The SEC's biggest takeaways from Week 9

Now it's becoming reality.

The last weekend in October featured numerous games with SEC Championship implications. For those of us who want a bit of chaos, we're going to get a lot of these types of matchups in November, in part because there's only one SEC team left without a conference loss.

Kudos to you, Texas A&M. Somehow, despite a double-digit deficit, you flipped Marcel Reed's switch and made it happen.

Week 9 was full of intrigue. After all, the SEC had three matchups with ranked teams.

Here are the biggest takeaways from Saturday:

A&M just upset the entire SEC race in about half a quarter of football

Stunning. Drastic. Unthinkable.

Choose any way you want to describe A&M's comeback and subsequent victory over LSU. They all work.

In what felt like the biggest game at Kyle Field of the post-Johnny Manziel era, the Aggies went from winning to dominating. The move from Conner Weigman to Marcel Reed, similar to when the former replaced the latter before Mizzou, was just the right button to push in this moment. LSU's defense had no response to Reed, who had five scoring drives, including four touchdowns, in the final 23 minutes.

Remember, it was the A&M defense that sparked this run by intercepting Garrett Nussmeier after he looked like he was rolling in the first half. He forced a throw on 3rd-and-2 that was deflected by BJ Mayes as Mike Elko pulled the trigger while inserting Reed.

This sent Kyle Field into a frenzy that he never looked back from. The question is whether A&M will do the same thing heading to Atlanta.

For the first time since joining the SEC, the Aggies are the last undefeated team in conference play. It’s not just about “controlling your own destiny.” A&M has two quarterbacks who have done the heavy lifting to beat top-10 teams. What can cause A&M to fail at this point? With three conference games remaining, A&M must win conference games at South Carolina and Auburn to set up a monumental rematch showdown at Texas.

How well the Aggies responded late in a game where they looked buried, who would rule it out?

From Garrett Nussmeier's coronation, I felt like he was helpless

In the first half, Nussmeier seemed completely unfazed in a hostile atmosphere. He flashed NFL shots and looked every bit like a sneaky first-round pick for an LSU team that seemed poised to take control of the SEC race.

But that one forced throw on third down torpedoed Nussmeier. He threw two more interceptions and honestly came away with a throw to Mason Taylor on the other side of the field that probably should have been caught. Nussmeier was so unsettled that he didn't even seem to have any idea of ​​the clock in the final minutes, when LSU was down two touchdowns.

Nussmeier didn't get much help from an LSU rushing attack that had -2 rushing yards in the first quarter, and the kicking game didn't do its part either, even before Reed took over. But it was clear that the LSU quarterback was helpless against the Aggies once the crowd got back into the game. A&M even came to Nussmeier twice after only sacking him twice all year.

It was a stunning collapse from someone who looked like he was preparing for an All-SEC season. That's still on the table, but it'll have to wait a few weeks before Nussmeier tries to keep LSU's playoff hopes alive against…Alabama.

A crazy thought? Texas played mostly well against Vandy and won by three

Yes, Vandy took advantage of a few tip passes and the Texas offensive line has had better days. I understand that. It wasn't a classic Texas performance, especially considering the Longhorns committed 10 penalties for 108 yards.

But if you had told anyone in the preseason that Texas would be playing at Vandy in a 3-point game, their realization would have been, “What in the world is going on with the Longhorns?” Instead, Saturday's conclusion in Nashville was: “Wow, Vandy is anything but a fluke.” Texas had to fight to avoid a repeat of Alabama.

The difference between the Longhorns and the Tide was what happened on 3rd down. Texas held Vandy to 3 of 12 on 3rd downs, while Alabama suffered 12 3rd down conversions in its loss at Nashville. Vandy didn't have a touchdown drive of more than 38 yards until trailing by 10 yards in the final minute. We thank the Texas defense for preventing the Diego Pavia Heisman Trophy campaign from getting any more life.

Pavia briefly left the game with a leg injury similar to the one he sustained against Kentucky. But as expected, this absence was short-lived. He was still fiddling with his legs and proving to be a nightmare to bring down. Texas didn't sack him once, even though Pavia was under pressure and he was picked off twice (it could have been a third interception, but a roughing the passer penalty negated a pick-6). Vandy's offense was limited to 4.3 yards per play and there was one play of 20 yards.

In other words, the Texas defense had no Georgia hangover whatsoever. I would also argue that this was not the case in the crime. Ewers responded well after this difficult start, even though he was without top target Isaiah Bond. Without Bond, it's not an elite downfield passing attack, but Saturday was all about survival.

Welcome to the 2024 Vandy Experience – everyone should be lucky enough to survive Pavia and the Dores.

Plus, Quinn Ewers is still QB1 in Austin

Excuse me.

I just have to say this in case anyone thinks Arch Manning is about to get reps at Vandy after Ewers was briefly benched last week against Georgia. He didn't play and after a slow start, Ewers reminded us all why he is one of the best signal callers in the country.

We keep moving.

Alabama beat Mizzou in a playoff elimination game, but it's fair to have questions about the Tide even after a 34-0 loss

The Tide had a right to feel good after a day in which it earned its first multi-score win against SEC competition since last year at Kentucky. It wasn't just a comfortable victory. It was a shutout in which the Tide's rushing attack rushed for 282 sack-adjusted yards and scored all four touchdowns. That's a positive, as is the fact that Alabama didn't turn the ball over for the first time since the Wisconsin game. A 34-0 win against a ranked team shouldn't be taken for granted after last year, even if it came against a Mizzou offense that lost an already struggling version of Brady Cook.

But if we look at the bigger picture, here's the problem with Saturday's screening. These penal courts are still a problem. Alabama entered Saturday averaging 78 penalty yards per game, and yet even in a favorable matchup against an overmatched Mizzou team, the Tide racked up 85 penalty yards.

Discipline is a problem. That's not something you want to endure in the final month of the season, especially when the margin for error has disappeared. That wasn't the difference in a game like this, as Alabama took advantage of some short fields through Mizzou turnovers and then relied on the ground game in the second half.

It's troubling to think about what this will mean on the road, where Alabama has already suffered two losses in which it received double-digit penalties. I'm not sure a bye week will fix this. If not, the Tide could watch those playoff dreams die in Death Valley.

Mizzou's future won't include the playoffs, and now the questions begin

Contribute to the Tigers' favorable path to the playoffs. Loss No. 2 was also stunning loss No. 2. A week after Brady Cook returned from the hospital for a late standoff against Auburn, he failed to make it to halftime against the Tide, which was the catalyst for the Drew Pyne experience was.

Yes, you don't need to delve into it any further.

But it's worth delving into Mizzou's future beyond the playoff-free season. They have an incredibly experienced team — Mizzou was No. 18 in the FBS in returning percentage — that will be undergoing a major offensive transformation this offseason. Brady Cook and Theo Wease are not eligible to play. Luther Burden III is all over the early mock drafts. Both running back transfers are veterans. We don't know what awaits OC Kirby Moore, who could have another opportunity at the end of the season. Additionally, former quarterback of the future Sam Horn underwent Tommy John surgery in February and could also miss the entire spring.

That's a troubling thought because it feels like a playoff window was missed with what Mizzou gave back on offense and how favorable that SEC schedule seemed to be. Eli Drinkwitz will have a lot of work to do at the end of the season. Luckily, Corey Batoon's defense could be the new foundation.

Luckily, Mizzou will finish 2024 wondering why it couldn't recapture the magic of 2023.

As bad as this pass rush is, Ole Miss will have no chance of weathering the storm unless…

“Tre Harris is healthy.”

That is the reality. And again, I'm not trying to deny the fact that Ole Miss had 15 tackles for loss and had a nearly unstoppable pass rush, although it's worth remembering that this was against an Oklahoma offensive line that was in its seventh Combination found starters and it was without its top five receivers.

But without Harris, Ole Miss had little to accomplish in the first half. It was an ineffective Jaxson Dart that lacked someone who could stretch the field. Harris, who entered the day as the FBS leader in receiving yards, was sidelined by a lower-body injury that sidelined him for LSU's home stretch. Dart led with just one touchdown drive in the first half and was a three-score favorite behind an Oklahoma team that was without its top five receivers.

To make matters worse for Ole Miss, the ground game struggled with 43 rushing yards in the first half. Worth noting is Oklahoma's defense, which continued to show it has its finger on the pulse despite the Sooners' weakened offense being in shambles all season.

While Dart led a much more efficient offense in the third quarter – shaking off a 3-for-8 start by completing 19 of his next 22 passes – it's hard not to think about Harris' status moving forward. Juice Wells hasn't developed into the go-to receiver Ole Miss wanted to be after transferring from South Carolina, and while Jordan Watkins played in Harris' absence, there wasn't really much of a threat.

When you look at Ole Miss' offense, it's clear that if they don't have a healthy Harris down the stretch, they're in for at least one more loss (and maybe more). That could be evident as early as next week when Kiffin's squad takes on an improved Arkansas squad.