It’s difficult to wave that SEC flag too passionately this first week, especially with what transpired in Oxford, Miss.

The one-sided mismatches everywhere you looked were unflattering enough, but then Ole Miss managed to lose one of those games that was supposed to be a mismatch. Jacksonville State won 49-48 in double overtime at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, becoming the first FCS team to beat an SEC team since 2004 when Maine upset Mississippi State.

Florida had its struggles on offense, and so did LSU on both sides of the ball.

Here’s a look at what we learned in the SEC in Week 1:

1. Wide-open Tide: With Heisman Trophy running back Mark Ingram watching from the sideline while recovering from knee surgery, Alabama served notice that it can be just as explosive in the passing game as it can the running game. The Crimson Tide finished with 334 passing yards in their 48-3 thrashing of San Jose State and showed an assortment of different formations and looks, no doubt giving Penn State a few things to think about next week. Greg McElroy threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to Marquis Maze, and A.J. McCarron tossed a 29-yard touchdown pass to a diving Julio Jones. The Crimson Tide also showed a little bit of the Wildcat and Pistol formations. Obviously, this is an offense that can do a lot more than just turn around and hand the ball off to the tailback, although Alabama still does that as well as anybody.

2. Beast of the East: Yeah, it’s only one week of football, but the Eastern Division race could be as good as it’s been in a long while. Florida has some serious issues to work through on offense, like finding a consistent running game, identifying some playmakers at receiver and solving its center-quarterback exchange problems. Meanwhile, both Georgia and South Carolina look to be much improved. Assuming the Bulldogs get A.J. Green and Washaun Ealey back this week, they’re really going to be a load on offense, and the Gamecocks also won handily over Southern Miss on Thursday without five starters in the lineup. The first big East battle is on tap for next weekend when Georgia travels to South Carolina.

3. Get the ball to Shepard: Supposedly, the LSU offensive staff was serious about getting the ball to Russell Shepard this season, and it looked that way in the first half against North Carolina. But the Tigers decided they were going to establish the run after getting ahead by 20 points at the half, and Shepard sort of disappeared from the plan. He’s clearly their most dangerous offensive weapon, and the Tigers have to find a way to get him the ball 12 to 15 times a game. The same goes for Rueben Randle. There are no more excuses the rest of the way.

4. Ole Miss exposed: As stunning as Ole Miss’ 49-48 double-overtime loss was to Jacksonville State, the real shocker was seeing the Rebels’ defense ravaged in the second half. This wasn’t just any defense, either. Ole Miss has talent and depth in its front seven. A lot of those guys have played together the past couple of years, but to blow a 31-10 second-half lead to an FCS foe is unfathomable. The fourth quarter has to go down as one of the worst 15 minutes in recent Ole Miss history, and the play that will define the Rebels’ struggles is that 30-yard touchdown pass by Jacksonville State on fourth-and-15. Getting back up from this flop and making it a successful season will take some doing.

5. Quarterback answers: There were more questions than answers for the majority of SEC teams at quarterback. For some, there are still a bunch of questions. For others, a lot of those questions were answered. Auburn’s Cameron Newton and Georgia’s Aaron Murray both had big debuts. The same goes for Tennessee’s Matt Simms. Ole Miss’ Nathan Stanley started well, but he wasn’t on the field when the game was decided. Houston Nutt went with Jeremiah Masoli during the overtimes. And at Mississippi State, it’s fair to say the Bulldogs have their quarterback of the future. Redshirt freshman Tyler Russell threw four touchdown passes to tie a school record in his debut, and his future may very well be now. The most acclaimed of the first-time starters was Florida’s John Brantley, but he looked surprisingly pedestrian in an offense that never found any rhythm.

Week 1 in the SEC is in the books. Time to dole out the helmet stickers:

Tennessee coach Derek Dooley: Granted, it wasn’t an SEC opponent, but Dooley’s young Vols gave the Big Orange Nation a reason for hope with a 50-0 rout of Tennessee-Martin. It was the Neyland Stadium debut for Dooley and a long list of first-year players on the Vols’ roster. Tennessee gained 537 yards of total offense, while holding Tennessee-Martin to 142 yards and three first downs. More importantly, this was a program in desperate need of a steady hand to run it, and Dooley has provided that.

Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham: Georgia’s defense needed a dose of energy, confidence, swagger, just about everything. It’s only a first game, but the Bulldogs played with all of the above on defense in trouncing Louisiana-Lafayette 55-7 on Saturday. Switching over to Grantham’s new 3-4 scheme, Georgia collected three sacks, intercepted three passes and held Louisiana-Lafayette to 128 total yards.

Auburn quarterback Cameron Newton: Not a bad debut for the junior quarterback, who showcased his versatility in a big way for the Tigers. He accounted for five touchdowns (three passing and two rushing) in rolling up 357 yards of total offense in Auburn’s 52-26 win over Arkansas State. Newton rushed for 171 yards, a school record for a quarterback, and that included a 71-yard touchdown romp.

LSU cornerback/kick returner Patrick Peterson: Already one of college football’s top cornerbacks, Peterson put on a show in the return game in LSU’s 30-24 win over North Carolina. He flirted with an SEC record and set a school record with 257 combined yards on kickoff and punt returns. Included was an 87-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter. He had 244 return yards by halftime.

Mississippi State quarterback Tyler Russell: The Mississippi State fans had been waiting to see Russell in a Bulldogs’ uniform, and he didn’t disappoint. The redshirt freshman tied a school record with four touchdown passes in a 49-7 pummeling of Memphis. Russell, who didn’t start the game, took over for Chris Relf and completed 13 of 16 passes for 256 yards and was nearly perfect in running the Mississippi State offense, which cranked out 569 yards of total offense.

ATLANTA -- Patrick Peterson kept his promise, and it’s a good thing.

If not, who knows where this LSU football team would be right now? And for that matter, could you imagine the reception his head coach would be getting back on the Bayou?

When told that he would indeed be returning kickoffs and punts this season, Peterson assured LSU coach Les Miles that he was making the right call.

“Once I saw the depth for the first time, I said, ‘Oh yeah, coach, I’m definitely going to make something happen,’ ” said Peterson, the Tigers’ star cornerback.

He didn’t just make something happen Saturday night in the Georgia Dome. He saved LSU’s bacon in a 30-24 win over a depleted North Carolina team in a Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game that went down to the final seconds with the Tar Heels throwing into the end zone from the 6-yard line.

As fate would have it, Peterson wasn’t on the field for those final two plays. He had to leave the game with cramps, a problem for him since his Pee Wee football days.

He’d done his damage earlier in the game with a record-setting performance in the return game.

His 257 combined return yards were an LSU record, and he had 244 of those by halftime. His 87-yard punt return for a touchdown looked like he was catapulted by a slingshot.

“It was like the Red Sea out there, it was so open,” Peterson said.

That gem was sandwiched between a 47-yard kickoff return to set up Russell Shepard’s 50-yard touchdown romp and a 37-yard punt return that led to Rueben Randle’s 51-yard touchdown catch.

Without any one of those plays, LSU would have been toast, and Miles would be trying to explain how he lost a game to the Tar Heels’ “B” team when the Tigers had a 30-10 lead entering the fourth quarter.

“We’ve just got to finish games,” Peterson said. “It killed us last year, and it almost got us tonight. I don’t know what it is, but something’s got to change.”

One thing that won’t change is Peterson drifting back deep on kicks. He said it’s the first time he’d returned a kick since the fourth game of his senior year in high school.

“And they stopped kicking it to me then, too,” joked Peterson, who didn’t get much of a chance to return kicks in the second half.

Shepard, who scored a pair of touchdowns himself, knew what kind of impact Peterson would make in the return game. He’s seen it too many times on the practice field.

“I think he’s the best player in the country -- period,” Shepard said. “There isn’t anything he can’t do.”

The Tigers, who struggled to put teams away last season, shifted into cruise control way too early against the Tar Heels, who never quit scrapping.

In fact, Peterson was out of the game on the 97-yard touchdown pass by T.J. Yates to Jheranie Boyd because he said LSU defensive backs coach Ron Cooper wanted to get some of the younger guys in the game.

“I guess he thought we had a comfortable lead,” Peterson said.

Senior middle linebacker Kelvin Sheppard said it shouldn’t have mattered who was on the field. He said the Tigers simply got sloppy, which is hard to argue when you consider Yates passed for a career-high 412 yards and didn’t have his best receiver on the field (Greg Little).

“We won the game and don’t let anybody kid you,” Sheppard said. “But there’s definitely a feeling of, ‘Man, what happened in the second half?’ I mean, it’s obvious. Guys weren’t where they’re supposed to be. Giving up a (97-yard) touchdown pass is unacceptable. I don’t care where you’re playing at. We just can’t do that.

“Again, we did win the game, so you can’t just put it in the drain. But it’s upsetting that we emphasized finishing games so much, and while we never point fingers here and I make sure of that, for guys to have their eyes in the wrong place is disappointing.”

The offense certainly contributed to the near collapse.

Running back Stevan Ridley fumbled the football with a 1:08 to play, giving the Tar Heels one last chance to drive the field.

And they did.

But the Tigers also quit going to Shepard and Randle, who are clearly the top two game-breakers on this offense.

Shepard’s a guy who needs to touch it 12 to 15 times a game at the very least. He had three touches after halftime Saturday.

“There are a lot of things we need to clean up if we want to be back here in a couple of months playing for the SEC championship,” Shepard said. “The good thing is that we have the talent do it.”

Chris Low talks with LSU’s Russell Shepard following the win over North Carolina.

ATLANTA -- Big plays were the difference for LSU on Saturday night, as the Tigers held on for a 30-24 victory over North Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game.

Here’s an instant analysis from the game:

How the game was won: After the Tigers’ Stevan Ridley fumbled the ball away with 1:08 to play, LSU weathered two North Carolina throws into the end zone from the 6-yard line in the final seconds. LSU’s Jai Eugene had the coverage on the first throw into the end zone, and Stefoin Francois had the coverage on the final throw.

Turning point: North Carolina got back in the game when Jheranie Boyd got behind the LSU defense for a 97-yard touchdown catch to pull the Tar Heels within 30-17 in the fourth quarter.

Player of the game: Without junior cornerback Patrick Peterson, the Tigers would have been in real trouble. He set an LSU record with combined return yards. He had an 87-yard punt return for a touchdown and also set up two other touchdowns, one with a 47-yard kickoff return and another with a 37-yard punt return.

Stat of the game: After falling behind 10-7, LSU scored 23 unanswered points to take a 30-10 lead into halftime and didn’t score again. Three of the Tigers’ touchdowns were from 50 yards or longer.

Unsung hero of the game: While Peterson was the guy who might have saved LSU, sophomore receiver Russell Shepard provided a big assist. Shepard had a 6-yard touchdown catch for LSU’s first touchdown and also put the Tigers ahead to stay with a 50-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

Second guessing: When Ridley fumbled the ball with 1:08 to play, the Tar Heels were out of timeouts. Why were the Tigers even running plays at that point. Why not kneel the ball down?

What it means: Despite the win, LSU still has major question marks. The Tar Heels were without 13 players, most of those starters, and the Tigers simply couldn’t put them away. LSU was unable to consistently run the ball and couldn’t get off the field defensively when it needed to in the second half. Simply, the Tigers were lucky to escape.

ATLANTA -- North Carolina burned LSU with a 97-yard touchdown pass to pull within 30-17, but LSU's Patrick Peterson wasn't on the field.

In fact, Peterson hasn't been in the game at cornerback a couple of different times in the second half.

He left the game early at the end of the first half and went to the locker room to have some IV fluids administered, according to LSU officials.

It's been a busy night for Peterson in the return game. In fact, even though he wasn't on the field for the Tar Heels' long touchdown pass, he was back deep on the next play when North Carolina kicked off.

It's no consolation. Then again, maybe it is.

Vanderbilt, in dropping a tough 23-21 decision to Northwestern on Saturday at home, showed some signs of life offensively.

Quarterback Larry Smith passed for 240 yards, and the Commodores rushed for 192 yards as a team.

Remember, Vanderbilt never scored more than 16 points against an SEC team last season and had no passing game to speak of, so this is progress.

A missed extra point ended up costing the Commodores dearly, and they also couldn't get off the field defensively after pulling within 17-15. The Wildcats put together a 71-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that was a killer.

Even with the loss, Vanderbilt looks like an improved team from a year ago.

Nobody is going to confuse Tennessee Tech for an SEC opponent, but Arkansas' defense took care of business Saturday night.

The Hogs rolled 44-3 in their opener and held Tennessee Tech to 187 total yards and only 4-of-15 on third-down conversions.

What does it really say about how much Arkansas' defense has improved? Not a lot.

The same goes for next week when Arkansas takes on Louisiana-Monroe in Little Rock.

We'll probably have to wait until the third week of the season when Arkansas travels to Georgia before making any real judgments on the Hogs' defense.

Still, it's hard to knock their start.

ATLANTA -- The 244 combined return yards by Patrick Peterson in the first half Saturday was an LSU record.

The SEC record is 267 yards, held by Mississippi State's Nick Turner.

Even when the defense isn't great, it's hard to spoil a debut the caliber of Cameron Newton's on Saturday night.

Playing in his first game at Auburn, Newton has three touchdown passes and two touchdown runs. You thought coming in that he was a perfect fit at quarterback in Gus Malzahn's spread offense. But after seeing him play, there is no doubt.

His touchdown run came on a 71-yard quarterback draw. When you have a quarterback in that offense who can hurt you running the football, it makes a huge difference.

Chris Todd was solid a year ago in the way he played, but he couldn't move. Newton's a threat to beat you a couple of different ways.

With Newton starring in his debut on the Plains, the defense hasn't exactly sparkled.

Arkansas State, trailing 45-23 in the fourth quarter, is closing in on 300 passing yards.