Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

The opening weekend in the SEC was one big Cream Puff Party for most of the teams.

Props to Alabama, Georgia, LSU and South Carolina for actually playing somebody, although you wonder where the Bulldogs are emotionally now after managing only a field goal in their last 11 possessions Saturday and losing to Oklahoma State 24-10.

Making too many determinations after just one weekend is always a little dangerous. Actually, the weekend isn’t over. Ole Miss wraps it up later Sunday against Memphis.

But here’s a look at what we’ve learned so far:

1. Exhibition games come to the SEC: Six of the teams won by at least 38 points, and Auburn pulled away in the second half to “edge” Louisiana Tech by 24 points. Hey, warm-up games are nice and a lot of the teams around the country play them, but what transpired Saturday bordered on the ridiculous. If you add up the combined winning margins of Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt, the total comes out to 302 points. That’s not football. That’s pure slaughter. Message to the future schedule makers in this conference: No more of this whaling away at gnats with a sledge hammer.

2. Alabama’s got guts: Everything was set up for Alabama to go down in Atlanta. There had been one distraction after another leading up to the game, and Virginia Tech’s defense is the real deal. But the resilience, poise and overall toughness of the Crimson Tide wouldn’t let it happen. That goes straight back to the head man, Nick Saban. Alabama weathered some boneheaded penalties, breakdowns in the kicking game and a critical bust on defense to rally for a 34-24 victory over Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff. Championship teams win the fourth quarter, and that’s exactly what Alabama did. Quarterback Greg McElroy played his best football in the final 15 minutes. The offensive line hit its stride, and the defense stiffened. With a win over a Top 10 team (away from home) under its belt, Alabama surges to the head of the class in the Western Division.

3. Georgia has issues on offense: Maybe fifth-year senior quarterback Joe Cox will be better when he’s completely healthy. He was battling a viral infection in the season-opening 24-10 loss to Oklahoma State. But the Bulldogs’ problems on offense looked to be much deeper than just Cox. This was Oklahoma State’s defense Georgia was going against, an Oklahoma State defense that finished 94^th nationally in total defense a year ago. Most disturbing was that the Bulldogs couldn’t run the ball, averaging 3.2 yards per carry. They had one run of more than 10 yards all day. Where’s that offensive line that was supposed to be the strength of this team? Sensational receiver A.J. Green wasn’t a big factor, and only one other wide receiver on the team had more than one catch. This is an offense that better tighten up in a hurry. A rock-solid South Carolina defense awaits next week.

4. Jury still out on LSU’s defense: All the talk this offseason on the Bayou was about LSU regaining its edge defensively under first-year coordinator John Chavis, who had some terrific defenses at Tennessee. And that may still happen. Clearly, this team has talent defensively. But the season-opening 31-23 win at Washington was eye-opening on a couple of different fronts. For starters, the Huskies drove the ball up and down the field on the Tigers all game and finished with 478 yards of total offense. That’s more yardage than LSU gave up in any game a year ago, and it’s no secret that the Tigers weren’t exactly the toast of the town defensively in 2008. It’s the reason Les Miles brought in Chavis. The other troubling trend for LSU in the opener was not being able to get off the field on third down. The Huskies converted 10 of their first 14 third downs and finished 11-of-19.

5. Tennessee’s freshmen of influence: It’s just one game, but this group of freshmen for Tennessee looks like it’s going to be a solid nucleus to build on. The headliner is running back Bryce Brown, who welcomed himself to college football with 104 yards rushing on 11 carries and was one of 10 true freshmen to play for the Vols in their 63-7 rout of Western Kentucky. Marsalis Teague led the Vols in receiving with six catches for 86 yards and a touchdown, and even coach Lane Kiffin said afterward that Teague didn’t look like a freshman with the way he carried himself on the field. Running back David Oku, defensive tackle Montori Hughes and defensive backs Janzen Jackson, Darren Myles Jr. and Mike Edwards also played extensively for the Vols in their college debuts. “The way coach Kiffin says it is that if a freshman is good enough to play, you’ll play,” said Oku, who scored two touchdowns. “He’s going to play the best players. He’s not just playing freshmen to prove a point. If you can play, you’re going to play for him.”