College football is back. The 2024 NCAA football season officially kicked off this past weekend, and at the center of it was the South Eastern Conference.
Like the rest of college football, the SEC looks much different than it did a year ago. The conference has changed drastically, with Texas and Oklahoma joining over the offseason. 
After an invigorating week one, it’s time to review which SEC teams are on the right track and which have already taken their first misstep of the 2024 campaign. 

READ MORE: Everything an LSU Tigers fan needs for a successful gameday tailgate

Rising
Carson Beck and the Georgia Bulldogs 
How does your stock go up while you are already the consensus No. 1 team in the country? Georgia made it happen.
The No. 14 Clemson Tigers marched into Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta with the aspirations of taking down the national favorite. Georgia shut the door on those aspirations the second Clemson walked onto the field.
“Anytime you play in Atlanta in this facility, and it’s part of a title sponsor game where you’re playing another top-15, top-20 matchup, to me it feels like a playoff game,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said prior to the game. “It’s a great way to try to assess where you are as a team.”
And assess they did.
From kickoff, the Bulldogs dominated the Tigers’ in almost every department during a 34-3 beatdown to open their season.
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck started his 2024 Heisman campaign with a 278-yard, two-touchdown performance on Saturday, further proving why he and his Bulldogs are ranked as the nation’s best.
Following a heart-wrenching loss to hated rival Alabama in last year’s SEC title game that cost the Bulldogs a college football playoff trip, it’s good to see Georgia start this season on the right foot.
“No longer do you have to win every game, but you do have to find out when you’re going to be playing your best, and you want to be playing your best towards the end of the year,” Smart said, “one of the best barometers is to get quality wins.”
Kalen DeBoer, Ryan Williams and Alabama
All eyes were on the No. 5 Crimson Tide on Saturday night, and for good reason. 
There have never been bigger shoes to fill than those left by Nick Saban, the winningest coach in NCAA history, following his retirement from coaching over the offseason.
As Saban left his seven National Championship tenure at Alabama, former Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer took the driver’s seat as the program’s first new head coach in 16 years.
But DeBoer’s squad believed in their new head coach and came out swinging. 
The Crimson Tide routed Western Kentucky in a 63-0 shutout at Bryant-Denny Stadium, as now No. 4 Alabama looks to soften some of the outside noise and find its footing in the DeBoer era.
“He might be new to everybody else, but not to us. He’s our coach, and this was just the start,” said junior linebacker Deontae Lawson. “We’re 1-0, and that’s what he’s been saying ever since he got here, to go 1-0 in everything we do.”
During their blowout of the Hilltoppers, a rising star began his emergence for the Crimson Tide.
At only 17 years old, five-star freshman Ryan Williams hauled in two touchdown passes for 139 yards in the first collegiate game of his life.
Watch out for Williams not only this season but for years to come. There’s a great chance he falls in line as the next great Alabama wide receiver.
Falling
Brian Kelly and LSU’s opening-weekend woes
The purple and gold have started their season 0-1 for half a decade straight.
The latest loss was on Sunday night, when the No. 23 USC Trojans won a back-and-forth 27-20 battle at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, one in which the No. 13 Tigers’ were outscored 14-3 in the final frame.
“I think it’s the first time since I’ve been here that I’m pretty angry at our football team,” LSU head coach Brian Kelly said. “The thing that is most concerning for me are the personal fouls, the penalties that are selfish. Both of them led to scores, and they’re undisciplined penalties, and effectively they fall back on me.”
It’s not a good look for Kelly, whose Tiger teams are now 0-3 in openers and have consistently failed to show up in big moments since he got the job in 2022.
“We had some guys that played their butts off tonight, and we’re sitting here again — we’re sitting here again — talking about the same things,” Kelly said as he slammed his fist on the table. “About not finishing when you have an opponent in a position to put them away, but we’re doing on the sideline is acting like the game’s over.”
Kelly’s fiery press conference went viral, and as he said, we are still talking about the same things with his football team for the third year in a row: underwhelming defense, an inconsistent run game, and missed opportunities to put their opponent away. 
After the third year of the same thing on opening weekend, something’s got to change for No. 19 LSU. 
Texas A&M fails its first big test
The No. 20 Aggies were looking to start their season with a statement victory hosting No. 7 Notre Dame at Kyle Field, one of the sport’s most challenging places to play.
While the A&M faithful most definitely had an impact, it wasn’t enough for the Aggies, as the Fighting Irish pulled away late to win 23-13. The crowd didn’t matter; Notre Dame was the better and more talented group.
“I told the locker room for us to get this program over the hump, we have to put ourselves in the position to play the game the way we need to, and we didn’t do that tonight,” new Aggies head coach Mike Elko said, who steps in following the firing of Jimbo Fisher late last season.
It was Texas A&M’s run defense that cost them. The Fighting Irish gashed the Aggies for 198 yards, with standout touchdown carries from running back duo Jeremiah Love and Jadarian Prince that brought Notre Dame across the finish line.  
“Them running for 198 yards, that’s no bueno,” Aggies sophomore linebacker Taurean York said following Saturday night’s home loss. “It starts with me, so it will be fixed.”
While there’s still time for now-unranked Texas A&M to regroup and get back into the AP Top 25 and beyond, the Aggies have yet to face their stiffest test this season.
It’ll only get tougher from here on out.