 53 straight wins over unranked teams. Per the AP, No. 1 teams had won 93 straight home games against unranked opponents, going back to 2007. Not anymore.

    Cajun Commentary: Ruthless truth: Georgia is still tied for first in the SEC, and most of the league would trade résumés with them in a heartbeat. But you don’t get to lose at home as a 19.5-point favorite (DraftKings closing line) and still call yourself the best team in the country with a straight face.

    Gumbo Grade: D+. Outgained the opponent, lost the game. That’s a gumbo with all the right ingredients that somebody left on high heat and walked off to watch the LSU game.

    TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS: Third Saturday in October, and Neyland Keeps Its Streak

    No. 14 Tennessee 26, No. 6 Alabama 10 | Tennessee now 6-1 (3-1 SEC) | New AP rank: No. 11

    Cajun roast: Tennessee kicked four field goals in the first half and still won by 16. That’s like going to the crawfish boil, only eating the corn, and still leaving fuller than everybody else.

    This was a beatdown dressed up in a modest final score. DeSean Bishop ran 32 times for 159 yards and two touchdowns, his third straight 100-yard game. George MacIntyre was steady: 21 of 31 for 197 yards, with Mike Matthews catching a career-high 7 passes for 85 yards. Kicker Cooper Ranvier made four first-half field goals (29, 33, 41 and 34 yards).

    But the defense was the whole roux. Alabama had 201 total yards, 54 rushing, went 2 of 13 on third down, and turned it over four times. Kayin Lee and Dejuan Lane each picked off a pass. Then Tennessee closed it with a 9-minute, 32-second fourth-quarter drive, the longest of the Josh Heupel era, ending on Bishop’s second 5-yard TD. Tennessee has now won three of its last five against Alabama after losing 15 straight. All three wins came at Neyland.

    Cajun Commentary: Hot take: Tennessee is the most complete team in the SEC right now. The quarterback play is “fine,” the running game is a freight train, and that defense is meaner than a cottonmouth in a crawfish trap.

    Gumbo Grade: A. The only thing keeping it from an A+ is settling for field goals four times. Finish those drives, and they’d have needed a mercy rule.

    ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE: The Tide Has Officially Gone Out

    No. 14 Tennessee 26, No. 6 Alabama 10 | Alabama now 5-2 (3-2 SEC) | New AP rank: No. 13

    Cajun roast: Two weeks ago Bama was scoring like a slot machine at the Coushatta. Saturday the offense had the energy of a swamp-tour boat with a dead battery and a gator chewing on the propeller.

    This is the first time Alabama has lost back-to-back regular-season games since 2007. Let that soak in like red beans on a Monday. The Tide managed 201 total yards, went 0 for 7 on third down in the first half and 2 for 13 for the game, lost two fumbles, threw two interceptions, and drew 10 penalties for 68 yards. Keelon Russell’s 19-yard touchdown run and a 42-yard Conor Talty field goal right before halftime were the only points. Then the scoreboard went to camp for the weekend.

    The defense deserved better. Caleb Woodson made 11 tackles, Bray Hubbard 10, and Ivan Taylor got an interception. They held Tennessee to field goals four times in the first half. But you can’t ask a defense to hold the line all day when the offense keeps handing the other team the ball like it’s passing out king cake at the office.

    Cajun Commentary: Ruthless take: Alabama’s two losses came to two very good teams, and they’re still alive for the playoff. But “alive” and “scary” are two different words, and right now nobody in the SEC is scared of this offense. Texas A&M comes to Tuscaloosa next. That’s the ballgame for the season’s mood.

    Gumbo Grade: D. The defense keeps it out of F territory. The offense served a bowl of hot water and called it gumbo.

    Tennessee 26, Alabama 10: Bama had 4 turnovers, 201 yards, 2-of-13 on third down. First back-to-back regular-season losses since 2007. Somebody back the pirogue up to Knoxville, Bama's sinkin'.
    Tennessee 26, Alabama 10: Bama had 4 turnovers, 201 yards, 2-of-13 on third down. First back-to-back regular-season losses since 2007. Somebody back the pirogue up to Knoxville, Bama’s sinkin’.

    FLORIDA GATORS: Rose Up Out of the Swamp and Bit Somebody

    Florida 27, No. 7 Texas 24 | Florida now 5-2 (3-2 SEC) | New AP rank: No. 20

    Cajun roast: Last week Florida got booed at its own homecoming. This week the Gators went into Austin as a 13.5-point dog (DraftKings closing line) and flashed the upside-down horns on the way off the field. That’s a bigger mood swing than my uncle at an LSU-Alabama watch party.

    Quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. made the first start of his college career, in a road game, at a top-10 team, and played like a grown man. He went 22 of 35 for 155 yards and two touchdowns, both to Lacota Dippre, and ran for 41 more. Florida trailed 17-3 in the second quarter, then took over. Dippre’s 7-yard TD made it 17-10 at the half, his 8-yarder capped a 15-play, eight-minute drive in the third, Patrick Durkin kicked a 28-yarder for the lead, and Jadan Baugh (25 carries, 91 yards) punched in an 11-yard touchdown.

    Then the defense, ranked last in the SEC coming in, did something wild: it sacked Arch Manning five times (per the AP), held Texas to 272 total yards and 2 of 10 on third down, and Myles Graham’s strip-sack ended Texas’ last possession. Florida won time of possession 38:11 to 21:49 and didn’t turn it over once. It’s the program’s first road win over a top-10 team since 2012.

    Cajun Commentary: Hot take: first-year coach Jon Sumrall may have just saved Florida’s season. The Gators get a bye, then go to Georgia on Oct. 31. If they bring this defense, the Dawgs had better check under the porch.

    Gumbo Grade: A. Comeback, road upset, first-time starter, no turnovers. Ça c’est bon, cher.

    TEXAS LONGHORNS: Most Expensive Pot on the Stove, Nothing Inside It

    Florida 27, No. 7 Texas 24 | Texas now 4-2 (1-2 SEC) | New AP rank: No. 19

    Cajun roast: Texas has the budget of a small oil company and an offense that’s run out of gas two weeks in a row. Somebody check the dipstick in Austin, because something’s leaking.

    Texas led 17-3 in the second quarter, thanks to a 32-yard Raleek Brown touchdown run, a Gianni Spetic field goal and a 63-yard punt-return touchdown by Ryan Niblett. Then the Longhorns went into a crawfish hole and didn’t come out. Texas finished with 13 first downs, 272 total yards, 2 of 10 on third down, and held the ball for under 22 minutes. The one bright spot late was a 62-yard completion to Emmett Mosley V that set up a 9-yard TD pass to Cam Coleman, which only made it a three-point game.

    On defense, Colin Simmons had four tackles for loss and a sack and Justin Cryer made 11 tackles, but Florida’s 15-play and 14-play scoring drives in the second half wore them down. Steve Sarkisian summed it up himself: “We didn’t play good football today. Kind of bled out.”

    Cajun Commentary: Ruthless truth: Texas was No. 1 in the country two weeks ago, and now it’s 1-2 in the SEC and ranked behind Kentucky. That’s not a slump, that’s a whole sinkhole under the camp. Ole Miss comes to Austin next. If that goes sideways, the panic in Austin will be louder than a brass band in a phone booth.

    Gumbo Grade: D. A punt-return touchdown and a fast start were all they had. The rest was a cold roux.

    OLE MISS REBELS: Homecoming Dinner, and Missouri Was the Main Course

    No. 9 Ole Miss 31, No. 13 Missouri 3 | Ole Miss now 5-1 (3-1 SEC) | New AP rank: No. 7

    Cajun roast: Missouri brought over a bunch of former Rebels to make it personal. Ole Miss sent ’em home with a to-go plate and a “thanks for coming, y’all.”

    This one was over by halftime. Trinidad Chambliss accounted for four touchdowns: three passes (10 yards to Caleb Odom, 21 to Horatio Fields, 17 to Caleb Cunningham) and a 5-yard run. He went 20 of 36 for 241 yards. The ground game ran over Missouri like a pickup truck over a fire-ant mound: Kewan Lacy had 122 yards on 16 carries, Makhi Frazier added 101 on 15, and Ole Miss piled up 498 total yards, 257 rushing.

    The defense might’ve been even better. Missouri came in with a back fresh off two straight 200-yard games, and Ole Miss held the whole Tiger offense to 39 rushing yards on 26 carries. Defensive tackle Will Echoles had a sack, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry. Landon Barnes snagged an interception. Per the AP, the Rebels are now 25-1 at home since 2023.

    Cajun Commentary: Hot take: Ole Miss is the SEC team playing the best football in October, period. They lost one game, at Florida, and that Florida team just won in Austin. Pete Golding’s bunch is cooking with a cast-iron pot now.

    Gumbo Grade: A. Dominant on both lines against a top-15 team. That’s a dark roux, slow-cooked, served hot.

    MISSOURI TIGERS: First-and-Goal at the 2, Zero Points, Long Drive Home

    No. 9 Ole Miss 31, No. 13 Missouri 3 | Missouri now 5-2 (2-2 SEC) | New AP rank: No. 22

    Cajun roast: Missouri had first-and-goal at the 2-yard line and came away with nothing. I’ve seen drunk tourists on Bourbon Street find the end zone faster, and they didn’t even have a map.

    Here’s the moment the game turned. Trailing 7-3 in the second quarter, Missouri had first-and-goal at the Ole Miss 2. Two runs went backward, a pass fell incomplete, and a 23-yard field goal missed. Ole Miss then scored two touchdowns in a row and led 21-3 at halftime. Missouri didn’t reach the red zone again until the final two minutes. The run game, the heart of this team, produced 39 yards on 26 carries.

    There were bright spots. Austin Simmons threw for 339 yards, Donovan Olugbode caught 9 passes for 127 yards, linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez made 13 tackles, and punter Bruno Reus averaged 42.5 yards on seven punts. But an offense that can’t run the ball and can’t score from the 2 is a gumbo pot with a hole in the bottom.

    Cajun Commentary: Ruthless truth: Missouri’s only real problem is that it can’t win away from home against good teams. The Tigers are unbeaten at home, and three of their final four games are in Columbia. Eli Drinkwitz said he won’t wallow. Good, because the swamp doesn’t care about your feelings either.

    Gumbo Grade: D-. Three points against a top-10 team, and no points from the 2. The pot never got to a boil.

    KENTUCKY WILDCATS: The Luckiest Cats in the Bayou, and Now They’re Tied for First

    No. 15 Kentucky 21, Oklahoma 13 | Kentucky now 6-1 (4-1 SEC) | New AP rank: No. 12

    Cajun roast: Kentucky wins games like my Uncle T-Boy wins at bourré: nobody at the table can explain how, everybody’s mad about it, and he’s still holding the pot at the end of the night.

    Kentucky gained 230 total yards, trailed 13-7 late in the third quarter, and won by eight. The defense did it. The Wildcats intercepted Oklahoma four times: Ty Bryant had two, and Jordan Castell had two, including a 41-yard pick-six with 1:17 left that sealed it. Bryant’s first interception set up the go-ahead drive, which ended on Kenny Minchey’s second touchdown pass of the night. Minchey went 21 of 28 for 158 yards and two TDs, and Grant Godfrey made 15 tackles.

    That’s five straight wins, including back-to-back overtime wins over ranked teams before this one. Kentucky’s only loss was to Alabama, and now the Wildcats are tied with Georgia atop the SEC. Read that sentence again slowly. Yes, Kentucky football.

    Cajun Commentary: Hot take: Kentucky is the best “how in the world” team in America, and that’s a compliment. Zero turnovers, opportunistic defense, and nerves of steel. But 230 yards won’t beat Tennessee or Georgia. Enjoy the view from the top, Cats. Bring a lawn chair, because it might be a short visit.

    Gumbo Grade: A-. A road SEC win built on four takeaways and zero giveaways. The offense brought store-bought potato salad, but the defense cooked the whole meal.

    OKLAHOMA SOONERS: From Beating No. 1 to Handing Out Free Samples

    No. 15 Kentucky 21, Oklahoma 13 | Oklahoma now 3-3 (1-2 SEC) | Unranked

    Cajun roast: One week after knocking off No. 1 Texas, Oklahoma threw four interceptions at home. That’s like winning the Mardi Gras king cake baby and choking on it at the parade.

    The Sooners outgained Kentucky 346-230, had more first downs (19-14), held the ball longer, and lost by eight because they gave the ball away four times through the air, including the pick-six that ended it. Manny Choice caught 5 passes for 98 yards, Isaiah Sategna III added 8 for 83, and Rocky Beers caught a 20-yard touchdown pass right before halftime. Tate Sandell made field goals from 44 and 26 yards.

    The defense was good enough to win. Kentucky had 76 yards and four punts on five straight drives after its opening touchdown, and Jake Kreul had 2.5 sacks and three tackles for loss. But the AP put it plainly: turnovers once again did in the offense. The run game didn’t help, with 76 rushing yards on the night.

    Cajun Commentary: Ruthless truth: the Texas win was a party, and this was the hangover. A 3-3 team with a top-notch defense and an offense that keeps tossing the ball to the other side is a coin flip every week. Oklahoma goes to Starkville next as a 3-point favorite (DraftKings, as of 8:03 PM CT Oct. 22), and yes, I’ll be sweating that one.

    Gumbo Grade: D+. The defense earned a B. The four interceptions dragged the whole pot down.

    LSU TIGERS: Death Valley Served a Full Plate, and Nobody Else Got a Bite

    No. 22 LSU 31, No. 16 Mississippi State 0 | LSU now 5-2 (2-2 SEC) | New AP rank: No. 18

    Cajun roast: LSU fans have spent all season complaining louder than a fais do-do band with a blown speaker. Saturday the Tigers finally gave ’em something else to yell about.

    Credit where it’s due, even from a maroon man. Sam Leavitt played his cleanest game of the season: 31 of 38 for 289 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, his first turnover-free game this year, spreading the ball to nine receivers. Jackson Harris caught 6 passes for 85 yards and two TDs (27 and 17 yards), Eugene Wilson III and Malik Elzy caught the others, and Dilin Jones had 84 rushing yards plus 8 catches for 58. LSU led 21-0 at halftime and converted 8 of 13 third downs.

    The defense pitched LSU’s first shutout of an SEC opponent since 2007. TJ Dottery made 12 tackles, Jordan Ross had a sack and 2.5 tackles for loss, and Ty Benefield picked off a pass. State got inside the LSU 40 five times and came away with zero, all five ending on failed fourth downs.

    Fair is fair, though, so here’s the balance. LSU was outrushed 170-90, and the opponent was missing its starting quarterback and top running back. A week ago this team lost in overtime at Kentucky. Lane Kiffin said it himself: no pity for injuries, and he’s right, but nobody should engrave a trophy off one Saturday.

    Cajun Commentary: Hot take: if Leavitt keeps throwing it like this and stops giving the ball away, LSU is the most dangerous two-loss team in the league. If not, they’re the most dangerous two-loss team to their own fans’ blood pressure.

    Gumbo Grade: A. A clean, convincing shutout of a ranked rival. Not an A+, because the run game was a mosquito bite, not a gator bite.

    MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS: My Team, My Pot, My Goose Egg

    No. 22 LSU 31, No. 16 Mississippi State 0 | Mississippi State now 4-2 (2-2 SEC) | Dropped out of the AP Top 25

    Cajun roast: State got inside the LSU 40 five times and came home with zero points. I’ve seen Mawmaw walk out of a casino with more to show for it, and she plays the penny slots with a coupon.

    I promised I’d boil my own team hotter than anybody, so here’s the boil. Mississippi State has now lost two straight, each by more than 30 points, and this one was a shutout. Five drives got inside the LSU 40. All five ended on failed fourth-down tries, including one from the LSU 6-yard line. Not one field goal attempt. State went 0 for 5 on fourth down. Jeff Lebby went for it all afternoon and came home broke. The offense drove inside the 20 just once, went 7 of 15 on third down, and committed 7 penalties for 75 yards.

    To be fair, State was missing its starting quarterback, Kamario Taylor, and its top running back, Fluff Bothwell. Second-year quarterback Parker Puckett made his first career start in Death Valley, of all places, and went 16 of 26 for 121 yards, with a 33-yard run as his best play. Kolin Wilson ran for 70-plus yards, and State actually outrushed LSU 170-90 and held the ball for more than 30 minutes. On defense, Jett Jefferson made 8 tackles and Marcus Williams had a sack and two tackles for loss. But the defense also gave up 31 of 38 passing to Leavitt.

    Cajun Commentary: Ruthless take from the guy who owns the maroon: the injuries are real, but five empty trips inside the 40 is a coaching problem, not a roster problem. Take the points, Coach. Oklahoma comes to Starkville on Saturday, and this team needs a win like a crawfish needs water.

    Gumbo Grade: F. I love y’all, but a shutout is a shutout. Mawmaw made me say it.

    LSU 31, Mississippi State 0: Five trips inside the LSU 40. Five failed fourth downs. Zero points. Mawmaw would've kicked the field goal from the 6, cher.
    LSU 31, Mississippi State 0: Five trips inside the LSU 40. Five failed fourth downs. Zero points. Mawmaw would’ve kicked the field goal from the 6, cher.

    ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS: The Drought Is Over. Somebody Light the Grill.

    Arkansas 31, Vanderbilt 21 | Arkansas now 3-4 (1-3 SEC) | Unranked

    Cajun roast: Arkansas hadn’t won an SEC game since 2024. That’s 14 straight conference losses, which is longer than some marriages in my family.

    Finally. The Hogs went to Nashville as 5.5-point underdogs (DraftKings closing line) and snapped a 14-game SEC losing streak. Joker Johnson started it with a 25-yard pick-six, Cam Settles ran for two touchdowns, and quarterback KJ Jackson went 21 of 31 for 251 yards and ran for 58 yards and a TD, including an 8-yarder that gave Arkansas a 21-14 lead early in the third quarter. Settles’ 3-yard score with nine seconds left in the third broke a 21-21 tie for good. Arkansas ran for 187 yards, gained 438 overall, and didn’t turn it over.

    When Vanderbilt drove to the Arkansas 29 with 3:46 left, Miguel Mitchell picked it off, and Max Gilbert’s 39-yard field goal iced it. Coach Ryan Silverfield said the win “was for the players,” and after two years of this, they earned every bite.

    Cajun Commentary: Hot take: Arkansas just found its identity, and it’s “run the ball and don’t do anything dumb.” Revolutionary, I know. The Hogs get a bye, then host Missouri on Oct. 31. Bring that run game and they might steal another one.

    Gumbo Grade: A-. Road SEC win, zero turnovers, a defensive touchdown and a closing interception. The only thing missing is a passing touchdown. Pass the boudin, Fayetteville.

    VANDERBILT COMMODORES: Favored at Home and Still Got Peeled

    Arkansas 31, Vanderbilt 21 | Vanderbilt now 3-4 (0-4 SEC) | Unranked

    Cajun roast: Vanderbilt was a 5.5-point favorite (DraftKings closing line) at home against a team on a 14-game SEC losing streak, and lost. That’s like losing a staring contest to a crawfish that’s already been boiled.

    Vandy now has four straight losses and is 0-4 in the SEC. Jared Curtis threw for 274 yards and a touchdown, a 24-yarder to Junior Sherrill, who had a big night with 8 catches for 99 yards. Sedrick Alexander and Makhilyn Young each ran for a score, and Bryan Longwell made 13 tackles. But two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown and one on the final real drive, sank the ship.

    The bigger problem is a defense that was supposed to be the strength of this team. Arkansas ran for 187 yards, one week after Ole Miss ran for 196. Clark Lea said, “We’re actively in pursuit of a better performance.” Coach, the whole fan base is in pursuit of that, plus a cold drink.

    Cajun Commentary: Ruthless truth: Vandy’s 3-0 start is a memory now, as faded as last year’s Mardi Gras beads in a pickup truck’s rearview mirror. Next up is a trip to Kentucky. Bring a life jacket.

    Gumbo Grade: D-. You were the favorite. At home. Against the team with the longest losing streak in the league. Yikes, cher.

    TEXAS A&M AGGIES: Scrimmage Saturday at Kyle Field

    Texas A&M 41, The Citadel 0 | Texas A&M now 4-3 (1-3 SEC) | Unranked

    Cajun roast: After scoring six points at Missouri, A&M scheduled a get-well casserole from the FCS. It was delicious. It was also The Citadel. Don’t post the recipe yet.

    A&M did exactly what it was supposed to do. The Aggies scored touchdowns on all four first-half drives, led 28-0 at halftime, and gained 501 total yards. Jamarion Morrow ran for three first-half touchdowns (all short ones, six yards combined), KJ Edwards led all rushers with 116 yards, and Aaron Gregory caught 6 passes for 94 yards and two TDs. Starter Marcel Reed went 8 of 13 for 130 yards and a TD before the backups took over. The defense allowed 183 yards and pitched its second shutout of the season, the first time A&M has had two in the same year since 1993.

    Cajun Commentary: Hot take: this tells us nothing, and that’s fine. A&M is 1-3 in the SEC and heads to Tuscaloosa as a 13.5-point underdog (DraftKings, as of 8:11 AM CT Oct. 23). That’s when we find out if the offense is fixed or just took a nice nap.

    Gumbo Grade: B. You can’t grade higher than a B against an FCS team, but they did everything right. A clean plate is a clean plate.

    SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS: On a Bye, Somewhere Fishing

    Bye week | South Carolina is 3-3 (1-3 SEC) | Unranked

    Cajun roast: South Carolina had the best week in the SEC, because it’s the only team that couldn’t lose. Somebody check on Columbia, they might be at the camp with a cooler and a cane pole.

    The Gamecocks rested up after a 38-19 win at Florida on Oct. 10, and that win looks a whole lot better now that Florida just won in Austin. Next comes the big one: No. 11 Tennessee in Columbia on Saturday, with South Carolina a 2.5-point favorite (DraftKings, as of 8:11 AM CT Oct. 23).

    Cajun Commentary: Hot take: South Carolina at home against Tennessee is the most underrated game of the week. If the Gamecocks bring the Gainesville version, the Vols’ playoff talk gets a whole lot quieter.

    Gumbo Grade: B (for Bye). Undefeated this week. Nobody fumbled, nobody got flagged, nobody got embarrassed. Lucky them.

    The Power Pot: SEC Power Rankings After Week 7

    Ranked by how good each team looks right now, not by brand name or by what the helmets cost. And yes, the maroon team is where it is on merit.

    1. Tennessee (6-1, 3-1) – Three straight wins, a punishing run game, and a defense that just suffocated Alabama. The only loss was by three to Texas. Hottest pot on the stove.
    2. Ole Miss (5-1, 3-1) – Held a top-15 team to three points and 39 rushing yards. Playing the best football in the league this month.
    3. Georgia (6-1, 4-1) – Still tied for first with wins at Alabama and over Oklahoma. The Auburn loss was a home-cooked disaster, but the résumé is still the best in the room.
    4. Kentucky (6-1, 4-1) – Tied for first, five straight wins, and more lucky charms than a Lafayette pawn shop. The 45-17 home loss to Bama keeps them from the top three.
    5. Florida (5-2, 3-2) – Wins over Ole Miss, Texas and Auburn. A week ago they looked like roadkill. Now they’re the scariest gator in the ditch.
    6. LSU (5-2, 2-2) – Lost by eight at Ole Miss and by one at Kentucky, then shut out a ranked rival. If the turnovers stay gone, look out.
    7. Alabama (5-2, 3-2) – Two straight losses, but they still have wins over Kentucky and South Carolina. The talent’s there. The offense isn’t.
    8. Auburn (4-2, 2-2) – Toppled No. 1 on the road. Losses to Florida and Tennessee are respectable. Nobody wants this quarterback in November.
    9. Missouri (5-2, 2-2) – Unbeaten at home, beaten up on the road. First-and-goal at the 2 for zero points is going to haunt their film room.
    10. Texas (4-2, 1-2) – No. 1 two weeks ago, now has two straight losses and a 1-2 SEC record. The talent says higher. The tape says “get in line.”
    11. Mississippi State (4-2, 2-2) – Yes, they beat Missouri head-to-head. They also lost the last two by a combined 64 points. I put ’em here myself, and it hurts like stepping on a crawfish claw barefoot.
    12. Oklahoma (3-3, 1-2) – A win over Texas and a defense that travels, but an offense that keeps giving the ball away.
    13. South Carolina (3-3, 1-3) – That 38-19 win at Florida keeps aging well. Tennessee at home will tell us the truth.
    14. Texas A&M (4-3, 1-3) – Beat up an FCS team. Next up is Tuscaloosa, which is not an FCS team.
    15. Arkansas (3-4, 1-3) – The streak is dead, the run game is alive, and the Hogs are finally out of the basement.
    16. Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-4) – Four straight losses and a home loss as the favorite. They’ve got the basement all to themselves now.

    Cajun Commentary: Hot take: Nos. 1 through 4 are so close you couldn’t slide a crawfish tail between them. Tennessee gets the top spot because it’s the one team that looks better every single week. Ask me again after Saturday in Columbia.

    Next Week on the Menu (Saturday, Oct. 24; all times CT)

    Kickoff times and TV from ESPN’s schedule; lines are DraftKings numbers as of 8:11 AM CT Oct. 23 unless noted, and will move.

    • No. 18 LSU at Auburn, 11 a.m. (ABC). Tiger vs. Tiger at Jordan-Hare. LSU is favored by 7 (DraftKings, as of 8:11 AM CT Oct. 23), but Auburn just took down No. 1 in Athens. This is the most dangerous early game on the board, and somebody’s mawmaw is going to need her heart pills.
    • No. 11 Tennessee at South Carolina, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN). South Carolina is a 2.5-point favorite at home (DraftKings, as of 8:11 AM CT Oct. 23), coming off a bye. The Vols’ playoff dreams walk into Williams-Brice. Our sleeper game of the week.
    • Texas A&M at No. 13 Alabama, 2:30 p.m. (ABC). Bama is favored by 13.5 (DraftKings, as of 8:11 AM CT Oct. 23) and desperate. A&M is fresh off a scrimmage. If the Tide lose three straight, folks in Tuscaloosa will start burning sage.
    • Oklahoma at Mississippi State, 2:30 p.m. (SEC Network). OU is a 3-point favorite in Starkville (DraftKings, as of 8:03 PM CT Oct. 22). Both teams need this like a fish needs a bayou. I’m not picking it. I’ll be on my porch, chewing my fingernails.
    • No. 7 Ole Miss at No. 19 Texas, 6:30 p.m. (ABC). Game of the week. Texas is a 3.5-point home favorite, which tells you how much respect Austin still gets with the oddsmakers. Lose this, and the Longhorns’ season goes in the trash with the crawfish shells.
    • Vanderbilt at No. 12 Kentucky, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network). Kentucky is favored by 10.5 (DraftKings, as of 8:11 AM CT Oct. 23) and has a share of first place to protect. Vandy needs a win like a Cajun needs hot sauce.
    • Bye: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Missouri. (Florida at Georgia and Missouri at Arkansas are both Oct. 31.)

    Cajun Commentary: Ole Miss-Texas is the marquee game, but LSU-Auburn and Tennessee-South Carolina are the two most likely to blow up the Power Pot. Set the DVR, cher, and hide the remote from your in-laws.

    That’s the gumbo for this week, y’all. Laissez les bons temps rouler, take the points when they’re on the table, and don’t forget the bug spray.

    Gridiron Gumbo: SEC football, seasoned in Southwest Louisiana.

    Sources

    Final scores, box scores, standings, AP rankings (Week 8 poll released Oct. 18), next week’s schedule, and betting lines come from ESPN’s scoreboard, game summaries and standings. Scores were cross-checked with CollegeFootballData and with game recaps from the AP and the schools’ official athletics sites (Auburn, LSU, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Texas A&M), plus CBS Sports and SECSports.com, all accessed Oct. 18, 2026.

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