@sethemerson.bsky.social
Senior writer for The Athletic, covering college football with a focus on the SEC. Longtime Georgia beat writer, still based in Athens.
The haters said it wouldn't work. And they were correct. Honestly great call from the haters
12.10.2025 22:15 — 👍 228 🔁 26 💬 2 📌 1South Carolina has fired O-line coach Lonnie Teasley. The replacement is Shawn Elliott, who was the O-line coach under Steve Spurrier and came back to Shane Beamer's staff as tight ends coach.
The Gamecocks rank last in the SEC in rushing average, and have given up the second-most sacks.
Tortillas, expletives and ... a pocket knife?
A wild night in Lubbock, where Texas Tech beat Kansas to improve to 6-0, got penalized for fans tossing tortillas and Joey McGuire and Lance Leipold got into it.
Details: nyti.ms/475TVK7
As Mark Twain would say if he were alive today and covering SEC football - which he absolutely would be - if you don't like the conference vibes, wait a week and they'll change.
Welcome to the SEC: The whiplash league.
www.nytimes.com/athletic/671...
Both of these things can be true:
1. Auburn was on the bad side of some questionable, controversial calls last night.
2. Auburn lost not because of that, but because it didn't handle that well, as Hugh Freeze and players basically admitted.
www.nytimes.com/athletic/671...
Georgia-Auburn takeaways: Officiating drama and a dominant Bulldogs second half:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/670...
Score: Tied at 10.
Total yards: Auburn 244, Georgia 150.
Penalties: Auburn 11 for 90, Georgia 4 for 35.
Auburn fans and Hugh Freeze: Veins bulging.
What happened on that play? You know the one. Well, here's a news story outlining what we could tell:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/670...
Well, no one appears to know what happened there.
12.10.2025 01:12 — 👍 17 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Also, who are the playmakers on this defense?. Obviously the offense has problems but I can’t remember watching another Georgia defense that seemingly had nobody who stood out consistently. Or ever.
12.10.2025 01:05 — 👍 17 🔁 3 💬 2 📌 0This never-say-die/always coming back thing for Georgia the past couple seasons has been real. But it can also create a lack of urgency at the start of games. And ultimately it may doom it in some games. Perhaps this one.
12.10.2025 00:53 — 👍 27 🔁 1 💬 6 📌 1That's a couple straight three-and-outs for the Georgia offense, which is averaging a sterling 1.7 yards per play through three drives.
12.10.2025 00:46 — 👍 12 🔁 1 💬 3 📌 0Ah but Georgia's defense holds to force the field goal. Still shades of the Alabama game: Auburn started 5-for-5 on third downs before a run on third-and-6, which Georgia happily stopped.
12.10.2025 00:29 — 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0The first quarter ends with Auburn on the doorstep for another TD on its second drive. Georgia had one possession that had promise but was stalled after a first-down sack.
Total yards: Auburn 141, Georgia 14.
Auburn's opening drive: 14 plays, longest play 15 yards, converted all four third down tries. 0 sacks, 0 negative plays.
And ends with a touchdown, so Georgia's offense has to play from behind as it did in the Tennessee and Alabama games.
First true Auburn drop-back pass, Georgia gets no pass rush and Jackson Arnold completes a third-down pass.
This battle of weakness vs. weakness will be worth watching.
Crisis averted. Either a red flag or great sign. TBD.
11.10.2025 20:08 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0So easy to second-guess plays that don’t work, but man, probably gotta run the fake punt when the other team least expects it. Not when you’re down with seven minutes left in the game.
11.10.2025 18:59 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0Aaaaannnnd we’re officially on watch for the annual Lane Kiffin Special.
11.10.2025 18:42 — 👍 6 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 0We may soon be looking back at Florida State's domination of Alabama and wonder how the hell that happened.
(Bama not having Tim Keenan and Jam Miller, perhaps.)
Right, and while plenty of (upheld) targeting calls may not seem egregious, if the trade-off is you're seeing those actual egregious hits less and less because players are afraid of the targeting call, that's exactly what was intended.
11.10.2025 16:53 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Plays like that largely have been taken out of the game, thanks to trying to legislate them out, and contrary to what some knuckle-draggers claimed, the game seems to be doing fine anyway!
11.10.2025 16:45 — 👍 7 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 1If anybody still wonders why the targeting rule exists watch the replay of the Missouri player hit on Alabama's receiver just now. Luckily he looks like he's okay, but scary to watch him motionless on the ground immediately after the hit.
11.10.2025 16:39 — 👍 5 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
The Deep South’s Most Lopsided Rivalry: Why Georgia has dominated Auburn for 2 decades — and why it remains a heated rivalry
www.nytimes.com/athletic/670...
Brett Venables was really skeptical on Mateer playing early in the week. Guess it was a miraculous recovery.
10.10.2025 00:28 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 0Oklahoma QB John Mateer is listed as questionable on the Wednesday night SEC availability report.
Georgia tackles Monroe Freeling and Earnest Green are both questionable for the Auburn game.
Florida lists 6 out and 7 questionable, while opponent Texas A&M lists 1 out and 1 questionable.
The wrecking-ball QB: Haynes King may lead Georgia Tech to the ACC championship game and the Playoff ...
... If he can stay healthy.
www.nytimes.com/athletic/669...
“The school continued to insist it had not officially hired anybody as its new head coach, despite the season opening tomorrow.”
07.10.2025 21:49 — 👍 18 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 1
What a CFP selection dry run revealed about college football’s most scrutinized conference room
www.nytimes.com/athletic/669...
This story explores an underrated theory:
Brock Bowers was the real key to Georgia's offensive surge, partly because he was great, but also because he gave the team a clear, No. 1 receiver, and that's so important.
(But could Georgia still have one this year?)
www.nytimes.com/athletic/669...
