Welcome to Week 4 Power Rankings where nothing matters except what happens in between the white lines. No preseason rankings, recruiting talent composites or programmatic expectations are accounted for, the only formula is wins and losses as we dissect college football’s top conference.
Oklahoma got its first taste of SEC action with the Tennessee Volunteers stealing a win in Norman to keep their strong season going, LSU defeated UCLA at home and the Missouri Tigers appear to be struggling with the targets on their back this year. Two conference contenders were off this weekend as Georgia and Alabama prepare for their showdown this weekend but there was still plenty to get into with our fourth week of college football.
The Volunteers keep impressing through the early stage of the 2024 season as they went to Norman to claim a 25-15 win over Oklahoma in the SEC opener. So much attention is given to Tennessee’s offense, but its defense held the Sooners to just 40 yards rushing and pressured passer to a tune of three sacks.
No Quin Ewers? No problem.
The Longhorns defeated ULM 51-3 in Arch Manning’s first college start. Running back Jaydon Blue got into the end zone four times on Saturday and turned in 127 total yards of offense to pace the Texas offense.
Tre Harris hauled in 11 receptions for 225 yards and two scores as the Rebels dominated Georgia Southern 52-13. Ole Miss outscored its non-conference opponents 220-22 but now we’ll learn if they’re for real as they open up SEC play this weekend.
The Bulldogs enjoyed the week off as they prepare for the biggest game of the year in Tuscaloosa this coming week. The Crimson Tide enjoyed this week off before welcoming the Georgia Bulldogs into Tuscaloosa for the biggest game of the year.
The Missouri Tigers are still undefeated but have left a lot to be desired each week with close wins over Boston College last week and Vanderbilt this week in overtime 30-27. Luther Burden showed he’s still one of the best receivers in the game by hauling in six receptions for 76 yards and two scores.
The Tigers wouldn’t have needed overtime had kicker Blake Craig not missed three field goals, regardless, Missouri must play better to reach its playoff goals.
Welcome to the SEC. The Sooners put on a great atmosphere for ESPN’s College GameDay in their conference debut, but lackluster offense kept Oklahoma from pulling off the upset over Tennessee. The Sooners changed to quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. who helped Oklahoma fight back into the game, but it was too little too late and they dropped their first SEC game.
The Tigers turned a 17-all halftime tie into a 34-17 victory over UCLA at home. Garrett Nussmeier passed for 352 yards and three touchdowns, but we’re still figuring out LSU.
The Tigers have one more non-conference game before playing Ole Miss in two weeks. The Razorbacks went into Jordan-Hare Stadium and forced five Auburn turnovers as they claimed a 24-14 win in their SEC opener.
Transfer quarterback Taylen Green had 230 yards of total offense and while Arkansas did win, they’ll want to clean up their own turnovers in order to continue winning.
Aggies backup quarterback Marcel Reed started a second-straight game and totaled 264 total yards and two touchdown to lead Texas A&M past Bowling Green 26-20. The Aggies won, but through the first four weeks the resume isn’t necessarily impressive.
The Commodores went to Missouri and nearly pulled off a top-10 upset. Diego Pavia managed 262 yards of total offense and the Vanderbilt defense forced several stops outside the red zone but just couldn’t make the winning play in overtime to secure the win.
Big Blue Nation scored four rushing touchdowns on Saturday to get back into the win column, beating Ohio 41-6. Kentucky’s offensive line is its strength and they’ll look to keep grinding opponents down as the year continues.
The Gamecocks used backup quarterback Robby Ashford but still cruised to a 50-7 victory over Akron. Ashford tallied 376 yards of total offense and scored three times leading South Carolina to the win.
Billy Napier’s offense is starting to find a little footing after four weeks. The Gators have swapped Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway over the last two weeks splitting games with Texas A&M and Mississippi State.
This week it worked out to a 45-28 victory. Hugh Freeze started Hank Brown as he keeps searching for answers under center but it didn’t take long before he went back to Peyton Thorne.
The pair combined for five Auburn turnovers as the Tigers lost their SEC opener at home to Arkansas.
The Bulldogs lost to Toledo at home last week, lost to Florida this week and lost starting quarterback Blake Shapen to injury for the rest of the year in the process. It’s going to take a lot for Mississippi State to climb out of the bottom spot of our SEC Power Rankings.
