1. Evan Engram reminds Ole Miss fans that tight ends are indeed a real thing
Over the years, the tight end position has become the forgotten position in the Ole Miss offense. Most recently, during the Houston Nutt era, tight ends were primarily used as extra blockers and rarely caught more than a couple of balls a game.
Enter true freshman Evan Engram, who seems dead set on reminding Rebel fans that the tight end is indeed a real position in American football. Engram, a Powder Springs, Ga., native, received his only SEC offer from Ole Miss, and many thought he was a couple of years away from contributing considering his size.
After just two games of collegiate action, Engram has already proven that he can be a playmaker in Hugh Freeze’s fast-break offense. Engram caught five critical passes in the Rebels’ back-and-forth season-opening win over Vanderbilt. The next week, he followed that performance up with his first collegiate touchdown catch — a 64-yarder — against Southeast Missouri.
Ole Miss fans, get used to hearing more about the tight end position thanks to true freshman Evan Engram.
2. Johnny Football
Texas A&M vs. Alabama — arguably the most anticipated matchup of the 2013 college football season — has enormous implications on the SEC West title race.
It also represents a fork in the road regarding public perception of Johnny Football. If Texas A&M upsets Alabama for a second year in a row, I’m guessing that most will lay off the Heisman-winning party boy. The realization will be that Manziel is a rare breed — yes, he parties hard, but he also takes care of his business as well. Win and everything’s good. But on the flip side, if the Aggies get smoked by the Crimson Tide, and Manziel plays a poor game, expect another wave of outrage over JFF’s antics.
I, for one, will be rooting hard for Texas A&M, and Johnny Manziel, to finally get a break.
3. Reevaluating the SEC East
I was quite certain that South Carolina would win all of its SEC games in 2013 and represent the East in Atlanta. After the Gamecocks’ loss to Georgia on Saturday night, though, that prediction went straight into the garbage.
So, I’m readjusting my SEC East pick and going with Georgia for the time being. But don’t be surprised if the Bulldogs drop a couple of league games, — LSU, Florida and Vanderbilt are all possibilities — and the Gamecocks win their next seven conference matchups to take back control of the division.
4. The new guys: Ranking the first-year SEC coaches after two weeks
1. Bret Bielema (Arkansas):
The power-running game Bielema brought over from Wisconsin was hyper effective in wins over UL-Lafayette and Samford thanks to Arkansas’ stud running back duo of Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams.
If the new Boss Hog can replicate even some this success against topflight SEC defenses, then Bielema’s hire could end up being the best of the bunch.
2. Butch Jones (Tennessee):
Jones and the Vols took care of business against Austin Peay and, to my surprise, absolutely stream rolled Bobby Petrino and Western Kentucky in week two.
Next up for Tennessee is a trip to Eugene, Ore., to take on the lightning fast Ducks. I’m thinking this one is a blow out in favor of Oregon, and if so, the challenge for Jones will be to keep the momentum alive that he’s worked so hard to establish in Knoxville.
3. Gus Malzahn (Auburn):
In 2010, Malzahn, then Auburn’s offensive coordinator, was calling plays for one of the greatest, most electric college quarterbacks of all time — one Cameron Jerrell Newton.
Now, he’s working with Nick Marshall, a guy who played defensive back at Georgia before going the junior college route to get another shot at playing QB. Marshall, a top-notch athlete but up-and-down passer, is a temporary solution. Because of that, I can’t fully judge Malzahn until he gets his guy at quarterback.
4. Mark Stoops (Kentucky):
The Wildcats bounced back from the whooping Western Kentucky put on them with a blowout win over Miami (OH) this past weekend.
I expect the former — lopsided losses — to be the norm for an outmanned Kentucky squad this year. If so, Stoops will have his hands full holding on to a recruiting class that ranks in the top-10 nationally according to some recruiting services.
5. Week three SEC picks
Here are my picks for week three in the SEC. I’ve also included weekend plans for Will Muschamp, Mark Richt and Gary Pinkel with the Gators, Bulldogs and Tigers all off this week.
Alabama vs. Texas A&M: As much as I want JFF and the Aggies to topple the Tide once again, ‘Bama simply has a much better overall team and won’t be snuck up on this time. Roll Tide gets its revenge over the 12th man 31-24.
Arkansas vs. Southern Miss: The last time Bielema saw a team as bad as the Golden Eagles, he was breaking down film of Wisconsin’s Big Ten foes. The Razorbacks trample the hapless Mustard Buzzards 48-10.
Auburn-Mississippi State: Even without a Cam Newton-caliber quarterback in the shotgun, the Tigers handle the Bulldogs 35-21, sending Mullen and Co. to the SEC West cellar.
Florida’s Will Muschamp: Muschamp, a notorious hot head, is still pretty pissed off about the Gators’ week two loss to in-state rival Miami. He plans on finally cooling off this weekend the only way he knows how — by listening to the Enya discography and getting a mani-pedi.
Georgia’s Mark Richt: The dean of the SEC is mild mannered and clean as a whistle. That’s why his plans for Saturday night — dropping by a kegger and then hitting up a Slayer concert — are so perplexing.
Kentucky vs. Lousiville: The joke here is Kentucky. That’s it. The fighting Teddy Bridgewaters take it to the Wildcats 55-21.
LSU vs. Kent State: Les Miles and Tigers QB Zach Mettenberger haven’t spoken since the signal caller refused to help his coach beat Level 342 of Candy Crush. Miles and Mettenberger temporarily put aside their differences, and the Tigers roar past Kent State 49-10.
Ole Miss vs. Texas: Mack Brown thought about hiring a random Austin hipster to replace defensive coordinator Manny Diaz before settling on Michigan reject Greg Robinson to help fix the UT defense. He probably should’ve gone with the hipster. Black Bears 52-49 over the Bevos.
Missouri’s Gary Pinkel: I don’t really know much about Pinkel, so I’m just going to assume that he plans on spending his weekend surfing Reddit and eating Chinese takeout like the rest of us.
South Carolina vs. Vanderbilt: Spurrier and the Gamecocks stay alive in the SEC East race with a narrow 31-28 win over the nerds, I mean, Commodores.
Tennessee vs. Oregon: The special uniforms Adidas designed for Tennessee to wear during their big game versus Oregon features a pattern called “full body cast.” I’ll take this as a sign and fly with the Ducks 59-24 over the Vols.
