SEC Football

Tennessee entered Saturday as the No. 1 team in the College Football Playoff rankings, but that standing will be one-and-done after No. 3 Georgia defeated the Volunteers 27-13.

Georgia led 14-3 lead after one quarter and 24-6 at halftime in front of the home crowd at Athens' Sanford Stadium.

Bulldogs quarterback Stetson Bennett dissected the Tennessee defense with three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) and 226 passing yards by halftime.

The Bulldogs outgained the Vols 306-139 in the first half. Running back Kenny McIntosh had 109 yards from scrimmage to lead Georgia.

On the other side of the ball, the defense was nothing short of tremendous. Relentless pressure led to six sacks, and the Bulldogs also registered a fumble recovery and an interception.

Tennessee got inside the 10-yard line just once in the first 55 minutes, and that trek was negated by a false start penalty.

The Georgia defense shut out Tennessee in the second half until a late Jaylen Wright touchdown.

The Vols had enjoyed a tremendous season, and they are still 8-1 with a résumé that includes wins over No. 6 Alabama and No. 10 LSU.

Head coach Josh Heupel has done a tremendous job with a team that was 3-7 just two years ago thanks in part to future NFL talents such as quarterback Hendon Hooker and wide receiver Jalin Hyatt. The fact that the Vols reached No. 1 despite being unranked in the preseason Associated Press poll was a fantastic accomplishment, especially for a team that hadn't been that high since 1998.

But Georgia proved that Tennessee isn't the top team in the country, and Twitter users made their opinions known about the No. 1 ranking.

Tennessee will look to bounce back next Saturday when it faces Missouri at home for a noon ET game. Georgia will visit Mississippi State at 7 p.m. ET.

Georgia may have taken it personally when the Bulldogs were third in the initial College Football Playoff rankings.

The No. 3 Bulldogs coasted past top-ranked Tennessee 27-13 on Saturday at home in Sanford Stadium, and the final score doesn't do justice to the gulf between the teams. It was a comprehensive victory and a result that looked secure after the first quarter.

A 13-yard Stetson Bennett touchdown run and a 37-yard TD pass to Ladd McConkey put the reigning national champions up 14-3 with 3:32 left in the opening frame. They didn't look back from there.

Whereas Tennessee's Hendon Hooker looked like the Heisman Trophy favorite entering the game, Bennett was the quarterback who took center stage. He finished 17-of-25 for 257 yards and two touchdowns.

The Georgia defense also suffocated a Tennessee offense that was leading FBS in yards (553.0) and points (49.4) per game. The Vols had 289 total yards and turned the ball over twice.

Georgia opened the season with an emphatic 49-3 hammering of Oregon but hadn't added another signature win since then. Close victories over Kent State and Missouri led people to wonder whether Kirby Smart's squad was far more vulnerable compared to last year.

Instead, the Bulldogs might still be the best team in college football.

Georgia closes with Mississippi State, Kentucky and Georgia Tech, and it basically has two paths to the CFP semifinals. An unbeaten regular season will put the Bulldogs in regardless of what happens in the SEC title game, while winning the conference championship would more than make up for one loss between now and then.

The Peach Bowl and Fiesta Bowl are slated to be the two semifinals this season. It's safe to say Georgia fans should start making travel plans for Atlanta or Glendale, Arizona, if they haven't already.

Missouri has agreed to a two-year extension with football coach Eli Drinkwitz, per Dave Matter of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The deal keeps the coach under contract through 2027.

Drinkwitz is in his third season with the Tigers, leading the team to a 4-4 record so far in 2022. They are coming off their biggest win of the season, a 23-10 road victory over South Carolina.

University of Missouri President Mun Choi praised the program's direction in a statement:

"Coach Drinkwitz and his staff have created great momentum in our football program. You can feel the excitement and you see it in the fans as they have turned out in great numbers at Faurot Field. Coach Drinkwitz's program is a key part of the results-driven, championship culture that AD Reed-Francois is building to help support our student-athletes. Like so many of our fans, I am excited to see what the future holds for Mizzou Football."

Missouri went 5-5 in Drinkwitz's first year with the team before going 6-7 last year, including an appearance in the Armed Forces Bowl.

This year's squad has also struggled to get above .500, although it's shown impressive resilience with one-possession losses to Auburn, Georgia and Florida in consecutive weeks before earning back-to-back wins.

Missouri had a 10-point lead over No. 1 Georgia in the fourth quarter before eventually losing 26-22.

A difficult schedule remains, starting with Saturday's game against Kentucky, but Drinkwitz has shown he can keep his team competitive in the always-tough SEC. He will try to build on that momentum to turn the Tigers into a legitimate contender over the next few seasons.

Vanderbilt defensive backs coach Dan Jackson posted an apology Friday night, saying he showed "poor judgment" with a Facebook post discussing Kanye West's antisemitic remarks.

Aria Gerson of The Tennessean reported Jackson's post wasn't publicly viewable, but it was sent anonymously to the Stop Antisemitism organization:

West, now known as Ye, was suspended from Instagram after posting antisemitic content. His Twitter account was also temporarily restricted shortly after West tweeted he was going to go "death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE."

Vanderbilt athletic director Candice Storey Lee and head football coach Clark Lea released a joint statement.

"We are aware of concerns raised today relating to a social media post by a member of our staff. Although we have been assured these comments were not directed at any specific group, we are deeply disappointed by this situation and are handling it internally," the statement read.

"The university and its athletics program are committed to creating and fostering a welcoming environment for all where differences are respected and all members of our community feel equal, valued and included. Please know that we reject antisemitism and discrimination in all its forms."

Antisemitism has been on the rise of late in the United States. The Anti-Defamation League found reports of antisemitism rose 34 percent between 2020 and 2021 to the highest number since the organization began tracking the information in 1979.

Jackson was hired by Vanderbilt ahead of the 2022 season.

He previously spent time as an assistant at Northern Illinois and South Dakota State, his alma mater where he also played linebacker from 2003 to 2005.

His coaching career started at Burke High School in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.

Vanderbilt won three of its first four games to open the campaign, but it's currently on a four-game losing streak that dropped its record to 3-5.

The Commodores are set to face South Carolina on Saturday night.

Three weeks after the University of Tennessee was fined for fans storming the field following a victory over Alabama, the SEC is taking steps to prevent field and court storming in the future.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey announced Friday a working group is considering strategies to support effective crowd management.

"Current Conference policies need to be reviewed and improved with a focus on addressing field and court incursions by spectators after contests," said Sankey. "The SEC's Working Group on Event Security will focus its efforts on reviewing existing policies, developing new strategies and identifying best practices to enhance crowd management and more effectively address field and court incursions at future SEC athletics events."

According to the announcement, each SEC institution is required to "verify in writing annually to the Conference Office that an event security review of all sports venues has occurred in consultation with appropriate law enforcement" after conference presidents and chancellors approved a regulation last month.

The SEC adopted a policy in 2004 that fines schools if fans storm the field or court after a game. When the rule was initially implemented, fines ranged from $5,000 on first offense to $25,000 for a second offense and $50,000 for a third offense.

In 2015, the SEC increased the amount of fines to $50,000 (first offense), $100,000 (second offense) and $250,000 (third offense and beyond).

Tennessee was fined $100,000 by the conference after fans stormed the field following the 52-49 victory over Alabama on Oct. 15.

The Athletic's David Ubben noted it was the program's second field-storming violation, with the first coming in January 2006 after the Volunteers beat Florida in men's basketball.

Tennessee football's official Twitter account asked fans for donations to replace the goalposts that were torn down during the celebration after beating the Crimson Tide.

Alabama wide receiver Jermaine Burton is being investigated by the school after a Vols fan posted a video on TikTok claiming Burton smacked her in the head as he was walking to the locker room.

Multiple fans suffered non-life threatening injuries after storming the field in September following a Sun Belt Conference game between Troy and Appalachian State.

The SEC policy aimed at curtailing field and court storming is designed to protect fans, players and coaches.

Will Levis' struggles in big games have apparently not turned off NFL front offices.

ESPN's Todd McShay reported the Kentucky quarterback has drawn comparisons to Josh Allen and Carson Wentz from NFL general managers, and he's still expected to be a high first-round pick.

Levis has a bevy of raw physical talent at 6'3" and 232 pounds, but his senior season at Kentucky has been anything but spectacular. He's thrown for 1,733 yards and 13 touchdowns against eight interceptions while struggling mightily in games against elite opponents.

In Levis' four games this season against ranked opponents, he has more interceptions (five) than touchdowns (four). He's coming off a dreadful three-pick performance in last Saturday's 44-6 loss to Tennessee—an outing some thought would send him plummeting down draft boards.

That does not appear to be the case for now. It seems front offices remain enamored with his physical gifts and are willing to chalk up most of his struggles to playing an SEC-level schedule with middling Kentucky talent.

Allen (Wyoming) and Wentz (North Dakota State) both played next to non-elite talent at the college level before being high first-round draft picks. The gamble with Allen paid off for the Buffalo Bills, though it took years of patience as he struggled to acclimate to NFL game speed. Meanwhile, Wentz is playing for his third NFL team in as many seasons and seems unlikely to land a chance at a starting job with a fourth.

There is likely a team that will be willing to roll the dice on Levis' talent. It's just hard to find evidence of impending success from his tenures at Kentucky or Penn State, where he lost the starting job to Sean Clifford.

Tennessee vs. Georgia is on pace to be one of college football's hottest tickets in recent memory.

Per ESPN's Field Yates, the cheapest ticket on TickPick is going for $626, which is the highest ever for a regular-season college football contest through the website. NBC Sports Chicago's Eric Mullin noted the most expensive ticket is going for a cool $5,233.

The third-ranked Bulldogs will host the No. 1 Volunteers on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Imagine being told before this season that this would be one of the biggest games of the year.

Georgia's 8-0 start hasn't come as a big surprise. The reigning national champion set a record for the number of players selected in a seven-round NFL draft (15), but the work head coach Kirby Smart did on the recruiting trail meant there was plenty of talent coming through the pipeline.

Tennessee, on the other hand, has been the most unexpected College Football Playoff contender. The Vols went 7-6 in 2021, which was widely considered a success for first-year head coach Josh Heupel given the situation he inherited.

Heupel has turned Tennessee into the most exciting team in the country, one that ranks first in yards (553 per game) and points (49.4 per game). Hendon Hooker might be the Heisman Trophy frontrunner with 2,338 passing yards, 21 touchdowns and 338 rushing yards.

Looking ahead to Saturday, Tennessee vs. Georgia has the feel of a CFP semifinal play-in game.

Going unbeaten and winning the SEC will basically guarantee the Bulldogs or Volunteers a playoff berth regardless of what happens in the conference championship, and this is the hardest remaining matchup for both teams.

Georgia finishes up with Mississippi State, Kentucky and Georgia Tech, while Tennessee has Missouri, South Carolina and Vanderbilt down the final stretch.

The stakes couldn't be much higher in Week 10, which explains why fans are paying such high fees to see this anticipated clash live.

Jackson State head football coach Deion Sanders denied speculation Thursday that he is taking a flight to Atlanta to discuss the head coaching vacancy at Auburn.

Sanders responded Thursday to a tweet that said he was flying to Atlanta, calling it a "lie":

The writer of the tweet had previously acknowledged that what he tweeted wasn't true:

Sanders, a Pro Football and College Football Hall of Fame cornerback, has enjoyed great success in three seasons as the head coach at Jackson State, including an 8-0 record this season. That has sparked talk that he could be a target for Auburn following the firing of Bryan Harsin on Monday.

After leading Jackson State to an 11-2 record last season and guiding them to a sizzling record in 2022, Sanders has fielded many questions about making the leap to Auburn or another team in a Power Five conference.

He said on ESPN's College GameDay last weekend that he would entertain offers (h/t Mark Heim of AL.com).

Sanders expressed thankfulness this week for being on the Power Five radar as a coach at a historically Black college or university (HBCU) but said nothing to suggest he is thinking of leaving his current situation:

"That's a blessing — that's truly a blessing. Sorry to interrupt, but I've got to get these points out. I don't think too many African-American coaches from the HBCU has ever been attached to anything concerning the Power Five, so that's truly a blessing.

"We love to do things that hadn't been done around here in Jackson State, and this is another prevalent thing that hadn't been done that we're doing."

Before Sanders' arrival at JSU, the Tigers had finished .500 or worse in six consecutive seasons, but he has already ensured a third straight winning season under his leadership.

He has also helped put HBCU football back on the map nationally thanks to his celebrity, Jackson State's success and his ability as a recruiter.

Despite being an FCS program, Jackson State secured the No. 58 recruiting class in the nation in 2021, per 247Sports.

Along with landing his son Shedeur Sanders from the 2021 class to start at quarterback, Coach Prime reeled in cornerback Travis Hunter in the 2022 class, ranked as the No. 1 overall recruit by 247Sports.

That level of recruiting excellence would be huge for an Auburn program that has not won double-digit games since 2017, finished 6-7 last season and is 3-5 this season.

If given the resources of a major college football program like Auburn, Sanders would likely have a strong chance to consistently bring in some of the top recruiting classes in the country.

A Power Five coaching job may be in his future, but his tweet Thursday suggests he is not imminently looking to jump ship from one Tigers football team to another.

Julian Sayin, a 5-star quarterback in the class of 2024, has committed to play at Alabama.

"There's a lot to like about Alabama," Sayin said Wednesday, per Hank South of BamaOnLine, adding:

"I would say Bama is the standard for college football. When you go on Saturdays and turn on the TV and see that crimson, you think of Alabama. Coach Saban, being the greatest coach of all time, how could you not want to play for a guy like that? And then just the ability to produce NFL talent they have there. Their track record for quarterbacks is second to none."

Per 247Sports, Sayin received 24 offers, including ones from Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State and USC. He is the second overall quarterback on the 247Sports composite list and the 14th-ranked prospect overall.

The 6'1", 185-pound signal-caller out of Carlsbad (California) High School joins a Crimson Tide class of 2024 that already included a trio of 4-star prospects in cornerback Jaylen Mbakwe, athlete Martavious Collins and wide receiver Perry Thompson.

It follows a class of 2023 listed first overall in the nation thanks in part to five 5-star prospects, including safety Caleb Downs.

Sayin gives Alabama the chance to have yet another stellar signal-caller. Mac Jones led Alabama to an undefeated championship-winning season in 2020, and Bryce Young has starred for the Crimson Tide each of the past two years.

Although Young is expected to head for the NFL draft in 2023, Sayin could be the next man up when he arrives in Tuscaloosa in 2024. It's a huge win for Alabama and a tough loss for SEC rivals Georgia and LSU, who were the other two finalists for Sayin.

The future Alabama product has enjoyed a great season for the Carlsbad Lancers, who are 9-1. He's completed 131 of 192 passes for 2,032 yards with 21 touchdowns and just three interceptions.

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin offered his endorsement of Jackson State's Deion Sanders with Auburn looking to replace the recently fired Bryan Harsin.

Kiffin told reporters Wednesday he believes Sanders would "do great" with the Tigers:

I think that's a great name and they should hire him. Great recruiter, great name. This is a different world we're in now. Recruiting has always been important, but now you have the portal, so you have kids...you can change a roster faster than you ever could before, and you can lose a roster faster than you ever could before. The ability to hire, like Deion, and have that name right away and portal people wanting to come play for him right away, you can flip a roster where before, realistically, it would take two to three years to truly turn a roster around. You can do it immediately.

It seems inevitable Sanders will leave Jackson State to take a Power Five job. He told 60 Minutes' Jon Wertheim in October he'd at least listen if the opportunity presented itself:

The Athletic's Bruce Feldman listed Sanders as a candidate to succeed Harsin but added, "We’ve heard mixed reactions on whether Auburn brass would be comfortable with Sanders taking over."

The Hall of Fame cornerback has answered his skeptics at every step.

He has attracted a higher level of talent to JSU than the program typically gets. In the case of 5-star cornerback and No. 1 overall recruit Travis Hunter, he took his alma mater, Florida State, head on.

Sanders is delivering on the field as well. Jackson State went 4-3 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season before it won 11 games in 2021. It sits at 8-0 in 2022.

As Kiffin laid out, Sanders has the personality and charisma to go toe-to-toe with Alabama's Nick Saban, Georgia's Kirby Smart, Clemson's Dabo Swinney and the rest of the competition on the recruiting trail.

And while talent accumulation isn't a guarantee of success—just look at Texas A&M—it goes a long way toward winning in the SEC.

Hiring a coach from an FCS program would obviously present a level of risk for Auburn. Sanders, meanwhile, may prefer his first Power Five gig be one with a better track record of stability.

But this is a partnership the sides should consider, even if the discussions come to nothing.

Recruit ratings via 247Sports' composite list.