Main takeaways from SEC football Week 6

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Let's look at the state of SEC football after Week 6:

1 – Kirby Smart still sets the gold standard

Alabama won on the road at Georgia last year. Kirby Smart absorbed that defeat, licked his wounds, got off the canvas, and has responded by beating Bama in the SEC Championship Game and then winning on the road in Tuscaloosa this past weekend. Georgia is on track to play for a third straight SEC title. In a brutally difficult conference, one team more consistently rises to the top of the pack than others. Georgia isn't the dominant superpower it was when it won back-to-back national championships, but it is still the class of the SEC. Worth noting is that Georgia's defense, much maligned the past few seasons, was able to step up and corral Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell and stem the Tide's offense. Kirby Smart regularly makes the adjustments and course corrections needed to keep Georgia at the top of the sport.

2 – Arch Manning is not the guy

Arch Manning continues to make bad mistakes. Texas continued to play with fire against mediocre competition and finally got burned. This looks like a team which will absorb a few more losses this season. Steve Sarkisian is not making the grade. The Longhorns look vulnerable with a quarterback who is simply not meeting the hype.

3 – Alabama's next move

Does Alabama grow and evolve after its loss to Georgia, or will the Crimson Tide lose confidence and fade in the second half of the SEC season? Kalen DeBoer's team put up a good fight against Georgia, but much as moral victories aren't sufficient at Arkansas, they certainly aren't enough for Alabama. The Tide have to go to Neyland Stadium this Saturday. If they lose, DeBoer's position in Tuscaloosa becomes tenuous once again.

4 – Missouri enters the conversation

Florida and Texas A&M aren't great teams, but Missouri did smother both of them. The Tigers now have a chance to do something significant this year, but no one should think this team is a finished product. This is one of the more fascinating teams in the SEC right now, with the second half of the season offering no guarantees for better or worse.

5 – Florida falls flat

A team which was knocking it out of the park in September has been kicked to the curb in October. What are we going to see from Jon Sumrall's team in the second half of the season?

6 – Kentucky continues to climb

Will Stein is the real deal. Kentucky has already exceeded its preseason expectations to a considerable degree, and there's still a lot of season left. The Wildcats clearly nailed this coaching hire.

7 – Lane Kiffin caught flat-footed

While Kentucky and UCLA and a few other programs are instantly turning things around in the first season under new head coaches, LSU's 2026 season lies in ruins. The Tigers are almost certain to miss the playoff. Lane Kiffin has been given enormous resources and institutional support at LSU, and yet he can't do what Will Stein or Bob Chesney can. Curt Cignetti showed that bad programs can quickly be turned around. What does that say about Kiffin at LSU, one of the most ready-to-win programs in the country?

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