ESPN's Marty Smith recaps an eventful opening weekend for the SEC

Key notes from Marty Smith interview

• The SEC teams that opened with elite opponents will be well-prepared moving forward. Just on the surface, Ohio State’s defense was incredible. Arch Manning is fine. Florida State hit Alabama in the mouth and came out with an intensity and emphasis that Alabama didn’t match. I really like what I saw from LSU. In a very difficult environment, they prevailed because of a new philosophy from the top that everyone bought into. I still look at the floor of the SEC as so high. It is going to be interesting to see who emerges as elite at the top.
   
• Those games were fantastic. If you are a college football fan, that is as great an opening weekend as I could ever remember. Watching the South Carolina-Virginia Tech game, I was watching closely. I grew up a Virginia Tech guy. LaNorris Sellers is a special football player. What Shane Beamer has built in Columbia needs to be admired. Who can emerge? That is a lot of parity and a lot of question marks for several programs.
   
• I watch a lot of highlight packages of various games to stay up to date. Wanting more if I am Mike Elko is the best thing to have. He said it best after the game: zero is a good thing when you are talking about the loss column. The offense looked explosive, and the return game looked fantastic. That punt return was so well executed, it was so well devised and blocked. KC Concepcion is a problem. Fans are going to love him in the return game. There were really quality adjustments in the second half defensively.
   
• I feel that Marcel Reed looked good. He had the four scores, and he was on time and accurate most of the time. He spread the ball to a lot of different people. The biggest question coming out of it was the run defense. Elko explained that a lot of breakdowns from the defense were because it was the first time a lot of these kids were stepping onto the field. You expect that to get corrected. There is great optimism for the Aggies.
   
• Manning is fine. He is a great football player and a young man. The hype train was egregious. We fall all over ourselves building people up, and then froth at the mouth to tear them down. It is stupid. Credit goes to Matt Patricia and the Ohio State Buckeyes. They made his life hell. Sonny Styles and Caleb Downs are two of the best players in the country. They flew to the ball with bad intentions for all four quarters. It was a clinic. Four Texas drives ended in turnover on downs. But it is all still in front of Texas. They played the national champions on the road. I think Patricia and Ryan Day deserve all the credit. The defense was really impressive. Manning was out of sorts early in the game. People are expecting him to be Peyton Manning, but this was his first real game. I don’t remember a game, especially in the first game of the season, that had this juice around it.
   
• LSU’s defense allowed 12 yards rushing in the second half. Clemson couldn’t rush in the second half. I think that Brian Kelly and his group, with that shift I mentioned earlier, have never been a 1-0 leader. He said to Ryan McGee and me, he put great emphasis on shifting this notion. He made himself uncomfortable and really focused on this game. They had the 1-0 shirts on. It was hoopla, but the messaging is very important and landed well with the players.
   
• Blake Baker was able to utilize Harold Perkins super well. He was the most important player in the game. The reason I feel that way is that he is healthy now. He tore his ACL last year. He is in this star position, and he is in the spot to use his athleticism. He was able to spy Cade Klubnik. They kept Klubnik out of rhythm. It was a fantastic performance by Baker’s defense. The nation got introduced to Mansoor Delane. He was in the portal, decided to go down to Baton Rouge, and now, everybody is going to know his name. I was also very impressed with Garrett Nussmeier. They are a problem.
   
• I was surprised by the Alabama loss. It was the biggest surprise of the weekend. You have a football team in Tuscaloosa. Alabama has veteran guys like Deontae Lawson, and that group on the defensive side of the ball. Florida State made a heck of a statement. Thomas Castellanos stated that they were not scared of them. Alabama said it would be dealt with on the field. Florida State was just better. As I said about Texas, it is still all in front of Alabama. It all starts with intensity. You could sense there was a different level of intensity on one side than the other. Kalen DeBoer took it on his shoulders. It is a lesson. I will be fascinated to see what adjustments they make.
   
• I marvel at Sellers' command. Against Virginia Tech, you saw confidence and competitive stamina. The most important thing a quarterback can have is self-confidence. With that comes playing free, and man, did he play free. He knew exactly what Virginia Tech wanted to do. He took advantage of them and only got better further into the game. His strength in the design quarterback run game is one of the most potent weapons in the country this season.
   
• If South Carolina can keep him healthy, there has been a lot of hype for him this season. Heisman hype. Virginia Tech is better than I thought they were. They couldn't score any points, but hopefully they can clean that up. Kyron Drones has been there for several years. There are high expectations for him, but he missed a lot of throws. They could be a problem for people. South Carolina impresses me. Beamer is a great coach. What he has done by coaching these young men up, if you look at the talent on rosters in the SEC, Beamer doesn’t have the talent on the rosters like many of the other SEC teams, but he gets the most out of them and out of his staff. He has done such a great job. It was a great start, and Sellers was every bit of the hype.
   
• When you look at John Mateer’s statistics at Washington State, you have 4,000 yards and 44 touchdowns. I don’t care if you are playing against air; that is still impressive. He comes to the SEC, and many people said he was one of the best portal adds. I am impressed by him. He came by the show at SEC Media Days, introduced himself, which impressed me. Saturday, he put up some really good numbers. I am going to sit with him tomorrow for a College GameDay piece.
   
• I think it is all there for Mateer to be the next great OU quarterback. He has the skillset, moxy and toughness. I have very high expectations. Everybody thought it would be Jackson Arnold, but he’s at Auburn with Hugh Freeze now. He has this throwback personality, and it suits that program and Brent Venables perfectly. They need him. Impressive debut for them, let’s see what it looks like against Michigan.
   
• I was very impressed by CJ Carr. He made a couple of athletic plays, one where he snaked out of the pocket and got to the left outside the pressure and delivered a strike. That was a very impressive moment. They played a really good team.
   
• I was so impressed with Miami and their physicality. I am very happy for Carson Beck. He showed a lot of confidence. When expectations are so high, and a lot of criticism is coming from a lot of different directions. Then to play to that level against that level of opponent. It was a signature win for Mario Cristobal. A lot of emotion comes with that, and we saw that in his press conference. Carr is going to be a good player. He is going to continue to be a really good player. As long as he continues to stay ahead of the chains, has a few explosives and opens it up for the great running backs they have, it is all right in front of Notre Dame, especially in this iteration of the sport.