Alabama Football: SEC Power Rankings heading into week four
By Ronald Evans
No. 7 Missouri Tigers – 43 points (last week 34 points)
Beating Southeast Missouri did not spring the Tigers up our rankings. It was how well QB, Kelly Bryant performed. The rap on him at Clemson was he did not have the touch to be a deep-ball threat. He looked great going deep Saturday.
The Tigers don’t have the roster to contend for an East Division title. They can play enough defense. Special teams are solid. Larry Rountree is in the top five running backs in the SEC. If the Tigers can hold off South Carolina this Saturday, a seven-game win streak is possible.
No. 8 South Carolina Gamecocks – 40 points (last week 38 points)
Call us homers (Tim Brando does every chance he gets) but we came away from Saturday more impressed with South Carolina than we were before.
Ryan Hilinski could quickly cause South Carolina fans to not fret over the loss of Jake Bentley. Their schedule is brutal. After going to Missouri this week, they have Kentucky, at Georgia and Florida. South Carolina is not a bad team. Muschamp had a good plan to slow down the explosive Alabama football offense. He can’t be faulted for Sark and Tua picking them apart.
No. 9 Mississippi State Bulldogs – 38 points (last week 46 points)
It could be argued we over-punished the Bulldogs for their loss to Kansas State. Joe Moorhead’s group can win some big SEC games. After Saturday, Moorhead must decide to stick with Tommy Stevens or rotate him with Garrett Shrader.
Stevens had a bit of a shoulder problem going into the game and was not consistently accurate. It will be hard to keep the true freshman, Shrader off the field. This is no time for an usettled QB situation in Starkville. After Kentucky this week, three of the following four games are at Auburn, LSU and at TAMU.
No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats – 35 points (last week 36 points)
It was a heartbreaker Saturday night in Lexington. What appeared would be a game-winning field goal sailed right and the Gators not only held on, but came back with even more late points.
Mark Stoops has made huge strides with the Wildcats. With so many holes to fill on defense and at running back, repeating last season’s success was doubtful. Seven or eight wins is still possible.