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One day after the completion of the first slate of 2020 Southeastern Conference games, ESPN’s Heather Dinich broke down her College Football Playoff takeaways from the weekend of action.
Touching on several topics, including whether the Oklahoma Sooners are done and what the outlook is for the Pacific-12 Conference, Dinich took some time to recognize the Florida Gators’ impressive showing against the Ole Miss Rebels, saying Dan Mullen’s program looks like the league’s second-best team, trailing only the Alabama Crimson Tide.
“With the exception of Alabama, the SEC looked different in its debut, but that was to be expected with four head coaching changes and several new starting quarterbacks,” Dinich began.
“LSU, the defending national champion, returned only five starters and the Tigers looked the part in a home loss to Mississippi State. The question is whether Georgia and LSU are just working out some kinks or … it’s an Alabama-Florida SEC championship.
“Expectations were certainly higher for Florida this year (the media picked the Gators to win the SEC East), but it was only by 10 more first-place votes than Georgia. The Gators looked more than capable of widening that gap Saturday.
“Florida’s offense found its stride in a 51-35 win at Ole Miss, racking up 642 total yards, a school record against an SEC opponent. Quarterback Kyle Trask finished with 416 passing yards and six passing touchdowns, and the Rebels had no answer for the connection between Trask and tight end Kyle Pitts.
“Meanwhile, Georgia needed a quarterback change to rally to beat Arkansas 37-10. The final score doesn’t tell the whole story, as Arkansas held a 7-5 halftime lead. Starting quarterback D’Wan Mathis was benched in the second quarter in favor of Stetson Bennett. The Bulldogs had 11 first-half penalties and were just 1-for-12 on third down in the first half.
“Before Georgia thinks about the CFP, it needs to look like a contender in the SEC East. So far, Florida looks like the team to beat.”
Moving up two spots to No. 3 in the Associated Press Poll, the Gators will battle Will Muschamp’s South Carolina Gamecocks (0-1) in their home-opener on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Dropping one spot to No. 4, Kirby Smart’s Georgia team will host the No. 7 Auburn Tigers (1-0) at 7:30 p.m., also on ESPN.
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