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SEC Football Power Rankings 2017: Week 4 Edition

By Hunter Kinniburgh

GAINESVILLE, FL - SEPTEMBER 16: Feleipe Franks #13 of the Florida Gators celebrates with his teammates after he threw a 63-yard pass at the end of the game to defeat the Tennessee Volunteers 26-20 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 16, 2017 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FL - SEPTEMBER 16: Feleipe Franks #13 of the Florida Gators celebrates with his teammates after he threw a 63-yard pass at the end of the game to defeat the Tennessee Volunteers 26-20 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 16, 2017 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images) /
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Gus Malzahn’s Tigers certainly aren’t doing him any favors. I mean Auburn had a 10-3 lead at the half. That is inexcusable for a team that went toe to toe with Clemson. And especially not for a team that many (not myself) thought could challenge Alabama in the West this season. Now, they might get the offense going at some point but for now it is still a disappointment. Jarrett Stidham has underwhelmed so far, which is surprising. And I’m still perplexed as to why Malzahn cannot recruit quarterback talent out of high school.

I will say that the Auburn defense is good. They held Clemson to 14 points, when those Tigers scored 47 on Louisville. Auburn’s defense might be able to keep the Tigers in any game that they play this year, but that offense has got to get something going. They have a lot of weapons and Stidham has proven in the past to be a good passer. As the season progresses we’ll see if they can step up. If not, the burden falls to the defense.

Mississippi State skyrockets in our rankings this week after their demolition of the LSU Tigers in Starkville on Saturday. The Bulldogs stymied the LSU offense all night. And Nick Fitzgerald was on fire against a defense that had no answer for him to the tune of four total touchdowns. The performance either says a lot about both teams, or nothing about either. Allow me to explain;

We’ve seen these types of performances from Mississippi State in the past. What I mean by that is that they’ve beaten highly ranked SEC teams in the past to look like a team that can challenge Alabama. Then they play Alabama and get smoked. I’m not saying that will happen this year but I would exercise caution. As of now they look as if they could hold their own against Alabama. Their defense is improved, but LSU’s offense can be Jekyll and Hyde. For now, they look like one of the top three teams in the conference. We’ll get another chance to see just how good they are when they play at Georgia next week.

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