Here’s who won the SEC QB Battles
Every SEC starting QB apart from Mississippi State has been named.
Here’s an outline of what SEC head coaches have done.
THE CERTAINTIES
ALABAMA: BRYCE YOUNG. Young was named starter on 8/30. After coming to Tuscaloosa as one of the top QBs in the 2020 recruiting cycle, everyone has been excited about seeing this Californian prospect start. He has already been mentioned as having a Heisman chance.
ARKANSAS: KJ JEFFERSON. Although there’s meant to be a quarterback battle in Fayetteville, Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman has been fawning over Jefferson’s play so much, that everyone else is obviously stepping back from the sophomore, now that Felipe Franks has gone to the NFL.
AUBURN: BO NIX
This is the year. Bo Nix has improved so much under this new offense. He’s focused. He’s having fun. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a dark horse for the Heisman.
FLORIDA: EMORY JONES: Dan Mullen’s pretty much decreed that this will happen after Spring Practice, so we’re stuck with it. Jones has the experience of being behind center (albeit in limited fashion after being beaten out by Kyle Trask (twice) for the starting job). He’s also a good runner, which will please Gators fans looking for the next Tim Tebow. We shouldn’t expect it, though.
GEORGIA: JT DANIELS is going to start for the Dawgs after an explosive end to his inagural season at Sanford Stadium. People will be mentioning him in the Heisman race in December, too.
MISSOURI: CONNOR BAZELAK had a fine first year on a medium Missouri team, throwing for 2,366 yards, seven TDs and 6 INTS. He was a frosh last year, and showed glimpses of why Eli Drinkwitz is so high on him. He’ll have to be better in the red zone, though.
OLE MISS: MATT CORRAL was a lot of fun for the Rebels last year, throwing for 3,337 yards, 29 TDs, and 14 INTs. Look, we know that he’s capable of utterly boneheaded games (LSU, Arkansas last year, which accounted for ELEVEN of this touchdowns), but he’ll be safe.
KENTUCKY: WILL LEVIS : It was means to be Levis vs Auburn transfer Joey Gatewood, but as soon as Levis was named starter, Gatewood skipped town. Beau Allen will back Levis up. Levis was fantastic for Penn State over short downs, but when he actually started for the Nittany Lions, he was less than impressive with his decision-making and his arm.
LSU: MAX JOHNSON: After Myles Brennan needed season-ending shoulder surgery after getting hurt in practice, Johnson was given the job after a brief ‘battle’ with Garrett Nussmeier. He will start Week 1 against UCLA.
SOUTH CAROLINA: ZEB Norland. Despite Norland not being even on the depth chart when things started out, the grad assistant went and took some reps after would-be starting QB Luke Doty got injured. Obviously new coach Shane Beamer didn’t think much of Coulton Gauthier or Jason Brown. Norland had previously been a QB at North Dakota State, before he lost the job to Cam Miller after not producing. This feels like Beamer scraping the barrel.
TENNESSEE: JOE MILTON Milton beat out Virginia Tech transfer Hendon Hooker for the job, even though Hooker’s the most accomplished quarterback. Granted, Milton will fit more into Heupel’s fast-paced offense, but if you wanted a passer, Hooker should have been the one. There was a reason why he was dropped from being Michigan’s starter last year, after all.
TEXAS A&M: HAYNES KING King and Zach Calzada were neck-and-neck on this side, with both performing pretty well in the Spring Game. The competition went right to the wire. But thanks to the fact that the Aggies start the season with Kent State and only faces his first true road game at October 2 at Arkansas, Fisher’s pick of King on 8/25 should ease into his job.
VANDERBILT: KEN SEALS: Mike Wright lit up Spring Practice with an 87 yard run to go with a 4-5 yards, 162 yards passing day, was going to be a battle with Seals, who threw for nearly 2,000 yards, 12 TDs and 10 INTs in his first year, instead new coach Clark Lea plugging and placing Seals in. Both Wright and Seals battled each other for the starting spot in 2020, by the way. What Seals had going in his favor is that he’s not only the incumbent, but he completed nearly 70% of his passes, which was better than you’d expect from an 0-11 Vanderbilt team, and that’s probably why he got the job on 8/31.
THE CONTINUING BATTLE
MISSISSIPPI STATE: WILL ROGERS VS JACK ABRAHAM Abraham transferred in from Southern Miss with over 7,000 yards and 41 TDs of passing under his belt from his three years at South Miss. Since Mike Leach adores the passing game, he should fit in nicely. Rogers was a delight after taking the reigns from KJ Costello midway through the season, throwing for 1,976 yards and 11 TDs (and 7 INTs) and has apparently been more vocal in practice, according to Leach.
OUR PICK: ROGERS (EXPECT THIS TO CHANGE TO ABRAHAM MIDWAY THROUGH THE SEASON WHEN ROGERS SCREWS UP AND LEACH DUMPS HIM).