1. Let's make this quick, OK? Will Muschamp may have overreacted a touch when he was asked Wednesday about the suspensions of three players. He got a little emotional, but, hey, he's defending his program, and since he arrived in Gainesville he has kept a clean house. Now here comes the “but.” But he shouldn't have been offended when he was asked about players being suspended for a game that was never played. He shouldn't say that missing practice is the same thing as missing a game, because it's not. The one thing that really irked me, though, was this: “At the end of the day ... I handle the discipline in this program, and it's handled well.” Well, Coach, you can't play judge, jury and the court of appeals. You may be doing a good job discipline wise. In fact, I think you are. But it's not for you to say. Instead of standing up for your program, you came off as defensive. If you want to say, “There's a lot of things that go into those situations, a lot more than people know,” then don't act surprised when we don't know and ask questions. Otherwise, tell us and let the record speak for itself.
2. Nick Saban loves himself some competition. Despite Blake Sims' strong showing against in the season opener, Alabama's head coach insists the quarterback battle isn't over. In fact, he's committed to playing both Sims and Jake Coker against Florida Atlantic. On Wednesday, Saban said, “It's important for a couple of reasons,” one being the ability to evaluate both players in live game action, and the other being that regardless of who wins the job, he wants the backup to have plenty of game reps. That's nice and all, but there's only one true reason why both will play: He needs to know what he has in Coker. If he felt good about Sims after what he saw against West Virginia, wouldn't he have couched his comments by saying that he was the starter until notified otherwise? Watching Sims complete 22 of 30 passes in Atlanta, I thought we were witnessing the very best version of him as a quarterback. But maybe that's not good enough. Maybe Coker can do more. We'll have to see. On Saturday we'll start to get an idea.
3. Everyone loves the Heisman Watch, even if it's only the second week of the season. Seeing Todd Gurley atop the list reaffirmed my faith in humanity. Watching him destroy Clemson put him in the driver's seat for me. The rest of the list was fine, too. Kenny Hill put up the best numbers of any QB in the country, but he still has to prove himself. Outside of ESPN's 11 Heisman contenders, I thought we ought to update a few others from the SEC, starting with the most talked about dark-horse candidate of all, Dak Prescott. He certainly helped himself with 285 yards and four touchdowns against Southern Miss. With more of the same against UAB this weekend, his numbers could get gaudy. Also, Amari Cooper did enough to hang around the outskirts for me. Wideouts rarely factor into the award, but if he keeps up his 12-reception, 130-yard output he might sneak up on some people. Finally, Mike Davis is essentially out of it. By rushing for just 15 yards against Texas A&M on national TV, he fell way behind the pack. With him doubtful to play East Carolina, it feels like it's already too little too late.
More from around the SEC
At LSU: Les Miles defended the play of heralded rookie Leonard Fournette
At Arkansas: Bret Bielema believes progress will yield wins
At Georgia: As great as last weekend's win looked, there are still things to correct
Tweet of the day
Chris Conley, who came to interviews wearing a Star Wars/Darth Vader shirt, confirmed his shoulder injury did not come via a light saber.
— Seth Emerson (@SethEmerson) September 4, 2014