Alabama Football: Week Five SEC Power Rankings
No. 8 Texas A&M Aggies – 40 points (last week 42 points)
Hoo boy, this Texas A&M football team looks lost. Over the last season-and-a-half, Arkansas is that team that no one wants to say they, either, lost to or had a difficult time pulling away from. The Aggies had a very difficult time with the Razorbacks on Saturday. The A&M run game was held to under 100 yards and the defense gave up close to 400 yards of offense to a team that lost to San Jose State the week before.
Kellen Mond is still one of the top QBs in the conference and he continues to put up big numbers despite his young offensive line, but one has to wonder if Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher is going through the $75-million-guaranteed motions or if Arkansas is improving with each week. Currently, the Aggies sit at 3-2 with both losses to top ten teams, but the three wins seem to be more concerning.
The Aggies have a BYE this Saturday, then host Alabama next weekend.
No. 9 Mississippi State Bulldogs- 38 points (last week 46 points)
I’m not quite sure what happened to Mississippi State football Saturday evening, but finding yourself down 42-9 on the road is not ideal in being competitive in the toughest division in college football. Last week, I said this team has a chance to finish fourth in the SEC West (very good considering the other three teams), but if their defense is as leaky as it was against Auburn, they may be lucky to finish fifth or sixth.
The Bulldogs aren’t even a bad team. As mentioned above, they had to play arguably the best team in the conference right now. Still, QB Garrett Schrader needs more help from his receivers to get through the rest of the season, because he’s definitely taking some shots. We’ll see how the back half shakes out, but it won’t get any easier from here.
The Bulldogs have a BYE this Saturday, then travel to Knoxville to take on the Vols the following week.
No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats – 25 points (last week 32 points)
You don’t throw for 97 yards and an interception and only rush for 115 more and expect to exit a road game with a victory. Kentucky football is at a crossroads right now and the only way they can salvage what is obviously a regression from an historical 2018 campaign is to find some amount of consistency from its quarterback. Yes, Terry Wilson is out and he presented you with the best shot for a vertical passing game, but head coach Mark Stoops and OC Eddie Gran have to figure out a way to not be one-dimensional.
This team isn’t going to survive beyond four or five wins that way. They just don’t have the talent or depth to do so. Luckily, save for a trip to Athens in mid-October, the back half of the Wildcats’ schedule is winnable. It has to start with this Saturday, though.
Kentucky hosts Arkansas on Saturday.