Russ Mitchell

Father of Dragons. Husband. Lead SEC Columnist, College Football News. Heisman voter. FWAA. Guest Sirius XM, ESPN, NBC, FOX Sports, CBS.

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

More #Lane. Congratulating the McNeese wideout on the great catch. #LSU

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

@Mr_HTWilson @Marc_Cumbie @MattMoscona OL clearly still needs work. Hasn't gelled as much as it clearly needs to. But everyone on offense deserves a little slice of this humility.

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

It's not just "struggling to finish drives." It's the absolute futility on drives inside the 10-yard line that's killing Lane Kiffin & the #LSU Tigers. We'll discuss it with @MattMoscona next. #SEC

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

@jess_tigerdad @MattMoscona I think it's pray, dive, dive, dive. ;)

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

Technically... Bama had a drive vs. State that started on the 9, but got a Delay of Game penalty which pushed it back, then scored a TD. So you could really have them at TDs for 19 of 20.

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

@AustinWagner23 @PeteFiutak :)

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

@PeteFiutak Against the other Power Four leagues this season, the SEC is 10-2. The Big Ten is 4-7.

So, yeah. I'm pretty OK with several 3 loss SEC teams over Iowa

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

Very true. Much easier to patch holes, and established teams can't horde talent. However, there's also truth about players gelling into a team; simply being able to buy parts doesn't make a team or a company. And everyone is figuring out how to live in this new world; some coaches/programs took longer. Simply being able to swap parts faster is not a panacea.

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

@PeteFiutak 6/ So yeah, I'd sleep fine with a 9-3 Alabama or Tennessee this year over an 11-2 Iowa.

And you can stitch that together and print it, if you like. ;)

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

5/ And I'm not talking about championships ... we're talking about attrition, and trying to make comparisons across apples/oranges. And bananas. It's not that Ohio State or Oregon aren't every bit as athletic. It's that you run into (literally) many more of those bodies deeper down the SEC schedule.

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

4/ Then there are stadiums. Like you, I’ve been to most of the stadiums in the B1G, and every stadium in the SEC. It’s. Not. Equal.

My gameday experiences were all fun, and each stadium has tradition, excitement, and passionate fans. But it’s not the same.

The Horseshoe is stupid fantastic. Penn State, Michigan, Wisconsin… Washington with the seats shaking… And Autzen stadium was incredibly daunting … at an official seating capacity of 54,000. Imagine how terrifying it’d be with 30,000 more seats!

Today, the B1G averages an impressive 70,800 seats per. The SEC sits at 80,900. And what's the median average, you argue? It's even more lopsided in the SEC’s favor at 84,100, compared to the B1G's 69,700. And the likelihood you're walking into a hornet's nest of a schedule? The SEC has 9 stadiums over 80,000 (5 100k+), while the B1G has only 5 (3 100k+).

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

3/ On to E=mc2. I feel the need ... the need for SPEED!

Let’s start with the meat.

At the combine, SEC OL: avg 5.07 forty, avg 1.77 10-yard split, avg weight ~317 lbs. Big Ten OL: avg 5.18 forty, avg 1.82 10-yard split, avg weight ~311 lbs. So, bigger and faster, which was roughly the same for Edge rushers. (There weren’t enough B1G LBs and interior DLs who elected to run at the combine to fairly judge.)

As for top end speed… Of the 13 players at the 2026 combine who ran 4.35 or faster, seven were SEC players and two were from the Big Ten. The cleanest comparison is WRs: SEC had 15 runners, averaging 4.40; the B1G had 6 runners, averaging 4.47. And the SEC had the first three of the lot, at 4.26, 4.28 and 4.30. The fastest Big Ten WR was Oregon’s Malik Benson at 4.37.

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

2/ When I say the #SEC is more physical, I don't mean the B1G doesn't play physical ball, which it obviously does. I mean the SEC has more NFL-sized, NFL-athletic bodies across more of the conf. Half the rated players on SEC rosters are four- or five-star players, vs 29% in the Big Ten. The avg O-line is heavier. And even with two fewer schools, the SEC put 87 players into the 2026 NFL Draft versus 68 from the B1G. So week after week, you're throwing bigger, faster, higher-end bodies at each other.

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

Lane Kiffin is now 0-6 against #Bama as a head coach, and outside the 12-10 Tennessee blocked FG game in 2009, he’s lost the other 5 by an average of nearly 15 points. I guess he won't have to worry about it until 2028, unless they meet in the playoff ... in 2027.

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

@Christo44823852 No

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

IF THEY ASK: “WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING FOR THIS WEEKEND?”

UT v. Mizzou: Roberts vs the SEC's best Run D, with Texas seriously beat up.
Hogs v. Auburn: Can Auburn exploit the SEC's worst Run D?
A&M v. SC: Will the Aggies keep Sellers in the pocket?
Bama v. LSU: Can the Tide protect Russell?
Vandy v. State: Can State score 18 in one game?
Kentucky v. Vols: Can UT just run / punt / and have no turnovers? In Neyland, with that D, that's a W.
Georgia v. Ole Miss: Can Ole Miss run without Lacy against UGA?
OU v. Florida: What a mess. What does OU’s offense look like under Witten?

BONUS:
First ever Top Ten Holy War: Can BYU survive the first quarter? (Utah 89-6 in first quarters this season)

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

HOW'D WE DO?

• Texas-Missouri: Yep. Roberts: 66 yards on 19 carries. Texas won 34-20.
• Hogs–Auburn: Yep. Auburn ran for roughly 180 yards, with Byrum Brown going 122 and a TD in the W.
• A&M–SC: Sellers had only 34 net rushing yards ... right up until his 41-yard TD run with 1:27 left basically ended it.
• Bama–LSU: LSU got only 2 sacks, and Russell threw for 206 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT in the win.
• Vandy–Mississippi State: Yes! State finally put up some offense without Taylor. But Vandy scored 2 more.
• Kentucky–UT: Absolutely. Vols ran for about 240 yards, committed 0 turnovers, and won 34-6.
• Georgia–Ole Miss: Yep. Without Lacy, Ole Miss managed only ~66 rushing yards. UGA won 42-7.
• OU–Florida: OU’s offense under Witten wasn’t explosive, but it was CLEAN! 351 yards, 23 points, 0 turnovers.
• Holy War: Utah had ANOTHER strong 1Q (14-3); scored only 14 more in the game, but that was enough to hold on, 28-20.

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

IF THEY ASK: “WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING FOR THIS WEEKEND?”

UT v. Mizzou: Roberts vs the SEC's best Run D, with Texas seriously beat up.
Hogs v. Auburn: Can Auburn exploit the SEC's worst Run D?
A&M v. SC: Will the Aggies keep Sellers in the pocket?
Bama v. LSU: Can the Tide protect Russell?
Vandy v. State: Can State score 18 in one game?
Kentucky v. Vols: Can UT just run / punt / and have no turnovers? In Neyland, with that D, that's a W.
Georgia v. Ole Miss: Can Ole Miss run without Lacy against UGA?
OU v. Florida: What a mess. What does OU’s offense look like under Witten?

BONUS:
First ever Top Ten Holy War: Can BYU survive the first quarter? (Utah 89-6 in first quarters this season)

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

@MrAlexRussell Nope. Neither did Carr.

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

Carr looking very Joe Burrow-esque there. #MIAvsND

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

@GrowSmarter_x That's a lot of work for something I first saw in London nearly a decade ago. And from a normal looking ring.

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

Oh my, yes. LSU being 7 and UK not even in it is......

[Peter Burns @PeterBurnsESPN]

The FPI needs to be retired immediately.

Not at the end of the year….now.

The weird FPI formula used to get this Top 25 isn’t fair to the our amazing Stats and Info team that work so incredibly hard each week behind the scenes.

A&M at 24? What are we doing?

[Russ Mitchell @RussMitchellCFB]

@ralphDrussoATH