The SEC’s biggest quarterback question after Week 13 involves a gun-slinger who isn’t even in the league — yet.

Question: Will Jacob Eason keep his commitment to Georgia?

Answer: It was amazing, though not entirely surprising, to see how quickly Bulldogs fans shifted the conversation Sunday from “Georgia fired Mark Richt?” to “oh, no, are we losing Eason?”

Eason, a 5-star recruit who led his team to the Washington state semifinals, has signed financial aid papers with Georgia.

The key takeaway about that: Unlike a Letter of Intent, financial aid papers are not a binding contract, which means Eason still could back away and go elsewhere.

Will he? He wasn’t available Sunday.

In an interview earlier in November with DawgNation.com, Eason discussed what he might do if Richt were not the coach next season.

“I will have to sit down with my family and figure everything out,” Eason told DawgNation.com. “But it is Georgia you know? It is SEC football. Richt has been there for awhile and I doubt that will happen. But if it did, I wouldn’t stress about it too much.”

The key, Eason’s father Tony said in the same interview with DawgNation.com, is the style of coach Georgia hires. Eason is a pro-style, pocket passer.

If Georgia hires a coach who will continue to run a pro-style offense, Eason will be a Bulldog.

If Georgia hires a coach who prefers a spread attack, it could get really interesting in Athens … and elsewhere.

Richt said during a press conference Monday that he spoke with Eason on Sunday night and told the QB to keep an open mind about the next hire.

One advantage to a recruit signing financial aid papers is it allows the school more contact. One issue is, if the player doesn’t come to that school, that contact can then be seen as a recruiting violation. That happened to LSU, when Matt Womack signed financial papers but changed his mind and signed with Alabama.

It’s unclear how a coaching change might affect a potential rules violation, but the one positive for Eason is that he hasn’t signed his LOI. Signing Day for early enrollees begins in mid-December.

Once a recruit signs his LOI, there is no escape clause based on a coach leaving, though some schools have voided LOIs in those situations and allowed the recruit to sign elsewhere.

Bulldogs fans have no reason to worry … yet.

Question: Back to the arms who did sling it in 2015. Who wins the SEC’s QB of the Year?

Answer: Chad Kelly not only was better than his peers in 2015, he was better than just about everybody who has played the position in the SEC’s history.

Kelly broke several of Eli Manning’s single-season passing records and is on the verge of becoming just the third SEC QB to reach 4,000 yards.

Kelly sealed the honor Saturday night on Dak Prescott’s home turf, spoiling Prescott’s senior day with a cleaner, more impressive performance to help the Rebels win the Egg Bowl.

Now the question is …

Question: Will Kelly return to Ole Miss for his senior season?

Answer: This was a foregone conclusion two months ago, maybe even a month ago. But Kelly would be wise to look around, and perhaps back, to QBs in similar situations. Matt Barkley is the poster-child for a hot college QB who stayed one season too long. Nobody is projecting Kelly, just 6-foot-1 with one season as a starter, as a potential first-rounder, but leaving early makes sense for at least three reasons:

  • The 2016 NFL Draft isn’t loaded with elite QB prospects.
  • QBs are almost always overvalued (and overpaid) in the NFL Draft.
  • Ole Miss juniors Laquon Treadwell and Laremy Tunsil likely will declare, too.

Kelly was asked last week about his intentions:

“You never know,” he told redcuprebellion.com.

Question: Can Florida devise a game-plan for Treon Harris to shock Alabama in the SEC Championship Game?

Answer: In breaking down film on TD passes Alabama has allowed this season, one thing became immediately clear: Most were the result of flukey plays rather than play calls.

However, Kelly and Ole Miss pulled a page out of Auburn’s playbook when Kelly aggressively rolled right, pulled up just before the line of scrimmage and tossed a short pass over a biting corner for a long TD.

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It was the same play, other side, that Nick Marshall executed in Auburn’s tying TD in 2013.

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Harris has the speed to get to the corner, but he needs cooperation from Alabama’s corners to pull off a huge play.

If the Tides’ corners stay disciplined and do their job, the result is a short rushing gain or, more likely, a ball thrown into the stands.