San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
SEC return gives college football ‘grand opening’
Kentucky running back Kavosiey Smoke took a handoff from quarterback Terry Wilson, cut to his right against the Auburn defense and raced 35 yards to the end zone.
And all was right with the world again.
At least as college football is concerned.
Smoke’s scoring run was the first touchdown in a day full of them for SEC teams, which on Saturday took the field for the first time this season.
An ESPN broadcaster likened the first three weeks of the season to a “soft opening.” The SEC’S debut in Week 4 he called a “grand opening.”
He had a point.
Love it or loathe it, the SEC dominates the college football conversation. And no other conference comes close.
The SEC has produced 10 of the past 14 national champions (Alabama winning five of the titles).
There were no top 25 teams in action during the opening week of the season and only six that played in Week 2.
The SEC alone includes eight nationally ranked teams.
Six of them — No. 2 Alabama, No. 4 Georgia, No. 5 Florida, No 6 LSU, No. 8 Auburn and No. 10 Texas A&M — are in the top 10, with No. 16 Tennessee and No. 23 Kentucky not far behind.
Indeed, the SEC’S presence took the season’s excitement to another level, highlighted by Mississippi State’s 44-34 upset of defending national champion LSU.
Coronavirus restrictions meant crowds were limited to about 25 percent of capacity (which still seemed crowded for those on the West Coast where gatherings remain discouraged if not prohibited).
In addition, the SEC allowed only “essential personnel” on the field. Bands and cheerleaders were relegated to the stands. Mascots may have been missed the most. The regulations also meant no live animals at the game.
Tusk the Russian boar was absent at Arkansas. Sir Big Spur the gamecock was missing at South Carolina. And at LSU, no Mike the Tiger, who, truth be told, may not have attended the game, anyway. We understand that Mike’s presence is always a game-time decision, based on whether Mike is inclined to leave his cage for the trip to the stadium.
Anyway, LSU head coach Ed Orgeron likely lost his gravelly voice after watching Mississippi State quarterback K.J. Costello throw for an Sec-record 623 yards (the 11th-highest total in NCAA history) and five TDS while completing 36-of-60 passes.
San Diego State fans may remember Costello from Stanford, where two years ago he helped the Cardinal to a season-opening home victory over the Aztecs. A graduate transfer, Costello seems to have acclimated himself well in the four months since arriving at Mississippi State.
He wasn’t the only SEC quarterback who had a big day Saturday.
Florida quarterback Kyle Trask threw for 416 yards and six touchdowns in a 51-35 win over Ole Miss, tying the opening-day record for TDS that LSU’S Joe Burrow set last year against Vanderbilt.
Four of the TD tosses went to Gators tight end Kyle Pitts, a 6-foot-6 nightmare matchup if there ever was one. Pitts finished with eight catches for 170 yards and certainly tight ends don’t win Heismans, but Pitts played like he wants a seat in the front row of the ceremony.
All that action before Alabama — with Heisman hopefuls in QB Mac Jones, RB Najee Harris and WR Jaylen Waddle — really got rolling at Missouri.
By halftime, Harris had rushed for two TDS and Jones had passed to Waddle for two more.
Old face, new place
When he was hired in January as Mississippi State head coach, Leach tried to lure a certain defensiveminded head coach at San Diego State to join him. Rocky Long declined. Unable to get the teacher, Leach hired the pupil.
That’s how SDSU defensive coordinator Zach Arnett ended up in Starkville, Miss., although the path was not direct. Arnett had accepted the DC position at Syracuse two weeks earlier before redirecting the moving van.
Arnett played for Long at New Mexico and spent virtually his entire coaching career learning from Long the past decade.
In a cool twist, Arnett would have opened the season across the field from his mentor had not the coronavirus shaken up the schedule.
Mississippi State was supposed to start the season against New Mexico, where Long was hired as defensive coordinator after resigning as SDSU head coach.
In a cruel twist, Mississippi State instead opened Saturday at defending champion LSU.
It couldn’t have worked out more beautifully for Arnett.
Mississippi State prevented the LSU offense from scoring until five minutes remained in the first half. The Tigers’ first TD came with Mississippi State’s offense on the field.
Although LSU put up 20 points in the second half, some of it was set up by Bulldogs turnovers. Arnett’s defense did enough to come away with the victory.
MAC coming back
All 10 FBS conferences are now present and accounted for with the Mid-american Conference’s announcement Saturday that it will play a six-game schedule that begins Nov. 4.
Gamesmanship
The last four conferences to opt back in — the Big Ten, Mountain West, Pac-12 and MAC — are all at least a month away from taking the field.
But already the question has been raised whether the conferences will play enough games to deserve consideration for CFP or NY6 berths.
Game schedules by conference: AAC (12), ACC (11), Big Ten (8+1), Big 12 (10+1), C-USA (12), MAC (6), Mountain West (8), Pac-12 (7), SEC (10), Sun Belt (12).
Especially in question is the Pac-12 playing seven games. While there is no minimum game requirement, playing conference-only contests makes it difficult to make a case for being among the nation’s top four teams.
History does not look favorably on the Pac-12, either. Washington (in 2016) is the only team to represent the conference in the CFP’S six years.
kirk.kenney@sduniontribune.com