SEC Football: No more hiding in Week 3 of the season

We are two weeks into the SEC football season, but despite that, there are still a few teams in the conference that have yet be challenged. But there’s no more hiding in Week 3.

There are five SEC football teams that have yet to face a Power 5 conference opponent in the first two weeks of the season, but that will not be the case this week. Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Vanderbilt will all face legitimate competition this weekend.

Let’s take a look at each of these SEC football teams and their Week 3 opponent.

Ole Miss (2-0)

With everything going on surrounding the Ole Miss football program, they needed to ease into the college football season, and they’ve had the perfect schedule to do so.

The Rebels have had virtual walk-throughs against South Alabama and UT-Martin to start the season. The offense has looked good, scoring 46 points per game, but the defense has allowed 25 points per game.

Now their schedule gets a little tougher when the Cal Bears (2-0) make the trip to Oxford, Miss. this week and they opened the season with a solid 35-30 win on the road at North Carolina. Cal went 5-7 last season, but were 22nd in the nation, scoring 37.1 points per game.

Vanderbilt (2-0)

Kyle Shurmur is 35-for-46 for 498 yards with 7 touchdowns and 0 interceptions through two games (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images). /

Vanderbilt comes into this week after traveling to Middle Tennessee State in week 1 and hosting FCS opponent, Alabama A&M, in week 2. I’m not sure what to make of the Commodores yet, but they have beaten their two opponents by a combined score of 70-6.

Kyle Shurmur has completed 76.1 percent of his passes and thrown 7 touchdowns and zero interceptions through two games, but like I said, it hasn’t been against great competition.

No. 18 Kansas State (2-0) came into the season as a trendy pick to make some noise in the Big 12 this season. They’re coming off of a 9-4 season where they beat Texas A&M in the AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl, and they’ve scored 55 points in each of their first two games this season.

LSU (2-0)

LSU hasn’t played against a Power 5 team yet this season, but they did take on a respectable BYU program in week 1, and they took care of them 27-10. Then they beat Chattanooga 45-10 last week.

Through the first two games of the season, LSU has seven rushing touchdowns and one passing touchdown. If the Tigers are going to be the team they think they can be, they have to get more of contribution from Danny Etling in the passing game.

The Tigers should be careful this weekend, because they have a sneaky matchup with Mississippi State (2-0). Dan Mullen and the Bulldogs have a dynamic offense, and you can bet the cowbells will be ringing, or whatever it is that cowbells do.

Mississippi State (2-0)

Mississippi State cruised to 49-0 win over Charleston Southern in the season opener, then followed it up with 57-21 win over Louisiana Tech last week.

Nick Fitzgerald has picked up right where he left off from his sophomore season. After leading the SEC in rushing touchdowns last season, the Bulldogs’ junior signal-caller has eight total touchdowns (5 passing, 3 rushing) in the first two weeks of the 2017 season.

The Bulldogs will face their second straight opponent from Lousiana, but it will be a little bit tougher against no. 12 LSU (2-0). The Tigers have beaten their first two opponents by a combined score of 72-10, but the home crowd at Davis Wade Stadium should help the Bulldogs’ chances.

Kentucky (2-0)

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After the first two weeks of the season, Kentucky is probably the least impressive 2-0 team in the SEC. The Wildcats scraped by Southern Miss 24-17 in the first week of the season, then beat Eastern Kentucky, an FCS opponent, 27-16 last week.

Benny Snell Jr. has 170 rushing yards and a touchdown through the first two games, while Stephen Johnson has thrown for 400 yards and two touchdowns through the air.

Other than LSU and Mississippi State obviously playing each other, Kentucky is probably the most likely team to come away with a loss this weekend. The Wildcats travel to Columbia, SC. to face the Gamecocks (2-0).

South Carolina has been thrown into the fire this season with a 35-28 win over NC State and a 31-13 win at Missouri. But despite their 2-0 record, the Gamecocks have been out-gained 927-605 in two games, however, they have won the turnover battle 5-1 in those contests.

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