who impressed you this weekend?

[Drew4UTk]

as the title request, what team looked to be better than you expected?

imHo, I've gotta give credit to USCe.  they seemed to play in mid-season form right out of the gates.  they executed with confidence and they were stingy on D.  

if this weekend was a simple snapshot of teams and where they're at (as if they aren't going to improve anymore or regress at all) I would confidently say "USCe wins the SECe".  NCST isn't a bad team, and they played them tough before the bitter end- I'm not discussing their opponent, though, i'm speaking directly to USCe's form and function.  to me they were the most impressive East team on the field this weekend. 

out west, Bama, then LSU.  Bama is what they are- and strides ahead of almost any other program- but LSU looked good, too, and though much closer to mortals on the periodic table of deities, they still may have enogh magic to unsettle Bama. 

[rolltidefan]

agree with usce.

i missed most of the game, but beating gt is a good win for tenn as well.

[Nashville4UGA]

I would agree with South Carolina looking a little better than expected. They were the underdog Saturday if i remember correctly.  Deebo Samuels  is a beast! 

i was a little surprised Auburn beat Georgia Southern as badly as they did. That team always seems to give the SEC all they can handle. 

Vanderbilt-they went over to Murfreesboro and showed out a little against a MTSU team that can usually score some points. They'll be a tough out for alot of teams this year.

LSU-I'm not surprised they beat BYU whatsoever, but to get a shutout with the players they had out was impressive. 

UGA-had a shutout going into the final 6 minutes of the 4th quarter. I kind of expected this to be more of a ballgame than it really was.  Played 17 or 18 out of 23 freshman that signed last year in this game or the score could have been much more impressive. App State scored 10 points in the final 5 minutes thanks to a pair of INT's thrown by our 3rd string QB. 

[rolltidefan]

the lsu d was impressive. to hold anyone down like they did is impressive.

on ga southern, not to discredit au, but this isn't the same ga so we are used to. they've changed their scheme from wishbone, to air raid and now 1st year back to wishbone. or so i read. we will know all we need to know for au this weekend. both them and clemson looked good vs nobodies.

[bamajoe]

LSU was about the only SEC team [I can't speak about Alabama] to me that looked impressive. BYU did not have a single snap in LSU territory. Georgia Tech and NC State were better than Tennessee and South Carolina. Sometimes the odd shape of the ball affects who wins.

Although not SEC Michigan was really impressive.

[MikeDeTiger]

I didn't watch most of USC, but from what yall are saying, maybe I should've.  

I thought the Florida D might step back this year with everything they lost in draft and attrition.  I was wrong.  This unit looks to be stout.  I try to be more impressed by production than physical stature, but man....did yall see some of UF's D-linemen?  Those guys are chiseled from marble by Renaissance sculptors.  

Speaking of guys that look like that, Bama's front 7....  nothing here I didn't expect, but defense was lights out again.  Tony Brown impressed me more than the average Bama DB.  Offense still looks like Hurts legs + hope the D and ST does something for you.  They'll outlast most teams on O more than they will overwhelm them.  

Texas A&M has a problem.  I don't know what it is, but every year they've had a few games where they bust out of the gate then wind up losing late.  Depth, conditioning, focus, something, I don't know.  They have 47 WRs on scholarship and 0 running backs, yet they were running wild most of the day.  Until they decided to stop and have the QB with no experience start throwing the ball when they needed TOP most.  You asked for things that impressed us, so, I'm impressed Sumlin still has a job.  

Tennessee has some skill players.  Maybe the best batch they've had in a few years.  I never got all the Dobbs hype, honestly.  Maybe they can get in a groove with Dormady.  I still think they're lacking the horses on the lines.  Life against Florida and Bama is gonna be really, really tough.  

LSU QB did what he was asked to do, will need to show more, but inexplicably BYU dared LSU to run all night, so they obliged.  I don't know when's the last time LSU faced 6 in the box so much of a game.  Last year's defense took about a half a season to round into form, I figure to due all the turnover this year's D will follow the same trajectory.  They were better than I expected tho, so improvements could mean great things down the stretch.  I think BYU's offense probably sucks, but the last squad to hold a team to negative rush yards was 2011, and that was against an FCS team.  

Didn't really watch UGA.  I'll get a good look at them vs. the Catholics.  

Didn't watch the Barn.  I'll get a good look at them vs. Klempson.  

[MikeDeTiger]

[I can't speak about Alabama] 

Well then I'll do it for you.  Alabama looked quite good.  

[Cincydawg]

NCSU outplayed USCe.  USCe benefited from two key turnovers and a kickoff return to start the game.  They could barely run the ball at all.  NCSU got nearly double their yardage and first downs and basically controlled the game except where it counts.

Sometimes you get lucky with a couple of things and snag a win you probably wouldn't get very often if you played ten times.  This is one of those times I think.

The UGA defense looked very fast and capable even missing a couple of players, and yes, ASU is not a P5 team.  We'll lear more in a few days obviously.

Kentucky merits some credit.  Some picked them to lose that one.

Mizzou can score on an over matched team.

[OrangeAfroMan]

the lsu d was impressive. to hold anyone down like they did is impressive.

on ga southern, not to discredit au, but this isn't the same ga so we are used to. they've changed their scheme from wishbone, to air raid and now 1st year back to wishbone. or so i read. we will know all we need to know for au this weekend. both them and clemson looked good vs nobodies.

GA Southern didn't go to the air raid, lol.  They switched to a West Virginia type of spread-run game 2 years ago.  Nobody liked it, so they switched back.  

[rolltidefan]

GA Southern didn't go to the air raid, lol.  They switched to a West Virginia type of spread-run game 2 years ago.  Nobody liked it, so they switched back.  

ok. guessi mixed up the changes, but remembered someone telling me they switch o styles and then back again. point still stands.

[Drew4UTk]

i have no idea how anyone can watch that NCST/USCe game and say NCST 'outplayed' USCe.  they looked near evenly matched at the very least- which is apparent in the game, and which places USCe far above what i expected from them.  

[Cincydawg]

It's pretty easy to say that.  I just did.

When an opponent nearly doubles your yardage gained and first downs and controls TOP, I say they outplayed you, even if they lost.

USCe could not run the ball at all.  They completed some significant but very low percentage unlikely to be repeated passes in critical situations and pulled out the win.

[Drew4UTk]

was USCe better than you would have expected going into the game, Cincy?  I know you had predicted a NCST win, but I don't recall if you suggested it would be dominating or not... what i'm saying here is simple: "USCe played better than I expected".  They executed with confidence and played a lot more solid on D than I would have predicted, stats be damned.  NCST is a good team, or should be a good team this year, and, as you, I didn't expect USCe to come out of there victorious.  

[Cincydawg]

They won, which is better than I expected.  I think if they play that game ten times, NCSU wins 7 or 8.

I'm not ready to say USCe is better than expected by very much at all, yet.  Their QB was expected to be pretty good and he was.  They had very few ground yards.  THe defense was so so.