SEC Football: Two teams separating themselves from the field

After digesting four weeks of SEC football, Alabama and Georgia have planted their respective flags on top of the mountain that is the Southeastern Conference.

The other 12 SEC football teams are slowly navigating around obstacles and taking it slow, while the two aforementioned teams — Alabama and Georgia — watch from atop the mountain with much amusement.

Of course, some teams are closer to the mountain’s peak than others, but so far it’s very clear — Alabama and Georgia are the best that the SEC has to offer in 2017.

The staggering results from this past Saturday helped prove as much.

After Vanderbilt upset Bill Snyder and his always-dangerous Kansas State squad, a video of a Vanderbilt player confidently exclaiming “Bama you’re next!” went viral and made its rounds to Nick Saban and the Alabama locker room.

Alabama Crimson Tide (4-0)

NASHVILLE, TN – SEPTEMBER 23: Brian Robinson Jr. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)

Alabama, the country’s top ranked team, made the trek to Nashville to face perhaps the strongest Vanderbilt team assembled during the Derek Mason era, and in Alabama fashion, the Tide erased any doubts and absolutely dominated the Commodores on Saturday afternoon.

Saban force-fed the Vanderbilt defense a concentrated dose of Damien Harris and Bo Scarbrough on Saturday afternoon and, boy, did it get the job done as the Crimson Tide amassed 496 rushing yards in their 59-0 win over the ‘Dores.

Oh yeah, and the Tide outgained Vanderbilt by a record 599 yards of total offense. How, you ask? The Alabama defense. The Crimson Tide defense showcased its dominance on Saturday afternoon, surrendering just 78 yards of offense. No, that’s not a typo!

I think it’s safe to say that Alabama is beginning to find its groove ahead of a brutal six game stretch featuring games against Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Tennessee, and LSU.

Georgia Bulldogs (4-0)

Kirby Smart is in the midst of leading the Georgia Bulldogs to Atlanta in December, destined to go toe to toe with the team that helped Smart gain prominence within college football’s coaching ranks.

Smart blossomed during his time under Nick Saban. Serving as a defensive coordinator, he played an integral part in helping Saban and Alabama record 98 wins and four national championships from 2008 to 2015. Shortly before Alabama beat Clemson in the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship, Smart decided to nab a head coaching position of his own and at his alma mater.

After going 8-5 in his debut season as the head man in Athens in 2016, it’s becoming more and more obvious that Smart is slowly molding Georgia into a dominant program that closely resembles the one that his mentor had resurrected in Tuscaloosa.

If you need proof of this, look no further than last Saturday when Dan Mullen and the Mississippi State Bulldogs rode into Athens fresh off of a historic 30-point victory over the LSU Tigers.

Using the Saban formula — which typically blends together a dominant run game, complimented by a quick, but physical defense, and great special teams play — the Georgia Bulldogs played its most complete game under Smart and dismantled Mississippi State 31-3.

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Additionally, Georgia boasts the most stunning body of work in the SEC through four games. Georgia’s most impressive victory may have occurred in week two when the Bulldogs, led by a true freshman quarterback in Jake Fromm and an elite defense, travelled to South Bend to take on Notre Dame. The Dawgs held the Fighting Irish offense in check and Smart walked out of South Bend with the biggest win of his head coaching career to date.

Based on the overall body of work, and the mediocrity that runs rampant through the rest of the SEC East, Georgia is all but locked in as the East’s flag bearer.

If Saban and Smart can avoid any major missteps between now and December, the SEC better prepare for a star-studded SEC Championship Game in Atlanta; one that will pit a teacher against student