Week 1 SEC Letter Grades: Missouri Through South Carolina
By Tucker Harlin
This is the third edition of my Week 1 SEC letter grades.
Most of these will be friendly due to level of competition, but there’s one that is definitely not friendly.
Note: These are being published out of order due to LSU’s game against USC on Sunday
MISSOURI: A
Credit: University of Missouri Athletics
For an offense that features one of the best quarterback to receiver connections in the SEC, you would’ve thought it would’ve broken 50 at least once last season.
The 51 Missouri scored on Murray State Thursday is highest it has scored since the 52 it put up in the 2022 opener against Louisiana Tech.
Brady Cook found his favorite target Luther Burden III three times for 39 yards aon one touchdown while also rushing for one touchdown.
Cook did lose a fumble, but his defense more than made up for it by holding the Racers to 85 yards of total offense, forcing a fumble, and returning a pick six.
I’m avoiding A+ here because Cook should have better games over the course of the year and the Tigers just aren’t going to be challenged for about five more weeks.
OKLAHOMA: A
I was between an A and an A+ here but Temple isn’t good enough for me to give Oklahoma the bump for a 51-3 win.
The Owls defense put the Sooners in some fourth down situations, but the Sooners went 3/3 on fourth downs Friday. Other than the occasional fourth down, the Owls weren’t doing a lot slow down the Sooners.
The most impressive part about this how Oklahoma played on the defensive end. The Sooners recovered four fumbles and picked off Owls quarterback Forrest Brock twice.
Six turnovers is still four shy of the school record the Sooners set against Oregon at the beginning of the 1975 season.
However, not everything was positive this weekend for the Sooners as wideout Jalil Farooq will miss extended time with a broken foot.
OLE MISS: A
Credit: Furman University Athletics
This is another one where I was stuck in the middle of A and A+ but a roster like what Ole Miss has isn’t supposed to do anything less against an FCS opponent.
It is worth noting the last time the Rebels scored 76 was in their 2015 opener against UT Martin.
Jaxson Dart played only the first half, finishing with 418 pass yards and five touchdowns while rushing for another score. Dart found top targets Tre Harris, Juice Wells, and Caden Prieskorn for touchdown passes.
The Rebels tallied just shy of 800 total yards of offense and 37 first downs in their shutout against the Paladins Saturday.
While competition will get tougher in the coming weeks, I don’t anticipate an Ole Miss loss for at least another month.
SOUTH CAROLINA: D
Credit: University of South Carolina Athletics
The only reason South Carolina gets a D and not an F is because it won against Old Dominion.
The Monarchs are picked to finished second to last in the Sun Belt East division, yet they only lost 23-19 to the Gamecocks.
South Carolina did alright on the defensive end, but watching that offense struggle the way it did makes me feel even more confident about my pick for it to finish 4-8 in 2024.
The rush attack was alright as Rocket Sanders ran for 88 and a touchdown and quarterback LaNorris Sellers joined him with 68 rush yards and a score. The offensive line is still far from where it needs to be as it surrendered four sacks and 10 tackles for loss.
Sellers’ completed just 10 of 23 passes for 114 yards, and the Gamecocks were unable to find the end zone for a big chunk of the game.
There are few people left in Columbia defending Shane Beamer after a narrow escape against a group of five team in his fourth year, and the season only gets harder with a trip to Kroger Field next week.
