SEC East Preview: Can Georgia continue its roll?
We know that 2020 is going to be difficult for all sorts of reasons. COVID-19 has put a spectre like no other on the SEC season. These two previews – one for the East and one for the West – are going to be done with the knowledge (and the hope this won’t happen) that it could all end in disaster.
SEC EAST PREVIEW
The SEC East hasn’t been given a lot of credit by anyone over the years. Mainly because it’s been Georgia, Georgia, Georgia, Georgia, and people haven’t recognised that Florida’s not really that bad. It’s also been scourged by the relative uselessness of Tennessee, Missouri, South Carolina and Vanderbilt, who have paled into comparison to the talent-rich monsters of the SEC West.
But Tennessee – after stealing a lot of headlines at the end of last season by winning their last six straight games – is on a roll, adding what seemed like 5-star recruit after 5-star recruit. As irrelevant as that might be to what happens on Signing Day, it’s been a rollicking 2020 so far for Jeremy Pruitt’s men.
Elsewhere, Missouri is starting a new coach in Eli Drinkwitz, while if there’s any warmth on a seat, it’s on Will Muschamp at South Carolina.
PREDICTIONS
- Georgia (9-1)
Former USC and now transfer QB JT Daniels has now cemented his name as starter thanks to Jamie Newman’s decision to opt out of college football in 2020 to prepare for the NFL Draft. Daniels – if he’s healthy – will have some excellent weapons, includingall-world receiver George Pickens Jr. The bad news is that one of the team’s better receivers – Dominick Blaylock – has blown out his knee and won’t be back. On the defense, the DB talent in Richard LeCounte and DJ Daniel (CB) and Mark Webb (CB) are tremendous. LB Monty Rice, DL Jordan Davis, and DE Malik Herring – amongst others – are future NFLers.
Schedule: at Arkansas, Auburn (H), Tennessee (H), Alabama (A), Kentucky (A), Florida, Missouri (A), Mississippi State (H), South Carolina (A), Vanderbilt (H).
Our Prediction: The Dawgs will win every one of these games except the trip to Tuscaloosa against Alabama. Despite Auburn and Tennessee being tough outs, Georgia’s got both teams at home. It might not mean much with crowds being limited at 25%, but it also reduces worries about a trip to Kentucky.
2. Florida (8-2)
The Gators will keep Kyle Trask as its starting QB, now that Feleipe Franks has gone to Arkansas, but look for Emory Jones to make some noise too. Dan Mullen’s squad finished the season 11-2, only losing to Georgia and LSU. They beat Auburn and rode their luck against South Carolina, but this team can really hold up. Penn State transfer Justin Shorter is a very good wide receiver, but will he replace Van Jefferson? Dan Mullen hopes so. His backfield’s got Dameon Pierce and Miami transfer Lorenzo Lingard (Mullen’s not afraid to go down the transfer route). As for the defense, I still think Todd Grantham’s an awful defensive coordinator. I always will wonder how he stays employed. There will be a lot of slack to take up, too. The group’s leading tackler David Reese, pass rushers Jonathan Greenard and Jabari Zuniga, and brilliant CB CJ Henderson are all gone. There should enough to keep the pack.
Schedule: Ole Miss (A), South Carolina (H), Texas A&M (A), LSU (H), Missouri (H), Georgia, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Tennessee.
Our Prediction: The Gators are going to be pretty competent , but it’s going to be a weird season. At best we can see them going 9-1 and losing to UGA on a tiebreaker for SEC East Championship. But they could well lose to Texas A&M, LSU and Tennessee (all viable losses if you think about it) on top of the Georgia loss, and finish a disappointing 6-4. We think they lose to Texas A&M and Georgia, and finish 8-2, because I’m an optimist!
3. Tennessee (5-5)
I can see why the confidence in Tennessee’s sky-high, but I’m not confident that Jarrett Guarantano is a top-tier quarterback. His pass protection – if Cade Mays finally gets his exemption – will have a load of talent, led by left guard Trey Smith. The Volunteers will have to improve their running attack that wasn’t great last year, and any RB Eric Gray is going to show good games against big-time teams rather than a defense like Vanderbilt’s that quite simply sucked. We don’t know a lot of Tennessee’s wide receiving corps after the loss of Jauan Jennings and Marquez Callaway, but Josh Palmer – statisically the third-best receiver on the team – will be THE MAN in Neyland. Defensively the Vols bring back leading tackler Henry To’ To, but they are going to miss sack leader Darrell Taylor.
Schedule: South Carolina (A), Missouri (H), Georgia (A), Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas (A), Texas A&M, Auburn (A), Vanderbilt, Florida.
Our Prediction: Tennessee’s going to be fine if not the SEC East grandstander. They are still a year away from being truly competitive. They will beat who they are meant to beat, and lose to Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M, Auburn and Florida. The key to the season will actually be the Kentucky game, which is a toss-up. If they can go 3-1 to start the year, they will have good momentum before The Third Saturday in October.
3. Kentucky (5-5)
After being somewhat of a loveable loser in the SEC for years, Kentucky is now laughing stock no longer. It’s become a bit of a line: ‘No-one wants to go to Kentucky after a big game the week before’, but the lights of Kroger Field won’t really be on with 25% capacity. The battle to for the starting job at QB will be intriguing between Terry Wilson and incoming QB Joey Gatewood, a dual threat transfer from Auburn that lost the starting job to Bo Nix – a move that was something of a controversy on The Plains. The offensive lane is predicted to be excellent this year, and we look forward to the trio of running backs of Asim Rose, Kavosiey Smoke and Chris Rodriguez Jr, and we could see some of electrifying incoming freshman Michael Brennan II. They will be the bulk of the attack. The defense will have a lot of youngsters, headlined by four-star DT Justin Rogers and incoming Juco Boogie Wilson.
Schedule: Auburn (A), Ole Miss (H), Mississippi State, Tennessee (A), Georgia (H), Missouri (A), Vanderbilt (H), Alabama (A), Florida (A), South Carolina (H)
Prediction: Bearing in mind that they lost a week of practice to Auburn, Auburn could be rustier than we expect, but really, we expect the Tigers to win. Kentucky will then run through the Mississippis, before losing to Tennessee and Georgia, beating Missouri and Vanderbilt and then going 1-1 with Florida and South Carolina. The Tennessee and Missouri games are toss-ups in our view, though.
4. Missouri (4-6)
Barry Odom’s gone, and thank The Good Lord for that. Eli Drinkwitz, formerly of Appalachian State, is taking place, and this could be really exciting. TCU transfer Shawn Robinson 1334 yards, nine touchdowns and eight interceptions. He’s a good dual-threat quarterback that will probably start, although Drinkwitz won’t name his starter until the day of the Alabama game ‘just to keep ’em guessing’ (although with Bama’s 935 analysts, this could be quite difficult!). Robinson will have former Virginia Tech transfer Damon Hazelton as his No.1 wide receiver, but there will also be some competition from Missouri’s talented freshman wideout Javian Hester. Defensively, Kobie Whiteside – one of the best returning defensive linemen – will be the leader. He had 7.5 sacks last year.
Schedule: Alabama, Tennessee (A), LSU (A), Vanderbilt (H), Florida (A), Kentucky (H), Georgia (H), South Carolina (A), Arkansas (H), Mississippi State (A)
Prediction: Missouri wins the games it should win (Vandy, South Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi State), and loses the rest. 4-6 – – with the schedule he’s facing – will be a perfectly fine start for Drinkwitz.
5) South Carolina (1-9)
Will Muschamp is going to find himself on the hot seat this year COVID-19 regardless. He’s not been great at his time in South Carolina, and the money that the Gamecocks will make from ESPN can afford to boot him if the season carries on going downwards. The only thing that will save him is that he’s not only really expensive, but the Gamecocks aren’t going to make hundreds of thousands – if not millions – from gate reciepts this year. We don’t know who’s going to USC’s starting QB, although we expect it to be Ryan Hillinski. Shi Smith will be a dependable wide receiver. We don’t know who’s going to anchor USC’s running attack now that MarShawn Lloyd’s ripped his ACL and Carolina’s top-performing RBs Tavian Feaster and Rico Dowdle have left. On the defensive side, Carolina will look to top tackler Ernest Jones (97 last year) and its stout cornerback duo of Jaycee Horn and Israel Mukuamu.
Schedule: Tennessee (H), Florida (A), Vanderbilt (A), Auburn (H), LSU (A), Texas A&M (H), Ole Miss (A), Missouri (H), Georgia (H), Kentucky (A)
Prediction: I’m sorry, but I don’t see South Carolina being very good this year. I can actually see a one-win season for the Gamecocks (Vanderbilt), although this could get to three if Missouri and Ole Miss aren’t great. If this doesn’t get the death knell out for Muschamp, it’ll be dumb luck.
6) Vanderbilt (0-10)
A great point made in a SEC preview: “The SEC could have two 0-10 teams this year because Vanderbilt and Arkansas don’t play each other this year”. Vandy will struggle this year for two reasons. Four players have decided to opt out due to COVID-related worries (Three offensive lineman (one starter and two who will provide depth), one kicker). The QB pack have no experience, so Cam Johnson and Chris Pierce – the team’s leading wide receivers – will find it hard to put up any strong numbers at all. The good news is that their best defender – linebacker Dimitri Moore – has decided to opt back into the 2020 season after ‘more research’, and he’s could be a lightning rod for a defense that’s going to need all the lightning it can get.
Schedule: Texas A&M (A), LSU (H), South Carolina (H), Missouri (A), Ole Miss (H), Mississippi State (A), Kentucky (A), Florida (H), Tennessee (H), Georgia (A)
Prediction: Ole Miss could be really bad in Lane Kiffin’s first season and Mississippi State could be the same in Mike Leach’s first one, but those might be the only close games in a calamitous season.
Schedule: