Week 1 SEC Grades with SEC Network's Roman Harper

where in the world is Roman Harper it's my favorite segment every week and we get to we get to get smarter about football we get to lap and have a good time and we get to see the man sometimes walking around here he is right now Roman Harper with us uh on the Johnston RV center.com hotline presented by mybookie.ag Cod next round mybookie.ag Cod next round when you sign on with mybookie.ag make that deposit you use code next round they're going to double your initial deposit and you can use it right away harp what is up man how are you what's up guys I'm I'm nowhere special today I'm just at my house so um it's it's nothing crazy I like the light fixture if that thing fell though it would probably impale you hey it is fancy huh look at it yeah I like that these things are my wife's fancy dude we actually hung this uh this wall seiling paper ourselves yeah so shout out shout out to us yeah shout out to us hey do you still have the portrait of all the uh the mismatch celebrities having like the Last Supper we do still have that but my wife uh moved it to another room so what do we have out what do we have our back oh harp this is that's the hot tub the pool you know this a little some some you know it's it's not all bad out here the man's a Super Bowl champion a very talented broadcaster the man the man's got the man's got have some luxuries hey I got a few so harp I know it was Western Kentucky but if you had to give a letter grade I mean it's got to be an a would it be an A+ foror's first outing uh as a whole yeah I'm talking about dor no I'd give it probably an A A minus um just based upon I mean the offense let's be honest the offense was never in Rhythm uh they had big plays doesn't mean they were in Rhythm and I kind of give them a little bit of um a little bit of Grace Just because the left tackle situation like right before the game it's not anything you plan on uh Jayla mirro did fumble the ball too as well so he still has to continue to work on that because ball security was an issue last year at times and he continued to get that better but they had big plays offensively and if this is who this team's going to be okay that's fine but um I thought that I actually went into the game and had it completely wrong because I thought the offense would carry this team uh from the start of the year and uh from game one and then the defense would have to try and find ways to keep up and start to catch up and do start and do better as the game progressed or maybe later in the season but the defense had a shut out which is great like there's no better feeling than coming into meetings after a goose egg because that means everybody contributed especially a big win like that um where it wasn't close other guys got to play and you still shut them out so that means we still didn't have breakdowns as we start to put more guys in that's really really good um um and it's not like Western Kentucky wasn't still trying to score they were but Alabama's still executed at a high level so uh shout out to the defense I thought they would be a little bit slower they actually came out hitting on all cylinders Big Time turnovers and the three stats I talked to you guys about last week remember them just I keep going back to them number one turnovers two huge ones all right by uh Keon sad with the two interceptions one to get the game started the other one right there in The Fringe right outside the Red Zone which I said that's another thing red zone defense my second element uh every they shut the door on Western Kentucky multiple times in the red zone They even I will count that interception the second one as a Red Zone turnover so that counts double so in my book they got three not just two and then the last one is third down percentage they were they they held Western Kentucky three of 18 those are the only three defensive stats I care about that is the same thing I would talk to you guys about all year long and that would determine Alabama's success uh and I went into the game because of a couple conversations with you expecting to not like the defense the style and everything not not press man and all that stuff I don't know what I'm talking about just like what I get from you but I left I was like well that was fun I enjoyed that which unit did you like the best which one surprised you with their performance was it that secondary or was it the linebackers The Edge pressure what was it uh I I think the D lineman uh the D line actually surprised me a little bit more CU I didn't know these guys and the secondary they had made a couple good plays but I don't think they're challenged enough in the secondary so I'm not going to give them too too much credit uh I still have yet to to see more and uh but the kid uh LT Overton jumped out on tape uh russaw uh shout out he's from Carver High School uh right down the street in montgomry so shout out to him anytime I can shout out anybody from the 334 I will and uh and yeah so those two guys really kind of jumped out on tape to me early and then of course um the two linebackers Deontay Lawson and giad Campbell they wearing different numbers but they still are the same I actually thought they this is a defense that they will be better in because it's not as much man-to-man coverage and so you're just a good athlete playing in space where I just have this Zone I know where my eyes need to be at and I'm just reacting off the quarterback and playing fast I thought they did that really really well and they actually made more plays in this defense which I I figured it would be better for Deontay Lawson uh because he's not great at man-to-man coverage but I didn't think Jad Campbell would like I mean I knew he was going to be pretty good he really flashed for me last year as well so I'm not gonna say that but I thought those two guys had a great game as well Roman Harper is with us SEC network you see him on SEC Nation he is with us courtesy of my bookie mybookie.ag code next round mybookie.ag Cod next round when you sign up they will double that initial Bon uh initial uh deposit as a sign up bonus right there with the code next round at mybookie.ag cam Coleman also from the 334 so let I'll let you shout him out from Phoenix City uh those arburn receivers that we knew that was going to be the biggest change I understand opponent level right I get it opposition level was not great with Alabama A&M but you watch the game differently you see route running you see you know their um the the way they change when the quarterbacks end all those things right that you're supposed to see what did you see from that receiving group at Auburn that all of them still got to the end zone that they did exactly what they're supposed to do and let's let's not just glance over that let's not glance over like Auburn didn't lose to uh New Mexico State last year let's not glance over that in past Alburn struggled with Georgia Southerns they've actually had like they had to go four quarters in a couple of these times so when you play these teams and you treat him like you're supposed to treat him that's a good thing I don't discredit that I knew this offense will be more I know this offense will be more explosive Hugh free is really putting his hands all over it and then also the upgrade at receivers uh p Thor should be better because it's in his second year in this offense and he's got way better weapons and so I I'm looking forward to the continued growth in this offense especially at the wide receiver I told you this reminds me of the early 2000s when I was playing and they brought in that great group of wide receivers and back-to-back years Ram shadu Ben abanu Anthony mix uh and uh Courtney Taylor was like a three or four of these guys all these guys were top tier guys and then next you know it just changed the whole outlook in the offense of all Al immediately and this is exactly what I predicted I'm not surprised this is exactly who these young men are and who they're going to be uh going forward so just putting everybody on notice early I'm I'm excited about it but does it add how many wins to Auburn that would be the next question like how many wins does having these type of receivers give you uh for Auburn and that's yet to be determined 12 I'm kidding got 12 this year 12 carpets it's hard to get a after week one but both Texas A&M and LSU were favored they both lose their games who are you more concerned about the agies or the Tigers uh I I think I have concern for both teams in different ways number one A&M Conor Wegman was supposed to be that guy and everybody said he was going to be this that he he played terrible in the game flat out he missed a lot of throws I was actually when I was watching I was actually concerned is he hurt some things off he just missed a lot of really like I thought would be layup compared to what I saw him do last year it wasn't even close so uh that's a concern for me big time concern especially because they competed hard but I give Notre Dame a lot of credit because Notre Dame's a really good team with a really good secondary they look coached up extremely well and they played hard and they didn't fall for the the Trap of just making this game about Riley Leonard versus um versus the head coach uh he's slipp my name right now why he mik El Mike Elco and so they they did a better job of that sorry I heard my wife talking that's what threw me off and then um you know how it is when the wife talks you better perk up you better listen don't know in this house you just don't know all right and then and then the other thing is is up for LSU you know I saw Brian Kelly getting emotional after the game I you know they want to win you know is USC better you know Al LSU has this dominant offensive line these are all the story lines we hear they didn't run the ball well all right they never lined up ran downhill at USC so are they that much more physical is that run game that great is that old line that great I don't know and then at the end of the day the defense was better under Blake Baker but you still lost the game so nobody cares like that's the best thing that I love about football is that you are what your record is period nobody cares about injuries nobody cares about how you got there you just are what you are and so until you find a way to be better in end of game situations that two minute situation where offensively you had a chance to close him out lean on that offensive line they couldn't get the first down or you got the quarterback who's playing really well we find ways to get Kyon Lacy eight eight catches in the first half zero in the second what are we doing right and then defensively you got a chance to really put your stamp on it say we are better we are this and you give up three points at the end of the half after a bad penalty by kyen Lacy taking his helmet off at the first half give it now your kicker gets a good kick return who you know he's their best most explosive guy on offense he gets the ball gets it on down they get three points at halftime and then at the end of the game you allow him to get down there and score again when you got to be able to try and shut the door on this team to finish it out so with all that being said you still have not solved anything because you didn't win the game are you better maybe but you didn't win the game and that's all anybody cares about I I you know us in the media me included sometimes we look at the are you including me that I'm saying us am that cuz I don't like being in the media but you don't have to and I don't think you do this to be honest with you I don't think you do but a lot of us um will take a game and we'll talk about the team that lost a big game and never really give credit to Georgia so I'll ask you or the team that look good so I'll ask you are we overlooking that Georgia could just be that good again because everyone's just been talking about what Clemson didn't do how good did you see Georgia in that game all right before I answer that number one I think Georgia is the number one team in the country I have some question marks on George as well but what did what is everybody saying that Clemson didn't do yeah answer that for me well they just haven't gotten better offensively I think people no doubt about it yeah I think people har thought that Garrett Riley maybe in year two would be a little more Unleashed there would be more of a rapport between him and and Kade club kumnick and kumnick just hadn't gotten any better and they don't have any skill on the perimeter yeah no skill on the perimeter kumnick seems to be late with the throws and Riley's play calling doesn't seem to be as good as it was at TCU yeah I I so I like all those factors so number one Riley's like the offense looks stale to me but then it's also hard like who am I going to blame when you know the very first play of the game they got a really good play action off of some motion they got to kind of get George's eyes in the wrong place and the running back's wide open in a flat and K Club One hops it from eight yards away like dude all right you know what I mean it's like uh like what are we doing you know it's like these are things that start you off in motion it's the first play of the game it's not like we had practiced it I promise you we practice this play you know this is like like this is the play like we know it and that's an easy throw to get him in R yeah yeah this is just easy get us in Rhythm like we want to start fast like boom we got it oh it's just like we thought throw it out he one hops it you're like H all right well I guess we'll try and run it here right and it's just like those little things they never found in any rhythm and I'll be honest I I I I hated what Clemson did Clemson fought hard but it's a lot of the same things that which you guys said so I don't need to rehash all that but back to the real question and focus which is Georgia I thought Georgia looked really really good but I gotta be honest with you I didn't like the offense of Georgia early in the game I I mean you can't tell me you got the best quarterback in college football and then we're just going to throw it to the flats throw quick screen get it out quick D like let the guy rip like that is what he does right like he's supposed to be that good let him play action pass and go downfield let him hit second level throws what he's really good and accurate at and he gets the ball out on time which is what they did more of in the second half but I want that early in the game I felt like the offense was way too conservative that because Clemson was not a real threat that they never would Georgia was never threatened in that game let's be honest with each other Georgia was never threatened and so I like to be prepared for the fire when it hits and so I've already done I've already been in the fire I've already been there I already know I'm not g to sweat because I've already been there I don't want all of a sudden the fire shows up now we got to get ready for it and and trying and try and put it out when you haven't done it already in the season so I don't want them to all of a sudden because other teams are going to be better offensively than Clemson will be so and that is who I'm only that's I'm sorry that's the only way I'm comparing Georgia too I'm not paing Georgia comparing them to like what they did just versus Clemson but I look at Georgia like down the line how are they going to handle these fires that are going to happen in their season I'm sorry Clems is not a big fire that was just a little something you know we put that out easy but down the road you will have teams that will be able to threaten you more offensively than what Clemson will be you can't just wait till the second half to turn it on you can't just depend on just body blows and beat them down I don't think that's going to happen all year long so I thought this when I was watching it but then I saw you say it so then I'm like okay it's right I I was watching Nico make these throws against Chattanooga and I'm like I know that's Chattanooga but those balls are on the money I don't care how good the coverage was and then I saw you say look I initially discounted it until I watched it and then I watched it it was a different story no I I you look I I I literally said I'm like dude I'm not getting fired up about Chattanooga like not doing it and the ball placement the ability to be able to catch and throw and actually thank you for watching whether you're watching read reactor you just pick me up on Twitter thank you for the support appreciate that uh the rest of you guys check us out Monday nights me and Cole CU it's great show do a good job thank you appr where we saw read and react yep yeah thank you but anyways um just the ball placement the ability to be able to catch and run like this just I don't think people give enough credit for those type of situations those passes that are getting thrown and then down the field throws it was right on point and then like I showed the other day like you know a guy was off Sid the confidence to be able to throw a ball in between three guys and put it up high enough where his guy has a chance to catch it I mean the confidence to make that throw is different and so when I see these things it's this perfect marriage between the offense that hypo runs and the throws that and ability that Nico has niik IAM malava so I I'm trying to get better I got I gotta say the name more and more so it just flows so so um but yes he's one of those guys that you better watch out for and I do lowkey I think I I'm I'm I great I'm watching him but I'm like Lex Luthor versus Superman like I'm finding this Kryptonite because it's always something out there and I'm still working on it right now and I think I got it but I'm not going to tell anybody hey har I don't think I've ever seen a defending national champion as disrespected as Michigan I have not heard one person that likes Michigan this week and I understand they got no chance I watched them against Fresno Davis Warren is not a quarterback that's going to win you a championship but they've still won 16 consecutive games they're at home nobody's picking them uh Texas did everything they needed to do much like Alabama against uh Western Kentucky Texas look great against Colorado State I I don't know I've just got a feeling that Michigan's going to come to play I mean uh how do you see this game playing out yeah what is what do you mean by Michigan coming to play like they're going to hold it within 10 what are you talking I'm no I'm talking about covering the seven and a half not embarrassing themselves I'm hearing everybody say Max play put the mortgage on texes they're going to run them off the field the fight song is Hell To the victor not hell to the moral victories no I I I watched michan last night so um and I'm going to talk about this on ESPN Saturday morning because they ask me the same questions uh well referring to the game and my opinions on it and they are this Michigan their first team defense like Texas's offense what Sark likes to do he challenges your eyes and your discipline he anticipates guys getting out of their gaps in the Run game it's not like Texas is mauling people up front they're just expecting you to get out of your Gap and then they got you all right they put a whole bunch of sugar and eye candy out there you know and treat it like you're going to fall for it every single time you have to be disciplined in your pass drops in your run in your Rush Lanes in your Zone coverages like you have to disciplined because sark's doing all these different things to get you to move to where attack you in these lanes and Texas has weapons all over the place on the outside so I don't like the matchups for Michigan uh with some of the things that they do defensively versus what Texas will do and how Quin ERS and and what sark's going to call so I'm going to take Texas I I think I said it earlier in preseason I still believe it I think Texas by double digits Michigan's not as good offensively who they throwing it to outside of love the tight end nobody knows they got number zero he's a gadget guy and that's about it and so they they need to be better offensively I think they tried to find their way um uh Donovan Edwards not running the ball extremely well in week one versus uh and versus Fresno State uh the the backup running back had a better game so they got to figure themselves out in Texas they lost a couple really big guys up front but they still have guys up front that are still really big big and still good against the run so I'm very I'm looking forward to the game but I got I like Texas in this one in a big way guys not going to lie all right so add Roman to your list right there michig all right you'll see I got the house on it you see the pool out there guys I got the house on it too you'll see harp Saturday Morning on ESPN and also SEC Nation SEC network from Lexington and then Gainesville next week so shout out to Nation right here guys fantastic show get your get your day started right in the SEC with SEC Nation har thank you safe travels always fun appreciate it fellas I'll see youall later all right buddy we'll see you next week Roman with us every Thursday courtesy of mybookie.ag code next round mybookie.ag code next round I was trying to find an updated line Lance on that game oh here it is mybookie.ag Texas 7 and a half they were favored seven and a half over Michigan Roman put the house on that one you could play that game at mybookie.ag code next round to double double your initial deposit and play with it right away