Sec notebook

[cloverleaf]

Georgia

The Bulldogs despite chalking up ten 10-win seasons since 2002, haven't won the SEC
since 2002. That just doesn't make sense to a lot of Dawg fans. Over the past four years,
Georgia has gone 23-9 in the SEC second only to Alabama's 28-4. No matter, the Dawg
nation wanted a new coach who could win an SEC championship so 15 year coach Mark
Richt was sent packing and Kirby Smart was hired. Smart, a former player at Georgia, has
a great opportunity in Athens because of the easy access to Atlanta and the recruiting base
in the state. He and his staff don't have to go far to find elite prospects. The ultimate goal is
to win a national championship which Georgia hasn't done in 35 years. Smart knows what it
takes to win a national title from his time with Saban...but winning the SEC has to come first.


Smart's Coaching History

1999 - Administrative assistant - Georgia
2000 - Defensive backs - Valdosta State
2001 - Defensive coordinator - Valdosta State
2002, 2003 - Graduate assistant - Florida State
2004 - Defensive backs - LSU
2005 - Running backs - Georgia
2006 - Safeties - Miami Dolphins
2007 - Defensive backs - Alabama
2008, 2015 - Defensive Coordinator - Alabama
2016 - Head Coach - Georgia

Sidenote: From 2012 to 2015, 17 of Smart's defensive players at Alabama were
drafted, six in the first round.

 

[rolltide]

Bama scrimmage #1 held today....by most accounts Cooper Bateman was scary bad. He went against 1st defense and had two picked off for TD's and a third pick-6 dropped. Jalen Hurts continues to look way too good as a true freshman and is really going to give Saban a hard look at starting a freshman under center vs USC

at RB true freshman BJ Emmons looks tremendous and gives them a great 3-headed attack back there with BoScarb and Harris. Need him because BoScarb will get injured...always does, always will...most fragile freakish looking RB in the world

Shyheim Carter has a very good chance to be a true freshman starter at CB

another true freshman, Jonah Williams, is absolutely starting right tackle if he avoids injury. He lined up with the 1st team offense all day and did extremely well. right now it's, L to R, Camrob=Cotton=RP=Bozeman=Jonah

 

[rolltide]

doesn't sound like Dan Mullen is looking forward to life without Dak....

game 1 could be the worst SEC QB up against the worst SBC QB ... smells like an under (that is if SoBama can stop losing defensive lineman to injury)

MISSISSIPPI STATE
Candidates: Junior Damian Williams, sophomore Nick Fitzgerald and redshirt freshman Nick Tiano.
Head coach Dan Mullen after Thursday’s scrimmage: “I didn’t think they played very well at all. … They kind of started slow, made some mistakes and started trying to make plays and that made it worse.”

 

[outhousetim]

Probably Alabama and LSU deserve favoritism but I do like Arkansas to possibly upset the Tide mid-season. Overall Arkansas has a fairly rough stretch of games but this is one they will point to.

rt, I may be wrong about LSU. They may end up being the real deal. But if they are they are going to have to improve a passing game that ranked 12th in the conference.

We both know Miles is going to run the ball, control the clock and play D. That is a great plan when they have the lead, but what is going to happen when they find themselves trailing? I bring this up because falling behind is a real possibility. LSU's D wasn't near as dominating last year as previous years. They ranked 5th in the SEC (25th in the FBS) in total D - 12th in interceptions.

Steele may have been part of their problem. If so maybe Aranda will right the ship. Then again, maybe LSU's talent isn't as good as previous years. Either way, without a passing game and a top notch D, they won't beat bama and probably will struggle with other decent teams.

This may be the barner in me coming out, but I expect LSU to struggle with Auburn. Last year they took AU's manhood. That is something Auburn players have had to live with for 12 months. If they don't have a chip on their shoulder this game they never will.

I agree with you about A&M. Potentially they could be really, really good. They could also be really bad.

I don't expect Ole Miss to be much of a threat. They just lost too much from last years team. They have some solid players but not near enough to survive a SEC west schedule. And you never know how the turmoil surrounding the program will play out. As for the OM vs FSU game, I love the minus 6 in that game. Just a terrible match up for Ole Miss trying to break in so many new players.

Bottom line, A&M has the potential to match up with bama better than anyone else in the west. bama has too much talent and is too well coached for everyone else in the division. Tenn probably matches up with them better than anyone in conference but I don't believe they can spread the field enough to win. If I'm bama, I wouldn't want to play them twice - that could happen.

 

[cloverleaf]

Alabama QB

The Alabama coaches know they have something special in freshman quarterback
Jalen Hurts. "He's just a kid that's really athletic and has the ability to make plays
with his legs, but he's a pass-first kid." Hurts is 6-2, 210 pounds who ran a 4.65
40-yard dash during Alabama's spring testing. Although, coaches have limited the
amount they will let him squat (485 pounds), he squatted 570 pounds in high school.
Other than linemen, there wasn't anyone on the Tide roster who squatted more
than 555 pounds during spring testing. This kid turns 18 this month and Alabama
coaches know he isn't your typical freshman quarterback. Stay tuned..........

 

[cloverleaf]

Missouri

The Tigers are 23-1 straight up and 17-5 against the spread the last three years
in games where they outgain their opponent.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ole Miss

Hugh Freeze during his four years at Ole Miss is 31-16-1 against the spread including
28-4 straight up and 21-6 against the spread in games versus .500 or less opponents.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Mississippi State

The Bulldogs are a money burning 1-15 against the spread at home off a straight up
loss playing a non-conference opponent.

 

[rolltide]

5-star CB Kendall Sheffield on Bama was a no-show for both practices today. a real concern that he left school and headed back to Texas. He was 5th on depth chart...

 

[Indolmoseent]

OK....now coach if I had offered you a bet of say 9-5 that Florida would have won the SEC East last year
how much would you have lost. The D will be stout and Mac knows how to coach offense.

I share this opinion.

 

[cloverleaf]

Tennessee

Running backs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara along with quarterback Joshua Dobbs
return after combining to rush for 2,657 yards and 30 touchdowns last season. Hurd
enters his junior season with 2,187 career yards rushing. He's well within reach of
the school record held by Travis Henry, who rushed for 3,078 yards from 1997-2000.
Tennessee had the nation's leading kickoff returner (Evan Berry) and punt returner
(Cam Sutton) last season. Both are back this year. The Vols scored a combined six
touchdowns on kickoff and punt returns last season. Tennessee also returns its kicker
(Aaron Medley) and punter (Trevor Daniel) from a year ago.

Sidenote. Now can Butch Jones figure out how to win close games. Have my
doubts.

 

[rolltide]

Alabama defense​

Position	First team	Second team	Others
Defensive end	Jonathan Allen	Da'Shawn Hand
Defensive tackle	Da'Ron Payne	Dakota Ball	O.J. Smith
DT/DE	Dalvin Tomlinson	Joshua Frazier	Johnny Dwight
Sam OLB	Tim Williams	Christian Miller	Jamey Mosley, Shawn Jennings
Inside linebacker	Reuben Foster	Keith Holcombe	Adonis Thomas, Joshua McMillon
Inside linebacker	Shaun Dion Hamilton	Rashaan Evans	Keaton Anderson
Jack OLB	Ryan Anderson	Anfernee Jennings	Christian Bell, Mekhi Brown
Cornerback	Marlon Humphrey	Kendall Sheffield
Nickelback	Maurice Smith	Tony Brown
Safety	Eddie Jackson	Shawn Burgess-Becker	Deionte Thompson
Safety	Ronnie Harrison	Hootie Jones
Cornerback	Minkah Fitzpatrick	Anthony Averett

time to revisit the Bama depth chart as the defensive attrition has really crushed the squad. You can now cross off Maurice Smith, Burgess-Becker, Christian Bell, Adonis Thomas, and Kendall Sheffield from the team and Tony Brown is not eligible for first 4 games.

Smart and Pruitt are very different styles and personalities and certainly looks like it has taken it's toll on depth for the 2016 season. While I believe they are still the most talented top 16-18 defensive team in the nation they cannot have any injuries in either secondary or defensive line without getting to guys that aren't ready to play SEC football.

 

[MackDonald]

Wow......What great preseason info with keen insight in this thread. What this all looks like to me is another, quintessential, year at the "work-place" in the Southeastern conference. The in-conference schedules alone are enough to give a die-hard fan chest pains without mentioning the OOC games........Ouch.

 

[cloverleaf]

Thanks Mack. I appreciate all who have contributed this season to the notebook.
Because the CFB forum will soon become a zoo...I will be fading into the sunset
until next offseason. It's been fun...........................

 

[cloverleaf]

South Carolina

To call South Carolina's schedule "odd" would be an understatement. The Gamecocks
will face SEC games for three of the first four weekends and all this happens on the road.
The season opens at Vanderbilt, which has been a tougher place for South Carolina to
play than for most other teams, followed by a trip to Starkville to take on Mississippi State.
It's the first time in twenty years that the Gamecocks have opened the season with two
road SEC games. South Carolina has its first SEC home game against Texas A&M on Oct. 1
and won't have to leave Williams-Brice Stadium again until mid-November. After winning
five in a row against Clemson, the Gamecocks will look to snap a two game skid against
the Tigers to end the season. Muschamp is looking at a very difficult year his first season
in Columbia.

Sidenote: South Carolina was outscored by 10.2 points per game and outyarded by 109
yards per game versus conference opponents, worst in the SEC last season.

 

[MackDonald]

Thanks Mack. I appreciate all who have contributed this season to the notebook.
Because the CFB forum will soon become a zoo...I will be fading into the sunset
until next offseason. It's been fun...........................

Clover; Be careful of those "sunsets"....they can be scary. Stick with the "sunrises" especially on game day.....
Good luck this season

 

[rolltide]

Best CB in the country (?), Florida’s Jalen Tabor, has been suspended indefinitely for fighting teammates. This kid's head has always been way "out there" including holding his own Media Day last month when he wasn't chosen to represent UF at SEC Media Days. kid is so incredibly talented but so incredibly stupid. Massive loss if he's out for any long period of time

 

[bigwang]

Great info in the thread. Thanks all.

 

[MackDonald]

Best CB in the country (?), Florida’s Jalen Tabor, has been suspended indefinitely for fighting teammates. This kid's head has always been way "out there" including holding his own Media Day last month when he wasn't chosen to represent UF at SEC Media Days. kid is so incredibly talented but so incredibly stupid. Massive loss if he's out for any long period of time

That plus the recent batch of injuries..........It has to be awfully hot in Gainesville right now.

 

[CoachCB]

That plus the recent batch of injuries..........It has to be awfully hot in Gainesville right now.

He got into a fight during practice w/ a TE. Apparently got hit w/ a helmet and drew blood...he was still pissed after practice and the fight resumed. McElwain suspended both players for game 1 (vs. UMass). No biggie. But yes, he's an ego-maniac (he's going by "Teez" this year). The injuries have only impacted 1 player who was expected to play (Riles). Riles was beaten out last year after starting the first 6 games on the OL. He was moved to DT for depth last year...and back to OL this spring. He wasn't going to start, but the line is thin so he would have played. The other injuries have been to freshman.

 

[cloverleaf]

Florida 52 - UMass 3

 

[MackDonald]

Florida 52 - UMass 3

Like I've said many times before Clover, "I like your style"......It will be interesting to see if UMass's field goal comes early or late in the game ?