By Matt Smith
SouthernPigskin.com

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Matt Smith recaps week eight in the SEC.

If there was a theme of Week in the SEC, it was teams confirming who they appeared to be over the first seven weeks. A light week of SEC action went mostly as expected, but a good fight from Tennessee and a fast start from LSU kept the two notable games entertaining for long enough to make them palatable. The other three games went as planned, leaving the SEC as far from the lead story of Week 8 in college football.

Lets run through the quintet of SEC games before diving into the national scene as the 2021 season approaches the stretch run.

Game Thoughts and Takeaways
Arkansas 45 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 3
It was over when: The Razorbacks (5-3) scored on consecutive offensive plays to quickly build a 14-0 lead over the hapless Golden Lions (1-6) on an 18-yard pass from K.J. Jefferson to Blake Kern and a 49-yard rushing score by wide receiver Treylon Burks.

*None of it mattered, but it was still nice to see Arkansas look crisp right out of the gate. Jefferson played only the first half, but had four touchdown passes, as the Hogs built a 45-0 halftime lead. Burks was unstoppable, which comes as no surprise, scoring three total touchdowns and having 145 all-purpose yards on just six touches.

*The Razorbacks are in desperate need of the coming idle week after playing the toughest schedule in the country over the first eight weeks. After the break, key games against Mississippi State and LSU will tell the difference between a good season and a great season for Arkansas.

(12) Ole Miss 31, LSU 17
It was over when: The Rebels (6-1, 3-1) took the second-half kickoff 66 yards in 10 plays to break the game open with a 24-7 lead. Matt Corral converted a fourth-down with his legs just before Henry Parrishs five-yard touchdown run, and an emotionally and physically drained LSU (4-4, 2-3) team had nothing left in the tank.

*Ole Miss absolutely had to run the ball with its running backs on Saturday. Despite a revolving door along the offensive line the past few weeks, the Rebels were highly efficient on the ground. Having Jerrion Ealy as a factor again paid huge dividends, as the junior joined Parrish and Snoop Conner in carving up the LSU defense for 266 yards and three scores. Conner led the way 117 yards, while Ealy finished with 82 yards and a beautiful 36-yard touchdown.

*The raw numbers may not suggest it, but Corral was awesome again, using the short and intermediate passing game to complement the potent rushing attack. Corral missed on just five of his 23 pass attempts, finishing with 180 yards and a single touchdown with both his arm and his legs. The chunk plays werent there, but Corral was accurate in tight windows to help the Rebels to four consecutive scoring drives in the middle of the game to blow it open. Hes beat up, but there are no more breaks for the Rebels. Full steam ahead for the Lane Train.

*After a step back against Arkansas, the Rebels defense has been excellent the past two weeks. In the preseason, the goal was to be slightly below average. Id call this unit slightly above average, and thats why Ole Miss remains in the thick of the SEC title race heading into a massive game next week at Auburn.

*LSU had a chance to really take the crowd out of the game early after taking a 7-0 lead and marching deep into Ole Miss territory, but Ed Orgeron rolled the dice on fourth and goal at the three-yard line, and Max Johnson was intercepted in the end zone. Ole Miss turned the takeaway into three points, and LSU never recovered. In hindsight, taking a 10-0 lead would have probably been the smart play, potentially causing the Rebels to press.

Mississippi State 45, Vanderbilt 6
It was over when: Vanderbilts promising second drive of the third quarter, after an interception, fell short of the end zone, as the Commodores (2-6, 0-4) had to settle for a field goal rather than a touchdown that would have cut their deficit to 24-10. The Bulldogs (4-3, 2-2) were unrelenting from that point on, as the game quickly got out of hand after another pair of Mississippi State touchdowns.

*Will Rogers might not have felt great after injuring his shoulder last week against Alabama, but effects were minimal in Nashville on Saturday, as the Bulldogs quarterback threw his usual 57 passes, completing 41 of them for 384 yards and four touchdowns. He was picked off twice by Jaylen Mahoney, but when you win by 39 points, its hard to dwell on those misfires. 61 yards on the ground was actually one of the more productive days for the Mississippi State ground game.

*13 different Bulldogs caught passes, with 11 having multiple receptions. Five players had five receptions, but none had more than five. Spreading the wealth at its finest.

*After blowing a game at South Carolina last week, Saturday was a noticeable step back for Vanderbilt, which managed just 145 yards of offense. The defense might have been the bigger disappointment after some progress over the past couple games, as the Bulldogs had 522 yards of offense. The biggest takeaway from the game may be how bad South Carolina is if it needed a furious late comeback to defeat Vanderbilt.

(4) Alabama 52, Tennessee 24
It was over when: Midway through the fourth quarter, Alabamas Jalyn Armour-Davis capitalized on an apparent miscommunication by intercepting Hendon Hooker and returning it deep into Tennessee (4-4, 2-3) territory. A Brian Robinson touchdown run five plays later put the Crimson Tide (7-1, 4-1) up 45-24, and the rivalry victory cigars began to be unwrapped throughout Bryant-Denny Stadium.

*Offensively, much of the criticism of Alabama is just nitpicking. Jameson Williams was stripped in the second quarter after a long completion, but everything else on the stat sheet for the Crimson Tide offense was dynamite. 553 yards. 8.3 yards per attempt and 72 percent completion percentage for Bryce Young. Five rushing touchdowns. 38 minutes of possession. In a game that was much closer than expected for three-and-a-half quarters, Alabama wore down the Vols with 92 plays.

*It was another big night for John Metchie, who continues to render his poor performance at Texas A&M as an anomaly. Metchie caught 11 of Youngs 31 completions, finishing with 121 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

*After handling a dink and dunk offense masking as the cAir Raidd a week ago against Mississippi State, Alabama had a much different task against Tennessee and its explosive attack. The Vols had passing plays of 39, 57 and 70 yards, the last two of which went for touchdowns. Tennessee only ran 54 plays, which forced its defense to tire out, but they added more concern to a Crimson Tide secondary that remains suspect against offenses that can stretch the field (hello, Arkansas).

*The Volunteers head to their off week at 4-4. A bowl game is nearly assured, but the Nov. 6 trip to Kentucky will be the swing game between a decent 6-6 season and a very good 7-5 year. Hooker was not 100 percent on Saturday night, and Tennessee should benefit from the extra week of healing and recovery for its quarterback.

(17) Texas A&M 44, South Carolina 14
It was over when: Jalen Wydermyer capped the first quarter with a 25-yard touchdown reception from Zach Calzada to put Texas A&M (6-2, 3-2) ahead 14-0 over a Gamecocks (4-4, 1-4) team that currently has no answers on offense.

*Late in the third quarter, South Carolina had six yards of offense. Six. Points were always going to be at a premium against a very good Aggies defense, and they did manage a pair of late scores with now-backup quarterback Jason Brown under center, but when your yards per play looks more like a blood-alcohol content, things are broken beyond repair. Yes, the starting quarterback is hurt, but its not like Luke Doty was Connor Shaw. Shane Beamer has a ton of work to do on the recruiting trail, but in the meantime, there has to be some degree of functionality. Right now, there is none.

*The Aggies ground game has been cranked up for a few weeks in a row now. Both Devon Achane and Isaiah Spiller both went over 100 yards on Saturday night, and both found the end zone. Its been a slow build, but the Texas A&M offense finally looks like what we expected it to be. Credit to Jimbo Fisher and his players for fighting through the growing pains.

*Wydermyer had a pair of touchdown receptions 3 one a long throw and one on a screen in which he did most of the work after the catch. The tight end had a sleepy start to the season, but began to come to life in the upset of Alabama. Tight end is not an overly strong position in the SEC this year, so Wydermyer could be a huge weapon down the stretch for the Aggies.

*Texas A&M gets a much-needed off week before a season-defining pair of games against Auburn and Ole Miss. With Alabama looking mortal, the SEC West title is still within reach.

Power Ranking the SEC
1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Ole Miss
4. Auburn
5. Texas A&M
6. Arkansas
7. Kentucky
8. LSU
9. Florida
10. Tennessee
11. Mississipp State
12. Missouri
13. South Carolina
14. Vanderbilt

National Thoughts
ACC: No. 16 Wake Forest (7-0) stayed perfect with a wild 70-56 win over Army (5-2). The Demon Deacons held the ball for just 17 minutes, ripping off 10 touchdowns in 11 drives with scoring plays of 75, 75, 54, 46 and 41 yardsxa6No. 23 Pitt (6-1) continued Clemsons misery with a 27-17 win over the Tigers (4-3), as Kenny Pickett was brilliant in efficiently moving the ball against the Tigers defense. Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagaleilei was benched in the second halfxa6Miami (FL) (3-4) and head coach Manny Diaz got a huge win to keep slim division title hopes alive with a 31-30 victory over No 18 N.C. State (5-2)…Virginia Tech (3-4) lost at home for the third straight week, as Syracuse (4-4) scored two late touchdowns to stun the Hokies, 41-36. At 3-4 and with four of the final five games on the road, Justin Fuentes job status is murky after yet another late-game collapse…Virginia (5-2) stayed hot with its fourth straight win 3 a 48-40 shootout against Georgia Tech (3-4).

Big 12: No. 3 Oklahoma (8-0) once again flirted with disaster at Kansas (1-6), needing a second-half rally to pull out a 35-23 win as nearly 40-point favorites. A wild play saw Kansas nearly get the ball back with a chance to win, but quarterback Caleb Williams stole the ball from falling teammate Kennedy Brooks on a fourth-down play and ran for a first downxa6Iowa State (5-2) ended Oklahoma States perfect season with a fun 24-21 win over the No. 8 Cowboys (6-1). Cyclones running back Breece Hall scored for the 19th consecutive gamesxa6Kansas State (4-3) spotted Texas Tech (5-3) a 14-0 lead, but the Wildcats rallied in Lubbock for a 25-24 win. It was a critical loss for the Red Raiders, who now finish with Oklahoma, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Baylor.

Big Ten: You cant turn away from a train wreck. We had our first-ever nine-overtime game, as Illinois (3-5) shocked No. 7 Penn State (5-2), 20-18, in the seventh attempt at a deciding two-point conversion shootout. Of the 14 attempts beginning in the third overtime, a new rule in 2021, only three were successfulxa6No. 5 Ohio State (7-0) cruised past Indiana (2-5) on a rainy night in Bloomington, 54-7. C.J. Stroud threw for 266 yards and four touchdown passes in a game that was over quickly. The Buckeyes have won three straight games, but theyve come against teams who are a combined 1-11 in Big Ten play. Penn State is up nextxa6Michigan (7-0) easily handled Northwestern (3-4), 33-7, to set up next weeks showdown with idle Michigan State in East Lansingxa6Wisconsin (4-3) made it three straight wins with a dominant 30-13 win at No. 25 Purdue (4-3). The Badgers host No. 11 Iowa next week in a game that could decide the Big Ten West title.

Pac-12: No. 10 Oregon (6-1), the Oklahoma of the Pac-12, fell behind 14-0 in Pasadena to UCLA (5-3), but scored 34 of the next 37 points to pull away from the Bruins before holding on late, 34-31. Travis Dye had just 34 yards on the ground, but scored four touchdownsxa6USC (3-4) was its usual sloppy self, as the Trojans fell on the road at No. 13 Notre Dame (6-1), 31-16, with the aid of red zone failures, poor clock management and numerous personal four penalties. Some things never changexa6Oregon State (5-2) kept pace with its in-state rival with a 42-34 win over Utah (4-3), who had been the lone unbeaten in Pac-12 playxa6A wild week for Washington State (4-4) ended with a 21-19 loss to BYU (6-2) in interim head coach Jake Dickerts debutxa6Arizonas losing streak fell to 19 on Friday night after the Wildcats (0-7) let a two-score lead over Washington (3-4) slip away in a 21-16 Huskies win

Group of Five: No. 2 Cincinnati (7-0) slept through the first half in Annapolis, but the Bearcats used a third-quarter explosion to pull away from Navy (1-6) in a 27-20 winxa6No. 21 SMU (7-0), No. 22 San Diego State (7-0) and No. 24 UTSA (8-0) all remained unbeaten with convincing winsxa6Louisiana-Monroe (4-3) has become a nice story in Terry Bowdens first season, winning for a second straight time against South Alabama (4-3) to climb over .500 in October for the first time since 2017xa6After an 0-6 2020 season, Northern Illinois (6-2) became bowl-eligible with a 39-38 comeback win at Central Michigan (4-4). The Huskies blocked a field goal on the games final playxa624-point underdog Rice (3-4) shocked UAB (5-3) in Birmingham, 30-24.

Matts Top 25
1. Georgia
2. Cincinnati
3. Alabama
4. Michigan
5. Michigan State
6. Oklahoma
7. Oregon
8. Ohio State
9. Ole Miss
10. Notre Dame
11. Oklahoma State
12. Wake Forest
13. Iowa
14. Baylor
15. Auburn
16. Texas A&M
17. SMU
18. Pittsburgh
19. Kentucky
20. San Diego State
21. Iowa State
22. UTSA
23. BYU
24. Penn State
25. Arkansas

A Peek at Next Week
Early Afternoon:
Screen 1: No. 6 Michigan at No. 8 Michigan State, Noon ET (FOX)
Screen 2: Texas at No. 16 Baylor, Noon ET (ABC)
Screen 3: No. 9 Iowa at Wisconsin, Noon ET (ESPN)

Late Afternoon:
Screen 1: No. 1 Georgia vs. Florida, 3:30 p.m. ET (CBS)
Screen 2: Texas Tech at No. 4 Oklahoma, 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Screen 3: Colorado at No. 7 Oregon, 3:30 p.m. ET (FOX)

Primetime:
Screen 1: No. 10 Ole Miss at No. 18 Auburn, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Screen 2: No. 20 Penn State at No. 5 Ohio State, 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Screen 3: North Carolina at No. 11 Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m. ET (NBC)

After Dark:
Screen 1: Virginia at No. 25 BYU, 10:15 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Screen 2: UCLA at Utah, 10 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Screen 3: Fresno State at No. 21 San Diego State, 10:30 p.m. ET (CBSSN)