Alabama Football: SEC stock watch after season openers

Alabama football’s stock is rising early in the season.

One week of SEC football is in the books, and things could not have gone better for Alabama football. The Crimson Tide have room to grow, but they dominated in all facets of the game against Missouri. Mac Jones distributed well, the defense was on the same page, and Will Reichard made every kick he attempted against the Tigers.

However, not every team was so lucky. Some teams were upset, while others struggled in close wins. After one week of SEC football, let’s take a look at where some major stocks are trending across the conference.

Stock up: Alabama

Alabama had a few questions on defense before their season opener, but things looked great against the Tigers. It’s no guarantee that this will translate against other SEC teams, but Alabama football fans have every reason to trust the Crimson Tide right now.

Stock down: Georgia’s QB situation

News out of Georgia’s camp when Jamie Newman transferred was that he was going to be a Heisman contender. Similar things were said about JT Daniels. Due to a lingering injury and an opt-out, neither player was available in Georgia’s season opener. The Bulldogs benched their next starter after an abysmal start against Arkansas, but they finally got things going in the second half.

If JT Daniels is healthy later in the year, all of this goes away. Until then, Georgia is a threat to be upset every single Saturday.

Stock up: The air raid offense

Mike Leach is bringing his offensive success with him to Starkville, and KJ Costello is his guy. Costello broke an SEC passing record in his debut for Mississippi State as the Bulldogs upset the reigning champion LSU Tigers. LSU is often called “DBU,” but they were SOL against Mike Leach and this powerful offense.

Stock down: LSU Tigers

In hindsight, the stock should have been low to start with for the LSU Tigers. After losing every contributing piece of their offense, award-winners on defense, and key assistant coaches, LSU looked worse than they did before the Joe Burrow era. We’ll see if they can get things together before the bulk of their SEC football schedule.

Stock up: college football

Let’s be honest. Even with games being played, college football was not going to be the same until the SEC came back. With Alabama football and other top teams returning, it finally feels like we have a college football season.

It’s great to have college football back. Fans have a few days to prepare before they get right back to cheering for their teams on Saturday.