SEC Rewind: News and notes from week 1 from the AJC

THE RECAP

What did we learn from the first full weekend of college football? (Well, it actually isn’t over, but the SEC games are, and for most of y’all, that’s all that matters).

The SEC’s Holy Trinity of quarterbacks — you know them as McCarron, Murray and Manziel — looked merely mortal at times.

AJ McCarron struggled, whether it was because of an ingrown toenail or an ankle problem, we’re not sure, but the Alabama offensive line needs work. He was the country’s top-rated passer in 2012, but was only 10-of-23 with an interception in the rout of Virginia Tech.

Georgia’s line also seemed lost at times and damaged Murray’s opportunities, and although his completion percentage was high, he also had two turnovers and Georgia fans were already roasting him moments after the game for failing to win another big game.

That leads us to Johnny Manziel, who came out of the NCAA’s shortest exile to throw three TD passes, but also showed he hasn’t learned a thing from the past eight months. There are 7-year-olds who are more mature than him. Under the NCAA’s new rules, Manziel might become the first person to be ejected for targeting with his mouth. He was flagged for taunting and then didn’t seem to want to listen to coach Kevin Sumlin’s chatter in his ear.

To throw another M into the SEC’s bag of M&M&M QBs, LSU’s Zach Mettenberger appeared comfortable in new offensive coordinator Cam Cameron’s offense. He took chances down the field against TCU’s tough defense and his lone TD pass gave the Tigers a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter.

— Andy Johnston, AJC.com College Football Insider

POLL CHATTER

The next AP Top 25 poll is released Tuesday and the only sure thing is that previous No. 5 Georgia will fall like a rock dropped from atop the hill at Memorial Stadium in Clemson after the 38-35 victory by the Tigers, who should move up slightly from their No. 8 position.

Others in the SEC who will gain from Georgia’s opening loss: No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 7 South Carolina, No. 10 Florida and No. 13 LSU. The first three likely will move up one place each; LSU could move into the top 10 given the Tigers handled No. 20 TCU late Saturday, but more likely they will move only to No. 12.

Clemson could/should benefit from its victory, but voters are more likely to reward SEC teams than to move an ACC team much higher. The Tigers probably will go up only one spot.

The real shakeout of any of the polls will happen after the next two Saturdays: This week’s three games to watch are Florida vs. Miami, South Carolina vs. Georgia and Notre Dame vs. Michigan. The Sept. 14 games of note include Alabama vs. Texas A&M, Tennessee at Oregon and UCLA vs. Nebraska. That’s when the serious weeding process begins.

BY THE NUMBERS

279

Career rushing yards entering the season for Florida redshirt junior Mack Brown, of MLK High, and then he rushed for 102 yards vs. Toledo as a fill-in starter. Sophomore Matt Jones (viral infection) is expected back for the Miami game.

448

Yardage gained by the LSU offense under new coordinator Cam Cameron, who was fired from the same role by Baltimore last season in the midst of the Ravens’ Super Bowl run.

Consecutive victories over top 10 SEC teams by Clemson, the first time ever accomplished by a non-SEC team. Clemson beat No. 9 LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl New Years Eve.

Consecutive Auburn victories when scoring 30 or more and the Tigers are 294-4 when they score 30 or more.

SOUND BITES

“Jadeveon (Clowney) learned that the camera’s on him on every play.” —South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier about Clowney’s supposed lack of conditioning and effort in the opener.

“Last time we played that coach, he beat us pretty bad down in Arkansas. So we owe him a good one.” — Tennessee nose tackle Daniel Hood, about playing Western Kentucky and Bobby Petrino this week.

“I liked the way (Nick Marshall) handled himself (at quarterback); he protected the football and that’s hard to do. They were showing him a lot of different looks and trying to disguise some things but he protected the football.” — Auburn coach Gus Malzahn

“He’s been working really hard. … We all see it. We’re not blind.” — Alabama left tackle Cyrus Kouandjioon about Christion Jones, who had TDs on a 72-yard punt return, a 94-yard kickoff return and a 38-yard reception.

“South Carolina is going to be watching this. We have to figure out what went wrong and do it better.” — Georgia linebacker Jordan Jenkins on the Bulldogs’ defensive display in the loss at Clemson.

“They looked like an LSU defense to me.” — LSU coach Les Miles after the Tigers held No. 20 TCU to 259 yards and forced two turnovers.

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM

Thumbs down: You can always count on the Big Ten to mess something up. LSU vs. TCU had a Big Ten crew and of course they misinterpreted a rule. First they announced that because offensive tackle La'el Collins' helmet came off and LSU had no timeouts, there would be a 10-second clock runoff, ending the half. With TCU players in the tunnel to the locker room, the lead ref clarified that since the clock was stopped on the incompletion that there would be no runoff.

Thumbs up: Arkansas first-year freshman running back Alex Collins gained 131 yards on 24 carries in his debut. He was the Plantation, Fla., star whose mother objected to him signing with the Razorbacks for about 24 hours last February. "[Alex Collins] is the type of guy that can change a game in a single cut," Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said.

Thumbs down: ICYMI, Ole Miss linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche, an All-SEC preseason pick at linebacker, will miss 4-6 weeks after injuring his knee at Vanderbilt last Thursday night. He'll have surgery on the torn meniscus.

THIS WEEK

Noon: Miami, Ohio at Kentucky

Noon: Florida at Miami, Fla.

12:21 p.m.: Western Kentucky at Tennessee

3:30 p.m.: Toledo at Missouri

3:30 p.m.: Alcorn State at Mississippi State

4:30 p.m.: South Carolina at Georgia

7 p.m.: Samford at Arkansas

7 p.m.: Southeast Missouri State at Ole Miss

7 p.m.: UAB at LSU

7 p.m.: Sam Houston State at Texas A&M

7:30 p.m.: Arkansas State at Auburn