If Continuity is Important, Especially at Quarterback, Alabama has yet Another Advantage
There’s always been a strong belief that continuity makes both teams stronger and championship contenders, which Joe Burrow seemed to confirm while in his second year with LSU last season.
But the notion is about to be really put to the test in the Southeastern Conference.
There are four new head coaches in the league, scores of new coordinators and very few returning starting quarterbacks. Throw in everything else and it only adds to the uncertainly and unpredictable nature of the league in 2020.
Alabama may have had the most players named to the coaches’ preseason All-SEC team announced last week, yet it was three of the four more established quarterbacks than Mac Jones who landed the most votes. Florida’s Kyle Trask was the first-team selection, Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond was second, and Auburn’s Bo Nix was third team.
The only other veteran returning starter this year is Tennessee’s Jarrett Guarantano. He's played in 34 games, with 25 starts, and thrown for 5,062 yards with 32 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
Despite being a fifth-year senior, Guarantanoa has never worked with the same coaches for two straight seasons before. There’s now a familiarity with head coach Jeremy Pruitt, offensive coordinator Jim Chaney and quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke.
“When you do the same thing over and over, it creates confidence,” Pruitt told reporters on Monday. “I would suspect that he's got to have a lot more confidence heading into this season, as opposed to the previous season, because the terminology is the same and the people around him are the same. I feel like he's demonstrated that at practice.”
Top 10 SEC passers, 2019 season
No. Name-School, Year, Games, C-A-I, Yards, TDs, Rating
- Tua Tagovailoa-UA Jr 9 180-252-3 2840 33 206.9
- Joe Burrow-LS Sr 15 402-527-6 5671 60 202.0
- Mac Jones-UA So 12 97-141-3 1503 14 186.8
- Kyle Trask-UF Jr 12 237-354-7 2941 25 156.1
- Jarrett Guarantano-UT Jr 13 152-257-8 2158 16 144.0
- Jake Fromm-UG Jr 14 234-385-5 2860 24 141.2
- Kelly Bryant-MO Sr 10 181-292-6 2215 15 138.5
- Tommy Stevens-MS Sr 9 97-161-5 1155 11 136.8
- Garrett Shrader-MS Fr 10 88-153-5 1170 8 132.5
- Kellen Mond-AM Jr 13 258-419-9 2897 20 131.1
Meanwhile, Mississippi State’s Garrett Shrader moved to wide receiver, as Stanford transfer K.J. Costello is Mike Leach’s man behind center. South Carolina’s Ryan Hilinksi lost his job to Collin Hill, who followed Mike Bobo as a graduate transfer from Colorado State.
John Rhys Plumlee is still at Ole Miss, but probably won’t start (see below). Felipe Franks went from Florida to Arkansas, and no one knows what to expect. Georgia had Jamie Newman transfer in from Wake Forest, only to opt out, meaning the Bulldogs have both a new coordinator and a big question mark at quarterback.
“We have to do a good job because we know that whoever [the starter] is, is not going to be a guy that sat there and played in a lot of football games, especially at the SEC level,” Kirby Smart said in a teleconference with reporters. “We have to be able to manage that, and we have to play to our strengths.”
Strangely enough, there is a lot familiarity in terms of coaches. Former Arkansas coach Chad Morris is at Auburn as a coordinator. Former Missouri coach Barry Odom is the defensive coordinator at Arkansas, and former Ole Miss coach Matt Luke is the new Georgia offensive line coach.
Bo Pelini is back at LSU, and Lane Kiffin is the new head coach at Ole Miss.
But they’re all working with new players.
Jones might have just four starts under this belt for the Crimson Tide, however he has the same head coach, the same offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in Steve Sarkisian, and more talent around him than any other quarterback.
That bodes well for Alabama this season.
Here’s a look at the rest of the SEC on opening week:
Arkansas: Not only does Sam Pittman have the unenviable task of facing his former team, Georgia, in his first game as head coach, but the Bulldogs are going with a completely new offense under coordinator Todd Monken and quality control coach Buster Faulkner. “What they’re going to do on offense, we’re really not sure. They may piece a little bit in from Ole Miss, a little bit from Southern Miss, a little bit from the Browns. We’re doing a little bit of all that. We’re trying to be prepared for a little of a lot of different places that Monken has been to. Obviously their O-line coach (Matt Luke) has had experience in read and gap-scheme reads. So we’re just trying to prepare for everything from the Browns all the way to Southern Miss and Ole Miss."
Auburn: The Tigers elected their team captains for the season, senior linebacker K.J. Britt, sophomore quarterback Bo Nix, senior defensive lineman Big Kat Bryant and junior running back Shaun Shivers. … Grant Loy, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound graduate transfer from Bowling Green is expected to be second on the depth chart behind Nix. Wide receiver Seth Williams recently told reporters that Loy has a “cannon” arm. “He likes to throw it.” He played in 12 games, with seven starts last season, throwing for 1,137 yards (115-for-204) with six touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Florida: The Gators began their first game-week of the 2020 season by unveiling less than ideal news, as projected starting interior offensive lineman, sophomore Ethan White, will miss at least the season opener after undergoing knee surgery. On top of that, Florida released its two-deep depth chart ahead of the Ole Miss game and projected starting nose tackle Kyree Campbell was one of several noteworthy players that were nowhere to be found. The Gators have maintained a fairly healthy, and active, roster through camp so far, with no players publicly opting-out as of this post. We'll see if that remains true between now and kickoff at noon on Saturday, in Oxford. —Zach Goodall, AllGators
Georgia: While Jamie Newman opting out was an obvious blow to the Bulldogs, Kirby Smart is thankful it happened before the season started. “We’re probably fortunate that it happened when it happened in terms of getting a guy ready, because if it had gone up to this point, or even later, I don’t know where we’d be,” the coach told reporters on Monday. The Bulldogs are expected to start either redshirt sophomore JT Daniels and redshirt freshman D’Wan Mathis, who has yet to be medically cleared from his season-ending ACL tear last August that required a second procedure in January.
Kentucky: The Wildcats are still waiting word about the status of quarterback Joey Gatewood, who transferred from Auburn last December. As for the report from Rivals’ Travis Graf that Kentucky had agreed not to play Gatewood against his former team in exchange for the Tigers’ cooperation with the waiver request, Mark Stoops shot it down. “There is no agreement, no gentleman’s agreement. I’m waiting to hear back from the league because it’s an SEC-to-SEC school [transfer], so we’re waiting to hear back from them.” True freshman Beau Allen is listed second on the depth chart after starter Terry Wilson.
LSU : Coach Ed Orgeron provided a myriad of depth chart updates prior to the season opener against Mississippi State. The Tigers expect sophomore cornerback Cordale Flott to play the nickel, meaning freshman Elias Ricks will start opposite Derek Stingley at cornerback. On the defensive line, Neil Farrell is in shape according to Orgeron after opting back into the 2020 season last week. He still has some catchup work to do as Glen Logan, Siaki Ika and Joseph Evans will handle snaps at defensive tackle for now. Also, expect transfer Ali Gaye to start opposite Andre Anthony at defensive end and Chris Curry to be the first running back out on the field. ... With all of the roster turnover and people who think the Tigers are in for a decline, Orgeron said he knows what this team can accomplish at its core, reiterating his "block out the noise" catch phrase. "I've got some great coaches, we've got some great players, we believe in ourselves and at LSU the standards are very high," he said. "That's what I enjoy about being here, that everybody expects you to win, expects you to be great. That's the type of school you wanna be at." —Glen West, LSU Country
Ole Miss: Lane Kiffin didn’t announce a starting quarterback when releasing his first depth chart with the Rebels, but said it's possible both Matt Corral and John Rhys Plumlee could play. Nate Gabler of the Grove Report explains: “It's not official, but anyone who's followed training camp over the past few weeks knows that Matt Corral will more than likely be the Ole Miss starting quarterback when the season kicks off. That doesn't mean John Rhys Plumlee won't see the field. Plumlee is too good of a weapon to be squandered as simply the QB2 – he's going to see the field in some regard My guess? I'd use Plumlee as a redzone weapon inside the ten. As I predicted in our 'bold predictions' episode of this week's Behind Enemy Sidelines, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Plumlee leads the team in rushing touchdowns despite not being the starting quarterback.”
Mississippi State: With the Mike Leach era set to open at LSU, the coach finally revealed Monday he expects graduate transfer K.J. Costello to start at quarterback in Baton Rouge. Costello has been the favorite for the job ever since he revealed last spring that he was headed to Starkville from Stanford, but finally, there is some confirmation the role is indeed his. MSU’s starting offensive line was also the group many had predicted, along with of course, running back, where Kylin Hill holds down the fort. As for the unexpected, it appears State’s top returning receiver from a year ago – Osirus Mitchell – has been beaten out for a starting role by Alabama transfer Tyrell Shavers. Leach said Monday that Shavers has simply been more consistent of late. ... There were some eyebrow-raising names on the defensive depth chart as well. While the defensive line and linebackers were all individuals considered favorites at their positions, sophomore Esaias Furdge won a starting cornerback role. He was in essentially a two-man battle against freshman Emmanuel Forbes. And the biggest surprise came at strong safety where little-known Londyn Craft won the starting job. Craft joined the Bulldogs as a walk-on prior to the 2017 season and has seen only limited action in just eight total games over the last three years. Another surprise was that longtime Mississippi State kicker Jace Christmann, who had been incredibly reliable for the Bulldogs the last three seasons, was beaten out for the job by Arizona State transfer Brandon Ruiz. … Also of note, former Alabama offensive lineman Scott Lashley is reportedly out for the season, and Leach is enjoying Mississippi State’s Coke sponsorship. – Joel Coleman, Cowbell Corner
Missouri: The Tigers will be without at least 12 players who have either tested positive for COVID-19 or are in quarantine, but new coach Eli Drinkwitz hasn’t revealed any other details. He also isn’t going to name a starting quarterback until game time, either, but most expect it to be Shawn Robinson, a transfer from TCU. … When Alabama visits on Saturday, Memorial Stadium is expected to have approximately 12,000 fans in the stands, which is right around 20 percent of the 61,620 capacity.
South Carolina: The Gamecocks have found their man at quarterback in Collin Hill as they now gear up for the Sept. 26 home opener against Tennessee. On Friday, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo spoke on what the decision came down to and how the Colorado State grad transfer ultimately won the starting position. “I would just say he's been the most consistent on a daily basis,” Bobo said. “I think both [he and sophomore Ryan Hilinski] had you know good days, but over the long haul he had more consistent days and was more consistent and that's something that he's gotta continue to do for us to play well.” … The Gamecocks also saw five players make the 2020 Coaches' Preseason All-SEC Teams. The Gamecocks were represented by Sadarius Hutcherson, Israel Mukuamu and Aaron Sterling on the second team unit, and Jaycee Horn and Ernest Jones on the third-team squad. — Chaunte'l Powell @chauntelpowell, Gamecock Digest
Tennessee: At one point during the preseason the Volunteers had 40 players who were unable to practice due to coronavirus protocols. That number is on the decline, but the team still has position groups that are short-handed including the wide receivers … A player to watch is freshman Dee Beckwith, who has been splitting his time between tight end and wide receiver. … Tennessee is still waiting to hear from the SEC on whether or not offensive lineman Cade Mays can play this season after transferring from Georgia. The NCAA approved Mays' appeal for a transfer waiver.
Texas A&M: The latest opt-out doesn’t appear to be sitting well with the Aggies. Starting linebacker Anthony Hines announced Sunday that he was skipping the season since he wasn't “100 percent locked into the game of football” due to pandemic concerns and racial injustice. It came on the heels of top wide receiver Jhamon Ausbon ending his collegiate career early to focus on the upcoming NFL Draft, along with senior cornerback Elijah Blades, junior safety Derrick Tucker and sophomore quarterback James Foster. "In times like this, You’ll find out who really love ball," safety Leon O'Neal Jr. tweeted on Sunday.
Vanderbilt: There are more questions than answers when it comes to the offense heading into a season-opening trip to College Station to face No. 10 Texas A&M. The biggest question remains who will start at quarterback? Will it be one of the two junior college transfers, or one of the two talented true freshmen? Then there are real concerns about how this offensive line will shake out considering head coach Derek Mason an offensive coordinator Todd Fitch made the decision last week to move a starting defensive tackle in Drew Birchmeir to the offensive line and make him a guard. While Birchmeir was a blocking tight end in high school, that's a long way from playing guard in a college football season opener on the road, against a top-10 team. The move suggests that there are issues that might not be correctible before kickoff Saturday night. On the other side, the defense has no unanswered questions and appears to finally have some solid depth throughout the line, linebackers and secondary. — Greg Arias, Commodore Country
