Our Top 10 storylines/questions as Spring practice begins in the SEC
It seems like we just got back from New Orleans after watching LSU finish a (15-0) season for the ages.
But that’s the thing about college football. It marches on and here we are. Spring football has already begun at five SEC schools.
So, for fun, here are my top 10 SEC story lines/questions for the Spring of 2020. I’d love to read yours.
1—LSU starts over. Sort of: Spring practice began in Baton Rouge last Saturday and this is all that the defending national champions have to replace:
The Heisman Trophy winner: QB Joe Burrow
The Broyles Award winner (top assistant coach) winner: Joe Brady
The Thorpe Award winner (defensive back) winner: Grant Delpit
Defensive coordinator Dave Aranda.
Seven senior starters.
Nine underclassmen to the NFL Draft.
We could go on, but you get the picture.
The yearly rebuilding process is one of the things that makes college football more interesting than the pro game. And it’s going to be very interesting in Baton Rouge this spring.
2—Jamie Newman, Todd Monken and the new Georgia offense: It’s a pretty bold move by Kirby Smart bringing in the Wake Forest graduate transfer at quarterback and a new OC in Monken who will be charged with juicing up the offense. If it works, the Bulldogs could go to their fourth straight SEC championship game because the Bulldog defense will be very good again. If this experiment doesn’t work, it opens the door for Florida. Practice starts March 17.
3—Will it be Mac Jones or Bryce Young at quarterback for Alabama? I thought Jones played pretty well when he took over for the injured Tua Tagovailoa at the end of last season. In fact, if Alabama had beaten Auburn we might not be having this discussion. But Young, who is already in school and will be available when spring practice starts on March 13, is a special talent. He threw for 4,538 yards and 58 touchdowns for powerhouse Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif.
4—Fun times in the state of Mississippi: Every college football reporter in the country will make Oxford and Starkville part of their spring and summer tours. Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss) and Mike Leach (Mississippi State) may not challenge for the SEC West title but they will keep us thoroughly entertained. The Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving night will be must-see TV for the entire country.
5—Are the Gators ready to close the gap against Georgia? The short answer is yes. And the Gators I hear from say they already have. Six starters on offense and five on defense return from a team (11-2) whose only losses were to No. 1 LSU (42-28 in Baton Rouge) and No. 4 Georgia (24-17 in Jacksonville). They are set at quarterback (Kyle Trask, Emory Jones). Despite losing four of their top six receivers, they still have a bunch of guys who can play, like TE Kyle Pitts. They play five of their first six games at home. Now WILL the Gators beat Georgia in Dan Mullen’s third year? Consult item No. 2.
6—Is Jarrett Guarantano the answer at quarterback at Tennessee? There were several times last season (the Alabama game come quickly to mind) that I thought Mr. Guarantano was done as the quarterback of the Volunteers. But even after the most egregious mistakes, he had this pesky habit of finding ways to win football games. There are other guys at the position who have played (Brian Maurer, JT Shrout) and a talented freshman (Harrison Bailey) from the state of Georgia may get into the mix. Tennessee is getting better but the Vols must get consistent QB play to be taken seriously.
7—With a much better schedule and Kellen Mond returning, Texas A&M may finally make some noise in the SEC West: Folks, this ain’t complicated. Texas A&M lost five football games last season. They were to:
No. 1 LSU (on the road)
No. 2 Clemson (on the road)
No. 4 Georgia (on the road)
No. 8 Alabama (at home)
No. 14 Auburn (at home).
Clemson and Georgia rotate off the schedule. Vanderbilt and Colorado are on. This is Jimbo Fisher’s third season and he has a veteran quarterback in Mond (2,879 yards passing 20 TD). Any questions?
8—If Terry Wilson can stay healthy, Kentucky will go to its fifth straight bowl game under Mark Stoops: After going 2-10, 5-7, and 5-7 in his first three seasons, a lot of Kentucky fans wondered if Stoops was the guy. Now those same fans hope they can keep him. After going 10-3 in 2018, Kentucky went 8-5 in a rebuilding year because of the heroics of receiver Lynn Bowden, Jr., who took over as quarterback after Terry Wilson was injured in the second game. Now Wilson is back and surrounded by some very talented players. And after a string of good recruiting classes the Wildcats have built some depth.
9—Chad Morris will make Bo Nix a better quarterback. But who’s going to run the ball? Nix had his good and bad moments as a rookie. But any Auburn season that includes a win over Alabama is a good one. And now Morris, whose two-year stint as the Arkansas head coach did not go well (0-16 SEC) brings his offensive expertise to Auburn. Here is the problem: After a string of nine straight seasons with a 1,000-yard rusher, the Tigers have not had one in each of the past two seasons. Boobie Whitlow, who has led the team in rushing the past two seasons, has left the team. Somebody has to step up. Will it be D.J. Williams (400 yards last season)? Will it be early enrollee “Tank” Bigsby who ran for almost 4,000 in his final two seasons in high school?
10—Mike Bobo takes over the offense as Will Muschamp faces a huge season at South Carolina: The numbers do not lie. Last season the South Carolina offense was one of the worst in the SEC:
12th in scoring (22.4 ppg)
11th in total offense (371.9)
10th in rushing (149.7)
Explosive plays are defined as runs of 10 yards or more or passes of 20 yards or more. South Carolina had only nine explosive plays per game.
Enter Mike Bobo, who was a record-setting offensive coordinator at Georgia before spending five seasons (2015-19) as the head coach at Colorado State.
Bobo working with sophomore quarterback Ryan Hillinski will be one of the most important parts of spring practice for the Gamecocks.