Week 2 SEC Letter Grades: Tennessee Through Vanderbilt

By Tucker Harlin

TENNESSEE: B+

Credit: University of Tennessee Athletics

No, Tennessee’s 51-10 win over a ranked NC State was not perfect.

Far from it actually.

Undisciplined penalties and surprisingly, quarterback play are the reasons I didn’t give Tennessee an A.

Nico Iamaleava had his worst performance by far on Saturday, throwing two picks.

The first one was a pretty bad misread, but he was hit as he threw the pick six. It also helped that Tennessee led by 34 at the time of the pick six.

Speaking of pick sixes, Vols safety Will Brooks returned one for 85 yards in the second quarter that set the tone for the rest of the night.

Tennessee’s defense was by far the most impressive part of the win. Just about every part of the front seven was somehow involved in Tennessee’s 13 tackles for loss.

And speaking of the front seven, Dominic Bailey and Jeremiah Telander both recovered fumbles.

Offensively, Dylan Sampson was the key piece in the 249-39 advantage Tennessee finished with on the ground. Iamaleava also ran for 65 and a touchdown of his own.

So while the night wasn’t perfect, it was still very positive for the Vols.

TEXAS A&M: A

Credit: Texas A&M Athletics

Texas A&M gets a generous grade from me because it did what it was supposed to do against an FCS foe in its 52-10 win over McNeese.

The Aggies defense forced a pair of interceptions and the offense ground and pounded the Cowboys with a brutal 333 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

I’m still wondering if Conner Weigman has what it takes to challenge an SEC defense. He finished 11/14 with 125 yards and a pair of touchdown passes in just one half of football against an FCS opponent.

But overall, it was a good day for the 12th man.

TEXAS: A

Winning against a defending national champion in a road environment is a noteworthy accomplishment, but I wonder if the AP voters did the same thing to Michigan they did to Florida State.

I think the Wolverines are far ahead of the Seminoles both defensively and on the ground. But J.J. McCarthy being an average quarterback is something sorely missed in Ann Arbor right now.

This looked. like another case of the SEC program having too much speed for a Big 10 defense.

We see this quite a bit in bowl games. I saw it in person on New Year’s Day in Orlando as Tennessee shutout Iowa 35-0.

I only give the Longhorns an A because they won in a hostile road environment by three scores. I’d say every team they face on the SEC schedule will challenge their defense far more than Michigan did.

VANDERBILT: A

A 55-0 win over Alcorn State is exactly what an average SEC team is supposed to do to an FCS opponent.

The Commodores scored a touchdown in all three phases of the game, so that’s pretty cool.

Vandy played this one pretty conservatively, only passing for 83 yards while doing the majority of the work on the ground on offense.

While this win doesn’t really do much for me in terms of raising Vanderbilt’s stock, I am at least curious to see how the Commodores perform in SEC play.