Top 5 SEC Quarterback Matchups to Watch in 2025

Top 5 SEC Quarterback Matchups to Watch in 2025 originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

This year’s crop of SEC quarterbacks is a diverse group. There’s quite the blend of established starters, incoming transfers, up-and-comers and largely unproven players with potential who call the conference home. That makes for interesting, high-level quarterback battles each and every Saturday in the SEC.

Though opposing quarterbacks never actually step on the field at the same time, much is made of their matchups. It’s simpler to say a signal-caller outdueled their counterpart when the reality of the situation is often much more nuanced than that.

Without getting too far in the weeds, Athlon Sports identified the five best SEC quarterback matchups to watch this season. Of course, talent was taken into account as four of our five best quarterbacks in the country are in the SEC — all of whom are listed below — but narratives also played a role. Is there any recent history at play? Any bad blood?

For the sake of inclusion, quarterbacks were only included once on this list. That means 10 quarterbacks get a spotlight in each installment of this series, which continues below with the top five SEC quarterback matchups of 2025.

ACC Quarterback Matchups | Big 12 Quarterback Matchups | Big Ten Quarterback Matchups

LaNorris Sellers vs. Garrett Nussmeier

South Carolina at LSU (Oct. 11)

Sellers and Nussmeier might be the top two quarterbacks not just in the SEC but in the country. Their first head-to-head matchup lived up to its billing last fall when Nussmeier and the Tigers overcame a 17-point deficit to pick up a dramatic 36-33 win at Williams-Brice Stadium. They meet again this season at Tiger Stadium, where Sellers hopes to return the favor.

An ankle injury put a damper on a breakout game for Sellers, who helped the Gamecocks take an early lead with a pair of rushing touchdowns, including a 75-yard score. He was 9-of-16 for 113 yards and an interception to go along with 88 on the ground. However, Sellers missed most of the second half and was not on the field for South Carolina’s missed game-tying field goal.

Nussmeier was complimentary of Sellers at SEC media days, acknowledging his rushing prowess while also shouting out his ability as a passer. In his first road win as LSU’s starter, Nussmeier finished 24-of-40 for 285 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. He also saw a fourth-quarter pick-six wiped away by a penalty for a hit he took.

“That happened for sure, but I also remember getting the ball back on the 50 and taking it down to score and to win the football game,” Nussmeier said at SEC media days. “At the end of the day, the LSU Tigers won.”

Arch Manning vs. DJ Lagway

Texas at Florida (Oct. 4)

Lagway’s absence was apparent in last season’s Gators-Longhorns matchup, a 49-17 Texas romp. Florida’s five-star freshman quarterback, who grew up a few hours from Austin, missed the game he said he wanted to play in most due to a hamstring injury. The offense sputtered without Lagway under center. Meanwhile, Manning came in for cleanup duty (3-for-6 for 19 yards) after Quinn Ewers had already built up a hefty lead.

In a contest that saw the Longhorns lead 42-0 at one point, the crowd at Darrell K. Royal Stadium cheered the loudest when Manning entered the game. After two seasons waiting in the wings, Manning’s time has finally arrived, and the hype has hit a breaking point. The nephew of Peyton and Eli is an Athlon preseason All-America pick, and he was voted to the All-SEC team ahead of Lagway, who has seven starts to Manning’s two.

Manning is set to make the first SEC road start of his career in the Swamp, though he’ll be battle-tested from the season-opener at Ohio State. Lagway also gets his first shot against Texas, this time on his home turf. It’s an important tilt for both teams, and the first time two of the top young quarterbacks in the country will share the field.

Jackson Arnold vs. John Mateer

Auburn at Oklahoma (Sept. 20)

Arnold won’t have to wait long for a shot at his former team. He and the Tigers travel up to Memorial Stadium in Week 4 to take on the Sooners and Mateer, his highly touted replacement from Washington State. This is a potentially pivotal early matchup for both Auburn and Oklahoma, two teams counting on transfer quarterbacks to turn things around.

The Tigers hope to tap into Arnold’s potential by surrounding him with elite weapons and a strong offensive line. A former five-star prospect who never lived up to his billing for the Sooners, Arnold said at SEC media days his confidence is “extremely high.” Arnold, who didn’t play in OU’s 27-21 win against Auburn last season, should be used to going up against Brent Venables’ vaunted defense.

Mateer burst on the scene in 2024 for the Cougars, racking up over 3,000 yards and 29 touchdowns through the air and 826 and 15 scores with his legs. One of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the country, the question for Mateer is whether he can maintain that level of production in the SEC after playing primarily Group of 5 teams at Washington State.

The SEC opener for both teams, this game will say a lot about where they stand in the conference hierarchy after early nonconference tests (Baylor for Auburn, Michigan for Oklahoma).

Diego Pavia vs. Ty Simpson

Vanderbilt at Alabama (Oct. 4)

Who can forget the Commodores’ triumph over the top-ranked Crimson Tide last season? From Nick Saban’s comments about Vanderbilt’s lack of a homefield advantage to the goalposts getting tossed in the Cumberland River, it was a most memorable night in Nashville.

The fallout from that game — Alabama ended up narrowly missing the CFP — sets up an epic rematch when the Tide host the ’Dores this fall. That Pavia successfully sued for another year of eligibility makes this the most anticipated matchup in some time in an otherwise lopsided series. Pavia finished 16-of-20 for 252 yards and two touchdowns in the 40-35 upset. He also added 56 gutsy yards on the ground. After an offseason of deservedly puffing out his chest, Pavia gets another opportunity to slay a giant in enemy territory.

Simpson didn’t see the field on that fateful night, but he’s set to take the reins of a program that fell well short of expectations last season. The former five-star prospect has played sparingly across three collegiate seasons, but he has one of the best all-around rosters in the country around him as he steps into the starting job.

Alabama certainly has bigger games on its schedule — Georgia, LSU and Auburn come to mind — but a visit from Vanderbilt means a bit more this time around.

Austin Simmons vs. Gunner Stockton

Ole Miss at Georgia (Oct. 18)

Simmons’ most high-profile appearance of his career came against the Bulldogs. With Jaxson Dart briefly sidelined and the Rebels down early, Simmons stepped in to lead a methodical touchdown drive in a 28-10 upset. Stockton can certainly relate; he was thrust into the action in the SEC championship against Texas when Carson Beck went down. Stockton went on to start for Georgia in the College Football Playoff, too.

Baptized by fire last fall, Simmons and Stockton both stand to take over programs with CFP expectations. Simmons, who reclassified from the class of 2025 to 2023, sat for two seasons behind Dart, Ole Miss’ all-time leading passer. Stockton also has big shoes to fill, replacing a quarterback who went 24-3 as the starter.

Simmons has yet to start a game in college, but he’ll have some time to ease in before the meat of the schedule. The trip to Athens is easily the toughest game on Ole Miss’ schedule. While Stockton and the Bulldogs might have harder opponents on their 2025 schedule, the Rebels are the only team other than Alabama to beat UGA in the regular season in the last four years. They can’t be taken lightly.

Related: College Football's Preseason Top 25 Rankings for 2025

Related: All Eyes on Arch: Sights and Sounds From Manning's SEC Media Days Appearance

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 12, 2025, where it first appeared.