Wait...The SEC East is better than the SEC West?

[volbound2002]

This is depressing. Under Nutt we could count on beating the Mississippi schools at least 2/3 years. After 2011 we had finished ranked in the top 10 in 3 of the past 6 years.

Been 8 years since we’ve beaten A&M too and they’ve cut our all-time series lead to 10 games. Hope we can get things turned around soon.

Well Miss State had Dan Mullen so they were above their level the last 7 years. I am not a fan of the new coach as he underachieved massively last year. I expect they will start to slip.

However... I don't intend to be mean but I don't think Chad Morris was Arkansas' answer. The hurry up doesn't work well in the SEC because the offense doesn't stay on the field long forcing your defense to stay on the field and tire out. Arkansas will loose the time of possession war against teams like Alabama, Auburn, and LSU and therefore won't be competitive in those games. I think Arkansas will be hunting for coaches in a few years. I actually thought that Arkansas got rid of Brett Bielema too early. His style could have won better in the West. (I am not sure of his recruiting, that may have been his weak point. I am surprised his teams struggled so much in the West).

 

[Gohogs14]

Well Miss State had Dan Mullen so they were above their level the last 7 years. I am not a fan of the new coach as he underachieved massively last year. I expect they will start to slip.

However... I don't intend to be mean but I don't think Chad Morris was Arkansas' answer. The hurry up doesn't work well in the SEC because the offense doesn't stay on the field long forcing your defense to stay on the field and tire out. Arkansas will loose the time of possession war against teams like Alabama, Auburn, and LSU and therefore won't be competitive in those games. I think Arkansas will be hunting for coaches in a few years. I actually thought that Arkansas got rid of Brett Bielema too early. His style could have won better in the West. (I am not sure of his recruiting, that may have been his weak point. I am surprised his teams struggled so much in the West).

Bielema got 5 years, I think Morris will get at least 4. Morris seems to be a much better recruiter so we will see if it pays off eventually. I think all of college football as a whole is going more to Morris' style as opposed to Bielema's, even Alabama opened up the offense more than they ever have. We only lost to LSU by 7 last year. Losing Sam Pittman to Georgia (IMO the best OL coach/recruiter in CFB) killed Bielema's tenure here because the last three years we've had the worst OL I've ever seen, which is shocking given his reputation at Wisconsin.

Since 2012 we lead the NCAA in blown 4th quarter leads with 22. Bielema dominated time of possession but it obviously didn't seem to help the defense out any when they would inevitably blow the game late in the 4th quarter time and time again. We had a top 10 defense in 2014 and then the 2nd best scoring offense in the SEC in 2015, but could never have both in the same year.

 

[Codaxx]

It may be true, but I will wait and see.. East has one team I trust in Georgia. If Florida gets good QB play, than it will be 2. LSU and Bama should be legit. Auburn is always a wild card, so nobody knows

 

[LawDawg]

It may be true, but I will wait and see.. East has one team I trust in Georgia. If Florida gets good QB play, than it will be 2. LSU and Bama should be legit. Auburn is always a wild card, so nobody knows

I am not seeing the UF love (reminds me of the Auburn love every year) ...

Florida lost 4 OL and their TE, and their starting RB. On D they lost both OLB, the best ILB, the best Safety, and the starting DT. It's all about the LOS, and they lost 9 of 13 in the trenches.

Then you have to worry about their depth. On the OL they have no experience to backup an already inexperienced OL.

Here is the UF OLine for next year (per a random poster on a UF forum)

Best guess at UF 2 deep... (Rectuiting stars/H-W/Class/2018 Games/Starts) ...

LT - **** 6'4/303 Gouraige, RS Fr (2/0)
LG - *** 6'4/ 314 Heggie, RS Jr (8/0)
C - *** 6'3/291 Buchanan, RS Sr (12/12)
RG - *** 6'6/321 Bleich, RS Fr (4/0)
RT - *** 6'7/323 Forsythe, RS Jr (13/1)

Subs:

OG **** 6'3/353 Hammond, Fr
OC *** 6'1/305 McCoy, RS Sr (3/0)
OG **** 6'5/300 Moore, RS So (2/0)
OT **** 6'4/313 Delance, RS Jr (2/0)
OG *** 6'5/309 Banks, RS Sr (13/1)

That's a lot of inexperience and little depth. I am sure their coaches will have them ready, but Franks could be running for his life a lot. Not FSU O Line bad, but against the better teams they play there could be some long days.

As for Franks, put the brakes on his breakout year. He was going to be replaced after the Mizzou game, but the replacement got injured in practice the week before the game. Then, if you look at his games stats, he was good against bad teams and pedestrian at best against good teams:

Game Log:
Mich 13/23 173 yards and 1 td
FSU 16/26 254 yards and 3 tds
Idaho 19/27 274 yards and 3 tds
USCjr 15/21 161 yards and 1 td
Mizz 9/22 84 yards and 0 tds
UGA 13/21 105 yards 1 td 1 int
Vandy 19/29 284 yards 2 tds 1 int
LSU 12/27 161 yards 1 td 1 int
Mis St 22/31 219 yards 0tds 1 int
UT 9/18 172 yards 3 tds
CSU 8/15 119 yards 2 tds 1 int
UK 17/38 232 yards 2 tds 1 int
CHSO 16/24 219 yards 5 tds

Finally, their schedule lines up against them.

Start against Miami (who knows)
@ Ky (I expect them to win as Ky will take a step back)
Auburn, @LSU, @USCjr, UGA - that's a tough 4 game slate - 3-1 at best, 1-3 not out of the question
@Missouri

They lose 2 to 4 of that slate, IMO.

 

[Codaxx]

I am not seeing the UF love (reminds me of the Auburn love every year) ...

Florida lost 4 OL and their TE, and their starting RB. On D they lost both OLB, the best ILB, the best Safety, and the starting DT. It's all about the LOS, and they lost 9 of 13 in the trenches.

Then you have to worry about their depth. On the OL they have no experience to backup an already inexperienced OL.

Here is the UF OLine for next year (per a random poster on a UF forum)

Best guess at UF 2 deep... (Rectuiting stars/H-W/Class/2018 Games/Starts) ...

LT - **** 6'4/303 Gouraige, RS Fr (2/0)
LG - *** 6'4/ 314 Heggie, RS Jr (8/0)
C - *** 6'3/291 Buchanan, RS Sr (12/12)
RG - *** 6'6/321 Bleich, RS Fr (4/0)
RT - *** 6'7/323 Forsythe, RS Jr (13/1)

Subs:

OG **** 6'3/353 Hammond, Fr
OC *** 6'1/305 McCoy, RS Sr (3/0)
OG **** 6'5/300 Moore, RS So (2/0)
OT **** 6'4/313 Delance, RS Jr (2/0)
OG *** 6'5/309 Banks, RS Sr (13/1)

That's a lot of inexperience and little depth. I am sure their coaches will have them ready, but Franks could be running for his life a lot. Not FSU O Line bad, but against the better teams they play there could be some long days.

As for Franks, put the brakes on his breakout year. He was going to be replaced after the Mizzou game, but the replacement got injured in practice the week before the game. Then, if you look at his games stats, he was good against bad teams and pedestrian at best against good teams:

Game Log:
Mich 13/23 173 yards and 1 td
FSU 16/26 254 yards and 3 tds
Idaho 19/27 274 yards and 3 tds
USCjr 15/21 161 yards and 1 td
Mizz 9/22 84 yards and 0 tds
UGA 13/21 105 yards 1 td 1 int
Vandy 19/29 284 yards 2 tds 1 int
LSU 12/27 161 yards 1 td 1 int
Mis St 22/31 219 yards 0tds 1 int
UT 9/18 172 yards 3 tds
CSU 8/15 119 yards 2 tds 1 int
UK 17/38 232 yards 2 tds 1 int
CHSO 16/24 219 yards 5 tds

Finally, their schedule lines up against them.

Start against Miami (who knows)
@ Ky (I expect them to win as Ky will take a step back)
Auburn, @LSU, @USCjr, UGA - that's a tough 4 game slate - 3-1 at best, 1-3 not out of the question
@Missouri

They lose 2 to 4 of that slate, IMO.

I never predicted a breakout year for Franks. He is the main reason I don’t trust Florida.

 

[LyquidMetal]

SEC least? LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!

 

[Deathroll]

I am not seeing the UF love (reminds me of the Auburn love every year) ...

Florida lost 4 OL and their TE, and their starting RB. On D they lost both OLB, the best ILB, the best Safety, and the starting DT. It's all about the LOS, and they lost 9 of 13 in the trenches.

Then you have to worry about their depth. On the OL they have no experience to backup an already inexperienced OL.

Here is the UF OLine for next year (per a random poster on a UF forum)

Best guess at UF 2 deep... (Rectuiting stars/H-W/Class/2018 Games/Starts) ...

LT - **** 6'4/303 Gouraige, RS Fr (2/0)
LG - *** 6'4/ 314 Heggie, RS Jr (8/0)
C - *** 6'3/291 Buchanan, RS Sr (12/12)
RG - *** 6'6/321 Bleich, RS Fr (4/0)
RT - *** 6'7/323 Forsythe, RS Jr (13/1)

Subs:

OG **** 6'3/353 Hammond, Fr
OC *** 6'1/305 McCoy, RS Sr (3/0)
OG **** 6'5/300 Moore, RS So (2/0)
OT **** 6'4/313 Delance, RS Jr (2/0)
OG *** 6'5/309 Banks, RS Sr (13/1)

That's a lot of inexperience and little depth. I am sure their coaches will have them ready, but Franks could be running for his life a lot. Not FSU O Line bad, but against the better teams they play there could be some long days.

As for Franks, put the brakes on his breakout year. He was going to be replaced after the Mizzou game, but the replacement got injured in practice the week before the game. Then, if you look at his games stats, he was good against bad teams and pedestrian at best against good teams:

Game Log:
Mich 13/23 173 yards and 1 td
FSU 16/26 254 yards and 3 tds
Idaho 19/27 274 yards and 3 tds
USCjr 15/21 161 yards and 1 td
Mizz 9/22 84 yards and 0 tds
UGA 13/21 105 yards 1 td 1 int
Vandy 19/29 284 yards 2 tds 1 int
LSU 12/27 161 yards 1 td 1 int
Mis St 22/31 219 yards 0tds 1 int
UT 9/18 172 yards 3 tds
CSU 8/15 119 yards 2 tds 1 int
UK 17/38 232 yards 2 tds 1 int
CHSO 16/24 219 yards 5 tds

Finally, their schedule lines up against them.

Start against Miami (who knows)
@ Ky (I expect them to win as Ky will take a step back)
Auburn, @LSU, @USCjr, UGA - that's a tough 4 game slate - 3-1 at best, 1-3 not out of the question
@Missouri

They lose 2 to 4 of that slate, IMO.

Florida did not lose their TE.

One starter on the OL who got injured and missed half the season is back along with another starter. The other OL slated to start or play a lot are 3 redshirt Juniors, a Senior and one redshirt Freshman. It won’t exactly be a young unit. 3 of these played a lot last year.

Gouraige is 2nd string.

Franks noticeably improved in the last 4 games or so. He did have some pretty bad games earlier (he particularly struggled vs Mizzou and UGA). He’s e petted to continue developing as all of Mullen’s QBs have.

I expect to handle miami pretty easily. They weren’t good and have no QB and their OL is a shambles and they have a new first time head coach.

UK lost a lot especially Bennie Snell.
We’ll see about Mizzou without Lock.


LSU, Auburn and UGA are tossups as of now. 9-3/10-2 is a reasonable guess as to the final record.

 

[mutiger]

Florida did not lose their TE.

One starter on the OL who got injured and missed half the season is back along with another starter. The other OL slated to start or play a lot are 3 redshirt Juniors, a Senior and one redshirt Freshman. It won’t exactly be a young unit. 3 of these played a lot last year.

Gouraige is 2nd string.

Franks noticeably improved in the last 4 games or so. He did have some pretty bad games earlier (he particularly struggled vs Mizzou and UGA). He’s e petted to continue developing as all of Mullen’s QBs have.

I expect to handle miami pretty easily. They weren’t good and have no QB and their OL is a shambles and they have a new first time head coach.

UK lost a lot especially Bennie Snell.
We’ll see about Mizzou without Lock.


LSU, Auburn and UGA are tossups as of now. 9-3/10-2 is a reasonable guess as to the final record.

Mizzou beat Florida 45-16 in 2017, Lock had 228 yards passing, Mizzou rushed for 227 (4.9 ypc)

Mizzou beat Florida 38-17 in 2018, Lock had 250 yards passing, Mizzou rushed for 221 (5.3 ypc).

While Lock does open up the run game.....Mizzou has proven it can run on Florida. Bryant gives Mizzou a different dynamic with his running ability, but he is a better passer than some give him credit for. He doesn't have the arm of Lock, but it is not terrible. Bryants lowest % was 65.8% in 2017 as full time starter. I think Mizzou's offense can be better this year.

 

[Deep Creek]

Well Miss State had Dan Mullen so they were above their level the last 7 years. I am not a fan of the new coach as he underachieved massively last year. I expect they will start to slip.

However... I don't intend to be mean but I don't think Chad Morris was Arkansas' answer. The hurry up doesn't work well in the SEC because the offense doesn't stay on the field long forcing your defense to stay on the field and tire out. Arkansas will loose the time of possession war against teams like Alabama, Auburn, and LSU and therefore won't be competitive in those games. I think Arkansas will be hunting for coaches in a few years. I actually thought that Arkansas got rid of Brett Bielema too early. His style could have won better in the West. (I am not sure of his recruiting, that may have been his weak point. I am surprised his teams struggled so much in the West).

Fat Brett's style didn't work out too well either. If Fat Brett's ain't the answer, and Chad's ain't the answer, what is option C?

 

[Deathroll]

Mizzou beat Florida 45-16 in 2017, Lock had 228 yards passing, Mizzou rushed for 227 (4.9 ypc)

Mizzou beat Florida 38-17 in 2018, Lock had 250 yards passing, Mizzou rushed for 221 (5.3 ypc).

While Lock does open up the run game.....Mizzou has proven it can run on Florida. Bryant gives Mizzou a different dynamic with his running ability, but he is a better passer than some give him credit for. He doesn't have the arm of Lock, but it is not terrible. Bryants lowest % was 65.8% in 2017 as full time starter. I think Mizzou's offense can be better this year.

In 2017, UF was missing over 30 scholarship players - including its best ones at several key positions. Throw the stats out for that year. There were a catastrophic level of injuries, the coach was pushed out at midseason and the team threw in the towel.

Last year, y'all just shellacked us on both sides of the ball. Y'all have had good QB play for several years in a row. Bryant is a good runner but was not the passing threat Locke was. We'll see how that shakes out this season.

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

UofSC
Tenn
Mizzou
Vandy


All say no. The east is still a dumpster fire.

 

[tideguy]

whew, this didn't age well...

 

[Deathroll]

UofSC
Tenn
Mizzou
Vandy


All say no. The east is still a dumpster fire.

As compared to the ACC?

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

As compared to the ACC?

No. As compared to the Sec west. Stay on topic.

 

[Wild Turkey]

I hate all of them.

 

[Neilcar]

The East had a winning record vs the West last year.

sec was 6-6 in bowls last year

Florida was the only sec East team t win their Bowl...

Texas Beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl...

Georgia was worse than Maryland last year... lol

 

[Deathroll]

No. As compared to the Sec west. Stay on topic.

I like the comparison with the ACC better.

 

[Deathroll]

sec was 6-6 in bowls last year

Florida was the only sec East team t win their Bowl...

Texas Beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl...

Georgia was worse than Maryland last year... lol

I couldn't have been happier about the Sugar Bowl. I figured it was a good omen when Bevo almost gored UGA in the ass before the game.

 

[BadMotoWeazal]

Pre-season articles are comedy gold, sometimes.

 

[theboardref]

I hate all of them.

As a fan of a school with no rival it is my duty to hate all other SEC teams.